Bergen Peak Mountain

We started out Saturday at 7:15AM to climb our first trail in the Front Range. The Front Range is the most populated area in Colorado and it is a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains. So called the Front Range because it is the first set of mountains that you see. Millions of years ago it was part of the ocean floor. We feel like we are back in Egypt as every Thursday we womped on the ocean floor in the Wadis. Big difference is there are trees, grasses, shrubs, birds, mammals, reptiles and no sea shells here.

Last week I went our and bought a book to help decide what Trails we were going to hike. 50 Hikes in Colorado, printed by Back Country Guides, based in VT. The book was an easy choice as it is the same company that wrote 50 Hikes in the Maine Mountains and 50 Hikes in the White Mountains which we already had thanks to the guidance of Amy and John.

The 45 minute drive up RT 470 to 70 to 74E was breathe taking! We passed a body of water where people were actually boating and swimming. It was encouraging to see there are places to be on the water. We saw some deer in the hills and passed Buffalo Bill's grave.

We parked at Elk Meadow Park and found the Meadows Trail to begin.




The book explains this trail as an easy hike. We agreed that the terrain was simple to climb as there were no steps, rocks, tree stumps, etc.... It was almost a paved walkway.



The trail is very popular with mountain bikers as it is rated a beginner trail. There were also many joggers on the trail. I did not love the switch backs nor did Mike. We prefer a steep short climb to the top instead of a mild incline with switch backs. This trail actually causes a great deal of blisters as you are always scuffing up instead of climbing.

This is a 10. 3 mile return climb that rises 1,708 feet. The suggested time frame is 2-3 hours to climb.

Pretty different trees here too. We enjoyed looking at this twisted bark.

A mile into the Meadow Trail we leave this simple trail to start the actual Bergen Peak Trail. We chatted with some bikers as they were deciding what trail to continue on. Everyone here is very friendly and said there hellos as they passed down the mountain. We did not see many people climbing up so we figured we were a little late staring out at 8AM. We did see several people coming down. The temperature was 60 when we began and was nice and cool. We wanted to get up and down before it hit the estimated 95 degrees.

We started in the Denver Mountain Parks and saw signs for the Division of Wildlife (DIW). The pamphlet for the DIW warns of bears and lions. Mike and I had not seen any animals on the trail due to the amount of traffic.

As we were coming up on another switch back I saw some movement. Was a bear or a lion! That would be very exciting! But no it was a doe. As we stopped to take some pictures a family passed us and we pointed out the deer. The mother said "You are not from here, are you?" I was a little insulted that they seemed to have no regard for wildlife. While we are not from here we still appreciate the abundance of life that is living among us.

We made it to the top in 2 hours and I was pleased we did it in the minimum suggested time.

The view was not spectacular as it was of the city below. There was a nice cool breeze and we enjoyed our lunch. While we were maybe 1 group out of 3 at the top when we arrived when we left there must have been 10 groups. The top was crowded and loud, time to head down. We also had an appointment with our realtor to look at houses at 4 and wanted time to shower. We headed down and planned to run the majority of way as the trail was pretty clear of things to trip us up. So we headed out behind a couple of ladies and their dogs, Cooper and Morgan. The golden walked up the last mile with us, right at my heels.

We let the ladies get ahead of us so we did not have to walk with the dogs and as we were turning down a switch back I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was not a deer nor the ground birds we saw on the way up. I turned to look but it was gone. Probably a deer again.

A wee bit later I saw something again and heard a noise. The creature was walking parallel to us and slightly above. It was obscured by the trees and boulders so we could not get a good look at it. We were walking slowly not to draw attention to ourselves but still wanted to be able to see it. As we turned the switchback we saw him! It was a bobcat. I had never seen one before. He did not like the fact that we could now see him and jumped into the trail behind us. I freaked out and twisted my ankle and fell. Mike was kind enough to help me up and I quickly looked at the damage. Blood was pouring down my left leg and my hand was gouged...my first thought was animals are attracted to blood! We continued to back down the trail with our backs together so we could watch the trail and the cat. He finally got bored and jumped back into the woods and was gone. We were lucky! I have a pretty deep hole in my knee and a large area that looks like road rash. It is still very painful and causes me to limp. The injury was worth the blood rushing adrenaline feeling and being able to see a bob cat.

As most of you know no matter where I go I get a scar from the trip. Mike is relieved that I now have my scar and we do not need to worry about it in the future.

Unfortunately we did not get to hike on Sunday cause of the injury but can check off one of the 50 hikes in the book!