The injured hiker, who couldn’t walk, was taken to the Aspen Valley hospital Thursday night to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

The caller telephoned for help after leaving the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area and gaining cell service.

Two Mountain Rescue Aspen teams of six rescuers mobilized and reached the fallen hiker around sunset, Pitkin County Sheriff authorities announced in a press release.

The hiker was on a three-mile scenic loop that connects to Maroon Lake with the East Maroon Portal.

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The map is fun to play with as it shows a week-by-week prediction for each state between Sept. 2 and Nov. 18. It also breaks it down on a county-by-county basis, displaying estimates for the degree of color change, from minimal or patchy to near-peak and peak.

It’s “the ultimate visual planning guide to the annual progressive changing of the leaves,” the website says. “While no tool can be 100% accurate, this tool is meant to help travelers better time their trips to have the best opportunity of catching peak color each year.”

But as it turns out, the smokymountains.com map lines up pretty well with what Colorado State Forest Service expert Dan West told The Denver Post last week.

The map shows that north-central Colorado, including parts of Grand and Clear Creek counties, will get the action going first, with patchy colors starting around Sept. 16 and peaking about two weeks later. From there, the yellows and reds will expand out in all directions, with areas in Boulder and Jefferson counties beginning to show partial changes around Sept. 23.

By September 30, the state will light up like a fireworks show, according to the map, with colors throughout the northern and central parts of the state, including Summit, Eagle and Lake counties, as well as further south and west toward Park, Chafee and Gunnison Counties.

Between Oct. 7-14, the majority of the mountainous parts of the state will be peaking or near peak, including Ouray, Gunnison, San Juan, Chafee, San Miguel, Lake, Park, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit and Garfield counties. The Denver area should be in full foliage later in October.

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National Weather Service meteorologists on Thursday confirmed a light dusting on mountains west of metro Denver, including Rocky Mountain National Park. Snow also settled atop Pikes Peak, west of Colorado Springs.

Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain all saw snow on the upper reaches of their ski mountains, as did the higher peaks of Summit County including Quandary Peak. A-Basin and Keystone will be vying to become the first Colorado ski area to open for the season, shooting for first tracks in October.

The snow fell at elevations as low as 11,000 feet above sea level in the mountains, meteorologists said. It won’t last long as temperatures rise.

On Thursday, temperatures were expected to stay in the 70s as thunderstorms rolled over the Front Range in the morning, mostly south of Interstate 70.

Over the weekend, forecasters anticipated warmer weather with high temperatures around 90 degrees.

Reporter John Meyer contributed to this report. 

Because of their love for the area and their impact on Glacier Basin – to improve the fishing in the area for his guests, Abner dammed the creek to create the lake – the lake now bears their surname. And because of the busy Sprague Lake Lodge they operated from 1910 to 1940, there are many trails to explore in the vicinity, which became Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915.

One of those trails is the Glacier Creek Trail.

This trail isn’t so much a single trail but a network of paths through the forests surrounding Sprague Lake. Adventurous hikers may want to take the long way around, starting at Sprague Lake, Glacier Basin Campground (if camping) or the Storm Pass Trailhead.

Shorter hikes can be done as a loop around Sprague Lake, up onto the moraine above the lake and down into the forest, taking the turn off to the right rather than heading to Storm Pass Trailhead.

A really wonderful option for a full-day hike is to start at Sprague Lake, pick up the Glacier Creek Trail at the east end of the lake, follow it east into the forest and then turn right to follow it back west again towards Bear Lake.

The network of trails parallel Bear Lake Corridor, navigating past many meadows in this valley, and up to Bear Lake. At Bear Lake, follow the eastern side of the lake to pick up the Bear Lake – Bierstadt Lake Trail, following it to Bierstadt Lake and then down to the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead. From this point, cross the road to the Storm Pass Trailhead and pick the Glacier Creek Trail back up on the forest and head east to Sprague Lake.

At about 8 miles, this loop provides some astonishing views plus many opportunities to see wildlife, like mule deer, snowshoe hare, elk, pine squirrels, northern flickers, Stellar’s jays, dark-eye juncos and many other species of forest-loving birds.

For a shorter trek, take the two-mile loop that starts at the east end of Sprague Lake. Near the bridge, the trail heads down into the forest, snaking through ponderosa pine and past a lush green meadow.

At about a half mile, the trail reaches a junction, where hikers turn right. Follow this trail as it begins to climb up the moraine. In about 500 feet, the trail reaches the Glacier Creek Trail, which runs northeast and southwest. Turn right at this junction to head towards Boulder Brook and Bear Lake.

