Triple Crown

Monday, July 3rd

Went to Boulder and finally did the Triple Crown. Sandy did the hike up Green Mountain, and came down Bear Canyon and back to Chatauqau. Doug and I did Green Mountain, then Bear Peak, and South Boulder Peak. By the time we got back on the Mesa trail, it was hot!

We started hiking at about 7:30. Hiking up the amphitheater trail was like hiking in a rain forest - humidity was just about unbearable. It didn't slow us down much, and we made it to Saddle Rock in just about an hour. Sandy was really moving well (although probably annoyed I kept telling her she could "raise her effort level" at certain point - it's nice to know when then trail is going to flatten out). We actually found the trail to the summit this time - I had missed it on my two previous attempts. I now know exactly where I missed it - about 5 minutes after getting on Greenman the trail is traversing west, and there is a rock step that you have to step over to go back southeast. There is a worn out sign on the tree with an arrow, because another (since closed) trail continues west. Seems like an easy mistake to make. :)


We were on the summit in just over 1:45. Doug snapped some photos, and then we headed down with Sandy to make sure she got on the right trail down Bear Canyon. Doug and I started jogging down the Green-Bear trail, and made the Bear Peak West Ridge trail cutoff in under 10 minutes. I was excited because I had never been on this trail before. It's about 1.8 miles and 1200 feet to the summit of Bear Peak. The trail climbed steeply at first, then kind of rolls along, gently gaining elevation. The last 1/4 mile is steep!! probably gaining 500ft! I was working pretty hard, and I swear the human lung Doug was barely even breathing. We made the summit almost exactly 45 minutes after leaving Sandy. A little slower than I thought - but the trail is pretty long and steep. We spent a few minutes on the summit, and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, when this girl asked "Are you guys doing the skyline?". We asked her what the skyline was. She replied: "Mt. Sanitas, Flagstaff, Green Mountain, Bear Peak, and South Boulder Peak". We admitted, no, we were only doing Green Mountain, Bear Peak, and South Boulder Peak. She wasn't impressed.

Coming off the summit of Bear Peak I banged my right shin on a really sharp rock. Imagine taking a chisel and hammer and giving a good strong shot right to your shin. It left a hole about 1/4 inch deep, and started to swell up. I was worried it would get worse, but it didn't cause me any problems. However, a week later and it's still a little swollen and I'll probably have a nice deep scar.

We made the summit of South Boulder Peak, and started the descent down Shadow Canyon. This is nearly as steep as Fern Canyon, but much nicer because there are no loose rocks and dirt. As soon as we hit the mesa trail it was hot!! At this point we still had 5+ miles to go. We jogged all of the flats and downhills and hiked the uphills (there are at least 4 or 5 sections between Shadow Canyon and Chatauqau). I was pretty cooked by the time we got past NCAR. I managed to jog the last 1.5 miles, and ended up walking down the final road. It took us longer than I thought it would (go figure) and Sandy had been waiting for about an hour. All in all, it was a great day - and it capped off a six day stretch where I did approximately 35 miles and 12,000 feet of elevation gain.

Here are the approximate times (splits in parantheses):

Green Mountain Summit: 1.48
Green-Bear Cutoff: 2.08.12
Bear Peak West Ridge: 2.17.49 (9.37)
Bear Peak Summit: 2.55.27 (37.38)
Leave Bear Peak: 2.59.05 (3.38)
Top of South Boulder Peak: 3.15.33 (16.28)
Return to Saddle: 3.24.47 (9.14)
Shadow Canyon descent: 3.49.47 (25.00)
Chautauqau: 5.02.48 (1.13.01)

Total: ~13 miles, 4500ft.

Cool down stretch at the yoga room of Hotel 4048: