Hey all you cool cats and kittens out there. Sorry, I had to. I woke my son up with that line this morning but sadly the joke didn’t land. Probably best that I don’t let a five year old watch Tiger King, but he’s really missing out.
If you follow along on here or my Instagram you know that I am a bit behind in blogging right now. Life’s been a little zany (hi, minimizing) lately but as things are finally settling into the new normal I’m finding time to play catch-up. This hike was from last weekend and since that time Governor Polis has issued a mandatory stay-at-home order for all residents of Colorado effective March 26 and lasting until at least April 11. The tricounty health department where I live (Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties) had issued an order prior to this, but rescinded it upon Polis’ statewide order.
There has been a LOT of confusion, lack of caring, misinformation, and bullying on hiking and climbing forums lately, which quite honestly sucks. I’ve seen people outright shamed for hiking responsibly and locally. But on the other side of the coin, I saw an Instagram post the other day where a girl traveled from California to Arizona so she could keep hiking and posted group (more than four people, clearly not six feet apart) photos along with “cute” phrases like, “take a chance today, don’t wash your hands.” Barf 🤮.
So, what is okay? Can we still hike in Colorado? Where can we hike? Honestly, I can‘t tell you what to do. YOU know what’s best for you and your family. But what I can ask that you do is “know before you go” and follow all state and applicable county-specific orders. Make sure you check trail and park closures along with researching what the county has asked before heading out (a simple google search of the county name under news will bring up any recent articles, try it with Summit County if you need an example).
Many mountain towns simply don’t have the resources to handle an outbreak, so please think about them when you choose your hiking destination. With warmer weather coming in, trust me, I GET IT, because I want to get all up in those epic, further away hikes, too. And even though you individually could likely take steps to ensure that if you were sick you wouldn’t pass it on, there’s still a chance you could. And, unfortunately, there are many people out there who are refusing to take even the most simple of precautions altogether. Because of that, we are all in this together....for better or worse.
Oh, right, the hike. I’ve done this hike before in late 2019 and absolutely love it. The hike is located in Corwina Park in Evergreen and tracks in at 2.9 miles per AllTrails. It has 649 feet of elevation gain, but honestly doesn’t feel like it with how it’s spaced out. It’s rated as moderate and I would say that it leans more towards the hard side of an easy hike. As always, it’s still winter in Colorado, so please make sure you wear your spikes! Most of the trail was covered in snow and there honestly weren’t too many icy spots, but better safe than sorry.
You have to cross an old wooden bridge to get into the parking lot, but I had no issues with it in my very low clearance Impreza hatchback. The parking lot was not plowed and it is very, very small. I’m talking like 10 cars small. I managed to get the last spot and honestly had to make some tracks to make sure my subaru could get out, which I also had no problems with. The people who parked next to me weren’t so lucky and ended up getting stuck while they were trying to leave.
The trail starts off in a wooded area, which is simply DELIGHTFUL. It had snowed the night before, so every couple minutes we were getting snowed on by all the mini treevalanches. Yes this is what I call snow falling from trees and, again, absolutely delightful. The trail follows a creek in the beginning, but with all the snow I think I got one glimpse of it near the trailhead and that was about it.
The trail really opens up right before the loop portion and as you begin the loop you start getting some pretty incredible mountain views through the trees. Both times that I’ve done this hike I’ve ended up retracing my steps on the loop back down, so I’m not sure what the other portion of the hike looks like. After the trail opens up, you reach some stairs, one chunk of which was really, really icy- again, spikes.
The stairs lead up to Panorama Point where you’re greeted with some pretty incredible views. There were two other groups that arrived at the lookout area shortly after I did, but the trail itself wasn‘t ever very crowded and there’s plenty of room to practice appropriate social distancing at the top (with the exception of the 12 people who decided it was a good idea to throw caution to the wind and not follow state guidelines...sigh).
So, if you’re looking for a lesser known, not too heavily trafficked trail closer to Denver with some spectacular views, this hike may be for you....if not now, definitely keep it in mind for the future ❤️. Stay safe out there, everyone. And, as always, happy hiking 🥾❤️✌!
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