The Flatirons - Playground for Kayaking, Hiking, and Climbing--but don't do the biking!

 

Boulder, Colorado is famous for the Flatiron Mountains that can be viewed from town. But today we are going to view them from above. 

At the southwest corner of the town of Boulder, we started the drive up the very curvy Flagstaff Road. We are gaining elevation quickly.

We found out that there are viewpoints all along this road, but to use them we must purchase a $5 daily permit for the City of Boulder Open Space Mountain Parks. So we bought our permit at the self-service kiosk and made our first stop at the overlook at Lost Gulch. From here we can see the mountain valleys far below us.

But our destination is the Gross Reservoir, because we love some high mountain kayaking. After 9 miles of winding paved roads, we could finally see the reservoir down below us.

But it would take another five miles of winding gravel roads to actually get to the boat launch area.

It was surprisingly crowded for being so remote. It looks like the secret is out that Gross Reservoir is a great place for motor-less boating.

It has some nice rock walls . . .

and is surrounded by very healthy forest. After traveling so many places where the pine beetles have decimated entire forests, seeing healthy trees makes us smile.

But our favorite part of the kayak trip was finding this long remote cove that was protected from the wind so the water surface was like glass.

Few people make it this far on their paddle boards or kayaks, so we had it almost to ourselves--except for a few fishermen that knew the fish loved to bite here where the river was entering the lake. Mark masterfully guided us into the mouth of the river, while Denisa leisurely took pictures of the rapids caused from that steep entrance.

The gray clouds were building in the sky, and then we heard the eerie sound of thunder rumbling through the lake canyon. We knew we were a long ways from the pickup, and then the pickup had a long drive up a very narrow dirt road. So we headed back to the boat launch area before we got wet.

We got a few sprinkles, but successfully got the kayak stowed away quickly. That gave us time to make some stops on our way back down Flagstaff Road. We decided to take the hike on the Green Mountain West Ridge Trail.

We were glad to see that the trail was nice and flat at the beginning, because we had already driven to the higher elevation part of the hike. But the last push to the summit was very steep as we climbed up the last 700 feet in elevation over the boulders to the top.

Denisa was content with the views from the top, with the Flatiron Mountains rising beside us.

But Mark had to climb to the top of the tallest boulder at the top of Green Mountain just to be sure he made it to the highest point on the summit.

From the top, we could see Boulder and the entire valley below us. 

Also at the top, we met hikers that started this trail in that valley at the bottom of Green Mountain. When we read the trail description, it described it as a continuous grueling stair-stepper with lots of elevation gain. Good for them, but we liked our trail better and we got the same views.

Since we hiked on the same trail back to the pickup, it's always a little boring. It's a good thing that we had meadows of flowers to entertain Denisa.

Then she can also play the game she invented of finding the very prettiest bloom of a particular flower. This is winner of today's game of the very best specimen of this multi-color-unknown-named-flower.

With our $5 permit displayed in the pickup window, we could stop at Realization Point for more views.

It also allowed us to park at Crown Rock. Mark loves boulder scrambling, and this is a perfect stop for him.

Denisa is content with staying at the bottom of these beautiful red rock formations--with her feet firmly planted on the ground.

Mark is content with climbing to the top of whatever is in front of him.

From this stop we could also get a bird's eye view of the tight hair-pin turns on Flagstaff road as it doubled over itself right at Crown Rocks.

We are tired from kayaking and hiking, but Mark still had to climb to the top of the tallest rock formation and stand under that little tree that has somehow found a way to survive on the edge.

Speaking of surviving on the edge, we have to mention the multitude of bicyclers making this trip up Flagstaff Road. It's a steep ride, on a narrow road, with blind curves, and lots of traffic. Each time we dodged another biker on the road, we questioned their sense of adventure. How could that be fun?

On the other hand, we loved our day in the Flatirons of kayaking, hiking, and climbing--without the biking.