Cheers to everyone here on Colorado board!
Next weekend I will be in Boulder. Visiting Colorado for the first time. Meeting up with an old friend who is there for a conference. We will have two days set aside for hiking and plan to get a good close look at Rockies. Ideally we would want to do two dayhikes of about 12-15 miles roundtrip, get on the summit of something, have great views most of the way, while not spending a lot of time in the car. Something that will make us want to come back to your beautiful state for more. Any suggestions? I know there is a wealth of options described here on SP. Still nothing beats a personal recommendation from a fellow SP member. Any info you think a first-timer will find helpful is also greatly appreciated.
It appears Boulder has just got a few feet of snow. Where would you go one week after the first winter dump? What's a good place to rent snowshoes in Boulder (ideally a place that stays open late on Sunday)?
Vlad.

Both Neptune Mountaineering and REI rent snowshoes. Both close at 6pm on Sunday.

As you know, we just got more than one foot of snow in Boulder and vicinity. Avy danger in Rocky Mountain National Park is rather high, but it may subside in a week. Check the CAIC site. You may want to consider a hike to either Flattop Mountain, or to Black Lake. If the wind is howling, as it is wont to do, Black Lake will be a less stressful destination. If the weather is decent, you'll find tracks to follow either way. Roads are regularly plowed to both trailheads. Views are magnificent in both cases.

Finally, twelve miles on snowshoes are quite the workout, at least for me.

brenta wrote:Both Neptune Mountaineering and REI rent snowshoes. Both close at 6pm on Sunday.

As you know, we just got more than one foot of snow in Boulder and vicinity. Avy danger in Rocky Mountain National Park is rather high, but it may subside in a week. Check the CAIC site. You may want to consider a hike to either Flattop Mountain, or to Black Lake. If the wind is howling, as it is wont to do, Black Lake will be a less stressful destination. If the weather is decent, you'll find tracks to follow either way. Roads are regularly plowed to both trailheads. Views are magnificent in both cases.

Finally, twelve miles on snowshoes are quite the workout, at least for me.

CAIC will almost certainly not be doing forecasts by next weekend. Probably not for 3-4 more weeks.

mconnell wrote:CAIC will almost certainly not be doing forecasts by next weekend. Probably not for 3-4 more weeks.

Not the daily forecasts--you are right--but they already have so-called statewide avalanche forecasts. Eli Helmuth also has a recent conditions report up at Climbing Life, and with a little luck he'll update it next week.

1000Pks wrote:I've only been to CO about 4 times, but suggest Rocky Mountain National Park for starters. Don't know how much of the roads get plowed, but Estes Park is nice.

Trail Ridge Road (US34) is closed from Many Parks Curve (~9700 feet) on the east side to the Colorado River trailhead (~9100 feet) on the west side from mid-October to June. The park is open all year, though.

Although I think the park is much more enjoyable in summer, it is definitely worth visiting off-season. I have been there around both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I loved it then too.

1000Pks wrote:I think they have an REI in Boulder, maybe not.

The REI website shows 6 stores between Denver and Fort Collins, including one in Boulder.

Vladislav wrote:Cheers to everyone here on Colorado board!
Next weekend I will be in Boulder. Visiting Colorado for the first time. Meeting up with an old friend who is there for a conference. We will have two days set aside for hiking and plan to get a good close look at Rockies. Ideally we would want to do two dayhikes of about 12-15 miles roundtrip, get on the summit of something, have great views most of the way, while not spending a lot of time in the car. Something that will make us want to come back to your beautiful state for more. Any suggestions? I know there is a wealth of options described here on SP. Still nothing beats a personal recommendation from a fellow SP member. Any info you think a first-timer will find helpful is also greatly appreciated.
It appears Boulder has just got a few feet of snow. Where would you go one week after the first winter dump? What's a good place to rent snowshoes in Boulder (ideally a place that stays open late on Sunday)?
Vlad.

