The Horns

Today’s hike to us back to the Horns. Candy and I met up with a coworker at our office. And then we headed out. We had our dog Mable with us and Nik had his dog Princess. We drove up Old Stage to the parking area. We were not the first as a gray Toyota Tacoma was parked.

We loaded up and headed up the trail. The dogs dig great and stayed with us all the way. For the most part they were off the leash. We moved pretty quick today up the trail. Early in we passed the owners of the gray Toyota. Nik and I ventured off the trail at the top and climbed up the rocks the rest of the way to the peak. The up portion was easy; the coming down was a little intense. There were a couple of places that if you slipped or the rock gave way; you would be going home on a helicopter. Everyone did great and we even found a trail that we may have to go back and try next week.

All pics can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20090815#

Nik at the top of the Horns

The Horns

Our original plan was to do Williams Canyon today. Candy mentioned that on the news last night she saw that there was a wine festival in Manitou today. The parking area for Williams Canyon is on the west end of Manitou. So instead of dealing with trying to find parking and all of the people we decided to try something else.

On my map I had seen a trail that would take you up to the Horns. Did a little research and was able to find the location and where to start. We drove up Old Stage Road to the horse stables, about 5 miles on the dirt road. You will see parking on the right, might fit about 5 cars total. Walk across the road to the dirt hill and you will see the trail head.

You are basically hiking up the backside of Cheyenne Mountain. The trail is very narrow and you can tell that it does not see much action. As a matter of fact, we did not come across anyone today. As you hike you will come to a section where you can go left or right. To get to the Horns keep to your left. You have some wonderful views of Pikes Peak, Cheyenne Canyon and some tremendous rock formations. The trail has just about everything from soft dirt to very rocky sections. There were probably 5 fallen trees that we had to climb over. When you reach the summit you will be surprised how close you are to the antenna farm.

Lots of wildflowers in bloom and some wonderful smells as you move up/down the path. We crossed several small streams and even found an old pump and pipeline that supplied water to where/who I am not sure.

All pics can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20090607TheHorns