{"id":3881,"date":"2012-09-22T19:17:29","date_gmt":"2012-09-23T01:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=3881"},"modified":"2017-09-13T09:16:48","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T15:16:48","slug":"tr-dyke-to-dark-canyon-loop-15-sept-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/tr-dyke-to-dark-canyon-loop-15-sept-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"TR: Dyke to Dark Canyon Loop (15 Sept 2012)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have had this loop in mind for quite some time. But, I intentionally saved it for the fall, knowing that the loop would take me through some of the most beautiful aspen groves in Colorado. Although I ended up hiking the Dyke to Dark Canyon Loop about a week before the peak leaves on Kebler pass, it was still one of the most spectacular hikes I’ve done in the area, and the leaves were still amazingly colorful.<\/p>\n

I started at Horse Ranch Park. A view of the geologic dyke, for which the Dyke trail is named.
\n\"Hiking<\/p>\n

\"Hiking<\/p>\n

I opted for a counter-clockwise loop, and began hiking up the Dyke Trail.
\n\"Hiking<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Hiking<\/p>\n

I followed the Dyke Trail until the turn off toward the Raggeds Wilderness. Every biker who has ridden this trail knows this turn off – it’s the one where you really want to go, as it’s straight fall line, but the Dyke trail turns a hard left. Shortly after, the hike got really good.
\n\"Hiking<\/p>\n

\"Hiking<\/p>\n

\"Dyke<\/p>\n

\"Dyke<\/p>\n

Beckwith.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

Marcellina.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

\"Dyke<\/p>\n

The trail itself actually headed through a dyke.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

I followed the trail into the Raggeds Wilderness where I turned left onto the Oh-Be-Joyful Pass trail. I followed this all the way back to Dark Canyon Trail. The intersections were well-signed.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

The trail flattened out when I reached the Dark Canyon Trail. But, the trees were fabulous.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

And so were the views!
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

Ruby and Owen.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

I followed Dark Canyon Trail all the way back to Horse Ranch.
\n\"Dyke<\/p>\n

It was a surprisingly wonderful hike. I highly recommend it, especially as a fall classic!<\/p>\n

NOTE: The leaves are at peak on Kebler pass this weekend! They will stay beautiful for another few days. So, get out there and soak in the fall colors before they are all gone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From beautiful aspen forests to scenic vistas, the Dyke to Dark Canyon Loop has it all – located on Kebler Pass Road near Crested Butte!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crested-butte","category-hiking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3881"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429603,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions\/429603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}