mistressofmuses (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmuses) wrote2021-08-27 09:01 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2021-08-27 09:01 pm
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Devil's Backbone
Today we went to Devil's Backbone. Back when I was in college, we were much closer, so we went there fairly often when we wanted to hike. This is another place we haven't been back to in a decade+ (oof, I feel old), so it was nice to visit it again!
It was... really hot. We left the dog home (his heat tolerance isn't GREAT, and we don't want to take any risks), but I got pretty tired pretty quickly. (At the same time, this was a really good level of endurance-pushing for me, so I wish we were close enough that I could do it more often!)
We'd also run some errands in the morning, so it was a later start than usual anyway.
View from the trailhead, looking toward the rocks.
A soaring raven. :) There are seasonal closures in the spring along the rocks, because ravens nest there. So I kind of hope this is one of them, ha.
Be Snake Awake! We did not see any rattlesnakes today, awake or sleeping.
Though this IS the place I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake many years ago. We were heading down the trail, and Alex was yelling something behind me. I kept walking, while I turned over my shoulder to ask him what he'd said...
Well, he'd been saying "Snake! SNAKE!" I parsed it just in time to avoid stepping on the rattlesnake that would have been right where my foot would have fallen. I just about wrecked both our days, ha. The silly snake was stretched lengthwise across the path, and didn't rattle or anything. It looked like it had swallowed a series of golfballs, lol, so that was probably why it was so lethargic.
After I stumbled several steps back, it slithered into the grass and THEN started rattling.
The ruins of an old plaster mill. There was some signage about it this time, which didn't used to be there. We'd seen the ruins before, and wondered what they'd been.
Aw, c'mon, that just makes me want to jump the fence even more!
(My guess is that it's probably where the gypsum mines, used for the plaster mill, were located, which could certainly be plenty dangerous to stumble into. But still! Telling me it's dangerous just makes me want to know what you're hiding!)
Another stretch of the backbone.
Nice silhouetted section in the rocks.
Great view of the front range. There's also a sign that labels some of the peaks you can see.
This was where we turned around, so this is the view of the backbone as it extends north. I do kind of wish we'd been able to go a bit farther, but it was so damn hot, lol.
Back near the start, there's some private property with alpacas!
Also near the trailhead, a tree with fruit. Pretty sure they're plums?
And a very pretty sunflower.
It was... really hot. We left the dog home (his heat tolerance isn't GREAT, and we don't want to take any risks), but I got pretty tired pretty quickly. (At the same time, this was a really good level of endurance-pushing for me, so I wish we were close enough that I could do it more often!)
We'd also run some errands in the morning, so it was a later start than usual anyway.
View from the trailhead, looking toward the rocks.
A soaring raven. :) There are seasonal closures in the spring along the rocks, because ravens nest there. So I kind of hope this is one of them, ha.
Be Snake Awake! We did not see any rattlesnakes today, awake or sleeping.
Though this IS the place I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake many years ago. We were heading down the trail, and Alex was yelling something behind me. I kept walking, while I turned over my shoulder to ask him what he'd said...
Well, he'd been saying "Snake! SNAKE!" I parsed it just in time to avoid stepping on the rattlesnake that would have been right where my foot would have fallen. I just about wrecked both our days, ha. The silly snake was stretched lengthwise across the path, and didn't rattle or anything. It looked like it had swallowed a series of golfballs, lol, so that was probably why it was so lethargic.
After I stumbled several steps back, it slithered into the grass and THEN started rattling.
The ruins of an old plaster mill. There was some signage about it this time, which didn't used to be there. We'd seen the ruins before, and wondered what they'd been.
Aw, c'mon, that just makes me want to jump the fence even more!
(My guess is that it's probably where the gypsum mines, used for the plaster mill, were located, which could certainly be plenty dangerous to stumble into. But still! Telling me it's dangerous just makes me want to know what you're hiding!)
Another stretch of the backbone.
Nice silhouetted section in the rocks.
Great view of the front range. There's also a sign that labels some of the peaks you can see.
This was where we turned around, so this is the view of the backbone as it extends north. I do kind of wish we'd been able to go a bit farther, but it was so damn hot, lol.
Back near the start, there's some private property with alpacas!
Also near the trailhead, a tree with fruit. Pretty sure they're plums?
And a very pretty sunflower.
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The No Trespassing sign was a little ways farther, but sort of pointed back the same direction. The building is right against the edge of the park property, with private property beyond it. Seems like it would be pretty easy to just slink through the fence and take a look, though...
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We've explored a handful of things, when we can - a falling-in house we came across on the plains, a few buildings in a historic settlement that are slated for some form of preservation at some point. I had a classmate who knew how to find one of the abandoned missile silos out on the plains, but sadly we never managed to get the timing to work out for me to go with him.
Out in Maryland, there's a hike that goes past two old church ruins, a fancy stone one and a creepy-ass pentacostal one, though those are both well known.
But gosh, that sounds SO neighborly. And even shittier that they wound up just tearing it down for scrap, and wouldn't let you in even for pictures!
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"Purgatory Pass" - I love it!
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