An Autumn Walk - Colorado Springs : Tom & Viviane McDermott

On autumn days Colorado earns its name. The valleys fill with reds and yellows. The mountains get their first snows. Down here in the lowlands you can admire the snowy peaks from afar. Trips up in the mountains have their own charms, but you lose the colors - the forests are evergreen firs.   To enjoy the colors of autumn it is better to wander in the valleys along our streams.

(Note that clicking on a photo will expand it to full screen size.)

Early morning sun 

turns Pikes Peak  (14,115 ft / 4,302 m) and the sky above red

For several months now I have promised myself to write a proper ‘‘Where We Live’ description of Colorado Springs.  Perhaps that will come someday. For today I only share a few photos of our recent walks in the 'wild' parts of this city.

We never intended to settle in Colorado Springs.  It was a temporary solution to what we thought would be a short term problem.   After Tom retired we had lived 12 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico - a historic, fascinating and lovely town.  Then, a few years ago, we decided to give up the lease on our house and spend a year traveling overseas.  On our return we planned to settle in northern Vermont, just across the border from Montreal where our son was working.  

Ah, the best laid plans !!  While we were traveling our son decided to move back to the US.  We no longer had a home in Santa Fe, and rentals in Santa Fe were not available.  Colorado Springs was nearby and seemed a good short term solution - a place to perch for the following 6 to 12 months.  

And then came COVID !!  The pandemic led us to snuggle into our little bubble and bide our time.  

Politically, 'the Springs' is a very red dot in an increasingly blue Colorado - right-wing, conservative, heavily evangelical.  Not an easy environment for three liberals to find themselves.  As the pandemic eases (or so we hope), another move is on our horizon.  Our son is now working in northern California, so we will likely soon be on the road again and looking yet again for a place to call home !!     Nomads forever !

While we may not fit here politically, we do admire the city's dedication to well-maintained parks and trails. There is no need to leave the city to enjoy nature. Local parks and walking trails are everywhere. 

One trail passes just below our balcony and follows Cottonwood Creek as it meanders slowly west.    Then suddenly it enters a gorge and rushes down to meet the larger Monument Creek a mile or so below us.  Together the streams pass through the city, meet other streams and eventually become the Arkansas River. Further still, they join the Mississippi and flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

Cottonwood Creek at sunset

The Trail leads down along the gorge through a series of many bridges and switch-backs

In the valley Cottonwood Creek joins Monument Creek for the journey south and east 

to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico

Further downstream the creek widens and the yellows become deeper

The path winds along next to the creek.

Behind the neighbor's fence some vibrant reds

The path leads on into Monument Park

150 acres set aside when the city was founded as its 'Central Park' back in 1907

The paths divide such that even on a beautiful Sunday afternoon you meet few other people - you are often alone to enjoy the country even while still near the city center.

Further down the path takes you through Colorado College and into the downtown shopping areas. Walkers and bikers enjoy the chance to wander in 'the countryside'  without going far.

Only a few of these warm days remain before the first snows come to the valleys and take away the last of the yellows and the reds.

South of this point the trail leads through the Colorado College and into the city's downtown before once again opening again to nature south of town.  That area offers little color, so we won't bore you with an urban scene - at least not today. 

Instead, just a reminder - should one really be needed - that the colors of the autumn will soon fade to those of winter. 

Winter will come soon and the leaves will vanish for another year. Walks along the creek will lack the brighter yellows and the reds of autumn, but have their own beauty of ice, reeds and straw.

The waterfalls and weirs along Cottonwood Creek freeze 

even while still allowing  a small flow beneath the ice

And the snows fill both the mountains and the lowlands.

Pikes Peak on a winter morning above Cottonwood Creek