Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
My adventures for the day ended a bit early, but I didn’t get the best sleep last night and the drive back down the mountains felt like rushing things. I heard there were some good dispersed camping spots in the Pike National Forest so I decided to check those out. “Nice” is an understatement – … Read more
Continuing on from the Ponderosa Loop I followed further north onto the Petrified Forest Loop trail that explores the ancient Florissant Lake bed and it’s various petrified redwood stumps. Going clockwise, very early into the trail (on clear days like today) you may be rewarded with distant views of Pikes Peak. Zoomed in view of … Read more
Outside the visitor center is a large shelter covering stumps of petrified redwood trees. One of the signs state that years ago before this area was protected as a monument, the area was littered with petrified wood; for 100 years visitors would take souvenirs and now the stumps are all that remain. Shelters protect some … Read more
My first real adventure into the Rocky Mountains was to visit Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The drive to get here from Colorado Springs is easy compared to some other mountain passes I have been through. Temperatures are definitely dropping compared to lower elevations but I have no complaints about that – finally, it feels … Read more
Garden of the Gods was too busy and I was at a bit of a fork in the road. Difficult hikes are off-limits due to my foot pain, and also I know I can’t fully commit to bigger things like national parks because time is limited. Luckily, Colorado has no shortage of things to see … Read more
Doing a bit of free-styling now with my destinations. Left my stealth camp in Wyoming and decided to drive south on I-25 until something strikes my attention. Sadly the wildfire smoke or hazy clouds are blocking my views of the Rocky Mountains. Also sadly I am deciding to pass on by what I can only … Read more
Getting closer to New Mexico and the miles are flying by. Needed another distraction on a rather boring drive in SE Colorado. Interestingly enough I stopped at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site which has connections to my last stop at Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Gaining access is quite easy – just park … Read more
Starting my final day of driving towards New Mexico, I found myself crossing southeast Colorado. Not much out this way but I did spot the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site on my map and decided that I’d give it a go. This is a very remote site and out of my way but not … Read more
Today I tried to be pro-active and book lodging before actually arriving to my destination (what a crazy idea, right?). Well, in this case it worked against me. Booked a hotel in Santa Fe, NM thinking I would have time then ended up at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park about an hour from … Read more
After staying in Grand Junction last night out of necessity, it was a pleasant surprise to find Colorado National Monument located in the same city some 10 miles from my hotel. Did t have time to do any hikes, but the views were worth the visit. Since I visited early morning, the sun was against … Read more