Wilder Gulch to Ptarmigan Pass hike, CO

The last two weeks of July are said to be the peak wildflower time in the mountains west of Denver, CO. This hike was visible proof of that. We saw meadows and fields flecked with bright colors of yellow, red, purple, blue, violet. Wildflowers included Indian Paintbrush.

What is a "gulch" exactly? How does it differ from a valley? Both go between mountains right? The dictionary says a gulch is a deep, narrow ravine, especially one marking a stream.

On our hike along the gulch, through meadows and conifer forests, we got spectacular views of the Ten Mile Range, and Ptarmigan Hill was frequently visible in the distance.

We saw several chipmunks, some birds and many butterflies and moths. But alas, no elk or moose, though we did see what we think was a moose print.

The hike is punctuated throughout by a more than a dozen running streams of water, which you pass over. Fifteen streams to be exact. Helpful stepping stones over the water for most of them.

At the pass, Ptarmigan Hill looks like a "scramble" of 500-750 foot. A group of hikers we observed at the house on the top had to walk over a snow/ice field near the summit, and we saw one of them sliding down on his butt for quite a ways! Looked potentially dangerous, but fun. Given our 4pm wine tasting plans, and the fact that we are still acclimating, we opted to skip the summit and just observe it from this nice saddle/pass area.

We're certain that many flowers that weren't open in the morning were open and turned toward the sun by the afternoon when we returned. Beautiful!

See 19 photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickijbrown/sets/72157622178744516/

8 miles, 1,400' elevation gain
Destination: Ptarmigan Pass = 11,765 feet high
Route: trail begins south of the lower parking lot, descends into the gulch and then climbs to the saddle of Ptarmigan Hill
5-1/2 hours in total (including a lot of time taking photos!)