One of my favorite things about Colorado is that you can drive 15 minutes and hit the mountains. Its so easy to go hiking and there are an abundance of trails to choose from. This weekend, we took full advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and got outside.
I moved to Colorado because I fell in love with the mountains and wanted to be able to go hiking as often as possible. Eric was stationed here by the Army. Because of this, I have done a significant amount more of exploring than he has. His rigorous training schedule also means he’s exhausted and sore most weekends making the idea of hiking less than desirable. Things have finally slowed down for him now that his unit is so close to deployment and this past weekend he was finally able to come out with me. Even though he’s been here for almost two years (minus a 9 month deployment to Kuwait), Eric had never been to Garden of the Gods, so that was a must do to check off his list.
Garden of the Gods is a series of huge rock formations that stretches for miles. The land used to be private, but was donated to the city so that people could always visit for free. It gets crowded really fast because its also a huge tourist destination, so I always make sure to go early (like around 730am). The paved part of the park through the largest part of the formations is cool, but I prefer to go off on the trails where there is less traffic.
Eric and I (and Mushu of course!) headed out on the trail toward the Siamese Twins formation. This one holds a special place in my heart because its the first hike I ever did in Colorado. We stopped for some fun and silly pictures a long the way. Getting there so early meant we didn’t run into very many people; it almost felt as though we had the place to ourselves. The weather was perfect, cool and crisp. The leaves were just starting to change color, and higher up in the mountains we could see clumps of yellow from the aspen trees.
As far as hikes go, Garden of the Gods is fairly easy, but definitely one of the most visually stunning. We finished up our hike by stopping at one of our favorite local coffee places, Jives, in Old Colorado City. It was a great way to start our Sunday.