Hiking Chautauqua Park - Boulder Colorado - Up the flatirons

in #nature7 years ago (edited)

20170618_153914.jpg


My first post! I thought i should start with some great pictures. Little bit of background story: I was in Denver, Colorado(USA) for two weeks because of work. Our headquarters is located in Broomfield, Colorado which is about 15minutes by car from Chautauqua park. After spending a lazy Saterday recovering from the booze (note to self: booze and heights don't mix) i thought it would be good to do one of the 'famous' hikes in the Colorado area.

A quick Google search and stuffing my bag with bottles of water i called upon my (uber) ride there.

Typically me i did not research anything up front, i just looked at some nice pictures and went there. Full with courage i stepped out of the uber cab. Only to be greeted by this view and 38 degrees celcius of sunburn (thats 100 fahrenheit for you over the pond people).


20170618_134014.jpg


I totally needed to get up there! Being Dutch (and living below the sea level) means we have no mountains. So it was a bit steeper then anticipated... but hey i wouldn't let this get to me right?

20170618_135034.jpg

I'll just follow the locals:
20170618_135910.jpg

Rocks (yes i was excited):
20170618_140855.jpg

You can see where i started from here, still a way to go though.
20170618_141120.jpg

This guy just posed for it:
20170618_151310.jpg

More steepness:20170618_145759.jpg

View over Boulder:
20170618_150656.jpg


Somewhere between these two points i got lost... i totally missed a sign going left and i went up right. Needless to say it did not went well haha. After 30 minutes thinking this is way too hard for anyone with no experience to climb up, i finally saw a (local) guy with his two dogs. I asked for directions only to hear that he also did not know where to go.. great! Finally backtrailing myself a bit (and the help of Google maps (thanks work for covering mobile data)) i went up the trail again.

More Rocks:
20170618_152104.jpg
Getting up there:
20170618_152615.jpg

I really wonder how these are formed. So interesting :D
20170618_154234.jpg
20170618_153655.jpg

Finally the view! (Rocky Mountains in the background):
20170618_153914.jpg

The Second flat iron:
20170618_152608.jpg

Climbing down (ofcourse i did not bring the right shoes):
20170618_160641.jpg

Bye Flat Irons!
20170618_162453.jpg


If you ever go here please make sure you bring a lot of water. If you are not used to these heights (Boulder itself is allready 1 mile up there) bring more water!
Sort:  

Awesome pictures! Nice story :) <3

I was transported by the beautiful story and by these magical landscapes
Nature is so sublime

Thank you!

Awesome Photos mate.

Great pictures pal

home sweet home... I smoked weed there, and there, and there, and there... :p

Thanks for the great pics! Looks pretty amazing there :)

Thanks, was definitely a nice expierence. Really want to do other trails when i'm there next time.

Nice photos of the trails in Boulder. I went to Boulder last summer and was only in the city. I went on one hike near the city. It's beautiful there. So many ethnic places to eat at. I am moving to Fort Collins in a couple months. I know Boulder isn't too far from Fort Collins. I'm from California and your pictures can help explain why I want to be in Colorado, haha.

Thanks for the awesome pictures, and congrats to your first blog. I am also newer. Going to follow and upvote. Welcome to the community!

Yeah i went to eat to proto's after. Really good Mexican food. Haven't been to Fort collins yet, its a bit north right? I really love the nature and the laid back atmosphere of the people there, though i could not compare it to anything else as i've only been to Colorado in the US so far. Planning on a California / South West trip next year. Maybe we can share some tips ;)

Yea Fort Collins is about 45 miles north of Denver. About 2 hours away from Boulder I think. Its lovely there. As far as Southern California goes try to wait until summer is over cause it's burning and dry, haha. We have a great winter and spring here, though they are rather short sometimes.

This post is great. Since you are new on Steemit, I guess it will be overlooked, I have to resteem it.

Thank you so much! Appreciate it :)

I went up that same trail this past spring! I loved it! Following and upvoting. Looking forward to more of your trips!

Yeah its a nice trail to do. I did not really know where to go, only that i wanted to go up the big rock!

That looks like a really fun climb up a badass mountain! I've gotta do more hiking out there in Colorado. I haven't done much out there yet.

really nice pic, but i think I like different travel :D not same :)