Green Mountain and Bear Peak

Description

Elevation: - Bear Peak 8,461'; Green Mountain 8,144'
Location - West of Boulder in Colorado.

Trip Report(s)

In Boulder, Green Mountain and Bear Peak dominate the skyline, literally defining the western border of south Boulder. With the signature Flatirons rock formations on the front of both peaks, they define Boulder's "look", what everyone remembers after a visit there. So it is surprising that since I grew up there I did not climb either of these until the 1990s. I remember hiking to Saddle Rock about halfway to the summit of Green Mountain while in the Boy Scouts in the 1970s, and am surprised we didn't go the rest of the way. The hike is hard work, but not dangerous. Anyway, I've rectified the situation, climbing both multiple times. I've done both mountains in solo trips, Bear Peak with my friend Warren Teachout, and both with Mike. In addition, I've hiked the Mesa Trail that runs along their eastern base from Eldorado Springs to Chautauqua Park.

Not much in the way of trip reports. For Bear Mountain, we start at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a group of cool buildings on a mesa looking out over Boulder. NCAR is a great place for seeing deer - there's been a herd there for decades, living a protected life (and they know it!) Any drive up to NCAR will typically yield lots of deer sightings, especially in early morning and the evening. Of course, seeing deer used to be a bigger deal when I was young and the populations around the country hadn't exploded, but now you can see deer just about anywhere. Anyway, from NCAR the trail leads up Bear Canyon, the valley between Bear Peak on the south and Green Mountain on the north. It then heads up Bear Peak from the west and north. This is a steep hike, with about 2,000' of elevation in the last part in under two miles.

I have been up Green Mountain from Bear Canyon as well as by starting in Chautauqua Park in Boulder and hiking up the north side. This is the trail that goes by Saddle Rock. Both ways are good, with the latter being the shorter (and hence steeper) of the two. I remember at least once Mike and I taking the wrong trail down off the top and ending up coming down between the first and second Flatiron, which involved a bit of scrambling. I also remember a climb with Mike from Bear Canyon in the south where we got off trail and had some fun bushwhacking through deadfall and various thorn bushes up to the summit.

Both peaks are popular destinations, and there will always be people on top when you go. Boulder being what it is, there will be people who have ran the whole way up, and people climbing and bouldering (the Flatirons are a very popular rock climbing area, as is Eldorado Canyon on the south side of Bear Peak). The views from the top of either peak are great, with Boulder spreading out below, Denver in the distance to the southeast (if the smog isn't too bad), and the to the west the rolling foothills of the Front Range rising to the snowy Indian Peaks on the Continental Divide. Photos follow.

Photos

Some of the following are panoramas, so expand your browser or scroll to the right.

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Copyright © 2003 - James Lehmer - All Rights Reserved.