Day 56 - Garden of the Gods

By the end of today, I would drive east past the front range mountains of Colorado and then north through Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder, on my way to Rocky Mountain National Park. My first stop was Garden of the Gods, a geologic-wonder of a city park in Colorado Springs.

The red slabs of rock at Garden of the Gods were tilted from horizontal to vertical at some point and then rain filed them down to the impressive shapes they take on today. This beautiful scenic city park is free and in the middle of a prominent residential area. I hiked the outside loop trail for views from above, before hiking down amid the rock slabs. The sun was out and it was awesome.

I then drove to two other side attractions: one called Siamese Twins and the other Balancing Rock. I especially liked the twins as you could see Pikes Peak, a famous 14er mountain in Colorado, framed behind them. There is a road that goes all the way up Pikes Peak but the last six out of nineteen miles were closed due to snow.

After the strange-is-beautiful rock park, I drove to downtown Colorado Springs for a brief drive-thru before heading north to Denver. I arrived in Denver just at rush hour but luckily traffic wasn't horrible. I got out and walked around downtown for thirty minutes, walking by the Capitol and Art Museum, before driving more north to Boulder. Boulder is a college town set up towards the mountains. I stopped for a fresh, hot seafood soup, which seemed to help my lingering head cold. Then I got back in the van and drove on to Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

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