Eldo: Shirt Tail Peak - REOPENED! Continental crag, closed.

Shirt Tail peak is open for climbing. The raptors decided on a nest on the South side of the canyon.

Unfortunately, Continental Crag is closed, as is the upper loop of the Rattlesnake Gulch trail.

I'll move the signs around on Thursday. Thanks for supporting these closures.

Mike McHugh
Maintenance Hombre
Eldorado Canyon State Park
303.494.3943
mike.mchugh(at)state.co.us

Mike McHugh wrote:Shirt Tail peak is open for climbing. The raptors decided on a nest on the South side of the canyon. Unfortunately, Millennium Crag is closed, as is the upper loop of the Rattlesnake Gulch trail. Sadly, Carpet Bombing is off limits; you'll have to confine your adventures to lesser-known, raptor-vacated climbs like Gambit or The Naked Edge. I'll move the signs around on Thursday. Thanks for supporting these closures. Mike McHugh Maintenance Hombre Eldorado Canyon State Park 303.494.3943 mike.mchugh(at)state.co.us

Nice!

Golden eagles.

Cool! I wonder if that is the former Diamond Head (2008) pair.

Thanks Mike!

Tony,

This isn't the same pair that occupies the Diamond Head territory.I call these birds the Eldorado Mountain pair. Golden Eagles often build several nests throughout their territory and eventually settle at one each season. This year the Eldo Mtn birds were actively nest building in early Feb at their nest just north of Shirttail, thus the closure there. Recent observations near Eldo Mtn itself suggested that they were focused more in Rattlesnake Gulch. A hike up there last week revealed that they are incubating in their nest up in the gulch. Their territory spans down south at least to Plainview, and then out east over Doudy Draw and the grasslands between Eldo and Superior.

The Diamond Head birds have a territory that spans from Sobo Peak and the Diamond Head west to Walker Ranch. For the past couple of years, they have occupied nests on an unnamed and very remote dome on County land upstream from Eldo. Since they haven't made any real nesting attempts near SOBO Peak or DH in the past couple of years, the City no longer enacts that closure. It would change if they take up residency back on the SOBO Peak ridge.

In each of these cases, I'm often the only person out there checking in on things. We have a lot going on, so I appreciate people's patience when it comes to working out these closures. It's a multi-agency task with each of these pairs since they have nests on City and County lands, some of which are managed by the State. I really do appreciate all the work Mike and all the other Eldo folks are doing to protect these birds. I hope all of you get to the chance to admire the eagles when you're out adventuring on the crags. Keep your eyes out down towards the Micky, as well as up by Shirttail where they seem to enjoy riding the thermals.

Thanks,

Christian Nunes
Wildlife Ecology Tech, OSMP

^^^^^
Thanks for the explanation Christian. I was actually wondering if the early lifting of these closures meant the birds were in peril, or not nesting the way they are supposed to or something. I don't know much about raptors, but I love seeing them - they are beautiful creatures. Thanks for the work you do to protect them.

Oh - and yay for Shirt Tail Peak opening! Thanks for the update Mike!

I made a mistake in my original post. Millenium crag is open, but Continental Crag is closed.