Weather permitting, there will be a hike on Sunday, June 7th. Chautauqua Trail 715. This is a relatively newly discovered trail. It starts on the south west edge of the town of Palmer Lake and heads towards Mount Herman. There are short sections that the trail is extremely steep (in some locations to avoid walking in Monument Creek). Overall the trail has a relatively gradual incline. I would rate this trail as intermediate in difficulty. We can decide as a group how far we would like to go up this beautiful valley (or to the top of Mount Herman).

Weather permitting, there will be a hike on Sunday, May 17th. The hike will be a portion of the Monument Creek headwaters area. If you go to google earth and home in on 39° 4'35.33"N and 104°59'17.35"W you are right at the junction of Balanced rock road (reached via Rampart range Rd up from Woodland Park) and a spur that leads down into one of the headwaters tributaries. The plan is to walk along the pretty valley to the large rock formation about 2 miles to the NE and then return to our cars by a slightly different route, using the google earth image to navigate.

The latest weather reports indicate a good chance for snow over the Palmer Divide on Saturday. If that happens the proposed hike up past Woodland Park and Rampart Range Road may not be a good option for now. Another possible hike is going to Red Rocks and explore some areas that are off the main area. I recently started a Red Rocks hike off 31st street a bit south of highway 24. I propose that we meet at the parking lot decribed below and decide where to hike on Sunday morning. Therefore we have two options:

Hike 1) Red Rocks OR

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Sunday, February 1st has been cancelled. The weather forecast is not very good for Sunday and Georgianne and I are no longer available for a hike on Saturday.

Rich (594-4506)

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Sunday will be the Bear Creek Regional Trail, which starts from the south east corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot on South 8th street and heads west towards Bear Creek Nature Center. I consider this a moderately easy hike. The hike will start at 10 AM.

Due to the number of people on the hike, it is extremely useful to me if I know who plans on attending the hike.

Rich (594-4506)

The hike this Saturday will be the Columbine Trail, which starts from the Starsmore Center and heads west towards Helen Hunt Falls in Cheyenne Canyon. The difficulty level of this hike is a little more difficult than Waldo Canyon Trail and is about 12 miles round trip. You do not have to do the entire hike and can decide individually or in small groups how far you want to go up the trail. The Starsmore Center, is located west of the intersection of Evans Ave., West Cheyenne Blvd., North Cheyenne Canyon Road and South Cheyenne Canyon Road (which leads to Seven Falls).

The hike this Saturday will be Section 16 - also know as the Palmer loop trail. This is a easy to moderate hike to go up but quite steep coming back down. There is also a very nice side trail overlooking Crystal Park that we will probably want to take.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Sunday will be the Bear Creek Trail to Jones Park. This is a relatively difficult hike with a significant elevation gain. If there is desire, we could go beyond Jones park towards the beaver ponds or to Frosty Park.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Sunday morning will be the Front Range Trail. This trail is also know as the Santa Fe Trail. We would be starting this hike from the park-n-ride at Woodmen Road and heading north into the Air Force Academy. This is an extremely easy hike. The length of the hike will depend on the participants.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Sunday morning will be the Rock Island Trail. We will be starting close to North Murray Blvd. and Constitution Ave and heading east towards Powers Blvd. The trail goes along the Old (now abandoned) Rock Island Railroad track for a mile or so and stops at Powers Blvd. The hike would have very little elevation gain and is by far one of the easiest hikes in the area. For an in town hike, it is actually rather scenic.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Saturday will be Bear Creek Trail to Jones Park. This is a relatively difficult hike with a significant elevation gain.

Palmer Park Trail, Sunday, March 30th. We would be starting the hike at a small parking lot off Paseo Road and winding our way up to the top of the park. Then returning back to the parking lot. The paths taken will depend on the desires of the group that attends this hike. I consider this hike a relatively easy hike. The trail may be icy and/or muddy in spots. To get to the parking lot from Union Blvd, go east on Circle Drive to the first left turn onto Paseo Road. You will be entering Palmer Park in about 0.8 mile.

Waldo Canyon Trail and beyond, Saturday, March 29th. This hike is for extremely fit hikers ONLY. We will start the hike by doing part of the Waldo Canyon loop and then head up to Rampart Range Road on a very steep trail. We will head north on Rampart Range Road then go down a different very steep trail to Cascade. From there we will go back up yet another trail to a saddle between Cascade and Waldo Canyon and then head back down to Waldo Canyon. Then we will finish the Waldo Canyon loop. There are spots of ice, mud and snow (up to 1 to 2 feet deep) on parts of the trail.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

The hike this Saturday, March 15th will be the Homestead Trail which I consider a moderately easy hike. There should be no ice or snow on the trail. It is one of the most interesting "city" hikes that I have come across. The hike starts from North Penrose Park then climbs up to the top of a ridge that winds around the east part of town, passing thru Village Seven and Old Farm. After several miles, the trail ends at Stetson Hills Blvd just a bit west of Powers Blvd.

Rich (594-4506)

Hi Freethinking Hikers,

There may be a hike on Sunday, March 9th depending on the weather.

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

There will be a hike this coming Saturday, March 1st starting at 10:00 AM. We will meet at the parking lot just south of an outhouse (closed in winter) located at 3650 Mark Dabling Blvd. (Yes the address is on the small building.) It is 0.7 miles north of Fillmore St. and 0.9 miles south of Garden of the Gods Rd. on the west side of the street. We will head south on the Front Range Trail for a short distance to the Templeton Gap Trail then head east towards Palmer Park.

Rich (594-4506)

A total lunar eclipse will occur on February 20, 2008 beginning with a partial eclipse at 1843 (6:43 PM) MST, reaching totality between 2001 (8:01 PM) and 2051 (8:51 PM) and ending at 2201 (10:01 PM).

Hi Hiking Freethinkers,

There will be a hike this coming Sunday, Feb. 24th starting at 9:30 AM. The hike starts from the south end of the Wal-Mart parking lot on South 8th street (a few blocks south of highway 24) and heads west towards Bear Creek Nature Center. The difficulty level of this hike is much easier than Waldo Canyon Trail but more difficult than Sinton Trail (a recent past hike).

Rich (594-4506)

Hi Freethinking hikers,

The hike this Sunday will be a trail that starts close to the Equestrian Center (just off of Rio Grande St. west of 8th St.) and heads west towards Bear Creek Nature Center. The difficulty level of this hike is easier than Waldo Canyon Trail but more difficult that Sinton Trail (last Saturday). Bringing snacks for lunch may be a good idea depending on the length of the hike.

Rich (594-4506)

There will be a hike Saturday morning, Feb. 9th, starting at 9:AM. We will meet at the parking lot just south of an outhouse (closed in winter) located at 3650 Mark Dabling Blvd. (Yes the address is on the small building.) The hike will start on the Front Range Trail heading south. In a short distance, we will be head west on Sinton Trail. There is almost no elevation gain on this hike. I rate this hike as extremely easy. Due to the number of hikers, it is extremely helpful for me to know who plans on attending the hike. Rich (594-4506)