This morning I made the long drive from Gering to the small mountain town of Glen Haven, Colorado. I started the drive at 5:20 a.m. and made it to the trailhead for today's hike almost exactly 3 hours later. I parked along the road across from the Glen Haven Town Hall,
and then hit the trail. The trail starts up a driveway, past a few homes.
After a short time, the route leaves the driveway and follows an actual singletrack trail.
Almost immediately, views open up to the high peaks to the west.
Scattered throughout the lower stretches of the trail are slash piles.
It looks like they are reducing fuels to lower the risk of wildfire.
Soon enough the trail climbs to the top of a low ridge where the Crosier Mountain Trail intersects with a trail that leads to the H-G Ranch.
Opposite the trail that leads to the ranch is another, unofficial trail that leads up to Knapp's Knob. I thought about hiking to Knapp's Knob on the way back to the car, but I was too tired to make the attempt late in the day. After reaching the ridge, the trail descends slightly to a small stream, then ascends up towards Piper Meadows. There are lots of great views along the way.
Piper Meadows looks like a great place to see elk, but unfortunately, I didn't see any. The trail entered back into some woods and started climbing. As I climbed, I could see evidence of elk: tracks and scat. I even heard elk bugling. I never did see any though. I left the meadow and headed back into the woods, climbing steadily. Soon enough, I was at the junction with the Crosier Mountain Rainbow Trail.
From here on out I would be hiking trail that I've been on before. I would also be hiking on some snowy patches of snow.
From the junction with the Rainbow Trail, the path leads through thick forest of small trees.
Once I reached the Summit Trail, the climb started in earnest.
Before I knew it, I was standing on the summit admiring the view west into Rocky Mountain National Park.
After about 20 minutes of admiring the view, it was time to turn around and head back down. The trip back offered lots of great views towards the high peaks.
I wandered Piper Meadows a bit to get a good photo of the view and ended up finding the skeletal remains of an elk.
From there it was a quick return to the car with more great views.
Once back at the car, I made the drive into Loveland to get a beer at Loveland Ale Works. Then, it was the long drive back home. A great hike, but too much driving.
Update of November 3, 2023:
After I had hiked nearby Triangle Mountain, I decided to head over to the nearby Crosier Mountain Glen Haven Trailhead
to check out Knapp's Knob. It was a pretty easy hike, but I didn't really think there was much there worth the detour.
At least I had nice views of Triangle Mountain, which I had just climbed, on the way back to the trailhead.
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