Well after being at sea level for 16 days i asked Eddy to take it easy on my first hike back and well with traffic issues he decided it best we stay kind of local.
St. Vrain boarders rocky mountain nat park and we had to take a detour to keep the dogs off park property.
Even though the peak is not high 12,162ft we still gained about 3,500 vert ft and the RT was 6hrs and 8.5 miles. I was happy i did not hurt the next day but the pups were tired!
here is our map:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zg-snrdqJx-c.kPk3r0WaYXZw

the first part of the trail is in the trees so i did not take many pictures.


TH sign


almost to the end of the dogs trail, St. Vrain is dead a head


stupid park rules, if you are hiking with the dogs and see this sign DO NOT KEEP GOING, you will be fined by a ranger, they hide out.


you must cross over the "hill" to the left to stay out of park boundaries.


Eddy and Limbaugh at the sign


final push


SUMMIT!








summit


it was so windy we did not stay long


pups wanted a snack!




heading back down





Till our next adventure...

How do you know exactly where the park boundaries are?

Also, lame rule.

they have sticks in the ground that show the boarder


This is the only pic i took that shows one on the left, just behind the big boulder. just need to stay to the correct side of it.

Beautiful pics Jenn, as always. Any idea as to why they have no dogs allowed rule? Just curious, it is a lame rule.
Texas Parks and Wildlife, as far as I know allow dogs on 6foot or less leash, but how on earth can you climb with a 6 foot leash, duh? we have a friend who works for TPW, and we have asked him if we can get some type of permit to use longer leash and or e-collar for us, he has seen how responsive Miya is to our verbal commands, so he is working on that for us. I hope he gets somewhere with that, doubtful, but I hope so. I've seen you pics as well, and see how responsive the 3 dogs that go with you are. i know that there are many, many dogs you can't do this with. It's obvious though that Jack and Sierra enjoy climbing and more importantly being with you, it's a shame we have to restrict that enjoyment.
Renee

One of these days I'm going to be in a place like this. So absolutely beautiful!! Also think the no dog rule is dumb.

This makes me really impatient to get out there

Beautiful hike!

Great pics, Jenn. What kind of birds were those? And the flowers in the last pic?

Our parks allow dogs on 6' leash, too. I just use my cobbled together 12 footer and if people are around, I hold onto the first 6 ft section, let him out longer when no one around.

Waiting for your next adventure - always a pleasure to see the pics (I forward the link to my kids...but maybe I shouldn't or they'll be moving to Colorado  )

Renee, i think it might be a national park rule that no dogs are aloud on trails. you can drive through the park with them in your car and camp with them but that is it, so its really pointless to go into the park with them. we used to have a park pass to RMNT till we got the dogs.
The bungee lead i have is i think 8-9' long for when we keep them leashed in the trees or on busy trails but once we get to tree line and it is safe we let them go, saves my body as well from the pulling.

For the new people this did not happen overnight, i spent a good 2yrs hiking with them leashed no matter what or where till they learned. then i tested them on short trips and at the time my hiking friend had 3-4 dogs with him and they were well behaved and S&J learned from them.  it is not for every dog.



Amy- birds are Ptarmigan's and no idea on the flowers, i really need a CO wildflower book to pack with me

My hope is that Ghost will be able to learn from S and J, but the thought legitimately does make me nervous. I don't know that Shadow will ever be able to do serious hikes, which may actually hamper our ability to go frequently.

(BTW, this talk is fine for here, but no mention of us moving on FB yet until things are more concrete)

Thanks for the info, Jenn - looked it up, its in the grouse family. I wonder what they eat up there - looks quite rocky and sparse.

I'm currently trying to identify a flower that's hugely abundant in the roadsides this year. For some reason, never noticed it before...

Yes, fair warning to Noobs, most dogs are not trustworthy and it takes massive amounts of training to achieve this, I apologize for not making myself clear on that.
Amy I'm guessing grouse, but they may be bob white quail. OOOps didn't read all of Jenns reply, I guess.

You know, I honestly just cannot imagine being that high above sea level when I live in a place that is close to BELOW sea level. Lol.

nice hike

how much is the fine for crossing the park border with dogs?

I think is well over $100, maybe up to $250, and that might be per dog... never looked into it.

Ashleigh, being this high in elevation is great, when I was back in PA and in NJ at the beach I was killing my workouts with all the "extra" oxygen. Damn humidity was killing me though.

Yes it still makes me miss being in Evergreen. Sometimes looking through the pictures my mind recreates the smell of the air. The picture of Limbaugh lying in the creek is a great one, makes me laugh!
As for the no dog rules; sorry folks but generations of pet owners before us(and many still today) have ruined it for us for now. I'm just waiting for the day the park I like to walk Maya in is closed to dogs. Poo bags are cheap and they have garbage cans, there is no reason to not clean up after your dog other than being irresponsible and lazy with no consideration for other people. It will be up to us to change things once again by being the responsible ones.
I have to admit though, I'm confused by all the picture signs that are posted around the park warning how terrible dog poo and children(it's all about the children) together are, a real health problem, but the geese poo is ten to fifteen times as prevalent as dog doo and nothing is done about that! Must be that it is organic, LOL!

Wonderful pictures Jenn, even though I am on the other side of the world it still makes me excited about the impending seasons (we are in the last month of winter) and I can't wait for hikes with Orion!
You are lucky that having a dog in a no dog area is simply a fine, here if you are caught with a dog on no dog land it is up to $500 for a leashed dog and if the dog is off lead it is legal for DOC workers to shoot on sight