KD isn't a huge fan of hiking mountains and she was at a church camp so the rest of the family made a day trip to hike a walkup 13er up I-70. Golden bear is a great family hike with a gradual trail or grassy tundra the whole way. Once you leave the parking lot, the sounds of the interstate are quickly replaced by the sounds of nature. Kolbs is such a curious guy and was asking questions the whole time as we leisurely walked up the switchbacks toward the saddle of Coon Hill and Golden Bear. There were tons of animals and wildlife along the route as we quickly came to a few short snowfield crossings...Cami's favorite:
It took under 3 hours to summit with breaks and snacks along the way. The day was pretty nice, so I decided to head over a connecting ridge to Hagar. I told the family I would give myself a one hour deadline to reach the summit or I'd turn around so they wouldn't have to wait on me too long. Moving as quickly as I could without getting too uncomfortable, I was just able to make it in under that deadline. The last push up Hagar is not so gentle, but steep and loose. The final summit pitch had some fun scrambling at the top.
 |
| Golden Bear Summit |
 |
| Looking up at Hagar with the Citadel on the right |
