6/19/97 - Half Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Class 1, 2 & 3 Hiking, Elevation at Half Mountain, 11,482ft (2,242 foot gain); ~3.0 miles each way (from Glacier Gorge Junction via Boulder Brook trail)

Half Mountain is at N40.17.24 W105.37.56 (dd.mm.ss)

Hikers:

• Mike Beck, Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Lynn, Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Ernie Petrocine, Estes Park, Colorado
• Mike Molloy, Estes Park, Colorado

Mike Beck & Lynn suggested doing Half Mountain after talking with Ranger Ray in the RMNP Backcountry Office. None of us had done this one before and it sounded like fun.

My Dannen hiking guide chart said this was 2.5 miles, but said the off-the-trail approach to the summit was easier if you went to a point about 3 miles up the Boulder Brook Trail from Glacier Gorge Junction.

I looked at the distance and elevation gain and wrong-headedly concluded that: 1) this would be fairly easy and that I didn't need to take my trekking poles; 2) didn't need a lot of water; 3) shorts would be OK; and 4) that it would only take about 4-5 hours. Wrong.

We arrived at Glacier Gorge Junction about 0730 to find plenty of parking (only about half a dozen cars were there). Temps were about 50 degrees.

You go up the trail past Alberta Falls (where Half Mountain sits in the background when you stand to look at the Falls) and take the trail to Boulder Brook (this goes on to Longs Peak). Somewhere just after you go around a large rock formation, but before you get to the Boulder Brook campsite, you turn up to ascend to Half Mountain.

We hiked the trail and when we got to the signs for Boulder Brook campsite, we knew we'd missed the only "trail."

Instead of turning around to try to find the ascent trail, we decided to work our way up to the summit from roughly the Boulder Brook site.

It wasn't easy. We had to bushwhack up the side of the mountain and since we started below treeline, there was a lot of dense trees, rocks, snowfields, shrubs, and eventually krummholz. Definitely not a hike for wearing shorts. It got so bad I put on my windpants just to protect my legs. We had to cross several snowfields, and all of us had wet socks due to snow getting in our boots when we postholed. Gaiters would have been nice, too.

We were often in such dense tree covering that we couldn't see our objective. We used map and compass (and altimeter) to figure out where we were, and where we needed to go. No one was sure of where the summit was until we consulted a map. I learned very well you can't just rely on visual cues, as I was totally wrong about what I thought was the summit.

We worked our way up to a saddle/ridge about 1/4 mile from the summit. The ridge, at about 11,300 feet, had fantastic views of Glacier Gorge: all the way from Black Lake in the distance to Mills and Jewel Lakes over 1300 ft directly below us. If you've ever hiked in Glacier Gorge, you have got to see it from this perspective.

We used so much time and energy getting to the saddle that Mike B. and Lynn decided to skip the summit ascent, so Ernie and I went on after a break (I think Ernie actually slept for a bit while reclining on his RidgeRest pad).

It took a lot of effort and rock, boulder, and krummholz scrambling to gain the additional 200 feet or so to the summit but it was well worth it. Very windy up there and we could see a thunderstorm moving in. We reached the summit at about 1:00pm.

Ernie showed me a flattened 1 liter plastic water bottle and I immediately (over)reacted, saying, "Who would leave trash up here?!" He laughed and explained that it was the informal summit register. I guess someone named Mike Cushman (from Ft Collins, I think) had left it sometime in 1995. Inside, it had about 20 sheets of paper ripped from a spiral notebook, a couple of pencils, a pin in the shape of a lobster with "Maine" on it, and, oddly, a collapsible drinking cup.

Ernie and I read over the register entries and noted that the last one was made in August '96. It's possible, even likely that other folks had been up here since then and simply didn't see the register.

We got a chuckle out of one entry we read: "If I ever see krummholz again it will be too soon." Of course whoever wrote that had to see it again to get back down.

We made our own entries in the register, and also stuffed our business cards in it, just for fun. (The photo on my card is from one I took in Glacier Gorge on the way to Black Lake.)

After a couple photos, it started sleeting a little bit and the clouds, wind and distant thunder told us we'd better start down. Shortly after we started our scramble down, we could hear occasional yells and whistles from Mike and Lynn letting us know where they were.

