Picnic at Realization Point Via Gregory Canyon
We headed into Boulder this weekend for some hiking. This is the last week that you can park around Chautauqua for free since they charge for parking during the summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. We decided to go up Gregory Canyon and loop back on the Ranger trail, but by the time we made it up the steep incline up Gregory Canyon to Realization Point, we were both pretty tired. We ate our lunch at a picnic table and headed back down the mountain.
I've hiked this before and I think my reaction was about the same in that it's pretty boring to hike to another parking lot. I like hikes that you can't simply drive to, so the summit wasn't all that great. However, since we had sandwiches with us and spent about 20 minutes at the top resting and enjoying our lunch, it felt like more of a hiking picnic than a real hike.
The hike took us a little over 2 hours to do the 4 mile round trip hike, including a 20 minute lunch break. The total elevation was just under 1,200 feet.
3.91 mi
2.2 hrs
6,723 ft
1,168 ft
Golden Banners in the Field
I love Chautauqua because of the giant meadow that gives you a gorgeous view of the Flatirons. This time of year there were a lot of Golden Banner flowers blooming.
Storms over the Plaines
It rained a little bit as we started our hike, but the storms quickly moved over the planes of Colorado.
Caterpillar Nest
I've only seen one of these before (on our Gray Rock hike, so I thought I would take some photos of these Tent Caterpillars since they were right next to the trail.
Sunny Afternoon
The morning was pretty shaded with constant clouds which kept the temperatures in the mid 60's. On the way down, the sun came out and lit up everything, which made for better lighting, but the temperature also increased about 10 degrees making it hot in the afternoon during our descent.