For simple daytrips,
I would have to say take one day and head into the Lost Creek Wilderness. Most of the terrain is gentle and open. It doesn't rise much more then the mid 12,000ft range. Most of the trails are fairly gentle and the best part, it doesn't see much human traffic. Plently of isolation and solitude.
Lost Creek 1
Lost Creek 2 SP
Lost Creek 3

Take the other day and drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park to the Long's Peak Trailhead. A good, easy to follow trail will take you to Chasm Lake just below The Diamond on Long's Peak.
Two VERY different areas that will give you a decent taste of what the Front Range has.
Long's Peak TH
Chasm Lake 1
Chasm Lake turnoff

There's an REI in Boulder off 27th. There's also one in Fort Collins, Lakewood and a new one in Broomfield right off I-25 and 140th (I think).

Thank you for all the suggestions and information. We will certainly go to Rocky Mountains NP for at least one day. Flattop mountain is an excellent suggestion (thanks Brenta!). We'll have to endure the winds but at least the hiking route appears to be pretty straightforward. Hikes to Black Lake or Chasm Lake (thanks Kiefer) are also great choices as we'll get to see Longs close by. My only concern here is avalanche danger. The route appears to be close to steep slopes. Am I being too paranoid? It's easy to avoid dangerous places here in California but one always hears about avalanche danger being extreme in Colorado. Of course, I'll look through weekly conditions updates that should start coming out this weekend.
It's unfortunate that REI closes so early on Sunday. We'll have to settle for a shorter outing to be back in town by 6pm as returning snowshoes on Monday is not an option. My flight back is on 6 am on Monday. Is there any hike out of Boulder that's worth doing this time of the year? I'll check out Ester park too (thanks Pete for chiming in from CA). Lost Creek appears to be a great place to go but it will have to wait for another visit. Seems to be too long of a drive.
I have more questions. Any webcam links to see the current conditions in the mountains? What about traffic? Any times, routes to avoid on Sat and Sun?
Thanks a lot again.

Vladislav wrote:My only concern here is avalanche danger. The route appears to be close to steep slopes. Am I being too paranoid?

No, you are not. The south slopes of Mount Lady Washington are notoriously dangerous and the avalanche risk is currently high. The Glacier Gorge trail also crosses an avalanche path, but it's less dangerous. You can stay out of avy trouble from the Longs Peak TH if you hike to the summit of Mount Lady Washington by the east slopes. The view of the Diamond from the summit is quite rewarding, though it must be said that the view from Chasm Lake is among the best in the whole state. I'm not sure I'd carry snowshoes for the MLW hike, because trail and slopes tend to be either packed or wind-scoured.

Vladislav wrote:Is there any hike out of Boulder that's worth doing this time of the year?

Near Boulder, you can traverse from Green Mountain to Bear Peak or South Boulder Peak. Not in the same league as the RMNP hikes, though.

Vladislav wrote:Any webcam links to see the current conditions in the mountains? What about traffic? Any times, routes to avoid on Sat and Sun?

Here are the RMNP Webcams. Traffic back from Estes Park should be rather light. The I70 corridor, on the other hand, now that ski season has begun...

Kiefer Thomas wrote:For simple daytrips,
I would have to say take one day and head into the Lost Creek Wilderness. Most of the terrain is gentle and open. It doesn't rise much more then the mid 12,000ft range. Most of the trails are fairly gentle and the best part, it doesn't see much human traffic. Plently of isolation and solitude.

Definitely. It's a little bit of a drive from Boulder, but the views and solitude are amazing .

Thank you all for wonderful suggestions. I want to especially thank Brenta. The routes you suggested were outstanding!
We hiked to the top of Mount Lady Washington on Saturday and to Black Lake on Sunday. Fantastic views, great weather, minimal postholing!
I realized it's actually easier to travel to RMNP than to Eastern Sierra from SF Bay Area in winter. I'll be coming back for more. North Face route on Longs looks very interesting.
Vlad.

Vladislav wrote:I want to especially thank Brenta. The routes you suggested were outstanding!

My pleasure. I'm glad it worked out well.

Vladislav wrote:North Face route on Longs looks very interesting.

Yes, it's an interesting one. In winter conditions, most parties rope up for one pitch, which they then rappel on the way down. Another good winter route on Longs is the Trough, which requires less climbing gear, but is more likely to be done from a camp in Glacier Gorge than as a one-day ascent.