After about 25 minutes and a stop to put on rain gear, we met up with Mike and Lynn who were comfortably ensconced in some trees to get out of the light rain. We all started down, well north of the way we came up, and it was much easier going (and not just because were descending!). There was a very faint trail, probably an old game trail.

We continued to have light rain and it made some of the rocks and logs slicker and I took a fairly hard fall on a moss covered boulder. Fortunately I landed on a well-padded portion of my anatomy and it prompted me to say, "Well, now the mountain has literally kicked my butt." (Actually, I think everyone took at least one fall for one reason or another; it was pretty rough going sometimes.)

After a couple of stops to take a break, tell jokes, remove or replace rain gear, we found ourselves over a a thousand feet farther down and before we knew it, we had intersected the Boulder Brook trail, well below where we'd left it on the way up.

Lynn then pointed out a small cairn that we'd all missed on the way up. We reinforced it a bit. If you do this hike, the cairn is on the right side of the trail (as you go up), maybe a foot tall, and you'll be in the 10000-10200' elevation range. If you get to the signs for the Boulder Brook campsite, you've gone too far and you should head back down to look for the cairn. We figure missing the cairn added about 1.5 miles and many scratches and cuts!

We got back to the trailhead at about 3:30pm. It's worth noting that after we got onto the Boulder Brook trail, we didn't see anyone for the rest of the day (until we came back down to the main trail). If you're looking to have a mountain summit all to yourself, this would be a good one to do.

Lessons learned:

1) This was not an easy hike. Trekking poles would have been very useful.

2) More water (1.5 liters barely was enough). Very warm hike.

3) You need long pants, not shorts. Gaiters would have been good, too.

4) I was 3 hours later than my estimate. Wish I'd had my cellphone to call home.

5) Next time, I'll plug the destination's lat/long coords into my GPS to make route-finding a bit easier.

But don't take the lessons learned to mean that the hike wasn't great -- it was, we just underestimated it! This is one I'll definitely do again.

Glacier Gorge Junction parking lot. That's Half Mountain at center left. Ernie's at the door of the Cherokee and Mike and Lynn are standing at the right.

Lynn, Mike B. and Ernie on the bridge going over Glacier Creek. That's Half Mountain in the background.

Ernie, Mike B. and Lynn off the trail, starting up through the krummholz.

The view from above treeline. That rock formation is the one we should have started up around.

We stop on the saddle/ridge for a break. That's Longs Peak in the background. Here's a pic of Mike B. & Lynn.

The view straight down (facing west) from the saddle. That's Jewel Lake on the left and Mills Lake on the right. We're at about 11,300' here and Mills is at 9,950'.

Looking almost due north at Half Mountain's summit from the saddle.

Ernie on the summit. That's Longs Peak (14,255') behind Ernie. The spires to the right are the Keyboard of the Winds.

Mike on the summit. The mountain on the far right is Thatchtop (12,668'). The wind was blowing probably 40mph and my hat had just blown off.

Heading home.

6/21/97 - Along Prospect Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Class 1 Hiking, Elevation ~8,710ft (~400 foot loss); ~2.5 miles each way (from Glacier Gorge Junction along Prospect Canyon)

Hikers:

• Bobbea Molloy, Estes Park, Colorado
• Mike Molloy, Estes Park, Colorado

This was a very easy hike along Glacier Creek and Prospect Canyon (starting from Glacier Gorge Junction).

Though we should know better, we left about 1:15pm (Saturday) and found that the Beaver Point entrance to the Park had a line of cars almost a mile long! We waited it out and once inside the Park, found Bear Lake Road not all that crowded.

Amazingly, we were able to park at the Bierstadt Lake TH and then we took the shuttle bus up to Glacier Gorge.

It was virtually all downhill and gently descended about 400 feet in 2.5 miles.

Despite all the people in the Park on a Saturday, the trail was not very crowded at all, at least compared to what you'd see at Bear Lake, etc.

Very nice trail and very pretty. You could hike another .7 miles and end up at Sprague Lake. If you do this, leave your car at the shuttle parking area, as Sprague Lake is just a short walk from this lot.

This would be a good one for kids.

Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain as seen from a pond along the trail.

Bobbea on the trail.