When we hiked Adam’s Head, last September, we looked down on
Crow Peak and thought, “That looks like it would be an interesting hike.” Fast forward to Tom’s phone call on Wednesday
night, saying he was going to hike it on Friday, and would we be interested in
coming and doing it with him. It didn’t
take long for us to say, “Yes!”
As we look back on our pictures it would be easy to conclude
this was a drab unassuming peak – and to some extent you would be right – due
to a fire that ravaged the area in 2002.
However, most of this hike was over 9,000 ft and the aspens and spring
grasses hadn’t begun to green up.
And we know, for a fact, that there wasn’t a more beautiful place that
we visited last Fall when the aspen leaves were in their golden glory! Don’t be
too quick on overlooking this unique area – there are some neat peaks, small
streams and interesting rock formations!
 |
| This was our view looking south toward Crow Peak (9,775 ft) from the top of Adam's Head (Sept. 2021) |
 |
We stopped to stretch our legs near these neat rock formations . . .
East Hunt Creek was off to our left |
 |
| East Hunt Creek gently cascading through the rocky landscape |
 |
| Uh-oh . . . this is not what we had in mind! |
 |
| We have no choice but to park and start hiking . . . this will add 3/4 mile each way |
 |
| As we approached this spring, a couple of ducks took flight |
 |
| This meadow looked like a beautiful park . . . great place for a picnic or a round of Frisbee golf! |
 |
| Alpine Pennycress |
 |
| Ravaged by a forest fire (2002), Crow Peak doesn't look too exciting, but it's still a good hike |
 |
| We weaved our way through the aspens . . . soon they will be green with foliage |
 |
| We are getting closer to the top . . . just one more push, above the rock, and we'll be on the summit |
 |
| Here we come! A few more steps and we'll be atop Crow Peak (9,775 ft) |
 |
| Lola & Ezy enjoyed our lunch break as much as we did! |
 |
| Allison noticed this well worn horseshoe, resting on the remnants of a log, from the fire |
 |
Rather than follow the ridgeline back down, we decided to drop into the valley and follow
West Hunt Creek back to the start of the trailhead . . . it was a good plan!
(Hancock Peak can be seen right of center . . . we hiked this in September 2021) |
 |
| The creek was so clear we could see small trout from up on the trail |
 |
| Tom spotted this short-horned lizard . . . it's been a while since we've seen one |
 |
We should have taken the time, took off our shoes, and dipped our toes in the stream . . .
but we were anxious to get back to camp and get rested for our next hike later in the afternoon |
Had we been able to drive to the trailhead this hike would have been only about four-miles (r/t). However, having to hike the road due to the downed aspens, made the mileage for this hike just a little under six-miles. We gained about 1,500 ft of elevation and it took about four hours to complete. All-in-all a very enjoyable hike, with great views and beautiful scenery, especially in the West Hunt Creek stream valley. If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike you can click
here to see Tom's Peakbagger.com post.
