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Table Rock | Roosevelt National Forest

Glen Haven, CO | 01/13/19 | 2.99 miles | 936′ gain

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Kyle and I intended on getting up early this morning to get a nice long hike in, but that didn’t happen and we finally rolled into the Crosier Mountain Gravel Pit Trailhead just before 10:30am. We figured we could still get to the top of Crosier Mountain and back (7-8 miles) in a reasonable amount of time so we decided not to let a late start keep us from a beautiful day of hiking!

The trailhead was very snowy and I was worried my Crosstrek might get stuck on the way out but we’d deal with that when the time came. The trailhead was small but well marked and we easily found the trail even with the recent snow. A few people had been through since the last snowfall and marked the trail out for us nicely with their footprints.

The trail worked its way up through the forest and would occasionally break through the trees, offering stunning views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

About 1.5 miles in, we reached an overlook called Table Rock. We stopped to soak in the views and the sun, have a snack, and give the dogs some water. Kyle checked Bob’s feet and they seemed to be doing fine, even with the snow. (Last year we took Bob on a 10 mile jaunt up James Peak, and on the way back his paw pads ripped open and Kyle had to carry him the last mile or two out. Bob weighs about 50 pounds, so isn’t small by any means! Now we try to be extra careful and check his feet often.)

Since Bob seemed fine, we planned to continue after our short break, but then I saw a bit of blood in the snow. We checked Bob’s legs and noticed that one of his wounds was bleeding a bit. We made the decision to turn around and head back instead of continuing to make sure that it didn’t get worse. (Bob has some sort of allergy or other issue that causes him to chew his legs open. He has tried every medication and diet known to man, but nothing has worked. We are just managing it as best we can at this point, and while we want him to be able to still get out and have fun, we need to make sure the exertion doesn’t hurt his legs further.)

It’s always difficult for me to make the decision to turn around as it makes me feel like I’m just being lazy. I have to remind myself that my dogs’ health & safety is much more important than a successful summit, and I can come back another time to finish.

I hope you were able to get outside this weekend and were successful in your endeavors! We will get ‘er next time!

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Chelsea

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ps. Thank you AWD! My car had NO problem getting back on the road!