In 1976, Ernie Betasso sold 713 acres to Boulder County to preserve the land as open space. According to a historic description sign on the property, he cared more for the land than the money. He refused to move to town after more than 60 years living here. His famous quote was, "You can't leave the mountains because when you live up there, one leg gets shorter than the other."
We are thankful that Mr. Betasso chose to preserve the beauty of this land for generations of hikers to enjoy, as we certainly did today.
This photo shows the ruggedness of the mountain terrain as well as the meadows interspersed among the forest.
The trail began by looping around and through some rolling hills dotted with mostly Ponderosa Pine trees. There were some other evergreen trees mixed in here and there as well. The evergreen trees did not give off the "Christmas tree smell" we have sometimes encountered while hiking in other areas of the country.
We found this dry creek bed that probably held snow melt a month ago, considering we were hiking at between 6240 and 6560 feet above sea level.
Following the Canyon Loop trail markers, we found the trail getting narrower and steeper, as the trail was now cut out of a slope on the hillsides. This photo gives you an idea of the slope. We were glad we weren't hiking either straight up or down these hillsides. Without the level trails, is it possible one leg would get to be longer than the other?
We found Prickley Pear cactus growing along the trail. While we seem to be in a climate where it rains frequently, we often find desert plants thriving amid plants that grow in a more moist climate.
Finally, we spotted some wildlife! This mule deer was enjoying a stroll in the park.
Until she decided to run a bit.
The only other wildlife we saw was a noisy woodpecker. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a photo.
As we walked along the trail, we noticed that the Ponderosa Pines have dropped their pine cones in preparation for growing new pine cones during the summer. The ground along our hike was littered with pine cones.
The white Boulder Raspberry flower looked so large compared to the smaller yellow Western Wallflower.
We did find a small waterfall with clear cold water flowing.
We passed several crystal clear streams along our hike. You can almost see the minerals in the water coloring the rocks a copper or rust color.
We concluded that the trail we hiked was a "moderate" rather than an "easy" hike but a most scenic and enjoyable one.
After our hike we headed to nearby Roosevelt National Forest. You can easily see why explorers called this area Boulder.
Sometimes the rock had to be blasted through in order to build roads.
Notice how fast the water in Boulder Creek is running.
We finally found Boulder Falls. But, we couldn't take the short trail to get a close look because . . .
This is the best photo we could get from the road. It appeared as if it would be a great walk from the road but was too dangerous for us tourists to journey the path to view the falls.
We planned an overnight trip, so it gave us lots of time to explore the Boulder area. The next morning we hiked along a paved path which followed Boulder Creek through the town of Boulder. Again, you can see just how fast the water is flowing.
It was time to turn around when we saw this part of Boulder Creek over its banks, making the path impassable. The results of the daily rains we have had were surely in evidence here.
We were in awe of the views from the city. We captured this postcard view of the Flatirons as we headed back to Larkspur. The Flatirons are five rock formations along the Green Mountain. If you look closely, you can see the five peaks. We can certainly understand why people want to live in this place with such wonderful views from the city.
If all goes according to plan, we hope to return to Boulder once more before we leave Colorado at the end of the summer.
Looks like a fun trip! Loved the photos. I sure hope you have the opportunity to return to Boulder before you leave Colorado.
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