Fort Union National Monument

 The weather was so nice today we decided to head down to Fort Union after our visit to Capulin Volcano. We arrived at the parking lot to nearly 60 degrees and windless condition, an anomaly for December. We got Rosie out of the car and then walked over to the small picnic area to admire the ruins of the fort's hospital. 

Then, we went through a gate and started the trail around the ruins of the frontier fort. Parts of the fort grounds are currently closed due to damage to the walls from a large snow storm back in November. There is a fear that the adobe is so compromised that portions could collapse. Still, there was plenty to see as we made our way through.

I enjoyed the sun dial (the time it showed was surprisingly accurate)

and the old, carved stone obelisk markers.

We took a short break on a bench, 

passed the old fort jail,

and then made our way back to the car for the rest of the drive to Santa Fe. 

Capulin Volcano National Monument: Summit and Vent Trails

After our hike of Garden of the Gods yesterday, we got lunch at Colorado Mountain Brewery and then headed south into New Mexico, the state where Sierra was born and our first time back since she was 6 months old. We drove through Raton Pass and stayed in the town of Raton. This morning I took Rosie for a walk around town.

It's an interesting place, though a little rough around the edges. 

After eating breakfast and packing up, we made a detour east to Capulin Volcano National Monument. Noelle and I had been there before, way back in 2002. I opted to buy an America the Beautiful Pass since we are planning a trip to Yellowstone for this coming summer. 

With our entrance fee paid, we made the drive up the Volcano Road to the summit area. Just from the parking lot, there's a really nice view of the surrounding Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. However, we opted to do a little hiking to explore more. Our first short hike would be down into the volcano's vent. It was a pretty icy trail to get down there. 

In fact, Sierra fell a few times on the slick icy, snow. 

Eventually we made it down to the bottom with wonderful views of the surrounding cinder cone and microclimate of plants. 

We made our way back up the icy Vent Trail and then started the fairly steep trail up to the summit of the cinder cone. 

There were long stretches of clear trail, but also a few more sections of icy snow. Sierra fell a few times, though I don't think she tried particularly hard to stay upright. 

Views were pretty awesome, and as we made our way along the trail they opened up in all directions.

Noelle and I posed for a photo at the summit.

Then, we started to make our way down. Luckily the trail was almost completely clear on the part of the loop we took down. 

Noelle and Sierra posed for a photo at a little spur overlook.

I really enjoyed the great views of the imposing Sierra Grande volcano.

We finished our hike and drove back down the Volcano Road to the visitor center area where we got Rosie out of the car for a short hike on the paved Nature Trail. Her favorite part of the hike: sliding around on the piles of snow.

Garden of the Gods: Palmer, Buckskin-Charley, Niobrara, and Bretag Trail Loop

After breakfast this morning, we packed up the car and made the short drive to Colorado Springs' Garden of the Gods Park. We found a parking spot in the mostly empty lot (at least when we arrived) 

and hit the trail for a loop hike on several trails that encircle the outside of the most scenic parts of the iconic park. We would be completing the hike in a counter-clockwise direction.

There are immediately pretty awesome views of the red rock formations that make the park famous. I just couldn't stop taking photos of the great scenery.

We followed the Palmer Trail west and then south for a bit, passing the rock formations in the park, but also enjoying views of Pikes Peak and the other mountains outside the park.

We crossed the park road and hiked portions of the Scotsman and Buckskin Charlie trails, heading southeast.

We passed over a dam overlooking a neighborhood with spectacular views across to Pikes Peak.

Then, the Ute Trail followed a ridge heading north. Again, there were awesome views of the rock formations off to the west.

The trail passed an interesting looking area called Rock Ledge Ranch (perhaps a place to explore during a future visit to Colorado Springs) and then descended to a flat area and paralleled the road back to the parking area. 

Once back to the car, we opted to check out a the Perkins Central Garden area. However, it was too crowded to be enjoyable and so we just did a quick walk through. Still, it was a mostly enjoyable and easy hike of about 5 miles if include the portion of the Central Garden that we hiked. 

Garden of Lights at the Gardens on Spring Creek

 After our short hike earlier in the day, we went into Old Town to kill some time and walk around. Then, we headed over to the Gardens on Spring Creek to check out the Garden of Lights. The gardens are tastefully decorated with Christmas lights, making for a pleasant stroll on a warm December evening. Here's what we saw:

After exploring the beautiful lights for about an hour, we headed south to Manitou Springs where we are spending the night in preparation for more adventures tomorrow.