Garden of the Gods: Light Hiking

Monday, 15 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 72F (22C) / Lo 53F (12C)

A return visit to the Garden of the Gods (GotG) today proved more fruitful for our plans to hike a couple of the trails in the park.

We tried to start our day early, but “things” got in the way, and we didn’t leave the Phaeton until 7:30a.  Twenty minutes later we were turning onto the Gateway Road — the entrance into the park from 30th Street.  Having studied the map we picked up from the visitor center (V&NC) yesterday (post here), we already knew which trail we wanted to hike.  The bonus for picking a trail at the far end of GotG was that we got a sneak preview of the park by car on our way to the trailhead — which wasn’t that easy to find after all.

You see, the map provided by the V&NC apparently shows just a few select trails.  Seeing other trail names along the way confused us a bit.  Should have downloaded a map from the Friends of the Garden of the Gods website.  It was too late for that, so a picture of one of the trail signs had to do … worked a little better than the paper map anyway.

The map on the left — from the Friends of the GotG website — would be more
useful; but we make do with a picture of one of the signs in the park instead.

Since we somehow got ourselves lost and deviated onto Garden Drive, we began our morning with a quick stop at Balanced Rock.  According to the nearby sign, this rock was exposed over 60MYA (million years ago) when the Rocky Mountains rose.  Over time, the softer shale layer on the bottom eroded faster than the sandstone and conglomerate that sits above it.  Thus, a narrow pedestal was left behind to support the rest of the rock.  That was the case anyway for thousands of years.  From what I read elsewhere, the 700-ton Balanced Rock is now cemented in place.

The 700-ton Balanced Rock, which was supported by a narrow but natural
pedestal for thousands of years, is now cemented in place for safety.

There were a couple of families already at Balanced Rock when we arrived, so we waited a few minutes for them to finish taking what is apparently a “popular photo op” at this rock formation.  Yup … they were all pretending to hold up the rock.

The people wandering around provide perspective for the size of Balanced Rock.

Driving back down Garden Drive, one of the few two-way roads in the GotG, we parked our car at the Scotsman Picnic Area to hike the Siamese Twins Trail.  We could have parked at the Spring Canyon Trailhead, but by parking where we did, we were able to jump on the Palmer Trail first, thus adding an additional little bit to the otherwise 1-mile R/T hike.  With less than a 150-foot (45m) rise, the Siamese Twins trail is an easy one to hike — you just need to watch where you’re walking to dodge the occasional piles of “proof” that horses are also allowed on the trail. 

That it had views along the way as well as at the rock formation for which the trail is named was one of the reasons why we chose to start out with this walk.  The other reason — we figured that by not tiring ourselves out, we would be more willing to hike one of the longer trails later.

Of course, the problem with an easy trail is that it is also a popular trail.  We had the path to Siamese Twins to ourselves.  And there was only one family at the destination of the trail.  But by the time we were ready to leave, larger groups were starting to arrive.  Our timing was perfect.

Panorama at the end of the Siamese Twins Trail, with Pikes Peak in the background.

We found this spot to be incredibly scenic, and were lucky that it wasn’t inundated with people so that we could take all the photos we wanted to add to our collection of GotG images.

Aside from the fact that the trail is rated easy, there is another reason this short hike is popular.  And that’s because you can frame Pikes Peak in the window of the Siamese Twins formation.  The peak was wearing a light mantle of clouds today, so my photos didn’t quite turn out the way I had hoped they would.

If you find a tall enough perch to climb — and there a few — you can also frame Pikes Peak between the twins.  Too bad the clouds were blocking the view.  I waited a bit to see if the clouds would clear out, but they weren’t cooperating.

Finished with our photos, we continued on the trail to complete the loop.  On the return leg, we either lost the trail for a short while, or it actually does require hikers to walk a short distance on Garden Drive before connecting back to the Palmer Trail.  At least there are wide hiker/biker paths on the paved road.  We encountered little vehicle traffic and there were no bikers with whom to share the path, so it worked out OK.