Follow the trail, which is now the Glacier Creek Trail, for 1.1 miles as it stays along a level path on the moraine through thick forest and above meadows.

At slightly more than one mile, the trail reaches another junction, connecting with the Storm Pass Trail. Make a right at this junction.

Interestingly, the trail crosses the Alva B. Adams Tunnel at this point. This 13-mile cement-lined tunnel passes underneath Rocky Mountain National Park to deliver water from Lake Granby to East Portal on the west side of Estes Park. There are no markers or indicators of what lies beneath the ground but using the COTrex app will show you the path of the tunnel below the trail.

In 0.3 miles, the trail reaches a four-way junction, with connections to Glacier Creek, Storm Pass, Bear Lake, Bierstadt Lake and Glacier Gorge trails. Take a right and follow the trail through the thinner forest.

At 0.2 miles, the trail reaches the Sprague Lake parking lot on the west end of Sprague Lake.

This section of RMNP requires a timed entry reservation from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. until October 20. The hiker shuttle bus takes hikers into the Bear Lake Corridor but does not stop at Sprague Lake. A park pass is also required to enter Rocky Mountain National Park.

For more information about timed entry or hiking in RMNP, visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm.

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CFI, which uses automated infrared counters on several peaks and statistical modeling estimates on others to develop its annual estimates, said the number of 260,000 in 2023 was the lowest since 2015 when the nonprofit began its annual estimates.

The closure of the Decalibron Loop, which includes three popular fourteeners near Fairplay, was one factor in the decline, but numbers fell in several other areas as well.

“Hiking Colorado’s fourteeners last year was like stepping into a time machine and coming out in 2015,” CFI executive director Lloyd Athearn said in a news release. “After six seasons of increasing use, it has been all downhill since 2020. Closure of the Decalibron loop for half the season was the biggest factor, but use was down last year in three of Colorado’s seven ranges containing fourteeners, including the popular Front Range closest to the Denver metro area.”

The Decalibron loop was closed in 2023 due to landowner liability issues, which have largely been resolved with the passage of Senate Bill 58 this year. That legislation provides legal protections for landowners who allow the public to recreate on their land.

Athearn said it’s hard to know what is driving the decline, but he has two theories: Slower population growth in Colorado and changing age demographics.

Colorado’s population grew nearly 15% from 2010 to 2020, according to census figures, but the influx of newcomers slowed over the past two years. Also, Athearn suspects that the baby boomers who popularized backpacking and peakbagging are aging out of the fourteener culture.

“My Millennial colleagues — another massive generation — are buying houses, having kids and taking on more work responsibilities,” Athearn wrote in a follow-up email. “That likely translates into less time or money to get out to play regularly. Meanwhile, my son is in that Gen Z age group. While his friends are all pretty athletic and outdoor-oriented, I know many of his peers are not.

“We may be in a period of shifting age booms and busts,” Athearn added, “where those who have been large cohorts of active folks with time, money and health to be out climbing peaks are now facing lack of time, money or compliant bodies to do this physically demanding stuff.”

As usual, the two most popular fourteeners in 2023 were Mount Bierstadt and Quandary Peak, both of which were estimated to be in the range of 25,000 to 30,000. Bierstadt’s number usually comes from an infrared counter, but it was stolen last year, for the second year in a row, after being in operation for only six days. Quandary’s counter recorded more than 29,000. CFI’s “best-guess” numbers put Mount Elbert at 22,000, with Grays and Torreys at 21,000.

The Decalibron loop, which was in the range of 20,000 to 25,000 in 2022, fell to something between 7,000 and 10,000, CFI said.

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, which is based in Golden, was created in 1994 to protect and preserve Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks through stewardship and education.

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The U.S. Forest Service announced this week that Colo. 5, known as the Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway, will close on Tuesday to all motorized and nonmotorized traffic, including cyclists and pedestrians.

The Federal Highway Administration is ready to begin a roadway construction project that will keep the beloved summit road closed until the spring of 2026, according to this week’s announcement.

Visitors still have an opportunity to reserve times to visit the byway and the summit of the 14,266-foot peak, but time slots are limited and in high demand. To make reservations to visit the summit, the Mount Goliath Natural Area or Summit Lake Park, visit recreation.gov. The areas are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reservations must be purchased before arrival due to a lack of cell service at the welcome station.

“As one of the most visited recreation areas on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, Mount Blue Sky draws visitors from across the world. So far, more than 45,000 vehicles booked timed-entry reservations for the 2024 season,” Forest Service officials wrote in the news release.

