Skiing And Hiking Day

Saturday I enjoyed a day of mixed activities: I skied a few turns at Loveland Ski Area in the morning, then spent the rest of the day in Summit County taking advantage of the summer-like weather, and hiked the Mount Royal trail near Frisco.

Loveland opened for the ski season a little over a week ago. They now have five trails open (Catwalk, Spillway, Richard's Run, Mambo, Home Run) which comprise two main routes downhill, covered with some natural snow augmented by snowmaking. I recorded my ski visit on a GPS receiver, and found I skied 18 laps in 3 hours, for 32,000 feet of downhill (yes I am a data junkie).


The track recording seems to have skipped around on the lower part of the trail, but clearly shows the lift ride up (left side) and various trips down the two main routes downhill (right side). Although the trail selection is limited this early in the season, it's fun to be on the snow again.

For early season, conditions were excellent. The snow was well groomed, soft, and consistent all the way down. Spillway trail got a bit scraped by mid-morning because it is relatively steep, but it softened up after the sun hit the slopes and the air became warmer. Here is the view over Spillway towards the Continental Divide.


Afterwards I headed to Frisco for lunch and to hike a trail I had passed many times and was curious about: Mount Royal (or Royal Mountain depending on the map). This mountain is the first prominence on the north end of the Tenmile Range, and towers over the Main Street area of Frisco. The trailhead is off the bike path near the end of Aspen Drive:


I started jogging up (because I can rarely resist running) but my winter boots, recent lunch, injured toe, and the overall steepness convinced me to hike it instead. Views of Mount Guyot and Bald Mountain along the way were great:


The trail passes old mining sites, and then winds steeply up a valley to the summit ridge, where you can see down into the canyon to I-70, Officer's Gulch, and the Gore Range. Here is a view over the other side, to the west:


With the help of momentum, I managed to run down in boots, not the best tools for the task, but still fun. The temperature was around 55 and sunny, which made it warm when there was no wind, but still pleasant with a breeze. The weather is a nice break from the recent cold snap, and something to savor before snowier weather sets in for good.