You most likely come to Grand Lake via Highway 40 and Berthoud Pass.
There are a number of pullouts on the Grand Country side that are deep enough
for you to safely stop and let the whole family out to stretch and even venture
onto the trails. The stream and deep forest scenes are quite excellent and
enchanting the first hundred yards up the trails.
There has been a tremendous amount of road construction in Colorado, and yet, are we getting around faster?
The perception is that driving isn't getting easier even though our cars
are more comfortable than ever.
The density of traffic doesn't go away, no matter how many lanes we add.
The solution is to drive less
and make your driving significant and pleasurable. Pick the best destinations and enjoy the drive.
Take advantage of rest stops to get you in the mountain
spirit.
The pass can be a busy road, however, if you take time to pause and experience its secret places for breaks
(besides the public restrooms in Empire), you can start enjoying with an hour Denver what makes Colorado great.
It is all too easy to wiz by unaware of what lies just beyond the road. Enjoy the journey. "Stop and smell the roses"
and arrive rejuvenated with an extra hour or two of vacation time already in your pocket.
Once you are up on Berthoud Pass, you are halfway to Grand Lake and have lifted yourself into an amazing alpine environment.
If you or your traveling companions
would like to stop and stretch a bit, there are hiking and and stream-side
picnicking opportunities that can quickly recharge your batteries and get you tuned into the mountains.
800 feet up to the new the Broome Hut. The trailhead is at a Second Creek (mile marker 240)
about three-fourths of the way up Berthoud Pass on the Winter Park, Grand County, side,
at the very beginnings of the Pacific Ocean watershed and the Colorado River.
The Broome Hut is a bold new project completed in 2013 under the auspices of The Grand Huts Organization.
Scroll down for an unusual view of the Broome Hut from the ridge between Second Creek and Current Creek.
From the deck the view dips down and up and all around. It's topographic bowl, a hundred acre
alpine garden cupped in the hands of God. .
See the massive timbers used to frame the cabin; study and admire its efficiency and design.
Click here to explore Current Creek (mile marker 241), this is the deep
pullover that is the next basin higher one up from Second Creek.
Click here to see the original A-frame cabin that preceded The Broome Hut.
The photos in this year 2009 presentation show
the spectacular setting and the A-frame cabin which has since been dismantled and completely replaced.
Scroll down to see the new hut looking small yet important in its grand setting.
Broome Hut set in a bowl near timberline. Along the
ridge in the distance is a ski lift reaching the top of the Parsenn
Bowl
high over the Mary Jane and Winter Park Ski Resort. Only the top of the
lift is visible; the rest is hidden beyond the ridge where it rises up
from
the Mary Jane Ski area to 12,000 feet. The land to the left and higher
up is part of The Vasquez Wilderness; this wilderness is mostly high and
rolling tundra.
In the winter, many people ski up to hut. It may have more winter visitors than summer visitors.
This sign is a few feet behind the hut. The land on both sides of the sign, under the hut
and across the valley to The Continental Divide is all within the 3/4
million acres of Arapaho National Forest in Grand County, Colorado.
Scroll down to see a natural alpine garden. Further down this page, a red-robed monk strolls to the table on the knoll.
Click on photo to see the huge
timbers inside the "hut" and also for day and night views from the deck. Click here learn more and make a reservation.
Scroll down to see a small pool below the cabin. Thick mosses and tall
flowers make the most of the growing season, between rainbows.
Rainbows are frequent because the high bowl faces east across a valley to The Continental Divide. As the sun comes out from an
afternoon sprinkle, it can't help but create a vivid rainbows and full arches. Maybe you'll see several.
Scroll down for a close view of the hut and some action.
Scroll down for more action on the deck and the picnic table perched on the knoll.
Scroll down for a consultation on the knoll. Click on a photo to see inside the hut and also to see the stars from here.
Scroll down to parley.
Scroll down for another use of robes here.
Red-robed monk views computer screen. A few steps beyond this knoll
there is a rock formation with built-in benches and a view down the
valley
to where the trail pops out of the forest. Further down one can see a
bit of the highway where your car may be at the Second Creek trailhead.
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A quick pullover into the curiously named Robbers Roost campsite at the base
of Berthoud Pass near Winter Park gives you a glimpse into one of the wettest natural areas in Colorado.
After passing it up many times we finally pulled into the 11-site campground to take a peek.
Video plus tips for letting gravity be your friend while driving over Berthoud Pass.
Gallery of scenes along the road ...
If you are starting from near Boulder or Fort Collins and it's
summertime, you can take the Wild Kingdom Animal tour through Rocky
Mountain National Park.
Thank you for visiting here. We hope that our virtual hikes bring back
memories and/or get you back into the mountains.
Great Lakes of the Rockies Grand Lake Shadow Mountain Lake Lake Granby
... to Scenery page and Virtual Hikes ...
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