Asked for his favorite trail in Colorado, seven-time World Pack Burro Race champion Hal Walter had an immediate answer, calling the Hardscrabble Mountain trails a tour through both history and culture. Walter cautions that the trails are on private land and only available during the June 5 Hardscrabble Mountain Trail Run 5k and 10k, but welcomes all to that growing Custer County event.
Walter authored the below piece on those trails, and it is our March VFuel Colorado Trail of the Month.
To run on the Hardscrabble Mountain Trail Run courses is to pace yourself back through history. The challenging, fun and scenic 5K and 10K routes navigate two-track jeep roads, short stretches of cross-country meadow and and rugged horse trails on Bear Basin Ranch near Westcliffe. These courses feature 475 feet of vertical gain on the 5K and 1,083 feet of gain on the 10K, with the 10K topping out at 9,039 feet. The rolling high meadows, evergreen forests and aspen glens on all the courses offer sweeping vistas of the Sangre de Cristo range, Wet Mountains and Pikes Peak, with the start and finish for all events at 8,913 feet elevation. We recommend touring these trails by entering the Hardscrabble Mountain Trail Run. If you can’t make it for the race on June 5, a limited number of people may be allowed to tour parts of the course on private land owned by Gary Ziegler and Amy Finger by appointment. For more information visit the website and contact race organizers.
Point No. 1 Dry Lake
The start and finish for the Hardscrabble Mountain Trail Run is at Dry Lake on Bear Basin Ranch. The “lake” is actually a ancient volcanic sinkhole or vent, likely associated with the Bassick Dike that left much of the region heavily mineralized. Over the years the resulting cooling and erosion has left a depression that actually fills with water during a heavy snow year or after heavy summer thunderstorms.
The Dry Lake phenomenon also likely plays a role in the choice of this area as a hunting camp going back as far as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago by Ute and Apache Indians tribes and possibly earlier indigenous people. Here in the summer months these tribes found vast herds of elk and bison. Dry Lake and the surrounding area is a high park that sits atop three main drainages and also affords views of the Sangre de Cristo Range and Pikes Peak, a sacred mountain of the Ute. The cultural significance of the area is further seen at our next point on Bradbury Ridge.
Point No. 2 — Lower Bradbury Ridge
As the trail reaches the top of Bradbury Ridge it hangs a sharp right and passes through a wire gate. Just a stones throw away are two trees believed to have been culturally modified by the Ute and Apache. A great number of these trees can be found along this east-west ridge. In addition, Ziegler, an archaeologist by trade, has found grinding stones, projectile points and three “platforms” or stone foundations for teepees and rectangular shelters built around trees. Some of these ceremonial trees appear to be planted, as they often seem to be associated with rocks or rock formations. Ziegler, believes the modified trees to be spiritual or prayers trees, and thinks some may mark burial sites as the Ute favored crevasse burials of their dead.
Point No. 3 — Louie Annin’s Farm
As the trail continued on the 10K and 45K* routes it passes the rusty remains of an old Chevy truck left at the homestead of one of the early white settlers, Louie Annin. Louie dryland farmed potatoes, oats and barley in the open area at the headwaters of Boneyard Park in the 1920s. In addition to the truck body, a makeshift shrine adorned with artifacts found by yours truly, passers-by may notice the foundation of a cabin, a flat stone floor with cement remnants that likely served as a barn. Two large potato cellars. Upward from the home site the trail passes a rock-lined cistern that was filled from a spring in the draw above. Eventually the spring went dry and Louie moved his home about a quarter mile to the northeast, where the two-room cabin he built remains visible to this day.
Point No. 4 — Prairie Dog Mine
Here where the trail comes back to County Road 271 is where the 10K course takes a right, and the 45K* route turns left on the road. Not far to the south of here is the site of the Prairie Dog Mine, the machination of early day scam artists. As the story goes some less than scrupulous miners “salted” a prospect pit with ore, then took on investors in their “mine.” An entire town sprang from this endeavor, with the miners pocketing the investor’s funds and no precious metal ever being found. The town was disassembled in the 1900 and only a mine pit remains.
*45k last held in 2014. This year’s race includes 5k and 10k options.
Running the Hardscrabble route is a unique experience made possible only through the concept of conservation easements that protect private ranches from development. Proceeds from the trail run help fund important conservation projects such as this through the San Isabel Land Protection Trust.
Past VFuel Colorado trails of the month:
February – Bobcat Ridge Loop, Loveland/Fort Collins
January – Independence Monument Trail, Grand Junction
December – Great Western Trail, Windsor
November – Intemann Trail, Manitou Springs
October – Hell Roaring Ridge to Capitol Pass Traverse, Aspen
September – Elk Park/Needleton Loop, San Juan Mountains