It had been 13 years since I last visited Colorado (last time to climb a couple of 14k peaks). A good hiking buddy, Oscar, has been hiking in the area around Woodland Park for about 8 years. We joined him and his wife for a week of hiking and touring around and had a great time!

 

Our warmup “hike” was a short level trail near Manitou Lake that provided great views of Pikes Peak. Woodland Park is at about 8,500ft elevation and even though we had been in Tahoe at 6500 – 9500ft elevation just a week ago, we had already lost some of our extra red blood cells needed for the higher elevation.

 

Our next hike was the Mule Creek trail where there was an abundance of wildflowers. Oscar, Karin, and Yvonne are in the photo above on the trail with wildflowers around them.

 

A Fritillary butterfly harvesting nectar from one of the multitudes of blooming asters. (I think this one is the Great Basin Fritillary, Speyeria egieis egleis, but I am not certain).

 

Karin and Randy surrounded by cone flowers and asters.

 

Yvonne and Karin heading down the Mule Creek trail

 

Karin and I visited the Garden of the Gods close the Colorado Springs. Per the info at the park: A billion years ago, molten rock cooled to create Pikes Peak granite and the Ancestral Rockies. Approximately 310-270 million years ago, the ancestral Rockies were worn down bit by bit. About 250 million years ago, Garden of the Gods had sandy beaches and an inland sea. The 300 foot orange sandstone rocks in the Garden of the Gods were once sand dunes. Around 155 million years ago (the Jurassic period), dinosaurs roamed the Garden of the Gods. About 65 million years ago, there was an intense period of mountain building caused by the old Pacific plate slamming into the North American plate. As the Front Range Mountains rose, the overlying sedimentary rocks were bent upward. Over time, the softer rocks eroded and valleys were created leaving harder rocks standing as the tall ridges in the Park.

 

Garden of the Gods

 

More Garden of the Gods

 

Even more Garden of the Gods

 

This ridge line in the Garden of the Gods and the clouds above looked like a stone “being” with arms raised up puffing out a smoke ring….

 

Red rock formations in Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the distance.

 

One area Oscar took us was the small town of Green Mountain Falls where there are temporary art installations (and a few shops and restaurants). This display was an aerial sculpture named Off the Beaten Path by Patrick Shearn made of kite fabric (35,700 pieces) & rope (6,276 feet) suspended above a pond.

 

Karin and Yvonne are hanging out with Rita the Rock Planter (or Rita the Troll) near Victor, CO. This wood sculpture is one of several by the artist, Thomas Dambo. Rita is patching up the ground where miners from the 1800s may have carelessly left holes behind. Thomas Dambo has created 150+ different trolls in Denmark, London, Australia, and all over the USA. There is one in Austin, TX.

 

Karin and I hiked the Rainbow Gulch to Rampart Reservoir trail recommended my Oscar. Lots of flowers and most of the hike was by this nice stream.

 

Large collection of asters along the Rainbow Gulch trail. I think these are Rocky Mountain alpine fleabane (Erigeron grandiflorus).

 

A view of Pikes Peak from Rampart Road near the trailhead from Rainbow Gulch. This was out last hike in Colorado before heading back home.