Spruce Gulch, Fairview Peak and Castle Gulch

The ridge from Spruce Gulch towards Fairview Peak.

Trip date: July 26, 2021

Caltopo map here: caltopo.com/m/M3B2

Game trails typically follow streams.

I find helium balloons every week.

(Jeff Goldblum Voice): "That's one big pile of shit."

Once in the Spruce Gulch I scrambled up the unnamed rocky ridge towards Fairview Peak.  Some parts of this are definitely 5th class and I largely avoided those parts.

There were actually more signs of bears on this ridge than I've ever seen in Boulder County.  I bet they miss all the forests they used to have before the Overland Fire (2003).  This area would burn again in the Calwood Fire (2020).  

I've pooped in some weird places but never somewhere like this...

(Cue Jeff Goldblum voiceover)

The lower parts of the ridge were possible to do on the dirt but the upper portions were all rock.

Berries. So that's why the bears like this area. (I usually don't see too many berry bushes in Boulder County).

This was really pretty but apparently not pretty enough for me to get the focus right...

Near the top of the ridge.

Well, well, well...

This elk antler was comparable in size to the one I'd found in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness (~4 feet long).

I had to have it. I don't find many elk antlers and I never find ones this big.

It's a beautiful view from the top but I only ever seem to find myself hear on cloudy weather days.

Fairview Peak

I've seen CAD drawings of mechanical pulleys that look like this leg bone.

Bones don't last forever.

It crumbled like rotten wood.

From here I moved into "Castle Gulch".   

There's actually a ton of old mines in this area.  It seems that when a mine goes bust they just leave their trash around.  

A big mine pit.

I had these flaky rocks (type of quartz?) in my car for over a year.

And when I got a new car I transferred them.

When I saw these rocks I realized how "Golden Age Peak" on the western side of Castle Gulch got its name.

More mining trash. This time laying near the creek.

The "deluxe" mine.

That's a lot of algae for a creek in this area. Seems highly likely it's a result of mining pollution.

Bon Scott was the original singer in AC/DC. There are 3-4 of these kinds of markers along the trails below Fairview Peak. They're all classic rock themed.