NORTH CHEYANNE CANYON

We have enjoyed our hikes in North Cheyenne Canyon just west of Colorado Springs so much that we decided to go back one more time on a cool August morning. This is the view from the trailhead (7,500 ft. above sea level) looking towards Colorado Springs (at elevation 6,000). 

The side of the hill next to the parking lot gave us hints of what happened here millions of years ago when glaciers melted and the water formed these rocky crevices in the sand that turned to rock.

Early in the hike we saw layers of rock among the sandy slopes along the trail. It is almost as if the early settlers here put small dams in place to slow the flow of water down the hillside.

The hillside along the trail soon became much more steep and rocky.

The first part of the trail was an easy hike on mostly level sandy ground. All of a sudden, the trail became very rocky and steep.

After going a little further down the trail we spotted this small waterfall.The sounds of the rushing water were soothing to our tired feet.

We did see several new beautiful wildflowers along this trail. First, Horsemint,

Spreading Yellowcress,

Meadowrue, 

White Fairy Trumpet flowers, 

and Alpine Goldenrod.  Throughout the summer, we have been amazed that we have seen so many new wildflowers hiking in the Colorado mountains and canyons.

We have thoroughly enjoyed all our hikes in Colorado. We will miss hiking in the Pikes National Forest at the base of the Rocky Mountains when we get back to flat Florida.