Does anyone remember the expression, “Take a hike,” popular in the late seventies or early eighties? It was not nice and largely used to reject people. This post is not that kind of hike. This is the kind you take on a weekday during staycation, with your pup and best Buddy of nearly 35 years.
We drove to Palmer Park on the tail end of morning cool and minimal people, enjoying the aptly named Grandview Trail. It is pretty amazing that a hundred feet of elevation gain garners such a vastly different plant profile. Save the flowers above, which I believe are a variety of buckwheat, I don’t know the names of any of these, but how sweet to encounter.
Also, how about the tiny butterfly? Probably the size of my thumb tip, likely a bronze copper. It flitted joyously about before posing. Thank you very much!
Pike’s Peak, naked.
scrub oak with diminutive acorns
Wee and cute pink flower (a dianthus, maybe?) with mini spider. Nature!
Not spied on our hike but the back garden, this shy gal or guy had periwinkle wings on top but kept them firmly closed whenever I tried to take a picture. I have no idea what it is, sadly, as none of the Colorado butterfly lists has anything that looks like it. Mysteries abound.
As for the hike, how marvelous to get out of our usual groove, however lovely it may be. The scents and textures more sandy and resinous, singing of the high desert – pine and oak. The sky that bit closer, the view echoing more of tree than house or pavement or car. I relished every moment. That my best pals shared it with me made it even sweeter.
Happy Hiking!
