Falcon Trail: 13 Miles Up and Down … and a Side Trip to 1871

Saturday, 20 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 86F (30C) / Lo 63F (17C)

The morning dawned bright, with blue skies and puffy clouds, and comfortably cool temps.  The forecast was for a hot day, but by leaving early to get on one of the hiking trails here at the USAFA we figured we just might beat the worst of the heat.  Hah!  We were wrong!

For today’s hike we opted to do the Falcon Trail, a multi-use loop trail that runs entirely within the boundaries of the USAFA.  When we left the Phaeton at 7:00a, we were still debating doing just a portion of the 13-mile (21 km) trail as an in-and-out hike.  By the time we were at the trail access point five minutes later, the decision was made to hike the entire loop.  Five minutes after that we were walking, our Camelbaks heavy on our backs … the water bladder filled to the gills with the liquid refreshment we knew we would be needing for this moderate-to-difficult hike.