Crosier Mountain (WØC/FR-Ø57) is part of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains – close to Estes Park, a popular gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). According to my knowledge, there are three trails going up to the summit from three separate trail-heads along CR43.

1. Garden Gate trail-head: Is located closest to the village of Drake. It is just before mile-marker  13 and hardly visible from the road. You will find a gravel patch on the south side of the road with some sign of a wooden gate. It is a 5.1 mile trail to the summit of Crosier. The trail leads through some grassy meadows and continues via switch-backs though trees. There was a large wildfire (Bobcat Fire) in 2000 and the trail goes in and out through the burned area.
2. Rainbow trail-head: Located between mile-marker 10 and 9, a large gravel-pit on the left side of the road (coming from Drake) is the parking lot for the trail just across a wooden gate. It is marked as Crosier Rainbow Trail No. 981. The early trail ascends through aspens, pines and spruce trees. It will eventually lead to an 4-way intersection of all the trails coming from the valley and the trail coming from the summit. The overall length to the summit is about 4.0 miles.
3. Glen Haven trail-head (No. 931-2) : I have chosen this 4.1 mi trail (see description below) because it crosses Piper Meadows – a very scenic place – and it also provides a nice view on a previously activated SOTA summit – Triangle Mountain (WØC/FR-Ø82)

Trailhead: 7254 ft. / 2211 m
Summit: 9232 ft. / 2814 m
Elev. gain: 1928 ft / 588 m
Roundtrip: 8.0 mi / 12.9 km

Compare this summit with my other activated summits

How to get there:
Take US34 from Loveland towards Estes Park through Big Thompson Canyon. Take CR43 in Drake all the way to Glen Haven. It’s a scenic drive along the north fork of Big Thompson River. Going through Glen Haven (don’t blink) you will find a red barn on the left side of the road. The TH is just behind the stable and a gravel strip is located on the right side of the road – providing space for several cars.

Parkinglot/Trailhead

View Larger Map

Red Tape:
Several signs indicate that the locals do not like when you park the car in Glen Haven or in their driveway. Make sure to park on the gravel strip indicated above. The trail borders to private land, indicated through a barbed-wire fence.

The Ascent:

The trail-head is just across the street of the parking lot where you will find the first brown trail sign . The first few yards (~150) lead you up a dirt road through an area with private homes. The amount and size of the signs pitched in their driveways  are an indication of the numbers of unconsiderate hikers who seem to park wherever they see fit. It’s a rocky trail going uphills to an opening (~0.8 mi) with a nice view (specifically early in the morning) and two trails splitting off to the south and north-east. the main trail continues down through a small canyon before climbing up again to Piper Meadow.

Apparently Henry Piper operated a dairy farm up here from 1913 into the 1930s. You can clearly identify some foundation walls along the way. The trail follows the meadow on the north side until it sharply bends to the north-east, going uphills with several switch-back to a ridge (with a nice view to Piper Meadow and Triangle Mountain) and finally to the Rainbow Trail junction. The next one and a half mile is a dull hike through very dense Lodgepole pines on a well established trail. The trail takes you all the way around the summit and the final ascent is from the east. About half a mile before the summit you will encounter the Garden Gate Trail intersection.

The Summit:

The trail ends at a steep cliff to the south with a spectacular view into RMNP and Estes Park. The summit is quite large, providing ample space to setup the antenna and even to set up an overnight camp in the woods if you wish to do so. Trees and rocks give plenty of opportunities to guy the mast and also allow a comfortable and shady place during operations.

The Descent:
Since West Crosier (WØC/FR-Ø64) is only about one mile from the summit (as the crow flies), I planned to bush-whack my way down to the saddle between the two summits. Going downhills, the thick stand of Lodgepole pines made it very difficult to keep my bearing and to navigate in general.  You never see the saddle or the summit and the trees are so close together that I had to pick my route carefully to fit between the trees. I did not realize a big thundercloud moving in, since it was very dark to begin with – sunlight had a difficult time to find its way all the way to the ground. I only realized the upcoming thunderstorm when the first thunder rolled through the valley. I decided to abort my quest to cross to the other summit and headed north-east instead, trying to find the trail down to the car. I finally stepped out of the trees when the first rain started to fall and the cadence of thunder increased. It was an unexpected and surprising morning thunderstorm (it was only 11:00 AM) which drove me down the mountain. The rain cooled me off on my way to the car and I joined a guy from the phone company who also waited for the thunderstorm to pass before climbing back on the poles to take some slack out of the phone line.

Some video impressions:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nELv-FOZ10s

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!