Mount Galbraith (Golden, CO) – trailmap
Trails traveled: Cedar Gulch Trail, Mt. Galbraith Loop, Difficulty: Blue (Moderate)
Lollipop, 4.2 miles round-trip
Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Weather: 75 °F, Partly Cloudy

Hike Recap:

• Summit
• Wildflowers
• Butterflies
• Small parking lot
• Crickets
• Overlooks
• Cliffs

This hike was actually a little harder than I thought it would be and it took a little longer than normal. I purposefully took my time a little more on this hike in order to really soak in the beautiful sights and sounds I encountered. There are a few parts with steeper grades, most of the hike is rocky, but with all the rain (and snow) we’ve received recently, the wildflowers were out in full force.

The wildflowers really were the main attraction today. They drew out the butterflies too, fluttering around doing their glorious pollination work over the slopes on the side of the foothills. In addition to the beautiful wildflowers that seemed to spring up everywhere without rhyme or reason, the slopes of the foothills I climbed were very green.

I know what you are thinking… of course they are green. Here, in Colorado, the sides of the mountains have pine trees that make them look green, but other than a few weeks in Spring before the Summer heat and Sun kills all the grass, green grass is a rarity. Most of the year, the green is an amber yellow color in the mountains, which is pretty much dead. That becomes a problem in the Summer because the dead grass becomes kindling for wildfires that seem crop up every year nowadays.

Back to my hike… Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed all the greenery of Spring on my hike. The beauty of the many shades of green all melding together was cause for reflection and pause to admire the wonder of the Earth and all the parts of Creation.

I am so glad I decided to go out for this hike today. The forecast looks like gray, rainy, cloudy the next few days, which is the other side of the coin during the springtime in Colorado. It’s either amazingly perfect weather like today, or dreary, snow-rain mix that no one enjoys.

– Jason