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View From Inside the Mica Mine
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The first time we did this hike, it was Winter in February. That was a much different hike than doing it in the Spring!
We decided to go back this time with both kiddos because it is a fairly easy trail.
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Climb Down at the Beginning, Back Up at the End
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This trail is in Bangs Canyon. You start off by climbing down a little cavern. If you don't go past the mine at the end, I would say that this is the most difficult part of this trail. You also have to climb back up this at the end. However, there are very noticible steps/paths and some handholds so you should be fine.
Once you get down that, you come to the first and only fork. You will go right, staying on the trail towards the Mica Mine.
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| Very Dog and Kid Friendly! |
I would say most of the trail looks like the above picture. We brought our 1 year old
Chiweenie, Jade,, then our 3 year old Chiweenie Zoe on the 3rd trip out. We also brought our Kelty Kids Carrier for Orin because he isn't at the point yet that he can walk the whole 2.6 miles on his own.
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| Pretty Easy Trail |
It's about 1.3 miles from the trailhead to the mine. If you turn around here your total trip will be 2.6 miles. The mine is a very cool thing to see for kids and adults. There is also a lot of quartz to be found as well, just before you hit the mine.
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| Can you find Zac? |
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| Mica |
If you go past the mine, you will almost immediatley come to a little waterfall. Continue on this trail and you will come to Ladder Canyon and a bigger waterfall.
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| Orin taking in the waterfall |
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| The bigger waterfall |
The trail continues on after that, but it had been raining and was slick/more difficult than we wanted to do that day. But, you can check out a post about that part of the trail from
The Hiking Project.
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| A Zoe and some exposure |
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| Little bit more difficult after the mine. |
In some places on the trail leading to the mine and back, you can walk down the creek rather than on the trail. This was so much fun for my toddler as well as me! (#PuddleJumpingForever) If you stay on the trail there are SEVERAL creek crossings. The majority of them have places to go around, or big and sturdy enough rocks to walk across to not get wet. Needless to say, my Teva's enjoyed the water play!
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| Plenty of places to get your feet wet! |
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| Please notice the dog in the backpack carrier 😂 |
Overall, I love this trail. It's enough to let you escape our little town and real life for a bit, but not too much that it takes away your whole day. You will see plenty of dogs, and kids of ALL ages!
The kid carrier hiking backpack I have is no longer available to purchase, though I did find it on
Amazon. You can find the updated/upgraded version of my Kelty K.I.D.S. Carrier
here.
You can find other sites to this hike here:
I know you will enjoy this trail if you get a chance to check it out while in the Grand Valley!
See ya in the next one!
-Marcie
❤
