Colorado – OsteoPraxis on the road

Colorado Springs is a gorgeous city, hard not to be when the whole city is balanced on the edge of the Colorado Rockies. I was a bit worried about hiking some of the trails around here as the elevation we were starting at is over a mile above sea level…..and then the hiking trails go up from there.

Garden of the Gods was a bit of a test run…a beautiful but relatively short hike.

The next hike I picked out, 7 Bridges, was a bit longer. Another early start (it is still July and starting on the trailhead at dawn was the best way to avoid combining the altitude with uncomfortable heat)

The drive up to the parking area was stunning…..and a bit scary….narrow road…lots of steep and tight switchbacks……

It was a lovely morning as we set out on the trail….

As we headed out there was another lone hiker starting at the same time as us…Hi Courtney…..so we joined forces and hiked together.

Turns out the 7 Bridges trail only has 6 bridges……the first was washed out in a storm, now the beginning of the trail starts with a detour….

The bridges criss-crossed with the switchbacks as the trail wound its way up the side of the canyon……

I do enjoy having someone to chat to on a hike……my blogtographer (energizer bunny style is always running ahead or waiting behind to get ‘the shot’…lol….so chatting and hiking doesn’t happen too often….!!!)

This trail was a moderate according to Alltrails….. a well marked steady climb…..not easy but not overly challenging.

Bridge no 2…well actually no.3 if you count the missing one…

We were chatting pretty hard LOL…well I think I was….Courtney was a great sport at listening ….and making me stop to hydrate…

Bridge no.4

There’s a bit of rock scrambling in some spots…..nothing crazy…but enough to keep it interesting

Bridge no.5

All in all a very pretty trail…

Bridge no.6

….after that last bridge the trail became a lot more vertical…

….and at the last part for us….. was climbing up over the rocks

…but totally worth it….the view from up there was quite something….

This was the end of the 7 Bridges trail and time to say farewell to Courtney as she headed on up to the peak…..us old guys headed back down after this. I was almost persuaded to go out to the edge of the rock for the picture….but I made it to the tree as long as I did not look down…LOL…

In the exposed spots we could feel the sun getting stronger….we were very pleased with ourselves for being savvy enough to start out early as the heat began to build.

We found this little chap lurking by the side of the trail…

I think the pictures on the way down demonstrate just how steep the path was…..it was much easier going down…!!

I’m not sure how we missed the last bridge on the way up….but apparently we got it on the way down.. (just the picture….we did cross it both ways)

We passed quite a few hiking couples and groups on the way down too…..I’m imagining that it got busier through the morning….we were grateful to be out early in the quieter, cooler time…

Nearing the bottom…we decided to investigate the washed out bridge…

We had considered having to turn around and retrace the detour…..but the creek at this point was so low crossing it was no issue….

…and much to the disappointment of the blogtographer I did not get my feet wet……(Editor. There’s always another creek)

The final part of the route back to the parking area…..did I mention that this is a beautiful part of the country….!!!

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It took us a couple of days to recover from the somewhat challenging journey to Colorado Springs before we felt ready to set out on the trails. Colorado Springs is a beautiful place…..nestled into the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with a truly spectacular skyline.

Garden of the Gods is a public park owned by the City of Colorado Springs since it was deeded to the city in 1909 to preserve the spectacular landscape and ensure full public access in perpetuity.

The temps were pretty high (it was July after all…!!) so we planned to hit the trailhead at sunrise and beat the heat….and hopefully the crowd. We arrived in that morning halflight to find the parking lot already half full

But it was still relatively cool…so time to get going….

It was much busier than most of the trails we travel……and the first section was beautifully paved and fenced (unlike our usual hikes…but it speaks to how busy this place is, and this section is all disabled accessible).

Different only in that we usually pick far less populated trails…..this one was busy….but spectacularly beautiful…and kinda strange. Easy to see how it attracts people of all ages and abilities to be out enjoying the landscapes.

The geological formations have a surreal, almost ‘fake’ look to them….

The carefully engineered pathway added to that ‘fake’ feel…..almost like being on a movie set. (not that I know what that feels like…LOL)

Then we reached the end of that manufactured path and onto a more rudimentary trail…..

The terrain underfoot became a little more interesting…..and the views added a touch more WOW….

We then had to follow the Scotsmans loop…!!!…Now we were far enough out for some creature encounters…

This trail does not really have much elevation gain….but still has a few short steep climbs….

Once we moved away from the more manicured area, the path was considerably less busy

…and there were even some shady patches……pleasant because the day was beginning to warm up..

…one of the featured viewpoints is called the Siamese twins…..a very impressive rock formation….

There is a fabulous photo point at this spot….so there was a constant flow of people…..we had to wait for quite some time for the next pix….the view through the portal is of Pikes Peak.

The portal is big enough for someone to sit in it and still see the view beyond…..we decided it was a picture that everyone else had…..so after we took the people free picture……we moved on…LOL…

We debated doing the Pikes Peak hike……but it’s 13 miles pretty much straight up with very little shade….and it was July…!!!

….back to the path…..

…there was a bit more shade on this side of the park….and more weird rock formations……and more creatures…..😊

….and now it felt like we were going down again….such a beautiful place….

The last part of the trail followed the road….the park has a paved road for vehicles in a single track one way loop around the park. You can drive or bike it, on your own bike or rent one. Also guided tours on extended safari style jeeps circumnavigate the park. There was a high hedge separating the trail from the road…so most of the time you could pretend it wasn’t there….

When we arrived back at the truck…the parking lot was mostly full….people just starting out on the trail….which by now (around 8am) was rapidly becoming much warmer than I would have liked……but it was easy to see why so many people come here.

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