The trail leading up to Grandeur Peak begins at the top of the Church Fork picnic area. You are not allowed to park in the picnic area, but there is a parking lot for the trail itself where the trail starts.
At the trailhead, which is almost exactly 6000 ft elevation, you'll see a noticeboard and a large garbage can. The surprise to me was to open the lid on that garbage can to find it filled to the top with bags of doggy doo-doo. That's not the most pleasant experience that I've ever had, but I suppose that it beats the alternative of stepping in the muck along the trail (and, incidentally, I never saw any of it at any time, although I did see a few dogs).
Slightly further along is a handy map. You can see that the trail to Grandeur Peak curves off counter-clockwise, while another trail to Church Fork Peak forks off to the right. Perhaps I'm not very observant, but I missed this fork in the trail completely.
My practice is to take a photo at 500 ft increments, starting at the first elevation which is evenly divisible by 500. In the case of this trail, the start was the trailhead at 6000 ft. This photo is the view at 6500 ft where the trail is surrounded by trees and shade.
. Original Copyright, Jun 2004. All Rights Reserved.
