High on Life at 10,000 feet
The Rockies are to Switzerland what the Appalachians are to Ireland… We spent the night near Colorado Springs at my husband’s childhood friend’s home. Across the sage-brushed flat terrain, we saw antelope grazing out the back door, and at night we heard coyotes howling. The rabbits, as common as squirrels are at home, didn’t seem afraid of people.
The next morning, we toured the Garden of the Gods, a park of giant 300 million year-old sandstone rock formations, before making our way up and into the Rockies, where one mountain range led to another and veins of golden aspen trees wound through the scenery of what used to be gold mining country.
After an hour or so of climbing, the vista opened up onto plains. From the winding shelf highway we were driving on, we could look down into the alpine valley and see a sight so foreign to me that it could have been the surface of the moon. We pulled over to watch a herd of buffalo and take some pictures of them. A George Harrison song played on the stereo… If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can lead you there.
By late afternoon and after stopping for supplies, we arrived at our next destination to set up camp and soak in the pools of warm mineral springs at the base of the Chalk Cliffs in Mount Princeton at 10,000 feet. More to come…
September 29th, 2005 5:32 pm
Colleen, I would be afraid to stand near that rock in the picture! It looks as though it will fall off at any moment.
September 29th, 2005 5:55 pm
It also looks a person’s face with no teeth…(The rock on top of Joe, that is).
September 29th, 2005 6:58 pm
Simply magical.
I’ve heard that where we live has been called “the Alps of Florida.” Which is hilarious, considering that we live a whopping 90 feet above sea level….
September 29th, 2005 7:52 pm
I’ve been there. I know exactly what you’re talking about…exactly how you feel. I love the West.
September 29th, 2005 11:31 pm
Sounds like a lovely trip. Colorado is where all of my family’s history is. Wish I was in a hot mineral pool now. That rock does look a be precariously placed.
September 30th, 2005 4:11 am
How odd that I had my first teaching job about 20 minutes from Garden of the Gods and went camping with a girlfriend near ‘college peaks’ the summer I graduated from college. Maybe even in the same campground you are in now!
September 30th, 2005 6:34 am
I love the rockies everything about them.
September 30th, 2005 9:26 am
Wonderful post and that pic is incredible!
October 1st, 2005 11:32 pm
What a fantastic picture!