Grandkids and our Backyard

To say the least, 2020 was an extraordinary year. In the midst of the craziness in the world around us, Gayla and I found our self in the extraordinary position of getting to hang out with our grandkids for the summer. What do you with a 6-year old and a 4-year old for the summer? Play, of course…and that we did.

Having the great fortune of living at the foot of the front range, we had to explore the mountains in our backyard. The first stop was Mt Herman. With an elevation of just over 9,000′, it was a great warm-up hike to the summit and get used to the thin air. The views of the city of Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak in the distance are spectacular!

Speaking of Pikes Peak, no trip to the area is complete without making the drive up the winding road to the summit at over 14,000′. Pikes Peak is one of 58 “14ers” with the peak topping out at over 14,000′. The kids enjoyed learning Pikes Peak was the mountain described as “purple mountain majesty” in the famous song America The Beautiful. Even though we were well into May, there was still snow to be found at the higher elevations.

The road up to Pikes Peak also had many places to stop and hike and a wonderful grove of Aspens to play in…of course we had to capture the moment!

On the southwest side of Pikes Peak near the town of Divide, Mueller State Park is a wonderful area to hike and camp, and so we did!

Heading west from Divide, there are some cool little towns and another beautiful place to camp and play, Eleven-mile Canyon State Park. Along with the amazing river flowing through the canyon, this is a great area to see the night sky.

…and when the storm passes through, an awesome double rainbow!

And, of course…Garden of the Gods! An incredible geologic display where the large sandstone fins of the Lyons Formation originally deposited during the Permian Period (260-280 million years ago) then later uplifted and turned on it side during the mountain building event that formed the mountains we see today. This event was called the Laramide Orogeny and occurred around 50-70 million years ago.

And finally…take a little hike in our neighborhood and there is a great view of the Rampart Range and the majestic Pikes Peak in the background!

We were blessed to get this unique opportunity to spend such quality time with these two amazing kids! There will be more posts to follow as we took to the road.