Today was a good day. We got up early and watched a really pretty sunrise.
The sunlight was the exact color of Bill's bike. We thought it made for a nice shot. :)
We hurriedly got ready and took the Boys with us to Pike’s Peak. Unfortunately, two days prior to our arrival, they received the first snowstorm of the season that closed the top of the mountain. Bummer. We went anyway figuring that it would be worth the $24 entrance fee. We were wrong. It was a bad experience all around.
We stopped at one of the visitor centers to use the restroom. The restrooms were blue boxes. Uhhhh…are you serious? It’s 30 degrees outside – I REALLY don’t want to use a blue box. I went anyway. Well, I went in…and promptly turned around and walked out. Let’s just say that the poo truck hadn’t made a stop in a while. It was disgusting. I ranted to Bill about if for an excessively long period of time. I just couldn’t believe our $24 entrance fee entitled me to hover within inches of a mound of poo. I have never seen so much crap in my life and I have used A LOT of pit toilets. Pit being the key word. This was not a pit – it was a mountain of poo that rose dangerously close to the toilet seat. Like, if one small decomposition gas bubble were to expand, it would cause the entire contents of the box to blow like Mount Vesuvius on Pompei. Ewww…
So, I was annoyed about the crapper and Bill was annoyed that the lodge’s coffee bar wasn’t open. The store, with all of its stupid Pike’s Peak paraphernalia, was open but no one had opened the coffee bar – at 10:30 am. Great. No visit to the summit, no decent restrooms, and no freaking coffee. What DO you do with those entrance fees anyway? If you’ve never been to Pike’s Peak, don’t bother. Just go to Seattle and head to Rainier. It’s way cooler anyway.
But…here are some pics in case you’re curious.
After the disappointment that was Pike’s Peak, we drove through Manitou Springs and then stumbled upon this place…
It was a great little park right in the middle of town.
The trail system was really nice and there were off-leash designated dog trails – a rare and pleasant find. They also had a mountain bike skills park where we watched a bunch of kids doing stunts.
We were hungry, so we had a late lunch at a Mongolian BBQ joint near the campground. After lunch, we headed back to the campsite to rotate the tires on the trailer. That didn’t take long and we both wanted to work off our lunch a bit, so Bill took his mountain bike out and hit the trails and I threw on my pack and went for a hike.
The park's trails offer a surprising amount of variety and endless hiking loop combinations that would take hours upon hours to explore. I chose to link a couple loops together and enjoyed myself immensely. There was no one around, the landscape was interesting and the autumn air was pleasantly crisp. As dusk was approaching, I picked up the pace so I could make it back to the trailer before dark (brainstorm forgot her headlamp). As I emerged from the woods and rounded a corner, I noticed the moon coming up. I stopped for awhile to watch. It was really beautiful.
I continued on my way and got back to the trailer a little after dark had fallen. I hiked about 5 miles in an hour and a half – not bad for me since I usually snap a bajillion photos and spend copious amounts of time reading signs…
and staring at cactuses…
and trees…
and the sky…
and rocks…
and taking shadow pictures…
and watching animals…
and investigating poo on the trail…
There are a lot of interesting things to be seen on a hike – but you just have to be willing to take the time to look for them. :)
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