[Journal entry for January 12, 2018; Peaks to Plains Trail, Route 6 near Golden Colorado] We park at the Mayhem Gulch Trailhead along Route 6, but find that the trail (and all of Centennial Cone Park) is closed. Fortunately, the Peaks-to-Plains Trail, which follows Clear Creek in the adjacent Clear Creek Canyon Park, is open. We cross the creek via a footbridge and take the trail westward (and upstream). The trail is a paved one-lane pedestrian walkway that follows the creek, typically set twenty to fifty feet above the water. The traffic noise is a bit annoying, but the views of the creek and the canyon walls, are very nice, especially since the sky has partly cleared and the sun occasionally shines. The creek is partly covered with ice, but the adjacent hills have very little snow. The trail crosses the creek several times, via steel bridges of a trussed-arch design. The bridges have build-in observation areas, which though unnecessary on a low-traffic day like today, no doubt improve safely on busy days. Side trails, usually paved with local stone, provide occasional access to the creek. We climbed down one and watched the cascading water. A large slab of ice broke loose and floated downstream, fragmenting as it went over a cascade. The tan-colored rocks exposed in the walls of the canyon, especially where it has been blasted, are very picturesque and geologically interesting. The country rock is heavily-folded banded gneiss; it has been cut through in numerous places by pink granitic dikes. We walked as far as the Route 6 – Route 119 Intersection, to where the trail passes beneath a stout concrete highway bridge, and then turned about and headed back. About 2 hours.