Roxborough and Golden Gate

After a light breakfast in the parking lot of the Goodland, Kansas Walmart (homemade granola and yogurt) we crossed the deceiving "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign. After seeing that, there is still at least three more hours of "Kansas" ahead before you reach the Rocky Mountains. We cruised on I-70, but finally turned off south of Denver and found suburban sprawl galore. The southern side of Denver looks like completely brand new construction since we were last here in 2013.

Our destination for the morning would be Roxborough State Park - a day use park at the foothills of the Rockies that was known for fantastic hiking. It did not disappoint as we gleefully parked the car - excited to see some indication of elevation change. The park was set around gigantic sandstone "fins" that uplifted at an eighty degree angle. It makes for some interesting shadows and bizarre landscape as you hike through them.

We hiked two easy trails in the park when some spotty afternoon thunderstorms started to roll in. We decided that it would be a good time to find a place to stay for the night. It was recommended that we go to Cherry Creek State Park but we arrived to find a full campground. The rangers helped us find an available site at Golden Gate Canyon State Park just west of Denver.

Heading up the mountains, we began gaining quite a bit of elevation on the switch back road. When we finally arrived at our campground we were at 9,300 feet above sea level. I set-up our tent amid spitting raindrops when I heard Lisa talking to the lone camper at the site next-door. She marched over to me and exclaimed that our neighbor has a cheese platter that she needed help with and that we would be eating our dinner at her picnic table. We brought our bowls over and had quite a spread that was leftover from a Stevie Wonder concert tailgate party the night before. We talked the night away and she came over to fill in some missing harmony parts when we were playing music after dinner. Thanks Francis!

The night was cool, but we stayed warm with hats and wool blankets. We awoke early and headed to Panorama Point for breakfast where we had a sweeping view of the Rocky Mountains. It was a majestic view and we donned our hiking boots to follow the Raccoon Trail - which is also open to mountain bikes and horses. We enjoyed our meander through the pine and aspen forest even though we were huffing at the high altitude.

After our hike we decided to head to Niwot (just north of Boulder) to visit our friend Susie who had recently moved to the area. When we arrived at the turn to the Boulder Canyon road, we found a sign saying that the road would be closed for four hours starting at 9:45. Our clock read 9:42 so we pulled in as the last car admitted before the road closure. It was a good thing too since the scenery resembled a national park. With no oncoming traffic due to the imminent blasting, we were able to gawk at the scenery.

We arrived in Niwot around midday excited to see Susie. She gave us the grand tour of the village and even brought Lisa to see a prairie dog city within walking distance of her house. We now have fifty pictures of prairie dogs...but some comfy accommodations for the night!