Palmer Reservoirs

Palmer Reservoirs is one of my most frequent hikes because it's nearby...

...but still has some nice views.

These photos are actually from last summer, but I'm sure I'll have more in the next few weeks.

Our World Tuesday

Looking Back to Summer

Looking back a ways, here are some photos I've been meaning to post for a long time.

It's a frequent nearby hike for me, the Palmer Reservoirs.

I like how quickly it's possible to get into the mountains from my city.

Towering rock formations are abundant.

And of course the namesake reservoirs show their magical reflections.

Our World Tuesday

No Swimming!

Here's a scanned photo from a local hike back in 1995.

Signs Signs

Vintage Weekly

Water World Wednesday

Spring at Palmer Lake Reservoirs

Photos taken around the Palmer Lake reservoirs in the late spring.

Our World Tuesday

Chautaqua Mountain Views

The views from Chautaqua Mountain made the hike worthwhile. This first photo is taken partway up.

At the top, the views are better.

This is looking towards Mount Herman, another peak I've climbed several times.

And of course, this is Pikes Peak visible through the haze (I've climbed that too, as well as taken a train and driven to the top several times).

I was also intrigued by this ring of stones - I'd guess people sometimes camp up here.

Although I haven't done much yet this year as I'm still putting in too many hours on the new house, hiking is an important part of my world, and I'm sharing it with Our World Tuesday.

Chautaqua Mountain

Near the Palmer Reservoirs is Chautaqua Mountain. The trail up it isn't as well known as many others in the area, but it's worth a climb. This was the last hike I did with just Socks, before Laika joined our family last summer; of course, he's leading the way.

The trail climbs through the trees...

...and climbs...

...until the top, where we take a well-deserved rest. I'll post some views in a couple of days.

Camera Critters

Pets Forever

Saturday's Critters

Scenic Weekends

Watery Reflections

For Weekend Reflections, here are a couple of watery ones from a hike on Monday, which was a holiday here in America.

It's been raining for ages so the blue sky was nice to see.

Palmer Reservoir Hike

Last Sunday I went for a hike to Palmer Reservoirs. There was a little sunlight filtering through clouds, but I wasn't able to get the great fall foliage photos I wanted, but this is what I got. I'll start by showing the smaller of the two dams, which people have painted - I'm linking it to the Monday Mural meme.

Of course I have to show the reservoir, even if the light was flat making for marginal photos.

Just off the trail I saw this view, looking up a steep hill.

Here's another bush that was changing colors.

And of course, the aspen grove which was my destination.

A lot of leaves had already fallen - this low shot was my favorite from the hike.

Our World Tuesday

Snake Train

As I was climbing a mountain yesterday, I loved this view of a very long train snaking its way through the pass.

On the original photo you can see it's carrying coal. It's my entry for Our World Tuesday this week.

Wet Plants

Here are the last couple of photos from a late fall hike in the Palmer Reservoirs area last year.

I love rain or dew on plants. Visit Our World Tuesday to see all sorts of photos.

Palmer Reservoir

These photos have been waiting over a year to get posted. They're from the reservoir above Palmer Lake.

I'm linking them to the Scenic Weekends and Weekend Reflections memes.

Happy Socks

For Camera Critters and Pets Forever, here's a photo of Socks looking happy on a hike, one of his favorite things to do.

Fall Colors

I haven't made it into the mountains this year, so here are a few previously unpublished shots from a hike exactly one year ago, to the day.

Blue Monday

Our World Tuesday

Palmer Reservoirs, Dry Winter

Normally I can't hike here in the winter as I don't like climbing trails in the snow. But it's been so dry this year that I went up to the reservoirs just west of Palmer Lake last weekend. I'm usually up here in summer so the frozen reservoir was a nice change. It wasn't very cold, despite how this photo looks.

The trail had no snow, which is remarkable for this time of year. But it made for a pretty hike.

I was wearing my new GPS watch which tracks exactly where I hike including elevation, and uploads it to a web site. Here's a screen capture, and you can see on the blue line that I started near 7,200 feet above sea level (2,195 meters), topped out just below 7,900 feet above sea level (2,408 meters), and climbed back down again, all in 1.75 miles (2.8 km). For this area, that's an easy, low-elevation hike.

I'm linking this with Our World Tuesday. And since Tina's PicStory has the theme of "L" this week, I'm linking it there too (there is a frozen Lake in the first photo).

Last Fall's Aspen

This week's theme at Tina's PicStory is "Under the Tree." I'm going back to last fall to find some photos for this, when the aspen were turning. The photos were taken on a hike near the town of Palmer Lake.

Aspen are a beautiful part of my part of the world, so I'm linking these photos to Our World Tuesday too.

Wildfire update (see my previous post for more details) - 3,600 acres with no containment. Weather forecast: very hot and dry. So far no homes have been burned.

Palmer Reservoirs

For this week's Scenic Sunday post, here are some shots of a trail just to the west of the small town of Palmer Lake. It leads up to a pair of reservoirs, and these first shots are of the lower reservoir.

 I like to call this Rhinoceros Rock.

And finally, a few shots from a side-trail that's a longer, prettier way to get between the lower and upper reservoirs than the standard one. Earlier in the year I'd tried to take this trail the whole way and failed, but this time I made it the whole way!