Garden of the Gods Hike

I took a beautiful hike through Garden of the Gods (GoG) park yesterday evening, after my gym workout. I was going to stay and do my cardio at the gym, by my wife, whom I met at the gym, suggested I take a break from all my gnarly shit and just enjoy the evening–and I’m glad I did (sometimes I need her to tell me to take a goddamned break…). I took my Nikon with me and got some really cool shots! I spent about an hour-and-a-half hiking through it, and it was great—fewer people. Better shots without people in them—though one woman, admittedly, would have made an incredible shot, but the moment passed as soon as it’d presented itself. She had been wearing an incredibly bright, radiant blue one-piece tube-skirt (or whatever they’re called) and was walking toward me in the middle of a narrow section of red rocks, her blonde head down. It was so incongruous! Contrasting! It would have made a fantastic shot! But, I couldn’t get the camera up quick enough, and the moment had passed. You couldn’t see her face, which made it even better.

Anyway, I took my favorite hike, which is around the west side of the park, on the single track. It traverses all kinds of rocky terrain and goes up and down. I love it. Love the rocks, love the squirreliness of the trail. The view. Saw a Scrub Jay (I think they’re called), a rabbit, and a whole herd of some 11 or 12 deer. I’ll try to post some of the images where I can, but I’m using new software (Adobe Lightroom) and there’s a bit of a learning curve. I may just try to upload a few onto Facebook. That’s probably the easiest thing to do. We’ll see. I’m really behind on my short story work, so….