Category: Dogs

 

With a forecast of mid-90s on Sunday I took the dogs up to Boreas Pass.  We set out fairly early and were up on the hill by 9 AM.   

The road over Boreas Pass connects Como withe Breckenridge southwest of Denver.  The Denver, South Park And Pacific narrow gauge railroad routed over this pass to facilitate access to gold rush prospectors.  A scenic roadway runs over the pass now on the same route and is a popular summer drive for people in both the Denver and Breck/Vail areas.  

There is actually a small section of the original tracks that have been preserved at Rocky Point.

 

By the time we arrived there were already many people at the visitor center at the pass.  I decided not to park there and proceed further over the pass toward the Breck side.  I found a pull -off and parked next to a forest trail.

 

The girls and I followed the trail downhill for about three miles before deciding to head back to the truck.  We passed several open fields of wild flowers and a small stream which provided relief to Lucy and Fabi.

We managed to rack up almost six miles on the round trip before heading back down to the front range for the afternoon.

 

Above the Berthoud Pass parking area is Colorado Mines Peak.  It only weighs in at 12,500 feet but the majority of the 3.5 mile round-trip is above tree line.

The girls and I made another trip to Jefferson Lake. The lake formed in the caldera of an ancient (hopefully dormant) volcano about 70 miles from my house. July and August are about the only time one can visit and hike up there as the elevation is high enough that there is typically snow the rest of the year.
We hiked around the lake’s four-mile shoreline. On the side closest to the parking area and boat launch there is a trail of sorts worn into the side of the hill by anglers. Once you reach the far end of the lake the trail is less used and it disappears into the vegetation. The far side of the lake shore is a mix of gravel and boulders and is fairly difficult to navigate on two legs. The dogs’ low center-of-granity and four legs definitely had the advantage in this realm.

Since we were in the area I drove up to the top of Georgia pass and hiked around with the dogs there, too. They even met a couple other dogs up there before it started raining and we headed back to Denver.