Hike to Greyrock...With a Race to a Boulder

Notice I said to in the title of this blog and not to the top of!  Sunday morning I headed out with some friends into the Poudre Canyon.  At 10am we set off to hike to Greyrock.  There are two routes you can take: the shorter but steeper route of 3.1 miles to the top includes a 1000' elevation change within one mile or the longer route that wraps and includes meadow that is 4.3 miles to the top.  We decided on the longer route in part because it wasn't so steep at the bottom.  Keep in the mind that the crew I hiked with didn't exactly come prepared for a long hike.  As my friend Ben put it, "I thought we were just heading out for a nice walk.  Now I know, when you hike with Jen Broome, you hike up!"  They funny part was that we were still on fairly flat trail, but we were starting to encounter more rocky terrain.

We started at 9:59am, which is later than I usually hike but I was trying to let my friends sleep in a little on a Sunday morning.  Yes I was up and raring to go before 6am!  So off we went navigating the trail of switchbacks and ever changing terrain from in the trees to open areas to getting above the trees where the rocks get bigger and bigger.  At one point we stopped to enjoy an amazing view.

That's where I decided to do a few yoga poses on the cliff.  Yes I'm right on the edge.

From that point we hiked up to a spot of big boulders then went up and down winding through boulders and trees as we worked or way to the meadow.  About 11:30am we took a snack break....and I realized I was the only one who brought snacks.  Needless to say the snacks were gone in one fell swoop.

So we trekked on to the meadow that offered a moment of peace....until I asked my friend Kat if she wanted to race to the boulder.  She said sure, why not and her husband Ben said he was in too.

So off we went on very bumpy terrain racing to a boulder with my friend Amanda filming it.  Amanda's husband Pete was taking some pictures and busted out laughing at us when he saw the three of us running like little kids to the boulder.  Kat and I were laughing so hard running that both of us almost fell over.  What hoot!  Three grown up kids racing to a boulder....just because.

At noon we started our climb out of meadow up to Greyrock.  After a few minutes we found ourselves off the trail and climbing straight up through rocks into the area that was burned as part of the Picnic Rock Fire in 2004.  While there is new growth and life coming back in the area, the scars of the fire are still very evident.

We had a great time just exploring and trying to find our way back to the trail.  Once back on trail, it wasn't long before we were at the Greyrock loop where you can take the Summit Trail to the top, head down to the meadow or take the Greyrock Trail back down.  Since it was 12:30pm, we decided to head down the steeper shorter route because we were getting short on time and remember I was the only one who had brought food.

After a short break, we headed down at 12:45pm.  At 1:55pm we were back at the trailhead and completed a 6.4 mile hike.  Not bad but next time I told the group we're heading all the to the top!