Our Excursion: 20230922: Colorado Trip Day 13 – Colorado Springs
(Part of trip: )
Date of our excursion: 2023-09-22
Location: Colorado Springs, CO - Glen Eyrie Hikes ('easy' hikes)
Mileage: 2.25
Our Planned Itinerary:
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Travelers on this Excursion: |
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We hit some cool places.
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Continents: North America |
Some featured areas we visited: |
Some points of interest we hit: |
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Colorado Springs – Glen Eyrie hiking
Breakfast! We can take our time and enjoy breakfast today. We can eat a TON. We don’t have any specific place to rush to or huge hills to climb (or so everyone thought bwahahahahahah!) Today’s breakfast was not as crowded so the chef brought out the good stuff – poached eggs and smoked salmon on eggs. Good for the people who like eggs. Not great for those who don’t like eggs. The head chef wandered out of the kitchen and made his rounds chatting with people. He likes Costco hot dogs, so we like him.
Since it is our last day here and since we want to leave at a reasonable time to beat traffic, we decide to hike around Glen Eyrie and explore a few of the ‘easy’ trails. If it is marked easy and there are generally elderly people (and not the Swiss-type old people), then the hike should just be a stroll. Thankfully, someone brought poles, snacks, and water anyway.
We started out behind the creamery and climbed some stairs to a nice path. At a couple points, paths diverged. The map we were given at the front desk DID NOT AT ALL match the hiking trails. So, when we saw trails diverging, we chose the ones that went up mountainsides, because we like pain and good views. There were definitely good views. We kept wandering around the maze and realize that the maps are wrong because this is a test of whether you are a true navigator or an imposter. Obviously we can’t get lost – we can see the castle, huge rocks, and other landmarks so even though we DEFINITELY DID NOT travel on any of the ‘easy’ paths we intended to initially and our map was completely incompatible with the existing trails and the faded maps at some intersections, we were never in danger of needing a rescue helicopter. Maybe we passed the navigator test? We did see great views of Colorado Springs, Glen Eyrie, and Garden of the Gods. We also saw bleached jawbones and teeth. What monster is out here preying on the hapless folk wandering these unmarked trails? It was probably the monster who eats imposters. Good thing we aren’t imposters.
After a while, we decided to head back towards the castle instead of climbing further higher (which would have had more great views I am sure!). This is where the trail became even more overgrown and non-existent. It seemed at points like these were deer trails but deer probably don’t travel in a winding line from the mountaintop to the castle. We cautiously picked our way through the brush, watching for rattlesnakes, cougars, and bears. When the brush became so thick we could barely force our way through, we jumped over to the road. Then the road became as steep as the road to Seealpse and we moved back to the trail. Finally we joined up to the main marked trails and the trail did become easy, very easy.
We spend a bit of time relaxing on the castle patio and then head to the highway. We have another burger feast in the evening on the roof. Tonight we are prepared to view the starlink satellites and watch the line of them appear over the horizon and disappear into the clouds.