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Mountain Hikingby Harold SearsHike Home | Site Home | Search Site |
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Queen Anne's Head and W.C. Fields Pinnacle
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 Boulder's Green Mountain, viewed from the northeast. |
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| Queen Anne's Head and
W.C. Fields Pinnacle are just two of the formations that are part of
Green Mountain's Third Flatiron, and you don't have to be a rock
climber to enjoy them. I began at Chautauqua Park, just off Baseline Rd. in west Boulder and walked south on Bluebell Rd. to the Mesa Trail, which drops into Bluebell Canyon. I walked across the creek and east up the other side of the canyon, about 0.8 mi. total, to the signed intersection with the McClintock Trail on the left. About 0.1 mi. farther is an unmarked trail to the right (west). We can think of this trail as Tomato Rock Trail, because Tomato Rock is about 0.1 mi. farther up, on the right, and 0.2 mi. farther west brings us to a fork in the trail and a small abandoned sandstone quarry perched on the SE side of Bluebell Canyon above Royal Arch Trail and across from the Third Flatiron. Mountain Parks should install a bench here; it is a great spot to sit and watch the climbers inch their way up the flatiron. Queen Anne is just across the way. To tell you the truth, I recognized another face, maybe one of Anne's maids, embossed on the flatiron itself, before I focused in on Queen Anne herself, and it takes some imagination to see her (unless I'm just not looking right). So, we have two faces here, presenting us with a sort-of "Where's Waldo" game. The real Queen Anne ruled from 1702 - 1714, and it was under her that the Kingdon of Great Briton was formed. She went through seventeen pregnancies but died with no surviving children, marking the end of the House of Stuart, but she was by no means as plain or worn as is implied by her namesake on our Third Flatiron. W.C. Fields Pinnacle is to the left (S) of Queen Anne. It should be called his Nose. It's square, bulbous, richly contoured and pitted, and redish. At the fork just east of this quarry, I turned south to Woods Quarry. The unnamed trail joins the designated Woods Quarry Trail just before the larger quarry itself. Here, we do have some informal benches built from abandoned sandstone slabs. I enjoyed the views over Boulder as dusk slowly crept eastward.
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The Third Flatiron as viewed more squarely, from the
east, atop the RTD parking garage, at Table Mesa Dr. and Foothills
Pkwy. In the panorama photo of Green Mt. above, count the Flatirons
from the right (north).
On the way to the small-quarry viewpoint, we pass Tomato
Rock, a sphere of red sandstone. Heather is pleased; maybe she'll roll
it over and see what lives underneath.
 A view of W.C. Fields Pinnacle from below, on the Royal Arch Trail.  The snowy platform in the center of this shot is the small stone quarry perched just above Royal Arch Trail.  W.C. Fields Pinnacle from the small quarry.  W.C. Fields Pinnacle close-up.  At Woods Quarry.  A view of Boulder from Woods Quarry. |
| Getting There
From Boulder, drive west on Baseline Rd. Pass 9th St., and Chautauqua Park is on the left just before you turn to climb Flagstaff Mt. The first map above (click for larger view) shows the historic community. Parking is at the lower right corner of the map (or wherever you can find it) and Bluebell Rd., leading to Mesa Trail, is the double-dashed path along the right side of the map. Note that south is up. The second map is tipped so that ~SW is up. The third map is hand-drawn, showing the unnamed trail past Tomato Rock to the small quarry facing the Third Fladiron. On this one, north is up. An extensive trail map for all of Boulder County is available from the Boulder Area Trails Coalition (link on home page). |
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| © Harold and Meredith Sears, Boulder, CO, harold@mountainhike.net. All rights reserved. |
