After the balloon festival Timby (my friends Tim and Toby)
and I decided to go for a hike in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs .
I had been there once before many years ago, but it was new for Tim and Toby.
The trails through the park at the edge of Colorado Springs are very pleasant,
and I had forgotten just how beautiful the red sandstone formations in the very
green landscape actually are. The colors seemed especially bright on the dry
sunny morning with brilliant blue skies and great views of Pike’s Peak over the
region.

Garden of the Gods geological story is similar to that of
other sandstone formations along Colorado’s Front Range all the way up to the
Fort Collins area. The rocks are ancient sedimentary beds that were tilted
vertically into their current finlike shapes over millions of years by the
Rocky Mountain uplift. As well as being scenically beautiful, the formations in
Garden of the Gods and elsewhere along the Front Range are some of the country’s
best spots for technical rock climbing. But that’s a little too adventurous for
me. I’ll stick to walking around them and enjoying them from their bases.