Mountain Hiking

by Harold Sears

Hike Home | Site Home | Search Site

NAVIGATE SITE

Why Hike?

In and Around
Boulder, Colorado

Front Range and East

Central Foothills

Back Range and
Indian Peaks

Rocky Mt. Natl. Park
South

Rocky Mt. Natl. Park
North

Farther Afield

Back East
In the Carolinas

Happy Highways

Near the North Fork of Middle Boulder Creek, there are informal campsites. I crossed the creek on loose logs spanning the stream and climbed steeply among aspen, pine, and fir. About a quarter mile up, the trail touched Chittenden Creek, flowing east out of the Indian Peaks, tumbling and splashing. The woodland opened up, with scattered aspens, rocks, and wildflowers -- bluebells, asters, Indian Paintbrush -- yellow, purple, red, and white. I climbed past rocky cliffs, always with the rush of the stream on my left. I caught a glimpse of a mama pheasant or grouse trailed by several young fluffballs.

About a mile in, I entered the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, and the view began to open up to the west. This is certainly not a heavily traveled trail, and it faded in the meadow grass and emerged again. The upper reaches of Chittenden Creek were broad marshland, the banks rising into fir forest on either side. I passed a shining pool ringed with shimmering grasses nodding in the breeze.

I finally lost the trail for good and so simply headed west and up, southwest over the creek, and then west and up some more. I passed among a scattering of great white chunks of quartz, each 1 - 2 feet across and with a sprinkling of lichen -- chartreuse with dark gray margins -- lodged in the cracks. There was old mining activity -- a pit here with timbers and rimmed with loose, jagged, rust and black rocks; and farther up an adit penetrating into the slope. I didn't try to slither in. I paused and marveled for a time at the labor implied by these workings. For me, the accomplishment is just to get here; the miners, then, start their day's work. For lunch, I climbed onto a pile of rocks, west and above Chittenden Mt. My GPS receiver told me I was at 11,248 ft.

I continued to climb the tundra slope and passed a conspicuous cairn that seemed to mark nothing. In another 50 feet, I did cross the Diamond Lake Trail, heading north. I climbed west, heading for an unnamed height that might be called Lower Jasper Peak, 12,055 ft. It rises above Jasper Lake and sits ESE of Jasper Peak on the Divide, 12,923 ft. There was yellow Paintbrush and a circular hiker's windscreen on the east slope -- not on the top or even on a rise.

It may not have a name on the topo map, but Lower Jasper gives a wonderful view. On one side of the ridge was Diamond Lake and Upper Diamond Lake. On the other side was Jasper Lake, with impressive, cliffy heights just beyond. I walked a little farther west, across a broad tundra expanse, to the rough spot, before one might ascent fairly smoothly to Jasper Peak. Here was a clear view down onto Storm Lake.

In Boulder, take route 119 west to Nederland. Turn left at the traffic circle onto route 72 for 0.6 mi. Turn right onto route 130 and drive through the town of Eldora. The paved road ends and there is an emergency phone 4.0 miles from the highway. At mile point 4.8, turn right onto Hessie Rd. or Fourth Of July Rd. which parallels the North Fork of Middle Boulder Creek. The Chittenden trailhead is not signed. I drove 1.6 mi. by GPS. I passed a cluster of buildings on the left, the community of Grand Island on an old topo map. There was a weathered post at the left side of the road that still had patches of brick-red paint on it. On the right, there was a private road branching off; the entry was chained. And immediately past that, on the right, is parking for maybe two cars. The trail begins across the road (on the left). It curves north and then west to half a dozen loose logs forming a bridge across the creek. The walk to "Lower Jasper" is about 3.5 miles, one way.

Click on the thumbnails above for pieces of two trail maps. A trail map for all of Boulder County is available from the Boulder Area Trails Coalition (find link on home page).

• Search for other books on hiking in and around Boulder, Colorado:

Cautionary Note -- If any of the hikes described on this site sound like something you would like to do yourself, please use good judgment and prepare yourself according to your skills, your interests, and the season. What was fun for me under one set of circumstances might not be fun or even safe for another under other circumstances. Do not consider these descriptions to be unqualified recommendations.