The roadway project will close Colo. 5 from the gate near the Forest Service welcome station up to the summit parking lot. If conditions permit, the road is expected to reopen for Memorial Day weekend in 2026.

During the interim, the Mount Blue Sky summit will only be accessible via hiking trails, Forest Service officials say.

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The Post will update this list regularly as areas open.

Colorado 2024-2025 ski area open dates

Arapahoe Basin: As soon as conditions allow in October

Keystone: mid-October, pending early season conditions

Loveland: As soon as conditions allow in late October or early November

Winter Park: As soon as conditions allow in late October or early November

Breckenridge: Nov. 8

Copper Mountain: Nov. 8

Vail: Nov. 15

Eldora: Nov. 15

Purgatory: Nov. 16

Monarch: As soon as conditions allow in November

Steamboat: Nov. 23

Beaver Creek: Nov. 27

Crested Butte: Nov. 27

Aspen: Nov. 28

Snowmass: Nov. 28

Telluride: Nov. 28

Granby Ranch: Nov. 28

Powderhorn: Nov 29

Howelsen Hill: Nov. 30

Sunlight: As soon as conditions allow in early December

Echo Mountain: As soon as conditions allow in December

Ski Cooper: Dec. 11

Aspen Highlands: Dec. 14

Buttermilk: Dec. 14

TBD: Wolf Creek, Silverton

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Eldora’s owner, Powdr Corp. of Park City, Utah, announced last week that it had reached an agreement to sell Killington Resort in Vermont to an unspecified owner, and that it was putting Eldora up for sale along with Mount Bachelor in Oregon and SilverStar in British Columbia. Powdr’s announcement said the privately held company intended to retain Copper Mountain and Snowbird resort in Utah.

Tregaskis is seeking to reassure the Eldora community that there is “no cause for alarm,” that the ski area is profitable, and that it should be “a very attractive purchase” for potential buyers. Eldora will open a new lodge in the base area this winter that will house a children’s ski school, a home for Ignite Adaptive Sports, restrooms and food-and-beverage facilities.

Eldora has 680 acres of skiable terrain with four dozen trails, along with a Nordic center for cross-country skiing. It is the only Colorado ski area with regular RTD service from the Front Range.

“I want to assure you that Eldora will conduct business as usual this winter, with no changes to the upcoming season,” Tregaskis wrote. “Eldora will remain on the Ikon Pass and continue providing access through its own passes and day tickets.

“Eldora’s hardworking staff will continue to serve the community with the same dedication we always have, and Eldora will remain the same backyard winter playground for Nederland, greater Boulder, and Colorado’s northern Front Range,” he added.

Powdr acquired Copper Mountain in 2009 and Eldora in 2016. Little is known about Powdr’s finances because it is not publicly traded, but Patrick Scholes, a Wall Street analyst for Truist Securities who focuses on lodging and leisure companies, including ski resorts, said he hasn’t “heard anything that Powdr has had financial difficulties.

“Eldora is extremely unique, given its proximity to Denver. I have to imagine demand is strong, with University of Colorado students,” he continued.

Powdr said the reason for selling four of its nine ski areas is to “strategically manage Powdr’s portfolio in alignment with our founder’s and stakeholders’ goals,” adding that the company aims to “balance our ski business with new ventures in the national parks sector and Woodward.”

Woodward is an “adventure lifestyle” company with action-sports programming at Copper Mountain, Park City, Snowbird and six other resorts. Powdr already has concessionaire contracts with Death Valley and Zion national parks, and it plans to bid for more.

“The concessions we run at Death Valley are a motel called Stovepipe, a gas station, and convenience store,” said Stacey Hutchinson, communications vice president for Powdr. “Zion will be Zion Lodge. POWDR has grown a great hospitality business over the three decades since our inception, mostly on (forest service) land, so we’ll apply our expertise to national parks. And, it presents an opportunity for us to provide year-round employment to our seasonal workers — this would let us provide health insurance and other benefits.”

Eldora is not the only Colorado ski area for sale. In February, Denver-based Alterra Mountain Corp. announced an agreement to buy Arapahoe Basin. That transaction is still pending while the U.S. Justice Department considers whether the sale presents antitrust issues.

Powdr bought Eldora from a trio of investors — Bill Killebrew, whose family sold California’s Heavenly ski area to Japanese investors in 1990, Chuck Lewis, who founded Copper in 1972, and Graham Anderson, a former Sun Valley ski racer. The trio bought it in 1991 when it was on the brink of closure, investing heavily in snowmaking and other upgrades.

