Windy Days Hike
Trail Sign Pointing The Way
A couple of weekends ago we visited the newly reopened Lyons, CO to do a 10 mile hike with our friends Ann and Gary, who live in Lyons.. The drive into town reveals the amazing devastation of the September flood. Neither Ann’s or Gary’s house was damaged, but Ann could not live in her place due to lack of gas, electricity, water and sewage utilities. They finally got the utilities working but the town remains highly damaged and probably will be that way for a long time. We lived in Lyons for many years and it was shocking to see landmarks that are likely wiped out forever.
Nevertheless, we hiked a loop from Ann’s house through Heil Ranch Open Space on the Picture Rock Trail. The temperature was mild for November but the wind was so high at the beginning that we had a hard time crossing the flats prior to getting into the forest and on the actual trail. It’s that time of year again, the winter winds will soon dominate the high country. I’ve noticed this happens around New Year’s Day. A windless day above timberline is the exception during the winter in the Front Range north of I-70. Below is a GPS track of our hike. The town of Lyons is in the upper center part of the map.
Lucky for us the wind died down by late morning and the rest of the day was beautiful. Lots of mountain bikes on this trail, which is annoying if you are hiking but I personally have no complaints. Mountain bikers need a place to ride too, and many of the trails in the central Boulder mountain parks, where I hike very often, ban bikes.
The hike was nothing spectacular except to get out and enjoy a really nice day!
Posted in Journal by Mark with comments disabled.