1) Homestead, Mesa and Towhee Trails, South Mesa Trailhead, Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, January 24, 2025 - Our first hike of 2025 was a continuation of our regular hikes with our friend Desiree down in Boulder. We have been meet up at South Mesa Trailhead regularly for four years now for an afternoon or evening. This time we met up in the afternoon to do the "short" loop: stringing together Mesa trail, Homestead Trail and Towhee Trail. Thanks to a recent snowfall mixed with a warm sunny day there was slushy snow on the ground for most of the hike but thankfully very little ice. The clouds of another snowstorm were gathering as we hiked which meant the temperature started to drop as we hiked but we finished before any of the white stuff started to drop. A 3.2 mile loop with 600 feet of elevation gain.
2) Chautauqua, Bluebell Road, Mesa and Enchanted Mesa Trails, Chautauqua trailhead, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, February 3, 2025 - After a week of weather ranging from winter snow, to howling wind, to Springtime shorts weather Alan and Jonna met up with our friend Desiree for on a gorgeous Monday afternoon for a hike in Chautauqua Park in Boulder. We met up at the Chautauqua office. We were constrained with time so made a short loop by hiking south on the Bluebird Road, then turning off onto the Mesa trail and then looping back to the parking area on the Enchanted Mesa trail. The late afternoon sunshine turned the bits of snow on the trail into a slushy, muddy mess but most of the trail had melted out completely so there was plenty of dry trail as well. It was a nice, easy loop with terrific hiking weather and we capped it off by spotting a beautiful hawk resting on top of a light pole just as we got back to the trailhead. A 2.3 mile loop with 400 feet of elevation gain.
3) Mt. Sanitas, Boulder City Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, February 5, 2025 - With just a few days left before leaving for an International trip I managed to squeeze in the first of my Annual Spring Training Hikes: Mt. Sanitas. I did make it a little shorter than normal beginning the hike at the Mt. Sanitas trailhead rather than the People's Crossing trailhead which is where I traditionally start. The weather was changing between overcast and sunny but it has been warm enough over the past week that most of the snow and ice had melted out which left the trail a little muddy in a few places but mostly it was dry. I hiked north on the Dakota Ridge trail, then made the climb to the top via the east face. It has been breezy in the morning but calmed down so the weather at the top was perfect - the clouds broke up a bit so it was sunny and warm. I then descended via the southern ridge all the way back down to the parking lot. Not the greatest hike but it was nice to get some exercise and to click off the first of the five training hikes. A 3.5 mile loop with 1,200 feet of elevation gain.
4) East Magnolia trail system, Nederland, CO, March 16, 2025 - Our first hike after we returned from our Southeast Asia trip was a short morning hike with our friends Holly and Rick to catch up with them before they leave on their own big trip to go treking in Nepal. We chose an old favorite, the loop at what we call "East East Magnolia Trail", that is a mellow trail through a big aspen grove. Parts of the trail were still covered with snow and ice but a warm sun meant we had nice conditions to hike (and chat). A 2.6 mile "P" loop with a mild 250 feet of elevation gain.
5) Homestead, Mesa and Towhee Trails, South Mesa Trailhead, Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, March 16, 2025 - In addition to a short hike in the morning with joined our friend Desiree for another short hike in the afternoon down in Boulder. In contrast to the snow and ice up in the mountains the trails at the South Mesa Trailhead were dry and clear. We did our "short" loop in this trail system but it gave us a chance to catch up with Desiree and to enjoy hiking back in Colorado. A 3.2 mile loop with 550 feet of elevation gain.
6) Green Mountain, Boulder County Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, March 17, 2025 - Despite not having done any big hikes in over a month I stuck with my annual tradition of the Hikin' 'O The Green: hiking Green Mountain in Boulder on St. Patrick's Day. This is one of my Spring Training Hikes but is being done out of order so it was my second training hike this year even though it is the third mountain on my list. Fortunately, the trail this year wasn't as snowy as it has been in the past which made for easier hiking - something that was appreciated since I was a bit out of shape! I did my usual route: Starting at the bottom of Gregory Canyon and climbing up via Amphitheater, Old Saddle Rock and E.M. Greenman trails. The trail was clear until near the top of the E.M. Greenman where it was covered with a thick layer of slick ice. Traction devices were required! There weren't many people on the mountain but this was apparently the day that the local lady bugs mate so the rocks at the summit were covered with the tiny red beetles. The decent down the West Ridge was dry but the top of the Ranger trail was tricky due to ice. The day was beautiful for hiking but the warm weather melted the top of the ice so it was particularly slippery. I had to slide down one short, steep section on my butt because it was just too slick even with microspikes on my boots! The final drop down Gregory Canyon was tough on my knees which was the clearest sign than I haven't been hiking enough this year. Still, I can check Green Mountain off for another year so I was happy I got out to keep up the tradition. A 5.2 mile loop with 2,500 feet of elevation gain.