“I have been through three different sales in my long career in ski-resort management, the most recent being the purchase of Eldora by Powdr in 2016,” Tregaskis wrote. “In every case, the new owners brought positive change and financial investment.

“Eldora itself has had several different owners since it was founded in 1962, and every owner invested heavily in Eldora’s infrastructure and guest experience,” he added. “The bottom line? While a new owner has yet to be identified, I am very optimistic that the next stewards of this special place will inject excitement and a new wave of capital investment.”

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What it lacks is adequate creek access for visitors to stop and savor its beauty or hike along its banks. The highway, U.S. 6, is off-limits to runners and cyclists because its five dark tunnels are so narrow, and pullouts are scarce — with some posing traffic dangers. Motorists get only occasional glimpses of the soaring canyon walls above because the curving highway commands their full attention.

That’s going to change over the next two years, thanks to an ambitious construction project that will dramatically improve recreational access to the canyon. Jefferson County’s Open Space division is spending $80 million to extend the Clear Creek Canyon trail three miles upstream from its current terminus at Tunnel 1, which is located two miles west of Golden. About 1.25 miles of new trail is slated to open just west of Tunnel 1 next year, with another 1.75 miles to follow in 2026. Eventually the trail will connect with Clear Creek County trails through Idaho Springs and beyond.

If $80 million seems like a lot for three miles of concrete trail, it is. But the complexity of the project, with a narrow creek and highway hemmed in by steep mountainsides, presents major engineering hurdles. In some sections, the trail is being built on elevated concrete viaducts resembling the sweeping roadway decks of Interstate 70 as it runs through Glenwood Canyon.

The project includes seven new bridges over Clear Creek, one new bridge over the highway, a new underpass beneath the highway and two new trailheads with restrooms and parking spaces for 170 cars. A park at one of the trailheads will feature a one-mile loop for hikers and creek access.

“It’s pretty wild,” project manager Scot Grossman said while providing a guided tour of the area in mid-August. “What we’re doing is a generational project.

“This has statewide and national significance,” he continued. “We’re creating safe access to the creek, as well as all the recreational amenities – rock climbing, slack-lining, tubing, rafting, fishing, gold panning. I love the idea of little kids growing up in Golden 15 years from now, they get their little bike posses together on Saturday and ride up the trail to go fishing, climbing, or to ride a lap at Centennial Cone (park) and ride back down.”

“We’re building this for 100 years”

Great Outdoors Colorado — which distributes Colorado Lottery proceeds — provided a $7-million grant for the current construction project. The Denver Regional Council of Governments chipped in another $10.25 million. GOCO previously gave the Clear Creek Canyon trail effort $10.5 million for segments that have already been completed.

But the remainder of the $80 million is coming out of the Jeffco Open Space budget, which is funded by a dedicated 0.5% sales tax that voters approved in 1972. That tax is not subject to the restraints of the TABOR amendment, approved by Colorado voters in 1992, which limits the amount of revenue governments in the state can retain and spend.

“Most of the open space programs around the Front Range have a similar sales tax,” Grossman explained. “Ours predates Tabor by 20 years or so, so there’s no sunset (provision) on it, which is really fortunate for us. Other agencies have a 10- or 15-year sunset, and they have to go back to the voters to re-up their funding.”

CDOT is also working on the project in an effort to create safer motorist access to creek attractions than has been the case in the past. “They’re the other landowner here,” Grossman said. “Their mission is to get people through the canyon safely and efficiently. Our visitors, when they stop, they pull out in every little nook and cranny. Doors open, dogs come out, strollers, bikes. It’s just not a safe environment to recreate in.”

In 1871 a narrow-gauge railway began service in the canyon from Golden to the mining towns of Clear Creek County. The current construction project takes advantage of some of its grades. Prior to the construction of Interstate 70 in the 1960s and ’70s, Clear Creek Canyon was the primary route to the mountains for Denver motorists. .

Now, Jeffco’s Clear Creek Canyon Park is in the process of stretching up the canyon along the creek from Golden to Clear Creek County. The first segment opened in 2021 with the debut of the $19-million Gateway trailhead just west of the intersection of U.S. 6, Colorado 93 and Colorado 58. From there, the existing trail extends 1.75 miles to Tunnel 1.

The Clear Creek Canyon trail will be the middle segment of the greater Peaks to Plains trail, which eventually will extend 65 miles from the foot of Loveland Pass through Georgetown, Idaho Springs and Clear Creek Canyon to the confluence of Clear Creek with the South Platte River in Adams County. It is already complete from the Clear Creek Gateway trailhead to the Platte, near 74th Avenue and York Street, via Golden, Wheat Ridge and Denver.

