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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Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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