It was nice to be back in Colorado. After a brief weekend in the Midwest, I returned to the Continental Divide to spend five more days in the Denver and Boulder areas.
Hikes:
The first one I did was a 5k informal run through the Davidson Mesa Open Space. It was beautiful throughout, with most of it looking towards yellow grasses and the Flatiron Mountain range in the distance.
The view from the Davidson Mesa trail.Cows grazing on the grasslands nearby the trail.
One of the nice hikes I went on was the Red Rocks Trading Post trail that loops around the area. I liked it because it wasn’t too long, yet it winds through the red rocks and goes up to the visitor’s center and back. It seemed about a mile and a half round trip.
The last one I had time to do was another hike, which was beautiful, rugged, and wound through pine forest with views of the Flatirons and Bear’s Peak, called the Shanahan Ridge Trail. On a recommendation, I was looking for the Fern Valley Trail, yet wound up on this one instead. It was very pretty and serene.
Be happy! The smiley face someone left on a rock along the Shanahan Ridge Connector Trail.
I stayed once again in Nederland briefly, and the sparkling lights over the bay as the stars came out over the lake was a wonderful sight.
Some interesting sights along the way were the rolled haystacks in Kansas and this scenic barn along the toll avoidance route near Tecumseh, Kansas, on Highway 40.
The September and October months in Colorado, near Denver, bring the yellow aspen trees into full color, and are a sight, and destination, in and of themselves.
In mountain streams, and desert lakes, time moves slowly in-between. The rushing waterfalls of time know not the seconds of silent footsteps that we make, though some remain imprinted, some remnants amongst the sand.
For four days, I spent time photographing the beauty of the mountain landscapes and visiting places I’d been before in the Denver and Boulder areas.
Aspens in Nederland, Colorado
Photograph #2 More aspens in Nederland, Colorado
Photograph #3 Aspen treetops in Nederland, Colorado
Photograph #4 The road into the West Magnolia campgrounds in Nederland, Colorado
Photograph #5 Pines in a pine grove near the campsite, Nederland, Colorado
Photograph #6 A young yellow aspen grove in Nederland, Colorado
Aspens in Nederland, Colorado
That was not the only place I spent my time, of course. Below are some images of the sunset and sights in Erie, Colorado, as well as a few others.
A cat painting on an electrical box in a park in Boulder.
The Flatirons from afar – the trail up to the 1st/2nd Flatirons and back is beautiful starting from Chautauqua trailhead, as always.
Sunflowers along Country Road 5 in Erie, Colorado
A patchwork barn right across from the sunflowers, off of Country Road 5, in Erie, Colorado. There were several of these patchwork barns and old Volkswagen van shells.
The pinks and blues in the sunset over a newly-built housing neighborhood in Erie, Colorado
The same sunset that evening, though a different angle – September 26, 2024
A special moon – an orange low hanging crescent in a shape most don’t usually see at that early night hour.
As usual, all opinions are my own. Enjoy traveling.
The Great Smokey Mountains – Asheville – New River Gorge – Red River Gorge
Mountains and gorges, with time winding in between them – a photographic journey.
Photography often requires travel, and because of the other obligations I have currently, there really was not a lot of time to spend in each one, as it was a long roadtrip, though visiting each place felt like a long time while there.
Photographs, starting from Indiana, with its farmland and barns, at a place in between Bedford and Brownstown on the 50:
The Great Smokey Mountains
The one thing these four places have in common is that they are beautiful nature areas, with two of them formed by the streams in the gorges, and the other two by the mountains nearby them.
The Great Smokey Mountains were blue and misted this time, and filled with dappled light and the beginnings of fall color, with its reds and yellows. Any place there is worth seeing along the road, although the top two are Newfound Gap and Clingman’s Dome. If those are the only two places one can visit, that is enough, with the Appalachian Trail running through both spots.
Photographs:
Gallery:
Asheville, North Carolina
Known for its art, there are many studios and galleries in the small mountain town of Asheville, which is at the end of one of the Blue Ridge Parkway roads coming from The Great Smokey Mountains.
There was an art gallery that was not open that I would like to visit one day, American Folk Gallery, next to the food co-op in Asheville. Every art gallery looked interesting, however, in Asheville.
