Palmer Lake - Sydney Harrison Memorial

Distance: 14.2 miles
Ascent:  3,553 feet   
Route: From Palmer Lake we hiked to the second reservoir and then turned north through the box canyon towards Swanks Cabin.  Continuing to the intersection of Cook and Butler Creeks, we turned west again and ascended to the wreckage.

Description: Wish I could say that hiking to the wreckage site of a military aircraft was an intentional attempt at a themed blog post for  Memorial Day weekend, but will settle for a happy coincidence.  This hike has been on our radar for some time, with a couple possibilities for routes.  At the last minute we decided to scrub the through hike from Rampart Range road to Palmer Lake as it would entail too much drive time and less hike time.

 Video = Frogs enjoying the Spring afternoon

As expected the areas surrounding the reservoirs were pretty crowded with people coming in and out.  Of course once we left the main region and branched out we had the trails mostly to ourselves.  Some gunfire from several different directions, but we have had closer calls.  I did wear some hunter orange in anticipation of the increased traffic, but as we drew nearer to shots it would cease.  Did cross paths with one hiker on our way out who told us about a longer route to the site using the Woodmoor Mountain communities road to jump from trail to trail.  I think he was happy to hear about our short cut that kept him on trails, but wonder if that lasted once he found out how steep it was.

Surprised to see how much debris remained considering that the trail runs right alongside the wreckage.  The crash occurred in 1952 during a blizzard, the pilot, Sydney Harrison was flying from Wichita to Denver.  My father-in-law pointed out that the "NG" on the tail would indicate that it was a National Guard plane, and that it looks like a single engine Cessna.  The unfortunate part of this really is how easy the site is to access.  People have been etching their names into every piece of painted metal available as well as firing guns at it.  This is our fourth wreckage site and certainly the most vandalized.  A bit disappointing as it was not the expectation, but it does appear that the plane made it about 20 years before being defaced based on the dates scratched in.

This hike reminded me a lot of what we have seen from the Colorado Trail hikes thus far, lots of up and down.  It was a good match to keep up our pace on similar terrain.  Also great that I was able to do it without tearing up my feet.  Finally found a pair of boots that are going to work out in the Patagonia P26's.  I'm working on writing up a review, but so far so good.  Also got a chance to test out my new SteriPEN, a pocket size water purifier.  Very excited about this piece of equipment, even if my hiking partner is skeptical.

We certainly have the best back yard, but still looking forward to getting a little farther out on the Colorado Trail.  May be a few more weeks, so we'll need to keep up our distance until then.  Pretty much on track for our yearly goal, but will need to certainly take advantage of the summer months to make it to 400.