Red Rock Canyon

I wish all my readers a happy 2018. And now, here are some photos from a hike in Red Rock Canyon Open Space last year.

I love the rock formations and views in this amazing city park.

It's a good one to hike in the winter because of the low elevation.

I make a point of going through its old quarry every time I'm there.

And I always get a shot of these stairs!

Our World Tuesday

Red Rock Reflections (2)

This is the same pond from last week, but taken on the opposite side looking back.

Orange Friday

Weekend Reflections

Red Rock Reflections (1)

Taken at Red Rock Canyon Open Space, one of the many fine parks in my scenic city.

Orange Friday

Weekend Reflections

Steep Red Stairs

In Red Rock Canyon, these stairs are cut straight up a steep rock face. Socks loved climbing them!

Looking back down gives an idea of their steepness.

I liked the texture of this wood against the rock.

Our World Tuesday

Beautiful Rocks

Here are more photos from Red Rock Canyon. I  wonder why it's called that?

Our World Tuesday

More Shots of Socks

If I'm hiking, I try to take a photo of at least one of the dogs. So here are some shots of Socks hiking Red Rock Canyon with me.

Camera Critters

Pets Forever

Saturday's Critters

Cold Red Rock Canyon

Continuing with photos from Red Rock Canyon, it was colder than those photos last week showed.

And this sign was from some terrible flooding the previous fall, which did serious damage to several city parks.

Our World Tuesday

Signs, Signs

Peaks & Shadows

A winter hike at the local Red Rock Canyon city park...

Skywatch Friday

Green, Orange & Blue

A colorful entry from Red Rock Canyon (a city park) for Skywatch Friday and Orange Friday. I never tire of the blue skies we see 300 days a year here.

Socks in the Canyon

It's a small canyon in the Red Rock Canyon city park, but Socks is a small dog.

And he is always willing to pose for a photo, play, or snuggle. He's on my lap as I type this post.

Camera Critters

Pets Forever

Dusty Contrails

I snapped this photo when I was in Red Rock Canyon recently. After I saw it on the computer, I cleaned my camera's sensor - the annoying dust spots showed up clearly against that large expanse of sky.

We've had quite the weather roller-coaster at our house this week, with temperatures ranging from -17 °F (-27 °C) to 50 °F (10 °C) - a 67 °F (37 °C) swing in a couple of days! And that's my Skywatch Friday post for this week.

Warm & Cold

Saturday's hike in Red Rock Canyon, 56° F (13.3° C).

Tuesday morning after a little snowstorm, on the way to work, stopping by Garden of the Gods, -2° F (-18.9° C).

That's Colorado! More photos from both days to come. In the meantime, visit Skywatch Friday.

Red Rock Canyon

I'm still catching up on old photos, which is good since I haven't had a chance to take many the last few weeks. This time it's another city park.

But although the rocks may be similar, it's not Garden of the Gods!

It's Red Rock Canyon, a good place to go in the winter since it's low elevation and doesn't hold too much snow. In fact, maybe Socks and I will head down there tomorrow as these photos are already a year old!

Orange Friday

Scenic Weekends

Summer in Red Rock Canyon

It's time for a Scenic Weekends and Orange Friday blog post, so here are some photos from last August in Red Rock Canyon open space. My shadow, complete with hat and camera bag, is in this first photo, and that's Pikes Peak in the distance.

Now you can see some of the red and orange rocks for which the park is named. And my shadow again!

The park is a geologist's dream.

And in the distance are the main spires in Garden of the Gods, another place about which I've blogged many times.

I hope all my readers have a great weekend!

Winter at Red Rock Canyon

I've posted photos from Red Rock Canyon before, but it's a perfect place to go for a hike in the winter so here are some more. I love the folds in the huge rocks.

This trail winds between a large outcropping and some trees.

The size of this rock doesn't come across in the photo, but look at the trees near its base.

Here are more rocks folded up by the incredible forces at play in the past.

I love the colors - the park is loaded with brilliant oranges, greens, and blues year-round.

It's right next to the city but you feel like you're in the wilderness.

I know it's a long post but there's so much beauty here.

This hike was actually last February, almost a year ago, but I never got round to posting the photos. So here they are for Scenic Weekends and Orange Friday. And this won't be my last post from Red Rock Canyon Open Space.

New Years Socks

Here's a photo of my favorite Camera Critter, Socks, taken last January 1. He's probably thinking "let's get on with this hike, stop taking photos of me!"

Visit another fine meme, Pets Forever, to see more of our favorite animals. And I'm entering the photo into Tina's PicStory whose theme next week is snugly - Socks loves to snuggle with us day or night.

Red Rock Canyon in January

Next week's theme at Tina's PicStory is red, so I'm going all the way back to a New Year's Day hike in Red Rock Canyon. It's also for Orange Friday and Scenic Sunday (if it's active this week).

This is a great winter hike - because of the lower elevation it doesn't get much snow, and any snow melts quickly.

Even though it's within the city it's still full of pretty sights.

And there's even an old quarry to walk through!

I'm sure I'll be back here again many times.

Red Rock, Blue Skies

For the Skywatch Friday meme, here's a photo taken on a hike this past Sunday with Socks in Red Rock Canyon.

It's hard to judge the size of the rock, but notice the fully-grown pine tree in the bottom-left of the photo to get a sense of the scale.

Moontree

When I was taking Socks for a walk on Sunday in the Red Rock Canyon open space (on the edge of Colorado Springs), this juxtaposition of a lone tree on top of the rocks, and the moon in that lovely blue sky, caught my attention.

For more skyward photos, visit the fantastic Skywatch Friday meme.

Red Rock Canyon Quarry

For this week's Scenic Sunday post, I'm taking a break from Bellevue and going back to October of last year for some shots of the Red Rock Canyon quarry, taken right around sunrise during an early-morning hike. I started before the sun was up to try to capture that great early morning light.

This is a great off-season hike because it's lower in elevation, so it's generally free of snow, and in town, so it's close.