If this is how they define moderate ...

For our 10 mile trip today, Andy and I decided to take a hike. We got a nifty guide to all the different hiking trails within an hour or so of the Springs and thought the Crags Trail sounded like a good fit. 

This sign marks the Crags Trail trailhead. A truer warning was never carved into galvanized steel. 

The trail was described as a five mile spur that connects the Crags Campground with the Little Horsethief Campground. It was also described as easy to moderate with an altitudinal gain of 500 feet. According to Bitchin' Betty, our navigation system, the base of the trail starts at 10,400 feet. 

The first stretch of Sunday's great adventure. 

It's really a cool trail: Well maintained, clearly defined. You really get a sense of history as you pass along about 2 miles of valley that separates two mountains. We passed through coniferous forests that opened up onto these wonderful open fields that were bounded by a lovely mountain stream. Jack loved it - going for drinks whenever he could and splashing around in the Jack Pack. All in all, utopia.

 

This lovely, babbling stream helped define the trail for the first 2 miles or so. We had to cross it a couple of times.

Then we got the mountain. 

The last half mile to three-quarter mile of the 3.25 mile trip we took was straight up the side of a mountain. About 1,000 feet straight uphill. And suddenly, the trail disappeared, turning instead into a stumble-as-you-can sheet of gravel and rock. 

So we stumbled and struggled and climbed, climbed, climbed. We came dangerously close to being passed by a 5-year-old and his friendly father, who relocated a few years ago from Tennessee.

 

Stopping for a breather and a family self-portrait about half way up the mountain. Jack sacrificed a tennis ball to the cliffs below. If you look closely, you can see some of the valleys a few thousand feet below us.

Ultimately, we emerged, victorious, on the top of the mountain - and probably somewhere near 12,000 feet elevation. The scenery and view was spectacular! The rear of Pike's Peak felt like just a stone's throw (presuming a good arm) away and the Rockies spread out like a tapestry before us. It made the snow (yes, I said snow, in June) and the bitterly harsh wind worthwhile - but not for more than a few minutes. To see photos from the summit (yes, Virginia, there are shameless plugs) click on the Rocky Mountain Dreaming link at the bottom of this page.

So instead of 10 miles we logged 6.5 today. But it feels like we walked 30. 

Andy snapped this victorious self-portrait after we made it back down the mountain. Getting back down was an entirely different adventure. 

I'm not entirely sure how the Colorado Department of Natural Resources defines "moderate" hiking, but if this trail is moderate, I don't think I want to know what "difficult" looks like. I'm not sure we have the proper equipment to scale Everest, yet. 

But I'm definitely willing to try it again!