I am praying you are well! Staying home even if gritting your teeth over isolation, staying safe, and even taking time to re-explore hobbies and learn new ones. Now is the time to catch up on all types of things busyness has pushed out of sight and out of mind.
Last Friday, this Monday and Tuesday, I took sunrise walks in Ute Valley Park, a 200-acre city park 2 miles from home. It has wonderful vistas, fascinating geologic formations, and lovely bird-filled meadows. Although our city mayor and governor encouraged us to be outside, staying 6 feet apart and spreading across the many parks available, Tuesday afternoon that changed. We can still enjoy all the outdoor spaces, as long as access is a SHORT WALK away. Sigh . . . Well, here is lovely Ute Valley Park which I won’t be visiting for a while. Doing the right thing is more important now, so let’s enjoy the views from earlier this week.
Many trails in Ute Valley connect making loops of all lengths. Walking to high points for vistas then down into the meadows, we walk on rock along the trail’s ups and downs as show above. Most of the sandstone geologic features are colored cream and tan, unlike Garden of the Gods red rock four miles away. Similar to Paint Mines, we see shades of pink, red, yellow, gold and the various colors of lichen that live on the rock. Let’s meander and see the formations plus boulders and rocks scattered in the forest. Notice the trees stretching their roots to maintain their existence on top of rock. Now that’s perseverance.
In the valley meadows we see deer, birds, and mountains to the west that soar above us. But look, in the woods at the edge of the meadow, is that a “yellow brick road”? I’ve been hunting for those ruby slippers for years–unfortunately I still have to walk and drive places.
Views from the meadow include Blodgett Peak standing at 9,243 feet, the very top of Pikes Peak, the surrounding rock formations, and Song Sparrows flitting all around.
As we head back, we’ll take a high overlook trail on the western side of the park. Coming out of the forest, we see Pikes Peak in its 14,000+ foot glory.
SPOILER alert–remember it is a city park after all. Ahh, the beauty of photo composition and perspective!
Our trail up takes us to a great overlook.
From our rocky overlook, we see the major formations at Garden of the Gods about four miles away. There’s Blodgett Peak from a higher view (peak at right) and a view of our meadow walk.
Time to head to the parking area. We have a rock trail down, but the good news is these rocks are not slippery. They seem to grab your soles for a safe walk down, just don’t step on sand.
OK, OK, SPOILER alter. The real view north.
Well my friend, we will have to come back and explore this fascinating park in more depth. I want to leave you with a few rising sun trail captures, a sure sign of hope for a new day.
Stay tuned for upcoming reminiscences of glorious outdoor adventures. Until we can explore outside together again, stay safe, stay well, stay inside, and love one another like never before!
