Well, so much for a day of catching up on posts and pictures. Today turned out to be busier than I was expecting, which is actually nice. Scott gave me a tour of the base, Sarah and I ran some errands, watched Prince Caspian again and then we went out to a Stone Temple Pilots concert. A fun day, a really good concert, though I’m feeling older than I am, since around 11pm I was hoping the concert would just end so I could go to bed.

To be honest, Utah isn’t as bad as I was expecting. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, maybe I’ll get around to catching up then.

Luckily for me, I found out that the Park Service opened Trail Ridge Road (it runs through the park over the mountains) yesterday afternoon and since my legs and knees decided to give out on me from all the hiking, I figured it was a good time to drive that road and head for Utah to see my brother and his wife. It was an absolutely gorgeous section of highway, and was really the only highlight of the drive today. There’s not a whole lot going on in western Colorado and the section of Utah I drove through. (I did however, confirm the stereotype that every ranch has a sign erected over the road leading into it proclaiming its name.)

Tomorrow I’ll work on backfilling posts and processing photos. Maybe I’ll get out and see the base too.

Travel Distance: 498 miles

So, I had big plans last night when I went to bed. I wanted to hike the 4 miles to Lawn Lake and see Bridal Veil Falls as well. But… I woke up in the morning after a fitful night’s sleep in the below freezing weather sore and without energy. After an hour’s hike down to my car (you move a lot slower when the terrain is difficult) and a breakfast of pop-tarts and dry Cheerio’s knock-offs didn’t do a whole lot to improve my mood. But, I had to press on. My first stop was the Alluvial Fan waterfall that I stopped at yesterday afternoon. While I was waiting for people to clear out so I could take a picture, a trio of bighorn sheep appeared, which of course, required a series of pictures to be taken.

By this point, I was feeling better and was looking for a shorter than 12 mile hike to Bridal Veil Falls; as I found out though, the only apparent easy way to get there is via a private road. So, that was put off and I headed to Alberta Falls. A short hike while keeping my eyes open for a missing child later and I got a couple excellent shots. At that point it was again time to head back to camp and the painful 2.5 mile walk back to camp.

Made it to Rocky mountain National Park this morning and planned out a couple days along with getting my backcountry camping permit (I’ve got a campsite 2.5 miles from the trailhead with a 1000 ft elevation gain along the hike). I also scoped out several of the sights along the roads (several panoramas and a herd of elk). I also did a quick hike along the alluvial fan fan trail and found a waterfall that I’m going to head back to and photograph tomorrow. By the time I finished up it was 6pm. A quick dinner made up of ramen noodles (carbs is all I’m after really) and it was time to start the hike up the trail and set up camp. Sunset was at 8:30 and I’ll be asleep shortly.

Travel Distance: 115 miles

Made it up to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs this morning and visited their chapel. I’m not much of one for visiting churches, but I was incredibly impressed. The architecture is unique (no gargoyles or flying buttresses here) and the use of stained glass to color the light coming in instead of making designs is phenomenal. A few quick stops to take photos of some planes on display and I was back on the road again.

Next up was Garden of the Gods, just a few miles down the road. Even after stopping by the badlands (which the rock formations reminded me of quite a bit) it was quite pretty and had a unique quality to it. Unlike the Badlands, these rock formations appear to just grow out of the trees. Whereas the Badlands can be forbidding, Garden of the Gods is… almost welcoming. The rocks invite climbing instead of attempts to find a way around them.

A quick trip down the highway brought me to Pikes Peak ($10/person entrance fee) and I headed up the mountain (to the dismay of my gas mileage). Quite the pretty view from the top, probably not something I’ll ever need to go back and do again though.

When I first got into Colorado, a lady at the Welcome Center recommended I go to Cripple Creek, which she described as a rebuilt mining town with lots of cool sights to see and a couple casinos. Personally, I don’t think she’d ever been to the town. There are perhaps 10 buildings in the entire downtown area that aren’t casinos. The only historic buildings I saw were the information center (an old railway car) and their museum (the old jail). Definitely not worth the trip and I left feeling like I’d wasted a few hours. So, I hit the road, found and found a rest area to sleep in for the night.

Travel Distance: 180 miles