August 5, 2023

By Tim Briese

2.3 miles, 900’ elevation gain, 2:50 roundtrip time

Hiking and climbing must be contagious in our family because my 5 year old granddaughter Ellie had been asking all summer if we could go climb Mt. Herman sometime. The mountain is a local landmark close to our home near Monument that she had climbed for her first time last summer.

One Saturday morning she and I and my son-in-law Rod took her up the mountain. She enthusiastically hiked up the steep trail, choosing to step on or climb over rocks wherever possible. She and I talked about our "favorite parts" of the trail, which invariably included walking on rocks or minor rock scrambling.

on the trail

one of our "favorite parts"

Upon reaching the top we took a nice break in the warm sun before heading down.

on the summit, with pikes peak in the distance

On the hike down and afterwards Ellie's repeated question was "When can we do it again?"

On October 21 we indeed did it again.

at the trailhead

I was surprised how she blasted up the trail, faster than last time, leading the way for a good part of the hike. I told Rod, "She’s going to be hard to keep up with soon!  In fact, I think we are almost there!"

hiking up the rocky trail

This time we found an alternative route that involved a 12 foot Class 3 rock scramble that we took on the way up and also on the way back down. She had a great time with that, and did it all by herself.

coming up the fun rock scramble section

While we were resting on top we were treated to the sight of some hang gliders jumping off the summit.

on the summit

a hang glider who had just jumped off the edge

After negotiating loose gravel on some steep sections of the trail on the way down we returned to the truck.