The pronghorn line the hills on the road past unique rock formations. I get excited to photograph my first one, but there are hordes of them, composed of a male with several females.

We drive into the cloud hiding the mountain views of Breckenridge, but we stop for breakfast in Buena Vista and the weather clears. We go for a drive to a lake with beautiful yellow aspen forests and snow-dusted mountains.

The weather clears and we can see the other mountains further down near a hot spring. The pool is closed, but the mountains and river are beautiful.

As rain clouds return, we take a break to dine on delicious bison ravioli and pumpkin soup.

We walk along the river with all the mountains on display but they are quickly obscured by rain clouds. We hurry back and head home with more spectacular sights along the way.

***

The impending storm does not look promising. Pikes peak, the closest mountain, is shrouded in clouds. The ranger says it’s only half open, so my friend and I drive out to Garden of the Gods.

These red rock formations are something else. The tall, skinny towers jut out, the sturdiest of the soft Morrison formation that’s been weathered away. Mountain sheep pose stoically on a ridge top. They appear so wise, seemingly staring at the view and chewing cud.

We take off for the paint mine—an area of multi colored clay. Pink, orange and white spatter the quarry, which has been used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years to paint and make pottery and just enjoy. We too enjoy navigating the pink caverns, tracing orange and white walls with multi colored hoodoos to mark the path. It looks fantastic as the sun comes out showing off the bright colors.

We trek back to Denver to see red rock amphitheater, a horseshoe-shaped giant rock formation used as a concert space. They sure are impressive!

Across is dinosaur ridge, where bones and treks are imprinted into the multicolored stone faces. A unique erosion ball is here too. A rare velociraptor trek (one of a dozen worldwide) is revealed. Ripples from the paleo-tropical beaches make waves on the rock. But the highlight is a massive wall covered in tracks from Hadrosaur (duck bill dinosaur) and ornithomimids (small faster omnivore). There are crocodilian prints as well from an ancestral crocodile. It is neat to see how the sizing, spacing and direction of the prints gives insight into dinosaur behavior, such as speed and if they traveled in family groups.

We watch the sunset over red rock amphitheater and have a delicious Indian dinner before the long drive back to my friend’s place.