|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 6.50 Miles |
1,585 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.50 Miles | 3 Hrs 40 Mns | | 1.86 mph |
| 1,585 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Looking for something to do in Telluride and didn't want to deal with the ski crowd, so headed up Bear Creek. Saw it in the summer years ago, but it seemed like it could be a fun snow option, without being too serious. The beginning was pretty promising, with nice weather and an established path in the snow. Saw just a handful of other people back there, and a skier or two.
Once we got to the big boulder a quarter mile or so before the falls, we headed up the one steep stretch of trail, just to find out that the path ended in waist deep snow. Given the last part of the trail is on a steeper slope, I decided trying to get closer to the falls on the official trail would be a mess. So we went back down to the boulder and headed up the road grade that continues on the opposite side of the creek.
This involved some trudging through deep snow, and we did give up after a hundred yards or so, but we got close enough to see the falls frozen all the way across, which was pretty cool.
When we got back down to Telluride, we decided to proceed across town for a quick visit to Cornet Falls. This proved to be considerably more treacherous, given a much steeper trail that was covered in ice much of the way. This frozen waterfall was really impressive, especially when you go behind it.
Getting back down to Telluride was an adventure (despite only being a quarter mile or so); there was one stretch of trail that got so bad going down that I turned around and considered trudging up the steep slope to Jud Weibe, but decided on just following the creek down to where a fall off the trail would be less consequential. This involved one thigh deep plunge into the creek and some mild bushwhacking, but ultimately worked out. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
At one point about 3/4 up the trail you come to an area of cairns....literally hundreds of cairns. We called it Hobbit Land...another couple were hiking to that area seeking what they'd heard as "Little Hawaii." It's strange, but a fun place to take a break (and add to the collection). The first time we did this hike was in November 2013 and we show shoed to the lower falls. This time we went up to the upper falls - amazing water fall!! You can get under the falls if you want. We liked this so much we hiked it again with our friends a couple days later.