We wanted to next hike the Chambers Trail to get to the Central Garden of the GotG so that we could continue to view the landmark formations in the best light possible.  The problem we faced was that even though the map said we could access the Chambers Trail from the South Parking Lot, we couldn’t find the trailhead once we got there.  I swear, we don’t normally have so many problems reading a map ;-)  In hindsight, I think the trailhead might have been closer to the entrance of the parking lot.

No matter.  The Ute Trail, which was not listed on our map, but was at the end of the lot where we found a parking spot, worked out just as well to get us where we wanted to go.  According to the marker we passed when we set out from the parking lot, the trail name honors the generations of Ute Indians who passed through the area riding horses and dragging their teepee poles.

Sleeping Giant (red rock formation) and Gray Rock (not so gray here) from the Ute Trail.

The dirt trail we followed was a flat and easy walk.  Not sure how long it was, but we added quite a bit to our destination — the Perkins Central Garden Trail, which is 1½ miles (2½ km) long and has a 30-foot (9m) elevation gain.  Yeah, we certainly climbed high today ;-)

Panorama from the junction of Gateway Road and Juniper Drive; one of the access points for
the Perkins Central Garden Trail.  L to R: gray Rock, and South and North GateWAY rOCKS.

Considering it was getting on towards noon by now, we probably should have left this trail to another day and sought out a different one.  Not only was the light on the formations not that great by the time we began walking around, but I think 90% of the people who were visiting the park at that moment were on this stroller and wheelchair accessible trail.  Of course, this section of the GotG has some of the best formations, so the crowds really didn’t come as a surprise.

It was crowded in the Central Garden today, but not quite as bad as this historical image shows.

In any event, I limited my shutter clicking, though it might not seem so to my readers, and we made the most of our stroll on the path that winds through the various formations.

I’m not sure if this is White Rock, but it is one of my favorites at the GotG …
not the least because it stands out amongst all the red rock formations.

The South and North Gateway Rocks are two of the major formations in the park.

On the North Gateway Rock is a panel honoring Charles Elliott Perkins, whose family
deeded the Garden of the Gods to the city to “… be kept forever free to the public.”

I like the scene, but not the harsh light … so this one gets a B&W treatment.

In the crevice this Rock Pigeon is guarding is a nest; I see mama pigeon fly into it and zoom in
to catch a shot of the chick … a little blurry, but I’m keeping the picture anyway.

Sentinel Spires (left) and Three Graces (right) … an unknown-to-me formation in the center.

Western Scrub Jay — these birds have a mischievous streak, and they’re not above outright theft.

White Rock is a popular hangout for mountain sheep, but none are around today.

In yesterday’s post, I promised a closer look at the Kissing Camels — a formation on top of the
North Gateway Rock.  Just in case you can’t see it on the left; I zoomed in closer on the right.

By the time we headed back to the Ute Trail, we were starving.  We had packed a lunch, but it was in the car.  When we got back to the South Parking Lot, we debated grabbing our lunch bag and hiking somewhere to find a place to eat with a view.  By this time, though, it was getting awfully hot, and neither of us felt like going far.  So, we hopped in the car and returned to the Scotsman Picnic Area where we knew there were some tables.  Unfortunately most of the tables were bearing the brunt of the sun.  As luck would have it, we managed to snag the only table that was in the shade — thus garnering envious glances and comments from others who were not as lucky.

Our table in the shade garners quite a few envious glances from other picnickers …
they are all large family groups … otherwise we would offer to share our spot.

From our picnic table — not a bad view, if I do say so myself.

Spotted Towhee scratching around on the ground near our picnic table.
Thanks for visiting … but no crumbs to spare.

All in all, not a bad day at all.  There are a lot more trails within the Garden of the Gods that we’d like to walk.  And a return trip for afternoon colors on the red rock formations would not go amiss.  But with so many other things to do in the area, will we get to visit a third time on this trip?  That’s TBD.

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