Thursday, July 3: Mount Falcon

[mistressofmuses]

Thursday was the first day of my break from work, and we headed up to Mount Falcon. We've been there before, though this was the first time for Bella. It's always a pretty spot!


I'm sure I've taken a variation on this picture every time we're here. I just love the layered windows and the tree behind, ha.


Looking towards the east, you can see a very long way.

21 more pictures: scenery, Bella, ruins, a spider...

There's Denver, way in the distance in the middle.


A fritillary butterfly.

Bella is... not a robust dog, haha. She is very strong, and can be energetic in short bursts, but endurance is not her calling in life, I'm afraid. Mount Falcon (at least the trail we were taking) is not super difficult or super long, but we still made sure we were taking frequent breaks for her to get to pause for a minute and get some water and snacks. (And stopping more often is good for us, too. We're trying to be better about staying hydrated!)


Look at this weenie.


Majestic.


Wild geranium.


You really can see quite far!

The biggest draw of this particular trail is the "castle ruins," the remains of the Walker Mansion. The house was built in 1911, and then was struck by lightning and fell down in 1918.


Having a large bird soaring right over the ruins on approach was pretty great. I think this was a raven.


The still very tall chimney.


I love the shield-shaped window.


Lots of wildflowers growing inside the ruins.


A little fireplace. Plus dramatic dead tree.


Plant growing in the pillar.



I wanted to get a picture of Bella on the same rock that I have a picture of Cy standing on. (One of my favorite pictures, the one my friend did the amazing art of.)

Unfortunately, Bella is not quite as good at posing, and the rocks were a little warm. Not horribly hot, but not super pleasant to be scrambling around on, so we weren't going to spend too long trying.


Not as dramatic, but at least it's Bella with a lovely background, ha.


Adventurous!

You can hike down and around the ruins area a bit, and get down to a little spot sort of below the edge of the cliff. It's often very nice and cool down there in the shade, so we headed down that way to take another break.


Some pinecones at a neat stage.


Huge thistle and a very vibrant bumblebee.


A pair of spiders. They were very small, and I couldn't really get my camera to fully focus on them. I assume the bigger one in the middle is a female and the thinner one up to the left is a male. (There was a second web with two that didn't seem to have gotten along quite so well... the female seemed to have made a snack of the male.)


A fern!


A ladybug on an oak leaf.


The meadow area was really pretty. Very multi-colored with the different things growing.

It'd been a few years since we went to Mount Falcon, and I was glad we got to go again. It really is a neat place.

Comments

[spikedluv]

Love the photos! The ruins are really interesting. Love Bella's photos. And it's good that taking care of Bella means you're taking better care of yourselves.

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you!

I love these ruins. They're so cool, and not really much like anything else in the area.

It is good that being mindful of Bella's needs has made us a bit more mindful of our own. We've gone on a bunch of hikes, and I haven't had nearly as many bouts of dehydration, and Alex has avoided the dizzy spells he used to get while we were out... Though it feels a little unfortunate that we were so bad at taking care of ourselves on our own!

[spikedluv]

Though it feels a little unfortunate that we were so bad at taking care of ourselves on our own!

Haha, true! An unexpected benefit of having dogs. *g*

[omens]

What a beautiful place :O Bella is so photogenic!

[mistressofmuses]

It is a gorgeous place!

Bella is a majestic beaft.

[umadoshi]

I just love the layered windows and the tree behind, ha.

That is so neat!

[mistressofmuses]

Thank you! I love that view so very much.

[olivermoss]

Bella!

Those ruins look amazing. You got some fantastic shots of them. The thistle and bee shot is impressive.

[mistressofmuses]

The ruins are really cool! They have such a neat look, and aren't really like anything else we have here.

I was really happy with the thistle and bee!

[a_natural_beauty]

Wow, that looks like a neat place to go to! I love the view in the last photo! :D

[mistressofmuses]

It's such a cool place! Thank you!

[a_natural_beauty]

you're welcome!

[boujee_redneck]

Sounds like a fun hike and day in the mountains! And aww, Bella is just adorkable! In her defense, she's not a weenie, rather she's "delicate" and "refined" haha.

As always, I absolutely love your photography!

[mistressofmuses]

It was a very fun day! Bella is truly the adorkable-est. But yes, she's not a weenie... she's simply a delicate spun-glass princess, lol.

Thank you very much!

[re_vised]

I love Mount Falcon! I used to board at the farm on the left (with all the white fencing) as you head up to the park. It was beautiful.

[mistressofmuses]

I know exactly which farm you're talking about! (I wonder if I ever saw your horse when we drove past! I don't know if we went up there at the right time.)
I didn't see any horses there this time when we were on the way up, though I know I've seen them there before. I think it is quite possible for them all to have just been up and away from the road, though. Such a beautiful area!

[re_vised]

I boarded there from 2014-2016, so quite a while ago! Their fields go super far back into the property, so it's possible that if no horses were turned out in the paddocks behind the barn, the rest of the horses were back in the woods.

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, it's quite possible we just couldn't see them when we drove by. We've certainly seen them in the past! I wonder if I ever drove by when you were boarding there? It's at least potentially possible, lol.