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Dave Spates

Dave Spates

Hiking. Adventure. Photography.

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Hiking

Hiking 30 Miles Alone in the Lost Creek Wilderness

August 26, 2021 by davespates Leave a Comment

Adventurous backpacker standing on a boulder pointing a camera towards the wilderness landscape

Hiked 32 miles in the Lost Creek Wilderness, near Baily, Colorado, on August 21st, 2021. I started this hike from the Lost Creek trailhead next to the Lost Creek Campground. Access to this trailhead is achieved by driving down a 19 mile dirt road that is directly off of US Highway 285. The dirt road […]

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Mount Sanitas – a Great Winter Hike near Denver

January 5, 2021 by Emily Leave a Comment

Sunrise winter Mount Sanitas

Cold temps and predicted snowfall prevented a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, but we still geared up at 6:30AM to hike the 3.5 mile loop trail to summit Mount Sanitas in Boulder, CO. I have done this hike several times in the summer, but this was my first winter excursion.

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Golden Gate State Park – Windy Peak Trail Hike

November 30, 2020 by Emily Leave a Comment

Dave Spates at the top of Windy Peak

With a limited time frame on Saturday 11/21, we took a 50 minute drive to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Nestled along Crawford Gulch between Golden and Black Hawk, this is a great hike near Denver. Our destination for the day was Windy Peak, a 6.8 mile loop. There are several paths leading to this […]

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Mount Flora Colorado 13er Summit Day Hike

November 3, 2020 by Emily Leave a Comment

Hiking Trail Mount Flora

One more Colorado 13er in the books for 2020, to break up the drive to Grand Lake we stopped at Berthoud Pass to tackle Mount Flora (13,127 ft). We departed from Denver at the luxurious time of 7:30AM, and arrived at the trailhead just before 9am. Weather conditions were ideal for mid-October and the parking […]

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Hiking to the Highest Named Lake in the USA | Pacific Tarn

October 8, 2020 by Emily 2 Comments

View of Pacific Tarn and the ridge to Pacific Peak summit

Saturday 9/26/2020 we took a well-deserved break from Rocky Mountain National Park and instead traveled the two hours to White River National Forest to bag the highest named lake in the continental United States. – Pacific Tarn (13,420 ft). The lake lies at the base of 13er Pacific Peak (13,957 ft); the hike to Pacific […]

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Colorado 13er Mount Parnassus (13,580′) Hike – Spring Time

July 3, 2020 by davespates Leave a Comment

Dave Spates landscape photographer on the summit of Mt Parnassus

May 17th 2020 found us at the Watrous Gulch Trailhead just off 70 West; the plan was to summit Mount Parnassus, standing at 13,580 feet. Being right of I70, this is a great 13er to tackle because of the easy access. We hadn’t been on this trail before and we arrived at the trailhead after […]

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Bear Peak Hike from NCAR – Boulder Colorado

June 30, 2020 by davespates Leave a Comment

Dave Spates gives a thumbs up, right below Bear Peak, wearing a goPro headmount

Hiked to Bear Peak in Boulder on May 25th, 2020. Bear Peak stands at 8,458ft and is the tallest peak in Boulder. From NCAR it’s around 6.2 miles with roughly 2,800ft of elevation gain. This makes Bear Peak a great mountain to climb for those that aren’t quite ready to tackle Colorado’s 14ers yet. One […]

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Browns Creek Waterfall Trail – Spring

June 27, 2020 by davespates Leave a Comment

Dave Spates at Browns Creek falls, spring time

We hiked Browns Creek Trail to the waterfall on June 6th 2020. The original plan Sunday was to double up 14ers Belford and Oxford but weather was not in our favor; wind gusts were predicted to be around 40 miles per hour. I’ve planned enough hikes to see them not fall through for one reason […]

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Chicago Lakes Trail from Echo Lake Park in the Mt. Evans Wilderness

June 25, 2020 by davespates Leave a Comment

Low angle reflections on Upper Chicago Lake taken during the spring in Mt evans wilderness

  Hiked to Chicago Lakes from Echo Lake on May 14th, 2020. Idaho Springs, Colorado boasts many popular hiking destinations such as Echo Lake, 14er Mount Evans, and our exercise for the day, the Chicago Lakes Trail.

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Mt. Morrison South Ridge Trail Hike

December 7, 2019 by davespates Leave a Comment

View from the summit of Mt Morrison, in the front range of Colorado

Completed the Mt. Morrison South Ridge Trail Hike, located in Morrison, Colorado, mid November of 2019. At just under 2 mile one way to the summit of Mt. Morrison, with an elevation gain of over 1,900′, this hike is a butt burner, especially in the snow.

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