Crags Trail- Pike Peak- Divide, Colorado

You need to get here early.  The trailhead is across the street in case you thought that small mountain in the background was the Crags.  The Crags hike is located about a half mile from Mueller State Park off of Hwy 67 in Divide, Colorado. The Crags Trail is  7 miles round trip.

a great way to start a hike

along the creek, there are several nice primitive campsites.

the first mile is a steady slow climb

The creek along the trail provided nice rest stops

saw this unusual flower growing along the creek

Ahead of us the trail opens up a level meadow with views that are amazing.

these yellow ones lined the trail

 these rock formations appear in the meadow; no not the crags...we are only halfway.

one section of the trail had the Colorado state wildflower

click to enlarge to see the beautiful flowers growing

when you leave the meadow, you pretty much go straight up.  The vegetation changes as well. 

here we are at 11,000 feet...the views are going to leave you breathless :)

you can hike through the crags...darn those clouds gathering :( 

You can easily see 100 miles ...click to enlarge to see the snow covered peaks.

reservoirs...we took the grandkids to one of these when they were here

The trees up here are quite twisted

and flowers grow on the rocks...

Road Trip - Rampart Range Road - From Garden of Gods (Colorado Springs) to Rampart Reservoir (Woodland Park)

We decided to go up the back way to Rampart Reservoir.  We headed out from Garden of the Gods by the Balanced Rocks and took Rampart Road ( Rd 300), built by the CCC.  A gravel road but fairly well maintained and wide enough.

You go up by the Waldo Canyon Burn Scar; the Waldo Canyon had a huge fire three years ago.  The aspens are regrowing pretty good.

We got some great hold-onto-your-seat kinda views while praying another vehicle wasn't coming around the corner :)

Pike's Peak in the distance.

Great views of Colorado Springs from up here.

Looking out towards Manitou Springs.

A lot of wildflowers were flourishing in the burn scar area.

A view of the road we came up on.

Yep, Pike's Peak again!

Rampart Reservoir Woodland Park, Colorado

The Rampart Reservoir is located in Woodland Park area; from Hwy 24 take Rampart Road by the McDonald's.  Colorado Springs Utilities owns this and charges 6 bucks per car entry.  There are very nice primitive campgrounds ( which were packed) and a huge choice of trails to hike.  You have a great view of Pike's Peak from this park.  A lot of people were fishing, kayaking, and just enjoying the day. A definite spot to visit!

We choose the lake loop trail for today.  It is a total of 14 miles.  It is an easy hike with amazing views and interesting rock features. 

The trail followed the edge of the lake and laced through the edge of a forest.

We saw some pretty flowers on our hike. Love this one with little pink polka dots.

We had a picnic on the rocks and were mesmerized by the view.

About a mile and a half into our hike; we saw storm clouds gathering above us...when thunder roars; head indoors.  We hated to head back. 

More summer flowers

The rock formations are all over the area

Walking back in the rain