Nearly 30 Years of Hiking Our Favorite Trails Together
Gina Bernacchi is a librarian and educator in Colorado.
When I met my husband in 1992, he introduced me to his family cabin in Deer Creek, outside of Bailey, Colorado. The cabin was very rustic and not very comfortable — it was always cold and damp, and it took hours for the wood-burning stove to warm the rooms. We usually slept on the pull-out couch in the living room, where it was warmer. I didn’t particularly like going to the cabin, but “behind the cabin” we found two of our favorite hikes in Colorado: the Rosalie and Tanglewood Trails.
We have been hiking these trails together for 29 years (my husband even longer — about 50 years! ). We are both high school teachers, and have made a tradition of starting our summer by hiking the Rosalie Trail — and then ending the season with another hike in September. Over those years, we have taken three dogs up and down that trail (Bailey — named for Bailey, Colorado — Lily, and now Mya), and it has been a favorite hike of all three dogs as well. The dogs love the cool air, shaded by Douglas firs, aspen, willows, and lots of other foliage. And, of course, they love the Tanglewood Creek that runs from the top of Tanglewood all the way to Deer Creek to the south fork of the South Platte River, and beyond.
This summer was no different. In early June, we drove to the Deer Creek Trailhead and hiked about a mile up the Tanglewood Trail until it veered west onto the Rosalie Trail. Back in the day, when my husband first started hiking these trails, Rosalie began at the Deer Creek Trailhead. That trail was decommissioned about 25 years ago, and now, in order to get to Rosalie, you have to follow Tanglewood about one mile until you hit the Mount Evans Wilderness, then turn west. Tanglewood continues north all the way to the Roosevelt Lake area, and beyond.
The first mile of Tanglewood is nicely shaded, and our dog loves the fact that we cross the Tanglewood Creek three times before we hit Rosalie. As soon as we step onto the trail, I am in my happy place. Shade, water, sun, wildflowers, the smell of Douglas firs — all at once I am calm and happy and so grateful to live in Colorado. AllTrails rates Rosalie via Tanglewood “moderate”: it’s a slow incline for about a half an hour to the border of the Mount Evans Wilderness. Once you turn onto Rosalie, the incline becomes steeper and longer, until you level off into a corridor of Aspen trees — which, of course, are beautiful and shimmery in the fall. Continue on and you hit a small meadow with a view of the south. Continue further and eventually you come to a clearing that is slowly being taken over by young Douglas firs and other foliage. This is the stopping point for my husband, Mya, and me. We bushwhack to the creek, find a log, and eat our lunch. We have backpacked and camped here many times.
There are mostly no vistas along either the Rosalie or Tanglewood Trails, but once you get above treeline, you are rewarded with gorgeous views of the southern mountain ranges. We hope to hike here again this fall and see the changing colors of the aspen trees. It’s hard to believe that we have hiked these trails together for almost 30 years, but I am always grateful for the beauty and serenity those treks provide. I’m even more grateful for the partner at my side.
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So many of our country’s parks and public lands written about in these love notes would not exist but for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). This important conservation program was permanently funded when Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act last year. You can learn more about the Land and Water Conservation Fund here.
Would you like to write about public lands that you cherish? Please email Mary Jo Brooks at brooksm@nwf.org for guidelines. You’ll get this cool sticker as a thank you.
