So yesterday I hiked Flagstaff Mountain (same hike I did a year ago when I was here...same place I saw the bear running down towards the trail...alas there was no bear this year). And then today I hiked the Chautauqua trails to the Royal Arch. Here are some pics from the hikes. First up are the Flagstaff Mountain trail shots.
Looking up at Flagstaff Mt from the bottom. It doesn't look like much in the pic but its a good 1500ft to the summit, and a lot of rather steep hiking.
From the summit looking back into the mountains behind Flagstaff... the REAL mountains.
Looking down over Boulder.
The old Stone hut at the top, built in 1930 I recall (from the signs).
Near the summit suddenly there were flowers. These are poppys I believe.
And here are some orchids in with the popppys. Wonder if these just grew
here naturally, or did someone plant them.
Another view of Boulder.
Looking across the valley as I descend....towards the Flatiron Mountains.
And yet ANOTHER view of Boulder.
And then from today, pics from the Royal Arch hike in the Chautauqua Trails park:
The Flatiron Mountains. My destination is at the far left and back of that mountain.
It was a real yellow-brick-road in the lower sections of the hike.
Here is where it started to get interesting.
More rocks and stairs.
Hard to believe THIS is the trail!
And finally...the Royal Arch! It was awesome, well worth the effort!
(the arch is right at 2.25 miles from the trailhead).
Pretty awesome to find this up here. How someone ever found it in the first-place is beyond me...
the trail getting here was pretty intense!
Looking up at the arch. It looks like the 2 stacks of rocks just fell into each other and there you go.
And a different view of Boulder.
Did I mention how much work it must have taken to make this trail? WOW!
And finally looking back up at the Flatiron rock-slabs. Pretty awesome park they have here!
And that is all for now...I hope to hike whenever I have time off during the day AND when my knees aren't too upset (they were a teensy bit angry today by the time I got back to the car).
Thanks for all the be-yoo-ti-ful pics! Just gorgeous! I love Colorado in early June - that is when I visited (about, er 40 years ago) on a 2-week bus/van tour. We went all over & the only places I didn't get to see & really missed was Aspen. It's the 1st place I'd ever been with virtually no humidity & my HAIR LOOKED FABULOUS! :)
ReplyDeleteBesides the Air Force Academy, Red Rocks, Royal Gorge, Vail & Estes Park (we stayed in the hotel where The Shining was filmed), another vivid memory was going down a STEEP elevator in a pitch black (until they flipped on the lights) gold mine outside Cripple Creek. I still have the gold nugget we were all given at the end. :)
Oh, & somewhere up in the mountains, we were traveling on a SINGLE lane road & I would look out my window to the left & see nothing as it was a sheer drop! NO RAILINGS! We drove miles like that & it was the most scared I'd ever been in a moving vehicle.
The other thing & I'm embarrassed to admit, but I did not realize (pre-trip)that the entire state was NOT mountainous or at least hilly. Where I grew up, the terrain is 'rolling' or mountainous (but not the Rockies). In Colorado, until you get to the Rockies, it's FLAT AS A PANCAKE & then, BAM, there's the Rockies! I was amazed! :)
Hey Susie...I like Colorado...havent yet been to Royal Gorge..but its on my list. Ive been to Cripple Creek when working out of the Springs...didnt know there was a gold mine I could visit...(maybe its not open anymore, that was a long time ago). Lots of roads up out of the Springs that have sheer drops on one side (Gold Camp/Old Stage Coach Rd to Cripple Creek comes to mind). It is very dry here...by the 2nd or 3rd day my sinuses are so dry...almost bloody nose dry. And my fingers start to crack. I do like the dry heat tho..much better than the humid heat (which we are heading to soon).
DeleteDarn, I was finishing up my 2nd comment & poof, it disappeared!
ReplyDeleteOh well. Where can you get dinner after 2am? I'm so glad all is safe there! And I forget - where do you go next?
Can't remember if I came here the past 2 weeks & wrote this or not, but a few days after your dad passed, one of my uncles died of COVID back home. He was one of my mom's 4 brothers, although much younger as he was only 80. He'd had no known health issues before getting the virus & then after 2 weeks in the hospital, he was dead. His wife also contracted the virus, but she's much younger & barely knew she was sick.
I hope you're doing ok, Matt. Even when a parent has been ill a long time, it's still a jolt when a parent passes. After my Aunt's (who also lived on the farm & helped raise my sisters & me) & dad's deaths, I was numb for months. Take care, Matt.
And if you want to take more pics, I'm here for them! :)
STAY SAFE
Really no place to get dinner late now..everything closes early, even the usual 24 hour take out places. Thankfully I have a lot of groceries in my room...kind of keeping out of restaurants as much as possible. Tonight I grilled a rib eye steak on the hotel gas grill, along w/ Zucchini squashes, and a sweet potato from my room microwave (I always try to stay at a Marriott Residence inn w/ full kitchen). I still have some scallops and king crab for the next 2 nights, need more groceries this weekend tho. If I'm going to do the prison work-release thing (that's what I call this work-trip...we work and then hide in our rooms) I'm going to live it up food-wise...all on Per Diem of course. I can eat a lot of lobster and king crab too!
DeleteAs to losing our Dad 2 weeks ago, I'm doing fine...mostly cuz I'm still in dis-belief...cant believe hes really gone (still cant believe our Mom is gone either, and that's been 2 years). Hope to hike tomorrow (it rained all day today so I didn't go out), but more is forecast tomorrow too...so I will play it by ear. And working nights this week...didn't get back to the room till 4am this morning...so hike was likely out anyway. Gotta scoot and get back to work (not much to do tonight so due to the Covid we are sending groups of us back to our rooms on call when we are out of work, cutting our numbers by about 1/2 to 2/3rds at any given time...its my turn to go back in till 2am).