The Rockies: A Stroll Through Red Rocks

Today, Bill and I took a short 1.4 mile stroll along the Trading Post Trail at Red Rocks Park. Red Rocks not only has trails, but is also a natural amphitheater for concerts. Some people even run the stairs in the concert venue!

We were just taking it easy on this sunny yet windy day! The trail, beginning at 6,280 feet undulated through meadows and valleys and twisted through the magnificent rock formations and eventually crossed a small creek. Each rock formation, that glistened in the sunlight, has a different name…frog rock, sinking Titanic rock, seven ladders rock…just to name a few.

Given the Trading Post Trail was short and we wanted to enjoy more of this beautiful spring day, we picked another trail that initiated at the lower north parking lot. We climbed the dusty trail to split where a sign pointed us right to the Red Rocks Trail and left to the Morrison Slide Trail.

First we turned toward the right and headed to the overlook which provided a nice view of the city. Then, we meandered back down and followed the trail to the left until we reached another overlook.

All in all, I don’t know how many miles we logged, but enough to stop off in Morrison for a lovely Italian lunch! It was nice to get the hiking season started! I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time in the mountains this summer. ETB

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The Rockies: Dinosaur Ridge!

Today Scott and I went hiking at Dinosaur Ridge. It was my idea and I thought we would be following a trail to see dinosaur tracks. It turned out that we followed a road to see tracks, bones, and other geological features. I was a little unenthusiastic about following the road, but the hike and lunch afterward turned out great!
The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge that has protected the site for the last 24 years were holding a special event and stationed experts along the way who explained many of the sites. They started by showing us remnants of river beds and fossilized ripples from the ocean that used to be in Colorado. We also saw scratches by crocodiles and worm like fossils in the rocks that are now raised by the rockies.

Crocodile Scratches
Crocodile Scratches

As we continued up the road, several dinosaur tracks were pointed out to us. It is thought they were made from an Iguanodon. We found an off road trail shortly after looking at the tracks, so we missed the dinosaur bone exhibit, but that is OK, as I have seen one before and we can always return. The first discovery of a Stegosaurus was found at this site, and the bones in the exhibit are thought to be from a Stegosaurus or Apatosaurus.

tracks

From the road, we climbed up the snowy trail to the ridge for a fantastic 360 degree view. Red Rocks was visible from one side of the ridge while Denver could be seen from the other direction. We followed the ridge for some time and stepped aside for a mountain biker. I was quite impressed he could navigate the trail with all the snow. After about an hour we began to descend back down to the road where we shimmied under the fence and headed back toward the visitor center just in time to head to lunch in Morrison.

Red Rocks

It was a quiet day in Morrison. We tried for Cajun food first, but the restaurant was closed due to its pipes bursting after the freezing cold temperatures earlier in the week. We eventually chose Morrison Inn, home to pretty good Mexican food and tasty margaritas! It was nice to enjoy a sunny and all things considered a warm day outside. ETB

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