Colorado Springs --- Mount Cutler

A View of Downtown Colorado Springs from Mount Cutler

Roger here...  During the past few days we have visited a local winery and taken two hikes (one of them my  personal favorite so far).  In addition, we continue to enjoy relaxing times at our RV site. 

The muted silhouette view of a pine tree limb through the sun screen is so striking --- a nice view while reading in the hammock.

  
The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey...

Those of you who know us will be very surprised to discover that we found a winery in nearby Canon City where we could sample wine :-).  This one is unique in that the wines are created by the residents of the Holy Cross Abbey.

Our friends, Mike and Marian, told us about this winery when we were here a few years ago.  They joined us for a little  free wine tasting.

Run!  Are they hurrying for the wine or the gift shop?

Free wine tasting!!!!

Look at Marian and Dianne go!

It looks as if Mike made some purchases in the gift shop :-).  We each bought a bottle to enjoy at home.  Dianne bought other stuff as well.

We all thought the bark on this black walnut tree in the parking area looked as if serpents were climbing the tree.  Very weird looking.




The Garden of the Gods...

The Garden of the Gods is iconic and beautiful.  It is also crowded and somewhat confusing if the goal is to take a hike.  We obviously picked the wrong time for a visit.  We were looking forward to a specific hike that we had researched; however, trolling through the insufficient parking lot hoping for someone to pull out of a spot broke the mood.  

After about 20 minutes, we abandoned our search for a parking spot and aimlessly drove through the park in an ant-like procession with other cars looking for any available place to park.  Much later we found one.  We had no idea where we were.  After parking, we were unable to find any trail maps in the parking lot that made sense to us, s-o-o-o... we wandered down along a flat trail, keeping track of our direction so as not to get lost.  

We were surrounded by beauty, but the irritation of not finding our way to the formations detracted from the fun.  Even the hiking app on my cell phone was not helpful.  We actually retraced our steps three different times.  This bridge became a familiar sight --- "Weren't we just here?"

The amazing scenery did help to alleviate the frustration.

Our mindless wandering accidentally landed us at a spot near our car.  We were surprised.  At least we weren't lost.  We were ready to get away from the crowds and almost headed for our RV park.  However, I persuaded Dianne to try a short hike across the street.  We were finally able to walk around and through the formations.

There were even a couple of cairns for Dianne.  After the shorter hike we headed back to our campsite for lunch.  We have been to the Garden of the Gods two times before, and loved it.  In my humble opinion, the poor signage compounded by the limited parking and the crowds made our experience this time less than satisfying.  We might have to go back at a less crowded time --- or more than likely discover someplace new.

Mount Cutler...

Yesterday, we headed back to North Cheyenne Canon Park to find a parking space (third attempt) at the Mount Cutler Trailhead.  Score!!!  There were two spots. We gladly snagged one of them.  Dianne may have a different opinion, but this was my favorite hike of our time in Colorado Springs so far.

We arrived a little earlier in the morning than usual, causing the light and shadows on the rock formations to have a stark appearance.

The air on this uphill hike was perfect --- cool, dry, and clean. 
(And thin -- Dianne). The sky was that blue azure hue that we only seem to see in the west.




The hike itself was diverse.  Much of it was through the pine forests.  Parts of it hugged the edge of the mountain where the land dropped deeply from the edge of the trail.

There were also rocks to climb, and I did manage to climb one or two.  

We stopped to ponder these large tree roots that arched onto the trail.  We later discovered that they were Douglas Firs that had been eroded.  It almost looked like they were walking.

I took this picture of Dianne and Tequila next to one set of tree roots to give a perspective of how large they were.

We were both enjoying this hike so much that at one point we got a little silly.... 

.... taking pictures of each other taking pictures of each other.

As we neared the summit, panoramic views greeted us around every corner.

A portion of the falls are in the lower-center of the photo.

Far below we were able to get a glimpse of Seven Falls, a paid attraction operated by the Broadmoor Hotel.

The Seven Falls attraction, which we did not do, also includes a precarious-looking hanging bridge and a zip-line.  The perspective in the photo below  was perfect for gazing and thinking of Indiana Jones :-)

Dianne here:   This photo I would caption (for either the suspension bridge or the zip line as 
"I don't think so!"

When we reached the top, Dianne wanted a photo to document her achievement.  We did a short circle hike around the summit before heading back down.  The total round-trip hike, according to the activity bands that we wear to keep track of our steps was approximately three miles (the first half of which was u-p-h-i-l-l all the way -- D.)

We tend to be stingier with our photos when we retrace steps, but we did notice two photo-worthy views.  This orange rock is balanced on the very edge of the trail.  

We don't see moss and lichens in extreme south Texas -- much too hot and dry there.  They are a welcome sight and a sign of non-polluted air.

More adventures from Colorado Springs to follow.

Dianne here:  As I was editing this blog for Roger, I decided to go check my wildlife cam to see if we had any action last night.   If you missed the placement of the camera (which is on a tree right next to our bedroom window in the motorhome, we posted a photo of it in our last blog, to give an idea of how close this animal thoroughfare is to us.

First we had a three-deer parade:

Actually this one was from a few nights ago....

But last night, look who came to visit:

(Don't pay attention to the time stamp on the camera photo -- it's off by about 12 hours).

In this photo, he was close enough that if he stood up, he could have looked in our bedroom window. Maybe he did, for all I know.   Bandido and Tequila slept through it all.

Pet Picture of the Day....

Water Break for the Dogs (us as well)