Our sixth annual bushwhack up Eldorado Mountain in the foothills of Boulder.
My buddy d-low has a schedule of outdoor activities he likes to do every year. The Pawnee and Buchanan Pass loop in the IPW, the Devils Thump Pass loop, the Sourdough traverse and others. Though I tease him that he likes do these same outdoor activities every year, there is a reason why my friends and I accompany him on these trips: They are fun, they are beautiful and they seem to fit the time of the year to do these day or weekend adventures.
And one hike we have done every Fall since 2007 is the Eldorado Mtn Bushwhack.
Eldorado ("Eldo") Mountain is an 8300'+ mountain in the foothills around Boulder. What makes this mountain so intriguing is that it is a mainly trail-less hike with some Class 3 scrambling fun thrown in just before the summit.
Eldo Mtn is a challenging little day hike with some awesome views of the Continental Divide and some unique views towards nearby South Boulder Peak and Bear Peak.
The hike is a great way to end the Fall hiking season before winter begins.
On this hike was similar crew from last year: D-low, our buddies Disco and Hearsay and myself. Joining us would be POD to complete the thru-hiking bushwhacking crew for 2012.
The hike started off easy enough in Eldorado Canyon state park. A hike with views of the world-famous climbing found in this canyon.
We climbed up two switchbacks and followed a well worn use path to just before scrambling fun.
POD and Disco
The scrambling is along talus and features some Class 3 terrain. Not overly hard, but interesting hiking.
Hearsay and POD scramble up the talus
We made our way up to the ridge and navigated through an aspen and pine forest.
The summit was reached and the view was enjoyed to the foothills and the divide.
POD loving the summit!
New to this year's hike was the finding of a summit register. It looks to have been left by Jennifer Roach. Jennifer Roach is well known in Colorado for being an outdoors person who does some amazing adventures and co-author of guidebooks with her husband Gerry. If Jennifer likes the hike..good enough for us! 🙂
D-low is digging the register!
After spending some time at the summit, we headed down the northwest ridge to an obvious saddle and entered the trees. The (now) gently rolling terrain lead us to a use trail that eventually lead us back to the park trail system.
A casual five hours after we left the car and and another Eldo Mtn Bushwhack was completed. Until 2013!
Trip Details
The trip from last year has the the needed details (route info, map and where to go for beer later!)
Nice, nothing wrong with doing what you like time and again, tradition!
That looks like a pretty awesome hike. I’ve only done a few scrambles like the one in your pictures and I haven’t hiked in Colorado…yet.