The Biltmore is a place many visit while in Asheville, however, I went to the grounds but did not tour around this time – though if one is willing to spend some time and money to visit the grounds and house of the Biltmore, it is like visiting a castle or other residence of the sort in Europe.
The gallery I visited in Asheville is called The Grovewood Gallery. This happened by chance and it is in a nice little village setting near a hotel with a vast green grounds and is quite pleasant. It has many handworked art pieces, showcasing paintings and furniture.
Though everyone has different taste, here are some of the ones I liked.
Gallery:
Fayetteville – The New River Gorge, West Virginia
West Virginia – Wild and Wonderful.
There is a slightly nostalgic feel in the ancient mountains here. It is a former coal-mining town, and for anyone who has read and likes The Hunger Games by Susan Collins, it is as close to being in Katniss Everdeen’s hometown as one could imagine. The town is not a wealthy one, yet it is filled with an atmosphere of adventure and excitement in an outdoor spirit, and there is an attitude of ruggedness running through it given all the mountain adventures, along with rafting and cycling. It is small, yet full of things to do if one likes the outdoors. The New River Gorge has only recently become a National Park on December 27, 2020. There is mist in the mornings often and it can seem like a different country, espeically along by the waterside of Gauley Bridge, in between the mountain pass roads.
If there is only time to do a few things in Fayetteville, the top ones are:G
Walk down the stairs of the New River Gorge Bridge Overlook
Hike along the Endless Wall Trail
Visit Fayetteville
Endless Wall Trail
The Red River Gorge, Slade, Kentucky
Slade – what is unique to Kentucky is this area is the Red River Gorge, though Slade is itself a rather poor district in Kentucky that does not have a lot of wealth, yet many people come here from around the world for its world-class rated sport and traditional rock climbing, and other outdoor activities. The Natural Rock Bridge is in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in one scene in winter. There are many hiking trails that wind through the forests, some of which are short and relatively easy, like the Whistling Arch Trail, the trail (if one takes the Sky Lift) along the Natural Rock Bridge, and others.
Some things are worth doing, and the hike to the top of the Natural Rock Bridge, a 2 mile loop, led to some nice views. It’s not always easy to do things like this, but then again, having done climbing, running, and tennis, along with other sports, and photography, training comes with discipline and sheer will some days when the motivation is lacking at the start. The views were worth it, and it felt like a completion of the journey, which was a farewell of sorts to a way of life in the summer and previous years, as the seasons are changing.
There was a horse I met along the Tarr Ridge Road who came up to me and was very friendly – so much so, that I wished we could have gone on a ride together, though I had to continue on the way. Maybe I will see the same horse once again, though fleeting moments are all we have sometimes with one another on the journey.
Gallery:
One way to make roadtrips better is to take the roads less travelled. While the main highways are faster, the smaller ones are often more scenic, and only twenty to thirty minutes longer to the destination. The road less travelled is the one sometimes best chosen. As always, all opinions are my own.
Saguaros only grow in a very small part of Arizona, yet they are recognized as an emblem all across the world of the desert landscape of the southwest, although they only grow in a small area near Tucson, Arizona.
Weekends are long days, yet not very long. It depends how one lives them. These two days felt very long, yet were not longer than any other. The desert landscape, with its horizons, can make the hours seem different, as the sunsets sweep in pinks and blues across the mountains and fade slowly into darkness, and the sunrises stretch long across the morning at dawn.
I watched them from the desert, looking at the stars at night – so many stars – there, as usual, as always, and yet often not visible. How much a metaphor of many things in life, there, yet not visible, yet so important nonetheless, and often insignificant and overrun in the mundane nature of the days passing? Life moves in a flowing stream of time as they say, on and on.
Being present, and living well, is perhaps the only thing we truly can achieve in life. The feeling of oneness with ourselves and everything else.
In those moments, everything is complete, and maybe it is easier in the quietness of the desert landscape to achieve, where everything is more muted, more subtle, yet teeming with poison, dangers, and life, unseen, amongst the rocks and sand.
Life, moving unseen, on and on, and yet we acknowledge its passing.
