14ers.com

Peak: South Boulder Peak (8549')
Date: Saturday, May 19, 2007
Team: krz2fer, ajkagy, Ryan (krz2fer's brother)
Route: Mesa TH
Roundtrip: 7 miles

We decided to attempt South Boulder after hearing about the steep incline and great workout. We were not disappointed. Arriving at the TH at about 8:30am we met up with ajakgy who was waiting for us. We quickly started up the trail and immediately marveled at the heat of the day. I ended up removing the zip offs from my pants and took a shirt layer off.

It wasn't too long before we got to the canyon area where the "stiff" hiking began (coined from Summit Post's description). The incline was never ending from this point on:



Summit Post reports this section of the trail is 1.1mi of incline but we all agreed if felt more like double. Our legs were definitely burning and taking a beating with this hike. ajkagy's GPS seemed to give never ending bad news as to where we were elevation wise as we couldn't see either South Boulder or Bear Peaks due to the tree cover we were in.

Finally reaching the saddle after a few stops to let our legs relax, we were welcomed with great views of Longs Peak:



We reached the summit at approximately 11:00am and took an obligatory photo. krz2fer, ajkagy, Ryan:



On the way down Ryan came across a "mountain wolf" that ended up being a large black dog, but nonetheless it received a chuckle. Gotta watch out for those wolves!

We all felt glad to get back to our cars and get out of there. The vertical gain on this hike is tremendous, and a must for a "stiff" workout We discussed dinner plans on the way back, and promised one another we'd reward ourselves later. Thanks to ajkagy for meeting up for a tough hike and good discussion.

so how bout that mountain wolf...that thing was a beast, haha

great hike to get the legs in shape.

I'll def vouch ... that's a healthy climb. Same as Bear Peak ... it's a BEAR! Quite a bit of elevation gain in a short amount of time.

Funny, Jeffro, Jen and I were not far from you guys today. We were just north on the First Flatiron. Jeff said he'll be posting a trip report (the first outdoor class 5 climb for Jen and I). Big doings. My muscles are exhausted and my brain is fried.

BTW, on our hike back down, I saw a white mountain wolf. Some sort of "mutt," as I was told. Very rare species, I think.

Aubrey wrote:BTW, on our hike back down, I saw a white mountain wolf. Some sort of "mutt," as I was told. Very rare species, I think.

Apparently it's a growing trend in that particular region Looking forward to your TR.