Trail of the Week: Mount Galbraith & the Cedar Gulch Trail

Well, I’m back at school in Kansas City after wrapping the summer with a trip to Colorado’s Front Range. Instead of writing a lengthy trip report, I’ll just use several blog posts to touch on the significant runs or climbs from that awesome week. Jessica, Alyena, Ayden, and I rolled into Westminster on a Saturday (nine hours by car from KC - with two toddlers!) and by 0530 Sunday morning I was running on a trail in the mountains just outside of Golden. By trip's end I had bagged four summits (two 14’ers), ran a ton of miles and had a blast with Jessica and the kids doing “touristy” stuff. So, let’s start in Golden Colorado with a Trail of the Week…

Mount Galbraith (elev. 7260 ft.), sits on the northwest side of Golden across hwy 6 from Mount Zion (a popular Para-glider launch point). It’s flanked by Clear Creek Canyon on one side and Golden Gate Canyon on the other. From what I was told, the trail can get pretty crowded on the weekends due to its proximity to Golden, Denver, and Arvada; but on that Sunday morning I had it all to myself.  The trailhead is in Galbraith State Park on Golden Gate Canyon road about a mile west of Hwy 93. It took about 15-minutes to get there from Westminster.

The sun hadn't made it over the mountains yet at 0530 so I grabbed a headlamp, hopped the creek near the trail head and began the ascent up the “Cedar Gulch trail”. After gaining 800 feet in the first 1.3 miles the trail leveled out a little and joined the Galbraith loop trail for a circle around the summit - bushwhacking in order to nab the summit since the trail itself doesn't lead to the top. After a short breather on top I reversed my steps instead of continuing the loop; this way, I could get in some extra mileage. 

The footing wasn’t too bad except for some seriously rocky outcroppings which climbed over several ridges (a couple were un-runnable). From the “loop” portion of the trail, I had great views of Golden below and the Denver skyline back to the east. I also enjoyed an interesting aroma in the air that turned out to be coming from Coors in Golden! Near the summit I ran into some local wildlife and snapped a few shots - (I run with the camera when I'm in the mountains [see the pic below]).

Overall, it was a terrific Colorado “warm-up”.  Six miles, 1100 feet of elevation change, an animal encounter, and back to Westminster in time for breakfast.

That afternoon, I hiked with the family up Bergen Peak near Evergreen. It was Alyena and Ayden’s first time on a mountain and they just soaked it up, running up and down the trail and asking a million questions about the “bigger” mountains to our west. It’s great to see them both already gaining an interest and respect for the mountains I love. Alyena’s my four year old Sierra Clubber, she was mad when she saw some trash that someone had ditched, “why’d they throw it there?!” she asked, “don’t they have a trash can?!”.  “Daddy’s truck!” added Ayden. Yeah, after that drive from KC to Denver with a four and a two year old, the X-Terra did resemble a trash can so pack out what you pack in because my truck is full.   

Ayden & Alyena the next day, kickin it in Georgetown.

For more info on either the Cedar Gulch Trail or Bergen Peak check out Steven Bragg's Run the Rockies: Classic Trail Runs in Colorado's Front Range. 2004. Colorado Mountain Club Press.