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Friday (7-02) & Saturday
(7-03) |
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Our arrival in Colorado Springs was beneath sunny skies. From inside the airport we could see the red rocks of the Garden of the Gods. | ||
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On our way west, out of the Springs, we stopped at Garden of the Gods. This picture was taken from the visitor center where we watched a short movie about how the odd rock formations have come to be. | ||
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During a walk through the park it became obvious that we were feeling the effects of Colorado's altitude. We were huffing and puffing up short inclines. This was to be expected so we planned to take it easy the first several days. | ||
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After an hour drive to the west we reached Mueller State Park. We camped there for two nights. The park was at an elevation of approximately 9,500 feet. The temperature was in the mid 70s when we arrived. | ||
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Saturday morning we awoke after a great night of sleeping weather. It was very cool in the morning, probably mid 40s. We hiked a couple trails in the park, one of which took us to a wonderful overlook of the Sangre de Cristo and Sawatch mountains. | ||
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In the afternoon we drove south to Cripple Creek, a once booming mining town, and toured the Cripple Creek museum. Then we decided to put our Jeep to good use. We drove a 4wd road called Shelf Road. Along the 26 miles of this road were amazing canyon views. The narrow road was a shelf on the wall of the canyon. | ||
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On the way back to Mueller we stopped to see the Royal Gorge and the Royal Gorge bridge. We heard that it is 3/4 of a mile from the bridge to the water below. | ||
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On the way back to our campsite we drove by a mule deer. We swerved for it, hoping to have meat for the rest of our vacation, but missed. Just kidding, don't call PETA. | ||