We went for a walk the other day and noticed several new things.  First, the finished trail and fences on the south side.  They look really good and I’m sure after a while when the grass grows it’ll be great!  Hopefully, the fence will last and people won’t break it down.  In case you were one of the folks who cut the trail all the time, It’s really not good to cut it.  It kills the grass and causes erosion and looks pretty bad.  So please, everyone, be cool.  The fence looks great!

Also, noticed that Evergreen Parks and Recreation put a LOT of effort into removing much of the pond seaweed with boats, rakes and trucks.  Notice the huge piles on the shore in the gallery below.

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I went for a walk around the lake last night and took a few pictures.  It was a really nice walk; the weather was perfect, the lake was smooth and there were lots of people enjoying the evening. The park and rec district is doing some nice work on the trail around the lake.  Smoothing it out, widening in places, adding more gravel where there’s usually standing water after a rain, rebuilding some rock walls and trying to close the makeshift trail that people have blazed cutting the switchback on the south side of the lake.

They’ve put up two fences, one at the top and one at the bottom, but people have decided to ignore that and trample the fence down and just walk right over it. It’s really too bad that people don’t have the respect for our lake, trail and the Parks and Recreation Districts work to protect and maintain a good trail system.

As I said, the walk around the lake was really beautiful, including a really nice wedding at the Evergreen Lake house (for reservations, please call the Lake House at 720.880.1311).  Have a look at this small gallery and let us know how you like to enjoy the lake.

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I took a walk the other day around the lake.  The sun was out and the weather was really great!  The lake was about to close and unfortunately, it is now closed.  We had a great winter of ice skating and playing on the ice and snowy walks.  This is the first time in a long time that I felt the winter went by so quickly.  In fact I wish we still had more time to ice skate.  I just hope that the ski season doesn’t end so quickly.

Here’re some photos from my walk.

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While hiking around the woods and hills of Genesee this weekend on a training, we came across someone’s cemetery for their pets. Of the 3 crosses, one didn’t look like there was anything on it and another was dated 2001 and the third was dated 2005, so they’ve been here a while.

I wonder about the family that found this special, mostly private place for their pets final resting place and hope that it has brought them some peace.  It’s a very nice place – secluded and very peaceful…  And I’ve already forgotten how to get there.

Tory, Brandi and unknown - final resting place

Apples on the apple tree at Evergreen Lake

So who would have ever thought or knew there was an apple tree at Evergreen lake.  I wouldn’t have believed it myself had I not actually walked up to it and picked an apple!  Of course, it’s so close to the road and the apples don’t look too great, but it’s there, and apparently has been there for many years. There are a lot of dead branches lower down, and it’s obviously not been taken care of.

I’ve walked around the lake many, many times over the years and never noticed it until it was noticed by my mother-in-law and a friend while they were birding the other day.  They never noticed it either, but it’s not surprising because it’s not on the trail or near where anyone would walk.  Long time resident, Sylvia Brockner says it’s been there since at least the 60′s.  Does anyone know more story about this?

If you drive by the lake on Hwy 74, you see this tree every time.  As you come down the hill to the lake from the north, just after you pass the turn off to Upper Bear, you’ll see it hanging over the guardrail on the lake side of the highway. But, you can’t tell it’s an apple tree unless you check it out up close.

Here’s a Google Map showing the location of the tree.

View Larger Map

A few weeks ago, we were looking for a new place to hike near Evergreen as we’d hiked out 3 Sisters, Elk Meadow and Evergreen Lake. Then we saw the Mt. Evans Elk Management Area highlighted online.  We’d never heard of this and thought it would be a really fun place to check out.  We weren’t disappointed.

Here’s a small Gallery:

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We only went on a short section; maybe a mile or 2 in, but it was really fabulous. Great views, easy walking for the kids, a wonderful creek to walk along and wade in. It was a short walk up the hill and through the gate, then down the other side among a ton of wildflowers. Down the other side were two old chimneys from old homesteads and lots and lots of wild raspberries!

Eventually, the trail starting winding up after it crossed the creek, but this is where we turned back. I’d love to come back on a bike and have a chance to get out much farther. I’d also love to explore more of the trail systems here as we only headed out in one direction.

To get there, take Upper Bear Creek Road to Witter Gulch and look for the signs. You won’t be sorry!

Hidden Fawn Train in 3 Sisters Open Space Park - Evergreen, CO - September 5, 2009.

A great hike today at Three Sisters around the Hidden Fawn Trail.  As you can tell, it was a beautiful day!  It’s hard to believe it’s September already and the Aspens are starting to turn.  It seems way too soon for it to be September.  Fortunately, the wonderful weather now is making up for all the rain we had earlier in the summer.

The Hidden Fawn Trail is 1.2 miles and is relatively flat and easy to do for small children.  We had our 2 and they did awesome on it!  It’s also a great mountain bike ride and we saw a lot of bikers going around it in addition to some other hikers.  I think this will be my next warm up mountain bike ride this weekend.  Then up and over the sisters for a bit more of a challenge.  Then probably across the highway up Evergreen Mountain for a good work out of the day!

We went for a late hike yesterday to Three Sisters to walk around the meadow look and let the kids climb on the rocks.  We had a great time!  I also found out for the first time that this time of year the meadow is FULL of beautiful, wild, Purple Iris!  They were incredibly stunning and I have never seen them growing in the wild before and I would highly recommend going out there soon to see them. (also saw some bluebirds too!)

The trail we were on was the Bluebird Meadow and Wild Iris Loop from the upper (west) parking lot off of Buffalo Park Road.  This is a great place to start hiking as it pretty gentle and out in the open and you have good access to the 3 Sisters and the Brother.

The Alderfer/Three Sisters Park has 770 acres of open space and over 10 miles of trail for hiking and mountain biking and connects to the Evergreen Recreation District property.   There are some really nice short loops that you can do late in the day after work and some longer loops you can do for a good half day experience.

The spectacular views from the Sisters and the Brother include views of town, and Evergreen Lake.

To contact Jefferson County Open Space:

Open Space
700 Jefferson County Parkway
Golden, CO 80401
303-271-5925

Office Hours:
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Monday – Friday

For a copy of the Alderfer / 3 Sisters trail map from Jefferson County Open Space, Click here.