Royal Arch Hike Sept 2018 - the Comeback
After we got back to Colorado from our Ohio Trip last summer, we were determined to not let the Bear Peak Hike Struggle keep us from hiking, so last September we decided to tackle the Royal Arch Hike. This time we had our backpacks with plenty of water and food and gave ourselves the liberty to take the whole day to complete it, if needed. We started from NCAR Mesa Laboratory instead of from Chautauqua Park where most hikers start, which meant our hike was just under seven miles round trip and 1800 feet elevation gain. The hike was much more enjoyable than our Bear Peak Hike back in June.
The Royal Arch is a rock formation nestled in the Flatirons near Boulder, Colorado. On our way up to the arch, we kept leap-frogging another hiker with a bell attached to his pack. He was from Canada, just passing through on his way to Texas for a short vacation. He wanted to take a break from driving and get a short hike in before continuing on. He had heard about some recent bear sightings in the area which is why he had attached a bear bell to his pack, so bears would hear him coming and not be startled. However, Royal Arch is a very popular trail and it is hard to be on the trail and not have another hiker within your sight.
The Canadian hiker started at the typical trailhead, Chautauqua Park and talked about how difficult it was to find a parking space, and then complained about having to pay for parking. Many of the trailheads in the Boulder County park system are free for Boulder County residents, but charge for vehicles not registered in Boulder County (like ours). That’s one of the reasons we started from NCAR, free parking. The other reason is that the parking lot there, at least on the weekend, has plenty of open parking spaces and we doubt it ever fills up completely. However, it doubled the length of the hike and added a little bit of elevation gain.
It was a good climb that got our hearts pumping, but most of it was not as technical as the Bear Peak Hike. However, there is one short tricky section that is rather technical, a steep and rocky scramble just before reaching the arch. If you fall in that short section, you might get hurt, but you won’t fall very far, it is not close to any cliff edges. We had taken this trail over twenty years ago when our son was little, before our daughter was born. Right Buddy(RB) remembers the tricky section because she had our son on her back at the time. She must have been much more flexible, nimble and in better shape than she is now because RB struggled through that section this time and doesn’t think she would have even attempted it with a kid on her back. We reminisced about hiking the Royal Arch Trail with our son. He was only about four years old and we were impressed that he hiked quite a good portion of it on his own. He seemed to have the need to try to keep up with the other hikers that passed us on the trail. Of course, this just tired him out sooner.
There were plenty of sights along the trail to keep us entertained. At the start of our hike near NCAR, we came across a mama mule deer and her spotted baby fawn.
In the woods along Mesa Trail we came across an old abandoned cabin. We believe it is the Roosa Cabin, but not much is know about the cabin. There were also plenty of wildflowers along the trail to provide some color. On the way back we took the Woods Quarry side trail up to the old Woods-Bergheim Quarry. At the time, it didn’t seem like there was much to see there, but if we had read a little about its history ahead of time (and we weren’t so tired from the hike), it might have put more meaning into what we were looking at.
As the rocky mountain sides came into view, we spotted many rock climbers. If you look closely at RB’s pictures, you can see rock climbers on the steep rock faces and peaks. We have never really tried rock climbing other than one or two attempts at the climbing wall at our local rec center, but both of our kids took a couple of rock climbing classes. Now that is a full body workout, but a little too risky for our tastes. However, we do enjoy standing in awe watching others rock climb!
There were nice panoramic views out across the plains from the arch. We could see NCAR where we started from and CU Boulder’s campus with its red-tiled roofs in their “University of Colorado Style” or Tuscan Vernacular Revival architecture. As we sat near the arch eating our lunch, we pondered at how the plants manage to find small cracks in boulders that they can take hold, grow and thrive from.
When we approached the end of our hike, back near NCAR, a hang glider drifted down to the plains from above. We stopped for a moment to enjoy the tranquil view. Such a nice ending to an enjoyable hike.
(RB)