It has been quite a while since my friend Kelly and I have done a "–thon", a strenuous day of outdoor activities. We had been in touch and were trying to come up with ideas. I suggested hiking Saint Vrain Mountain, a Front Range peak on the border between Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness that isn't particularly high by Front Range standards but is in a somewhat different area from where we’ve hiked together before. It caught my eye in a book of hikes in northern Colorado I have in my collection. We got to talking about it with our mutual friends Gregton (Greg and Kipton) who also expressed some interest.

A weekday worked out well for all of us since I’m somewhat “leisure class”, Greg has recently become unemployed, Kipton and Kelly both work irregular schedules as an emergency room nurse and a firefighter . We met up early in the morning in Lyons to ride up to the trailhead together a short distance from Allenspark.

Saint Vrain Mountain is a relatively easy hike as far as Colorado peaks go. The peak is at only 12,152 feet, a baby compared to all the thirteeners and fourteeners around, but it is the highest peak for some distance around. The trailhead is at a quite low 8,900 feet, so it still involves a significant ascent of more than 3,200 feet, moderate for Colorado mountain men but extreme for flatlanders from the South or Midwest. The low starting elevation and timberline over 11,000 feet mean that much of the hike is in the forest, but it’s a good trail and the pines are pretty even if you don’t get expansive views until two hours or so into the hike. As usual I brought up the rear. Why I am always last? I’m really not in such bad shape!

The peak of Saint Vrain Mountain is fairly rounded with a pleasant mix of rockiness and tundra plants . Given the ease of the hike, the warm temperatures, and the brilliant sunshine with no apparent thunderstorm risk, the boys and I lingered for a long time napping on the summit, one we had virtually to ourselves on a Thursday. This is the life!

OK, I understand why I’m slower going uphill, but why am I the slow one heading downhill on a good trail? I’ll attribute it to Kelly’s and Greg’s legs being longer than mine. We got back to Kelly’s truck by about two in the afternoon and made a beeline for Lyons and the Oskar Blues Brewery. You can’t have a long day in the outdoors in Colorado without stopping at a microbrewery for a few pints afterwards. And sitting outside in the warm sunshine in Lyons felt especially good.