White Ranch & Galbraith Trails

We went hiking/trail running in two places today.  Our first stop was at White Ranch Park.  About 10 miles outside Golden, the route to White Ranch Park is a spectacular meander through the foothills with the evergreen and snow-capped Rockies in the background—about a 40 minute drive from Denver.

A combination of grassy meadows and steep wooded ascents, White Ranch has great views of Denver, but we’ve seen better views of the mountains to the west.  Upon arriving at the park, we met an unassuming, slightly scruffy guy who had presumably just finished a run—it was hard to tell he didn’t look too sweaty or otherwise stressed.  Turns out that he’s from West Virginia and had just arrived the night before to take part in a trail marathon.  Nice guy, obviously a hardcore runner!

The first few miles of the 5 mile run, on Belcher Trail are all downhill.  The trail is mostly smooth, not as rocky as some of the other foothills trails.  At the bottom of the first ascent is a relatively flat run through a meadow on the Rawhide Trail.  In the sun, the soil actually glitters, and when Kevin ran in front of me the dust that his feet kicked up was actually glittery.  A Google search reveals that this stuff is mica.

Of course, when you run down, you must at some point run up, and White Ranch did not disappoint in this department.  Unlike some of our other ascents, the uphills had no switchbacks, and I never thought I’d actually wish for switchbacks.  White Ranch’s ascents are straight up and steep!  (Note: the elevation graph is for the White Ranch marathon, we can only take credit for about a third of it.)

On the way back we saw two buck.  One had about a 6 point rack, and the other had 8 (possibly 10).  Incredibly majestic animals.

Our second stop was Mount Galbraith Park.  On our way back from White Ranch on Route 93 we decided to stop in and “take a look” at the park and take advantage of the bathrooms.  Of course, our curiosity got the better of us and we couldn’t resist checking out the trail.

The trail follows the perimeter of the mountain and slowly runs up and around the mountain.  To our right is up the mountain, and to our left is a vertigo-inducing drop.  The trail is a little rocky in spots, but otherwise a pretty sure-footed 4.2 mile run.  One of our favorites!

Finally we had a well-deserved lunch in downtown Golden at Woody’s Pizza, known for its thick pretzel style crust. We had the garden veggie pizza and it is thus far the best pizza we’ve had in Colorado.  Crispy in all the right places and chewy in all the right places.  Throw in $1 New Belgium beers (yes, $1) and it was a great lunch!

Alderfer/Three Sisters

Alderfer/Three Sisters park is about a 25 minute drive from Denver, located in Evergreen, CO. The drive to Evergreen is a breathtaking (and sometimes white-knuckle) ascent out of the Denver plains and into the mountains. The view at the first crest of I70 of the Continental Divide is awe inspiring.

The 4.5 mile trail begins in a large meadow and quickly enters the woods towards the park’s rock formations, The Three Sisters and The Brother. Wooded and covered in pine needles, the trail’s ascents have switchbacks, but aren’t quite as steep as some of the other trails we’ve run. The park also has numerous Abert’s squirrels with their black fur and distinctive tufted ears.

The reward for running all the park’s hills is the view from the top of The Brother. After a steep and somewhat rocky ascent, and bit of boulder scrambling, the top of The Brother offers an amazing 360 degree view of Evergreen and the snowcaps of the Rockies. From the top of The Brother we could see an elk resting in the woods…

Speaking of elk, as we were descending The Brother I was startled by a large brown figure crossing the path ahead of me. An elk! I called to Kevin, who had just seen the elk and we both slowed to a walk. The elk stopped and began munching on a nearby bush, no further than 15 feet away from us. He had a rack of about 4 points and must have been the size of a medium pony, maybe 600 pounds. He looked at us square in the eyes, with absolutely no fear, as if to say “what are you doing here”. He wasn’t aggressive, but he wasn’t intimidated either. We quickly moved on! Later of course, we find out that we are in the midst of the running season when bull elk are at their most aggressive.

The run ended back in the same meadow we started with a gradual but unexpectedly difficult ascent to the finish.

$80 I don't have.

Kevin and I bought trail running shoes today at Runner’s Roost (don’t forget to enter their contest). $80 (each) we don’t have, but we rationalize that we need them to fully explore Colorado.  Asics for me, Brooks for Kevin.      

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