RockyMountainHikingTrails.com Adds 8 New Hikes

This past August/September Kathy and I spent a couple of weeks hiking in the San Juan Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park. In addition to making a few improvements to existing hikes already on our website (i.e., better photos), we also hiked 5 new trails which have been recently published to our website. Here's a quick rundown of the new hikes on our site:

Chapin / Chiquita / Ypsilon - after three unsuccessful attempts to hike the "CCY Route" due to bad weather, the 4th time was a finally a charm on this trip. As you might expect, with Ypsilon Mountain being the 5th highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, the views along much of this hike are simply outstanding. As a result, this hike has made our revised Top 10 Hikes list for the park.

Four Lakes Loop - as you might expect from the name, the so called 'Four Lakes Loop" visits four subalpine lakes in the Bear Lake area. It also visits the popular Alberta Falls along this spectacular and popular one-way loop hike.

Shadow Mountain Lookout - located just outside of Grand Lake on the west side of the park, this hike gives you the opportunity to visit that last remaining fire lookout in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Upper Beaver Meadows Loop - Expansive views of Longs Peak and the mountains along the Continental Divide await you from the montane grassy meadows along this one-way loop hike.

Bridal Veil Falls - Although not very well known, Bridal Veil Falls is a surprisingly nice waterfall located a few miles north of Estes Park. The hike begins from the historic McGraw Ranch.


Other Colorado Hikes:

In addition to the 10 days we spent in Rocky Mountain National Park, we also spent a few days hiking in the San Juan Mountains in the Ouray area. I’ve often said that the San Juan Mountains could easily qualify as a national park, and if included, would definitely rank as one of the crown jewels in the entire national park system. Two of the hikes we "discovered" on this trip, Ice Lakes and Black Face Mountain, proved my point once again:

Ice Lakes - Ice Lake is the most brilliant blue color I’ve ever seen in nature. Combine this extraordinarily beautiful alpine lake with outstanding mountain scenery and several thousand wildflowers, and you have one of the best hikes found just about anywhere.

Black Face Mountain - Although Black Face Mountain may look fairly nondescript from the top of Lizard Head Pass, don't be deceived - the views from the summit are quite stunning.

Ouray Perimeter Trail - Most of the trails in the San Juan Mountains lead to or traverse fairly high elevations. The Ouray Perimeter Trail offers hikers the opportunity to acclimate before hitting the more scenic trails in the surrounding area. In addition to enjoying the mountain scenery around "Switzerland of America", this hike offers visitors the chance to learn more about the rich history of Ouray.



Jeff
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Fatality On Longs Peak Recovery Efforts Complete

At 10:30 p.m. Friday night, October 2, Rocky Mountain National Park rangers were notified that Spencer Veysey, 26, of Missoula, Montana was overdue. He had been planning to summit Longs Peak. It was unclear what route he was intending to take to the summit.

After he failed to return by Saturday morning, park rangers searched areas of the Keyhole Route as well as near Chasm Lake. Rangers experienced icy conditions during search efforts. Late Saturday afternoon, park rangers found Veysey's body at the bottom of Lambs Slide on the east face of Longs Peak. Rangers stayed at the Chasm Shelter, near his body last night.

Yesterday morning rangers prepared his body for transport. His body was flown from the scene to a landing spot at Upper Beaver Meadows at approximately 11:30 a.m. yesterday, and transferred to the Boulder County Coroner. 



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
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Rocky Mountain National Park Seeking Information Regarding Low Flying Aircraft

On Friday, September 25th, at approximately 5:30 p.m. an ultralight aircraft flew low in the area of Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. Park rangers are reaching out to the public for any information pertaining to this incident. They are interested in speaking with witnesses or anyone who might have photographs or videos of the aircraft.

If you have any information related to this incident please call Rocky Mountain National Park's Communications Center at (970) 586-1204.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
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Pike and San Isabel National Forests Conducting Customer Satisfaction Survey

The Pike and San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC) will be conducting the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) project beginning today, October 1, 2015. Forest managers expect to interview nearly 4,000 visitors over the next year for valuable insight into the perspectives of people who enjoy these national treasures.

“We are very excited about this survey since it’s a voice directly from the people we serve. The results will tell us the thoughts and expectations of our national forest and grassland visitors,” said Forest and Grassland Supervisor Erin Connelly.

The NVUM project will also gather input from outfitters and guides as well as lodging facilities, campgrounds, and ski areas to complement this comprehensive study. In addition to customer satisfaction, these short interviews provide land managers with relevant statistics as they establish funding priorities. It is conducted in five year intervals and this marks the fourth survey of its kind.

The PSICC hosts over six million entries annually.



Jeff
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Rocky Mountain National Park Increases Entrance And Camping Fees

Beginning today, October 1st, Rocky Mountain National Park is increasing entrance fees in order to fund important maintenance and improvement projects within the park. Because of Rocky's proximity to the populated Colorado Front Range, the park will be adding a single day pass to the existing option of fees. This "Day Use Pass" will be $20 while the weekly pass will increase to $30 for those visitors who intend to enjoy the park for multiple days. The annual park pass will increase to $50 and eventually increase to $60 by 2017. Campground fees will also increase to $18 a night for winter rates and $26 a night for summer rates. Campground fees are based on comparable fees for similar services in nearby campgrounds.

Officials state that they are committed to keeping Rocky Mountain National Park affordable and providing visitors with the best possible experience. They point out that this fee increase is still an incredible value when considering other family and recreational experiences one can enjoy. Plus, 80 percent of those funds stay right in Rocky to benefit visitors. As the park culminates the celebration of Rocky's Centennial, these funds will be critical as they move forward into the next one hundred years.

Entrance fees have supported a wide range of projects that improve the park and visitor experiences, including renovating all campground restroom facilities, rehabilitating and maintaining approximately 100 of the park's 350 miles of trails, replacing trailhead signs, replacing picnic tables throughout the park, mitigating hazard trees in or near park facilities such as campgrounds, parking lots, road corridors and visitor centers, and operating the park's visitor shuttle bus system.

In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees. Rocky Mountain National Park staff solicited public input beginning in October 2014. During the public comment period, the park received 95 formal comments that were related to the park's proposed fee changes. Based on comments received, there was significantly more support for the proposed fee rate changes than opposed. Park visitors seem to be highly supportive of fees in general and making the connection with the park's effort in providing tangible benefits to visitors through fee revenue.

The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) is the legislation under which the park currently collects entrance and amenity fees. This law allows parks to retain 80 percent of the fees collected for use on projects that directly benefit visitors. The remaining 20 percent is distributed throughout the National Park System. Since the beginning of FLREA and its predecessor program Fee Demo, the park has spent over $66 million in repairs, renovations, improvements and resource restoration.

Rocky Mountain National Park is a strong economic engine for the surrounding area. In 2014, more than 3.4 million park visitors spent $217 million and supported 3,382 jobs, which had a cumulative benefit to the economy of $329 million.

In January 2005, Rocky Mountain National Park was the last of the larger size parks in the Intermountain Region to adopt the $20 per vehicle weekly rate. That same year the annual pass increased to $35, and to $40 in 2009, the last year of any increase in fees. Last year, Rocky Mountain National Park was the fifth most visited national park in the United States.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
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