I’m not gonna lie, I was exhausted today! Yesterday’s hike was intense and wore me out. I was supposed to hike Pikes Peak today, but when everyone else canceled I was ok with this and rested instead. However, when I got up I felt like I’d been cheated out of a perfectly beautiful hiking day, so I tried to think of a way to fix this.
I’d already put in a full day by 3pm, but my girls were still sleeping (don’t judge, it’s summer). They aren’t big fans of intense hikes, but they do like the outdoors, so I gave the option of Red Rocks, Cheyenne Mountain, or the Calhan Paint Mines. Rebecca chose the paint mines, so I told them to all put on some hiking gear while I made dinner, and afterwards we were off for an evening hike. BTW, THANK YOU GRANDMA for the hiking shorts! We all dressed in them, despite not planning beforehand 🙂
It was a 40 minute drive from the house, but close enough to be totally worth it! It’s kind of like a mini Painted Desert.
There are several areas to hike in
As soon as we got there and hiked the 1.5 miles in, I took a shadow selfie. Just because.
The only downside was it was really, really, really windy. I mean, really windy.
But the girls had a great time exploring the formations.
Emily found a birds nest up high and climbed to get a better look.
I loved seeing them jump from rock to rock, confident in exploring and having fun!
Oh, don’t mind Emily’s hair. Like I said, it was REALLY windy, and Rebecca offered her a hair tie, and this was the result. She’s getting it cut again this week…
Wild Wanderer 