“We’re building this for 100 years,” Grossman said. “We really want to make sure this is here for three or four generations. That takes time. The geologic, ecologic and hydrologic challenges are immense. We have world-class whitewater here that gets really high in the spring. And, you can see the geologic constraints. We’re in a deep canyon with rock everywhere.”

A floating trail, like a mini-Glenwood Canyon

Construction manager Jeff Hoge, a cyclist, already is looking forward to exchanging his hard hat for a cycling helmet.

“I can’t wait for this,” Hoge said. “I’m a cyclist, I grew up here, and I’ve never been able to ride a bike legally on U.S. 6. That’s exciting. As far as the construction part of it, this is a dream job for a construction manager.”

The three-mile section now being built will climb 300 feet from Tunnel 1 to Huntsman Gulch. All of it will be wheelchair accessible and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which means maximum grades of 5%. The walls of the canyon soar 1,000 feet over the creek, which often is very narrow, which is why construction engineers opted for building a viaduct through those sections. It also has less impact on creekside vegetation, they say.

“This is a heavy civil construction project, but we really pride ourselves on having a really light touch, a really surgical approach, because at the end of the day we are an open-space organization,” Grossman said. “We’re a balance of recreation and conservation.

“That viaduct, I think, perfectly sums up ‘heavy civil’ with a light touch. That is a difficult thing to engineer and build, but the impact on the land is way smaller and lighter than cutting out (a streamside slope) and filling back in,” he added.

To create the viaduct supports, workers drill 30 to 40 feet through surface rock and soil until they reach bedrock. Then they drill another 12 feet into bedrock to anchor concrete columns that will support the deck on which more concrete will be poured for the trail.

“This is our new tool, a ‘floating trail,’ a mini-Glenwood Canyon — same design principles,” Grossman said. “We’re basically building a 10-foot-wide road. It’s like what CDOT is doing on Floyd Hill right now — same concept, just smaller.”

The first new trailhead, about a mile upstream from Tunnel 1, will include a roadside parking lot that can accommodate 40 cars, along with a bridge over Clear Creek to the trail.The second new trailhead, at Huntsman Gulch, will offer a place to park, linger and explore which Grossman calls “a park within a park.” The parking lot will be built to handle 70 cars, and there will be a bridge across the highway to the trail. Another bridge will take visitors over the creek to a secondary trail accessing a shady one-mile hiking loop with a natural surface.

When the Huntsman segment is complete in 2026, it will leave a six-mile gap between Huntsman and a segment of the project upstream that opened in 2017, providing access to Jeffco’s Centennial Cone Park near the Clear Creek County line. Grossman said filling that gap, which would complete Jeffco’s part in the Peaks to Plains trail, could take another seven to 10 years depending on funding.

“This is a really big project,” Grossman said. “There’s a lot of money invested from taxpayers of all kinds — federal, state, local, people who play the lottery.

“I start every presentation I give with how privileged I am to do this, to have the responsibility – which is weighty – to do stuff like this for generations to come,” he added. “I’m just a nameless face three generations from now, but this is a legacy for all of us.”

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A nesting bald eagle pair first made a home at the reservoir in 1993, hatching their successful offspring in 1996.

While the pair has likely changed to different males and females over the years, the Standley Lake bald eagles have consistently hatched two or three eaglets for the past 28 years, said city spokesperson Andy Le.

But since 2020, the pair’s offspring have not made it to adulthood because of weather, accidents or, in one case, a romantic feud.

The streak of bad luck started in 2020, when a single female bald eagle attacked the female eagle living at the lake to become the new mating partner of the male bald eagle, Le said.

The fight and ousting occurred when one eaglet had already hatched. The mom did not return to the nest, and the male bald eagle struggled to take care of the eaglet and two remaining eggs, Le said. The eaglet was carried off by a magpie, according to previous reporting, and the eggs never hatched.

The nest fell in 2021 when a cottonwood tree split down the middle, killing a single hatched eaglet, and fell again in 2023 during a spring snowstorm. In 2022, two eaglets died when they were 2 to 3 weeks old from unknown causes.

City and state officials tried to find the bodies on the ground to perform a necropsy but could not locate them, Le said.

“We are extremely proud of the bald eagle parents for having such a successful year, and look forward to the winter where we get to see several adult and juvenile bald eagles stopping by the lake,” city staff wrote in a post on Facebook.

Birdwatchers can check in on the eagle family, along with other birds that call the Standley Lake rookery home, through the city’s livestreaming Bird Island Cam.

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