Weekend in Pagosa Springs - Days 1 & 2

Chris and I planned a trip to Pagosa Springs after our Alberta trip was cancelled. We left on Thursday after Chris finished work and stopped in Salida for the night. We spent the day at hot springs on Friday and then continued on to Pagosa Springs later in the afternoon. 

We had hoped the skies would be clear in Pagosa as there were wildfires about two hours away in Ouray. Fortunately, the skies were clear for our entire trip.

We arrived in Pagosa late Friday afternoon. The area had been experiencing a heat wave and the vacation rental did not have A/C. We got settled, opened a few windows, and found dinner at Pagosa Thai. We found out that it was one of the highest recommended restaurants in the area. We can attest that the food was delicious.

It took a little while for the air to cool down; fortunately we had box fans that sit on window ledges. You could actually feel the difference in the air when it cooled down for the evening.

Misha's Birthday

Since Chris and I left for Salida and Pagosa Springs on Misha's birthday, we missed celebrating her day with her. She drove to Idaho Hot Springs after work and enjoyed a leisure soak while reading a book and then followed that with dinner at Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs. 

She was happy to enjoy dinner on us. 25 years of Misha is 25 years of happiness.

Hiking the Elder Fehn Trail

Chris and I decided to go hiking on the 4th to enjoy the peace and quiet of the mountains. Misha came home for the weekend and was happy to go hiking as well.

Chris found a hike not to far from Woodland Park. It was still about an hour to get there. The parking lot still had plenty of parking spots. 

We set off on what was supposed to be a 5-mile round trip hike but decided to add on a section of the Vayhinger Trail which took us to the North Catamount Reservoir along a logging and service road. 

Pikes Peak and The Crags

We arrived back at the car after 2.5 hours with about 7 - 7.5 miles hiked.

For lunch, we drove about 15 minutes to Mueller State Park and found a picnic area. In our driving after lunch, we happened upon Florissant Fossils Beds National Monument. We had no idea this was in Colorado. Did you know that redwood trees once grew here?

Back in the 1800's, people traveling by train through the area would stop in Florissant and scavenge for fossils. It wasn't until early 1900s that the area became a protected conservation area.

Chris and I had tickets to the symphony and fireworks, but all firework shows in the area were cancelled, so our concert was postponed. We ended up having a free evening to spend with Misha. We were all tired from hiking and just relaxed.

Horsethief Falls & Pancake Rocks

Chris and I tried out another new hike: Pancake Rocks. It was about an hour from home. We got an early start from the house. We are finding that to be necessary to get a parking spot in the trailhead parking lots.

The railhead and parking area was just off the side of the road and we got one of the last spots. The hike to Pancake Rocks was 8 miles round trip with 1500 ft of elevation gain. We made it to the rocks in good time and even had the area to ourselves for a couple of minutes before it was inundated with lots of hikers. 

We hiked back down to a fork in the trail and took the trail that led to Horsethief Falls. The falls were only a 1/2 mile in with very little elevation gain. That was perfect; by this time, we had accumulated almost 2,000 ft of elevation gain with the ups and downs of the other trail.

We stopped for a lunch by the falls before heading back. You can tell that we are suffering from a lack of snowpack as the falls look as they migh at the end of the season.

Funny pic of the short and tall of our hiking poles.

Kristen & Misha Home for Father's Day

Kristen flew home to be able to visit, Sofia, a friend from high school. Sofia was an exchange student from Sweden that hung out with Kristen's group of friends.

Sofia is visiting in Colorado for two weeks. 

Kristen arrived in Denver on Friday evening. Misha picked her up from the airport and we met up with them in Colorado Springs for dinner.

On Saturday morning, Chris went biking. The girls and I went to the Monument Farmer's Market. Misha and Kristen went thrifting in the afternoon.

We made a quick run to Costco, stopped for a little more thrifting at Arc Thrift Store, picked up dinner at Chick-fil-A and then drove out to the Paint Mines.

We enjoyed Father's Day on Sunday.

Misha and Kristen will drive back to Denver Sunday evening. Misha will drop Kristen off at the bus station Monday morning so she can ride up to Longmont and spend a few days with her friends. 

Kristen flies home on Wednesday afternoon.

Colorad Paint Mines

As long as Chris and I have lived in Colorado, it is amazing that we are still finding cool things to see and do.

The Paint Mines are 45 minutes to the east of Monument. Definitely out on the prairie. 

"The Paint Mines Interpretive Park is one of El Paso County’s most unique open spaces. The Paint Mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the many different layers of clay.

"The Paint Mines Interpretive Park is located in the northeast section of the County near Calhan with approximately 750 acres. The paint mines have evidence of human life as far back as 9,000 years ago. The park features fantastic geological formations including spires and hoodoos that form through erosive action that creates incised gullies and exposed layers of selenite clay and jasper. The park includes a restroom facility, four miles of trails, interpretive signage, and many natural wonders." 

We took Kristen and Misha on an adventure to the Paint Mines and were all impressed. We walked along the nature path for a mile or so, took a short cut missing the second loop (also a mile), and loved all of the hoodoos and brilliantly Colorado rocks that we found.

