Hiking Red Rocks

Aptly named Red Rocks is 6.6 miles from my house.

Its amphitheater is touted by Denver's tourist bureau as being "6,450 feet above sea level" and "the only naturally occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheatre in the world." Concerts began in 1906 and have included performers from opera to rock and roll. The Beatles played there in 1964. Jethro Tull caused a stir and a riot in 1971 which led to a five-year ban on rock concerts.  Jethro Tull was back at Red Rocks again in 2008 and 2011. And there's no lack of rock and roll during the summer season or country and western or symphony or genres of music I'm too old to know about.

It is also home to an annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb when first responders from around the country come to climb the bleachers in full gear to equal the 110 stories of New York City's World Trade Towers.

But there's much more to Red Rocks than an amphitheatre and rock and roll. The park has 868 acres of geologic wonders, wildlife, and more sky than you can imagine. When we have company Red Rocks is one of the area sites we show off. We hiked there last Sunday.

  
                                                and hiking trails.

This time of year, patches of snow still blanket north facing hillsides and shaded hollows. Grass greens quickly under Colorado's sun. And snow melt feeds tiny rivulets throughout the park.

         

                                                                These are water sparkles not flowers.

But there are flowers, even here where snow is possible in May and no one sets out annuals until after Mother's Day.

The Dandelion, disdained in lawns

is welcome in the wild

       Hollygrape flowers          

 .                                      

I didn't get any photos of the wildlife. We were there in the middle of the day so we saw none of the mule deer, rabbits, various and sundry rodents, mountain lions, coyote, or rattlesnakes. I did, however, hear meadow larks call, and saw magpies and scrub jays. Not to mention people of all shapes and sizes and their children and dogs.

and, of course, Colorado's glorious blue sky.

That's the prairie and Denver there in the distance.

Red Rocks -- A Day Trip

July 27, 2015
from center front clockwise: Silas, John Riley, Sonja,
and John Ryan

That's my son, his lovely wife, and their two brilliant sons. They live in Texas, so they particularly enjoyed our relatively mild mid-day temps. Their daughter was in Alabama for a mission trip. We missed her, but maybe she can come up later this year.

Red Rocks was 'discovered' in 1820 by a U.S. Army expedition. (The Ute apparently knew it was here long before that.) The Beatles played Red Rocks 51 years ago this month on their first American tour. And, after living 6.5 miles from it for almost four years, we've added it to our list of favorite day-trips. 

Running the steps in the amphitheater is a popular pastime with the locals. I make do with hiking the trails and taking too many photos.

And maybe sometime soon I'll add it to night trips. (Movies on the Rocks--live music, a comedian, and a classic movie. All for $12. BYOP--Bring Your Own Picnic.) 

The Rocky Mountains are primarily granite,    but scattered about in Colorado are magnificent  outcroppings of sandstone, testifying to the area's ancient history as a great inland sea.


And yes the sky is exactly this blue. 

Because we are in the rain shadow of the Rockies, our climate is that of a high plains desert.

And our native flora are often as architectural as the mountains. 
This is Common Mullein and, although it was the
end of July, it was not yet in bloom. That tall, leafless bit
at the top boasts brilliant yellow blooms now.

Many of our other wildflowers were showing the wear and tear of our fierce sun
and sporadic rainfall.

Pineywoods Geranium                              Toadflax                                     Dwarf Golden Aster

This year is being considered a 'wet' year. Keep in mind, however, that even during our wet years we measure rainfall in fractions of an inch and rain events rarely last longer that 20 or 30 minutes. 

While we were in the park we met a young man from Illinois. I explained about our arcane water laws. By interstate compacts with our downstream U.S.neighbors and international treaties with Mexico, we may keep only one-third of the water that falls on Colorado. It is illegal to catch and hold rain water that falls on our property. It is illegal to dig a water well without permission. That water is all spoken for.

And, this year in particular, our neighbors in Utah, Arizona, California, and Northern Mexico are in particular need. The young man from Illinois could not understand. When it comes to water, his home state is a land of plenty. The Southwest United States is not.

This is as close to lush as we come,

and we love it.