Catching up......

We're still in the Denver area, still in Chatfield St Park, but we've had to move from site to site occasionally and we lose our good wifi connection.   We're back near it again so time for more pictures of distant vistas.    

 On our last day at the Jeep rally, we went on a short, easy trail ride to Mt Zion.   We climbed to over 12,500 ft where we proved that we'd made it by having our portrait done.    In the background somewhere is the mighty Mosquito Pass that we did a day or so earlier.

 

 If you think you might wander into the mountain trails for some peace and quiet, you might be disappointed....especially on the weekends.    We had a bit of a traffic jam up there.

 Coming down, we passed thru the my favorite aspens.

 Leaving the rally, we came down HWY 91, which connects Copper Mtn with Leadville.   Along the busy road is this beautiful scene.   But there is no pullout or stopping place in order to take a decent pic but thought I'd share this one taken thru the window.    I don't know the name of the lake.

 Previously, we stayed at Cherry Creek SP, which is closer to Denver.   Chatfield is closer to the mountains and the kids.    It is a popular balloon launching site and most days, they fly gently overhead.   This one got a bit close for a moment.

 And then landed with hardly a bump ....

 We are also near Roxborough SP....newly created in 1996, it is a beautiful setting among the red rocks.  ...(no camping).

 If you've been south to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs,  or north to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this is part of the same upheavel, 15,000,000 years ago.

We chose the moderate Fountain Valley Trail for 2.5 miles with a couple of scenic overlooks thrown in.

Our trail meandered among the rocks and climbed upwards for distant views.

In the early 1900's, a gentleman built this cabin and hoped to develop the area for tourists.....he failed and sold the land to a rancher.    In 1974, a beautiful golf course, Arrowhead, was built.   Further developement  also failed and in the 1990's, the land was acquired and protected.   But they failed to purchase ALL of the land, and now, on the other side of the rocks, near the golf course is a pricey gated community.

This area is home to many native plant and animal species.    Signage gives helpful hints for avoiding the prairie rattler, the black bear and the mountain lion and bobcats.  There are numerous sightings of the snakes and a mountain lion was seen on Saturday.  I kept my eyes and ears on the trail, especially in the narrow rocky sections.

I have an illogical fear of the large cats......so far, my hyper-vigilence has paid off......  This was the only wild creature that we saw the entire day.    Even the wildflowers were mostly done.       It was a perfect day......