Today's hike we kept things close to home. The Matthews/Winter Park area is twenty minutes away, and just a couple of miles from Red Rocks Amphitheater. Mt. Vernon was the once and long extinguished town settled in 1859 on the edge of the foothills. To the west, the hills steadily climb into the mountainous front range, to the east, if you squint you can see Kansas -- nothing but flat prairie land as far as the eye can see.
Dinosaur prints mark the ancient red rocks pushed up throughout this area. The oldest rocks and their fossils are dated from the Jurassic period and show evidence that this land was once a sea-level swamp, home to sauropods, whose bones have been found embedded there, and which are found on the western area of the ridge where the rocks have been pushed vertical by the creation of the mountain range. On the eastern side of the exposed rocks are the "newer" prints from the Cretaceous period that once overlaid the Jurassic bones.
The earliest road builders financed their construction by making all five roads that led through the mountains toll roads for the men bent on making their fortune by digging gold out of the rocks. Mt Vernon was one of five towns built around the roads and canyons that gave easiest access to the fortune.
Now there is nothing left but a small cemetery with a few headstones. Those made of wood have long been wiped clean of their writing. The two in stone are almost weathered away.
The hike starts over a small bridge and stream, which we kept Evan from submerging himself in until the end.
Over the rise and initial climb, you head south through the last "bumps" of the foothills.
The stone in best condition is that marking the final resting place of Rev. I.R. Dean, aged 31, who died August 19, 1860. In the other corner is the headstone of James H. Judy who was 21 and died on Sept. 8, 1867.
I found this sign interesting primarily because of the information in the red bar at the bottom. It reads:
On July 27, 2007, 24-year-old Luke Altmix Simmons lost his life to a lightening strike while running in this area. It was curious to me that they had included his age.
Past the cemetery, the Village Trail turns into the Red Rocks trail, which would take us all the way through the park and by the amphitheater area if we'd had the time to keep going.
We walked until we were ready to turn back and returned the way we came.
At our turn around spot, we let a big group of kids we assumed were ROTC pass us on the trail. The front and rear were brought up by men in military gear. We were also watching the darkening clouds build around us.
And when we got back to the stream, we let Evan cool off in his favorite way.
We drove south past Red Rocks towards Morrison with the Jeep's windows down.
The shoes were WONDERFUL -- perfectly light, great traction, total range of motion. Woo-hoo -- they want more!
Heading back around towards home, Evan wasn't as impressed with the drive. He just wanted to know if we were home yet.
And right before we turned on our street, I got this summer's shot of the neighbor's poppies. These beautiful flowers greeted me the first morning we called Colorado home and every June I am so happy to greet them again.
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