7) Bluebell Road, Mesa and Enchanted Mesa Trails, Chautauqua trailhead, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, March 19, 2025 - One of Alan's cousins, Debbie, house sat for us while we were traveling and then she stuck around Colorado for a week before heading back to Florida. Before she left we met up with her and her partner Heather for a hike down in Boulder. It was overcast and threatening snow so we chose Chautauqua where we could do a short loop that kept us near the parking lot in case we needed to bail out. As it turned out the storm clouds stayed up in the mountains and we had a nice hike and had a chance to say "goodbye". A 2.3 mile loop with 400 feet of elevation gain.
8) Nighthawk Trail, Hall Ranch, Boulder County Open Space Parks, March 22, 2025 - While we were in Asia our longtime friend Todd was also in that part of the world bringing his new fiancee Jha to the US from the Philippines. We all got together in Lyons so we could finally meet Jha. We picked nearby Hall Ranch for a hike and headed up the Nighthawk trail. It was a little chilly with a storm on the way but we had a sunny morning of hiking before the clouds rolled in. We hiked about halfway up the Nighthawk Trail before turning back to the trailhead. A nice hike but the real highlight was seeing Todd and Jha both so happy to be together. A 3.7 mile out and back with a rolling 600 feet of elevation gain.
9) Dunn, Graham and West Ridge Trails, Joaquin Miller Trails, East Bay Regional Park District, Oakland, CA, March 29, 2025 - Jonna and Alan made a short trip out to California to catch up with her brother and his family. Jonna had a lunch get together with some of her friends so Jamie, Alan and Daisy the puppy headed up into the Oakland hills to do a little hike. We chose the Dunn/Graham/West Ridge loop in Joaquin Miller Park because it is closest to the house but is still a lovely loop through a redwood forest. Spring flowers were popping out along the trail and the views out over the wooded hills to the east were stunning. A 3.5 mile loop with 500 feet of elevation gain.
10) Lake Del Valle, Del Valle Regional Park, East Bay Regional Park District, Livermore, CA, March 30, 2025 - On another day during our California visit Jonna had a book repair class scheduled so Jamie and I (and Daisy!) took advantage of an open day to try out a new hike. We drove to Lake Del Valle in Livermore and did a lovely pastoral hike along the lake. It wasn't a technical hike at all but was a nice rolling stroll through the hills and valleys along the north side of the lake. A 5.24 out-and-back with 1090 feet of elevation gain.
11) Homestead and Mesa Trails, South Mesa Trailhead, Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, April 6, 2025 - Spring is finally starting to arrive down in Boulder! Jonna and Alan met up with Desiree at our usual South Mesa Trailhead to do our almost weekly hike there. We did the "short" loop going up Homestead Trail and back on Mesa but added a little extra distance by doing a spur a little way up Mesa Trail before turning back towards the trailhead. All throughout the hike we could see the little signs that spring is here - fresh buds on the trees, little stems of flowers poking up out of the ground, grass starting to show a little green color and tiny pine cones forming on the evergreens. A 3.9 mile loop with 700 feet of elevation gain.
12) Homestead, Mesa and Towhee Trails, South Mesa Trailhead, Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, April 13, 2025 - Another weekly hike with our friend Desiree and again starting from the South Mesa Trailhead just as we did last weekend. But what a difference seven days makes. Where last weekend we saw the green shoots of Spring just peeking out of the ground today there were wildflowers in full bloom! We did our "short" loop going up on Homestead Trail, then a short stretch of Mesa Trail and then returning on Towhee Trail. The weather forecast was calling for thunder storms in the early evening and clouds were starting to build as we hiked but we managed to finish before the rain started. A 3.2 mile loop with 600 feet of elevation gain.
13) Chautauqua, Bluebell-Baird, Mesa and Enchanted Mesa Trails, Chautauqua trailhead, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO, April 20, 2025 - We did another spring hike with our friend Desiree but this time we chose to meet at Chautauqua instead of our usual hiking spot at South Mesa Trailhead. We met up in the late afternoon on Easter Sunday and hiked a short loop starting on the Chautauqua trail, then going along the front of the Flatirons along the Bluebell-Baird trail. We then continued south on the Mesa trail before turning back on the Enchanted Mesa trail to return to the trailhead. A 2.9 mile loop with 650 feet of elevation gain.
If you enjoyed these you may also enjoy checking out some photos from our 2024 hikes.
