Golden Gate Canyon State Park

We’ve been here for weeks and finally got into the mountains.  It  was an incredibly clear day and we wanted to take advantage of it

I took Andy to Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  This is where I did my solo hike in 2005.  I thought I’d show it off to him and take him up to Panorama Point and do the trail up there.  That’s when we remembered that I took him up there in 2005…and did the same trail together.  Ha!  Sometimes all this traveling makes it hard to remember such things.

Panorama Point is always worth re-visiting.  It’s one of those places that’ll look different on every visit, especially if you visit in different seasons.  The mountains in the back are the Continental Divide. And we had some snowfall Saturday night at those higher elevations.

The 2.5 mile loop hike at Panorama Point took us through aspens that are already changing to gold at this elevation (approx. 9,300’).  You lose the views on the trail, but it is still a pretty walk.

Our second hike was on the Deer Trail, which started around 8,200’.  My hope was that a hike up to the meadows would find us some elk, but no luck.  Still, a very nice hike with changing terrain.  Andy couldn’t resist some rock scrambling…

Funny how his excitement waned when he realized that “the other side” of those rocks was a sheer drop off to oblivion.  But wow, the view!

Seeing mountain bikers on this trail was a gentle reminder that if we were to hit some trails ourselves I needed to look for “beginner” trails.  I couldn’t believe riders were tackling the hill and rocks on the Deer Trail.

The hike back down brought us a different kind of beauty….

Watching the mountain storms roll in is an awesome sight…but it’s only comforting when you think you can beat the rains back to your car.

I have some more pictures from our day on our WebAlbums.