I had read that it was best to visit in the morning or at sunset when the colors were more brilliant. I think morning would be awesome withe the sunrise, but I doubt we'll be getting up around 4 am to get there for sunrise in the summer.

Not only did we get great color, but it was also cooler in the evening from the almost 90° day. I don't know how packed it gets in the day time, but there were no more than five groups that we encountered.

Mamma Mia the Musical

Chris and I attended Mamma Mia at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs. It was the first time for us attending a musical without going to DPAC (Denver Performing Arts Center) in Denver. It was awesome to drive less than 30 minutes to the venue and then park in the parking garage for only $5. 

Colorado Springs doesn't get the amount of Broadway musicals as Denver might, but we will take what we can get. And Mamma Mia did not disappoint. It was so much fun.

We had seats that were pretty high up in the balcony, but not having been to this venue before, we just didn't know what to expect. Next time, we will try to get seats that are a little closer to the stage. The crowd was great and a mix of preteens to 80-somethings.

More Birds

If you remember back in May, I posted about the tenacious Robin building a nest on top of bird spikes. 

Apparently, some other of the small birds in the area liked this particular spot as well. I thought it was just a bunch of fluff, but it was an actual nest. Once the baby robins flew the nest, these other birds moved in.

Chris removed the Robin's nest and discovered that the smaller birds had built a nest and had eggs.

One Year Anniversary in Monument

With all of the struggle that selling our house in Firestone was, it is so nice to be one year in our new house. The weight of not selling for so long and constant prayers throughout the day was suddenly lifted last October. Since then, we have thoroughly loved living in Monument. 

Having a winter with less than average snowfall may have contributed to fairly nice winter conditions. We are exploring, finding new hikes, and discovering new places to eat out. We still need to find "our people".

What do I miss? I miss the sunrises over the lake, views of the lake and the river, friends, my hair dresser and massage therapist, and the close proximity to RMNP.

Young Men & Yard Work

Last Sunday at our Linger Longer after church, two young men—Josh and Bennett—circulated around the tables announcing that they would be willing to do some yard work for anyone interested. 

We had tried another young man from the ward. He was 12 and not highly motivated. Chris and I decided to take them up on the offer. Chris said that he would start them at a decent wage but increase it if they did good work.

Josh and Bennett came to the house on Friday afternoon so that Chris could show them all of the work needing to be done. 

Chris headed off biking on Saturday morning. The boys showed up at 9 and worked until 12:30. They were busy working the whole time.

Landscaping Finished for the Spring

Our landscapers are hard workers. In fact, two of our neighbors have requested their info because of the nice work they do. 

They are finished installing a new pathway on the west side of the house, planting trees and shrubs, and bringing in dirt for my garden beds.

There is more that we want to do, but additional trees will have to wait.

Play Day at Glia

Amy's boss has a boat and decided that Friday was a "remote" work day. Remote meaning away from the office and NO work was being done. They were at Deer Creek waterskiing. 

Amy was the smart one and brought sunscreen. "Those boys didn't bring anything." She was kind enough to share.

Hiking to the Devil's Head Lookout Tower

Devil's Head Lookout Tower is at the end of a popular hike in the Colorado Springs area and all reports suggested that it was a great hike AND that we needed to arrive early. We left the house at 7:30 am on Saturday morning. It took us about an hour to get to the trailhead, but the drive was quite lovely. 

Once we left the rolling hills and valleys of ranches, we took a gravel road the rest of the way winding through the Pike National Forest until we reached the Devil's Head National Recreation Trailhead. The parking lot was full, but we lucked out with snagging a spot left by someone just finishing the hike.

The hike was 1.4 miles one way with 863' of elevation gain. We started out at a good pace. There were so many people and dogs on the trail. Fortunately, all dogs remained on leash. There was one couple—obviously on a date. They were talking so loudly and keeping pace with us. We stepped aside and let them pass but they were still easily heard. 

We passed them as they had stopped for a break. Fortunately, their break lasted long enough for us to get a good distance ahead of them.

It took us less than an hour to hike to the top of the trail and eventually climb the 143 steps up to the lookout tower. The tower was not manned today, but it is one of the oldest manned fire lookouts in the country.

We stopped for a short bit at the tower and then started back down the trail. We took a second trail close by to the Zinn lookout. It was a short hike and mostly a memorial to Mr. Zinn.

We took a different way home along Rampart Range Road (Forest Service Rd 300). It is a 39-mile route that winds through the Pike National Forest between Sedalia and Woodland Park. 

We had fantastic views of Pikes Peak. Instead of driving all of the way to Woodland Park, we took another road that passed by the trailhead for the Mt. Herman Trail. The road was good until the last couple of miles where it was rutted and full of holes. Must be a different district that maintains that section.

We popped out of the mountains in Old Town Monument and it was a short drive home from there.

Clean Up Day at Work

Chris mandated a clean up day at work on Friday afternoon. Not all of the employees were told of the clean up day until it was happening because they figured the employees would call in sick. 

Other employees who knew about it before hand were not so thrilled either. They did clean up on the exterior of the building, spraying weeds, and lots of cutting back of the trees in the front as they were impeding sight lines for cars exiting the parking lot. 

Chris said they filled 3 dumpsters.