Many sights in Arizona are worth visiting, and there is not enough time to see them all in a day or two, really, to appreciate them. However, here are some worth seeing, if only for a short time:
Saguaro National Park, with its cacti and often mists in the mornings.
Patagonia – I have not been there, yet I have heard many good things from local recommendations.
Mica Mountain – there is a road that winds all the way up to the top that has nice overlooks of the Tucson city.
The college area around 4th Street in Tucson where many interesting shops and a food co-op reside. There is a lot of well-done street art on the walls of buildings that make this place vibrant, with quirky shops and interesting stores, like Witch, which had many Turkish lamps hanging in the windows and the promise of many interesting objects inside. There was not enough time to visit it this time, however, this is an area that is highly recommended.
Almost any of the nature areas nearby stretching from Phoenix to Los Cruces are worth seeing. You will find mountains with rugged features, like the Chiracahuas in the Chiracahua National Monument, the white sands in White Sands National Park, and desert landscapes stretching for miles.
However, travel wisely and safely, and use caution at night. There are lots of rattlesnakes around during the October – March months, and it is advised to be careful if walking around at night.
There are many places here that I like. I’ll keep my favorite places quiet to let others find their own- although some of these might be recognized still.
UtahSaguaro National ParkSaguaro National ParkSaguaro National ParkNear Bowie, AZNear Bowie, AZWolf mural – at a gas station in Bowie, AZReddington Pass, AZReddington Pass, AZAlong the Redington Road, AZ
The Rocky Mountains are majestic, rugged, and vast. There are plenty of forests nearby these mountains, with varying features. The beautiful white birch trees and alpine flowers, and the rocky features along the mountain line, made a very scenic sight.
A free image of Grand Lake, Colorado – until I have my own photographs edited!
Edited photographs – a moose seen in the Rockies.
Nearby, the Steamboat Hot Springs have a very nice wilderness atmosphere with a natural hot springs in different rocky pools and is a place to go to relax and take the cares of the day away.
As always, all opinions are my own. Stay wild and free, and live well!
Visiting the national parks in Utah, of which there are many well known ones, was slightly different in spring, as the weather changed, and some of the snow remained on the mountains, making it a very pretty sight in many places, while the weather warmed, and yet the spring blossoms did not quite emerge to cover the ground with blooms. Unlike the forests of the Midwest, the landscape in Utah is more Martian, many say, and I would agree, with its reddish hues and desert landscapes, and the mountains with sparse ground cover that do not really ever seem to change with the season, in many places.
Skiing at Brianhead Resort was a very scenic sight, with beautiful vistas on many sides of the mountains, with the red hues in the distance against the white snow.
The best places to go in Utah that are National Parks are arguably the Big Five:
Bryce Canyon
Zion
The Canyonlands
Arches
Capitol Reef
There are also places of immense beauty that are lesser known, such as Snow Canyon, near St. George, and many places around St. George, like the Pioneer Park boulders and the trails in the Red Cliffs National Conversation Area. There are also pretty places around Moab that aren’t amongst the Big Five that are worth exploring, though I will leave those up for the visitor to discover themselves.
Not to be missed is Salt Lake City, with The Crater nearby (in Park City), and the white sands to the left of the city (an hour and a half away).
On the way back to the Midwest, Vail is a nice place to visit with its Swiss styling, even if one is not skiing and merely taking in the sights. Visit the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop for gifts if anyone likes chocolates.
There was just enough time to get back in time to see the Solar Eclipse with friends and family.
Some things leave behind memories that are greater than others, though small moments matter, no matter how insignificant they may seem.
The drive through the mountains of West Virginia and its sweeping mountains is one that takes one back to olden times.
After a few weeks in a pleasant small town (though it is growing at a rapid rate with apartment complexes) with friends and family after solar ecplise and a season of tennis in the summer ahead, the mountains of West Virginia once again beckoned.
However, I did not wind up stopping in them, as a friend was playing a piano concert in the German Embassy in Washington D.C., and it is not often that these things happen. So, I went and watched, and made a “film” of it with the equipment I had.
While there, which was a short weekend, the old town of Alexandria and the wharf had some nice views to walk along, and another lovely woodland walk starting from the Old Anglers Bridge into the woods and back along the Potomac River – until next time. As always, all opinions are my own.
