Chief Mountain

January 10, 2021

Hike 3/52

#52hikechallenge #52hikechallenge2021

I originally planned to go on a different hike on Saturday, but after a not so great ending to my Friday, I had to come up with a new one. I had to get my car repaired on Saturday, after sitting broken down on the side of the highway for 4 hours (waiting for AAA...such a nightmare) on Friday after work. Thankfully, I got my 4Runner back Saturday evening, and was able to get outdoors on Sunday!

I wanted to go on a hike that was relatively closed to Denver and wasn't really long. Chief Mountain was the perfect hike! It was an easy drive from Denver and it was a gorgeous bluebird day! We got a fresh coat of powder the night before and it blanketed the trees. The road leading up to the trailhead was covered in packed down snow, so I turned my 4 wheel drive on. I drove slowly up the mountain road, but it was an easy drive! There was a Prius heading up the road that was pulled over to put chains on, so if you don't have 4WD, and the road is covered in snow, this may not be a hike you want to try. After going several miles up the road, you'll pass Echo Mountain, and you'll park on the side of the road. There is no parking lot and we parked in 8-10" of snow. Again, if you do not have a 4WD vehicle, or know how to drive in the snow, this is probably not a good hike for you.

We got out of the car, put our microspikes on, and headed off! It was a pretty steady incline, but it wasn't anything crazy steep. There were a few areas where it was easy to get off trail, due to tracks in the snow, but they looped back up with the actual trail so it wasn't a big deal. About halfway up, there was a spot off to the right where we stopped because it had the most incredible views. To be honest, I'm not sure this hike would be as pretty in the summertime. The snow on the mountains was beautiful.

We continued up the trail, the trees started to thin out, and we made our way to the top. The views were beautiful!! The evergreens were glistening with snow in the distance, there wasn't much wind, and the sun was shining.

It was an easy hike down! It took maybe 30-45 minutes, max, to make our way back down to the car. This was the perfect short hike for a much needed day in the mountains!