Kruger Rock

Brent and I decided to head up to Hermit Park Open Space just outside of Estes Park for our weekly adventure.  It’s a county open space so we had to pay the $6 daily pass to get in.  Again, damn you, national parks!  The county is friendly to dogs and allows them in the parks as long as they’re leashed!

Hermit Park is beautiful! It was originally ranch land that was purchased by Hewlett Packard in the 1960s.  It was used as an employee retreat, complete with a large pavilion, cabins, and tent/rv campgrounds.  The county purchased the park in 2008.  

Brent actually visited the park back in the Hewlett Packard days when his dad worked there.  He went there every summer.  And every summer he ate like a dozen ice cream sandwiches from the Robinson Dairy vendor booth.  This doesn’t surprise me.  I’d say Brent’s love for marshmallows and ice cream match or surpass his love for me.

There are only two trailheads in Hermit Park - Kruger Rock Trail and the Homestead Meadows Connector Trail.  We decided on the Kruger Rock Trail, which was 2 miles one-way.  The park brochure lists the trail as moderate to difficult.  In comparison to Horsetooth Rock and Greyrock, I’d say the trail is easy to moderate.

It took us about two hours round trip.  We started off the hike with dark clouds looming overhead and thunder rumbling all around us.  About half way up there is  an overlook to Estes which is pretty cool.  Knowing the view from the top would also include a view of Longs Peak we kept on trekking.  The trail followed the ridge line for a majority of the trail, which was surrounded by lots of big boulders with neat shapes.  It was definitely mountain lion country!

The rain started about the 1.5 mark.  It never came down hard enough to really make us wet.  The rumbling skies had hesitant to continue but it looked like the skies cleared to the west so we gave it a shot hoping the cloud above would continue to move past us.  We lucked out!!  By the time we reached the top, the thunder stopped and we were able to do the final scramble up the rocks to very top!

We had to go up in turns because Brinkley certainly couldn’t scramble up.  The view from the top was awesome!  We could see Hermit Park, Estes Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park.  Longs Peak looked pretty awesome!!  Maybe someday I’ll get try climbing it but I’ll put a lot more miles on my hiking boots before I make a decision.  

The whole trip to Hermit Park was a lot of fun.  We scoped out camping spots and cabins.  We’re thinking we’ll rent a cabin later this year and try out the Homestead Meadows Trail which goes into the national forest.  It has twelve miles of trails that go from one old homestead site to another!!  I’m looking forward to it!