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Showing posts with the label black canyon

Day 60 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Well, I got caught in my first thunderstorm today. Actually it was a sleet thunderstorm. Afternoon thunderstorms are a known occurrence in Colorado and other mountain environments, but I was so mesmerized by the well-named Exlamation Point, that I paused for an hour to read and enjoy the view, long enough to put myself in trouble. I was a third of a mile from the summit of Green Mountain, two miles past the Exclamation Point, when I heard thunder and looked west to see dark storm clouds.  I looked up at the summit lovingly, but turned around immediately. I went off trail, down the trended and not so steep moutain side, knowing I could intersect the trail below and save a half mile. I found the trail and began running. More thunder. Closer. Not wanting to be on the highest mountain covered with trees, running would atleast get me well below tree level-- wet is fine, stuck by lightning is not. It started sleeting as I ran, covering the ground and the canyon vista in a thick white peb...

Day 59 - Red Rocks to Hanging Lake

I don't linger around a place much. My plan today was to drive to Red Rocks Amplitheatre in Denver then to Telluride then to Vail then to Hanging Lake then to Aspen for dinner with a friend.  Red Rocks is used for athletic training when there isn't a concert.   The famous outdoor theatre, set among red-colored high rocks, similar to those from Garden of the Gods, was filled with army rotc candidates running the rows up and down and climbing the outer walls. See pic. I wanted to see a concert here but the last few days were rainy and I didn't care for the performers.  Next was Telluride. The ski resort town was quaint and the surrounding moutains  still snow clad, but without the ski slopes open, this wasn't much of an attraction. Vail was even more empty. Then came Hanging Lake. Wow. The stretch of highway through the Glenwood Canyon was the prettiest stretch of highway I've driven on-- the roads engineered in such a way that they melted seamlessly into the canyon. ...