Green, Bear, and South Boulder Peak

There are five major peaks in Boulder. Mount Sanitas is the furthest to the North. It's a steep and fun trail we've spontaneously hiked a hand full of afternoons after a solid day of work. Flagstaff Mountain is just west of where we lived last summer and north of the Flatirons. While there is no path to it's peak, we have bounced around the trails at its base a fair number of times given their proximity. The other three peaks, Green Mountain, Bear Mountain, and South Boulder peak, form the backdrop to the Flatirons, extending from Chautauqua Park all the way to El Dorado Canyon.

We've been meaning to do some more long distance hikes (for reasons that will make sense eventually). It turns out there are a series of trails that meander across the ridge line of Green, Bear, and South Boulder peaks, returning through the meadows in the Flatirons' foreground. Conveniently, we were able to start this hike right outside Matt's front door.

We started around 5am, and made it in a half dream daze to the top of Green, at 8100 feet, just in time for Neil's morning alarm to go off on her phone. We were so tired, though, we forgot to take photos at the top. Now wide awake, we dropped a solid thousand feet on the backside of Green before ascending up Bear's west ridge. There had been a fire in this area in 2012 and a large amount of downed and burned foliage remains. The last bit towards Bear is a very vertical and rocky climb. We had some coffee at the top and would have enjoyed the view but we found ourselves stuck in a cloud bank.

We made a quick jaunt over to South Boulder Peak without loosing too much elevation. Luckily, the clouds started to break and the sun came out for this colder than normal September morning. We hiked down Shadow canyon towards El Dorado Springs just in time for it to start sprinkling. We had expected some rain in the afternoon, and the weather did not disappoint. We hiked the remaining flat meadows that lie on Boulder's south west border all the way back to Matt's place.

With all the Fall colors, it was evident that the seasons are starting to change.

Total distance: 15 miles
Total elevation: 4,000 ft
Time: 8 hours