red rocks all set about in green meadows

We saw plenty of red rocks on our trip through the Four Corners area, but what I found striking were the red rock monoliths set in the green mountain meadows of Denver on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.  We took a 4.6 mile hike on the Red Rocks Trail and the Morrison Slide Trail on a Saturday morning in early May.  Red Rocks Park also contains the Red Rock Amphitheater, a popular concert venue, and other trails including the Trading Post Trail, which we didn’t take. We encountered hikers, runners and mountain bikers on this glorious spring day, as well as owls sitting in a small cave in a rock face, creeping barberry and fragrant cliffrose, colorful lichen and amazing views of the Denver plains, Bear Creek State Park and the Soda Lakes.

Red Rocks Trail

lichen on red rocks

lichen and greenery

lichen on the red sandstone

lichen

view of Denver and the plains

view of Denver and the plains

view over Bear Creek State Park & the Soda Lakes

red monoliths

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Red Rocks Trail

Near the Red Rocks Amphitheater is another trail, the Trading Post Trail, which we didn’t take.  This trail features whimsical rocks such as Creation Rock, Ship Rock (formerly called Titanic), and Stage Rock.

Near the Trading Post Trail

Near the Trading Post Trail

Near the Trading Post Trail

Near the Trading Post Trail

The red sandstone found throughout Red Rocks Park is geologically identified as belonging to the Fountain Formation, formed about 290-296 million years ago when the Ancestral Rocky Mountains were eroded. Later, uplift tilted the rocks to the angle at which they sit today.

The park, discovered on an Army expedition in 1820, once offered natural cover to an Ute tribe who camped here. Its earliest known name was the Garden of the Angels, reputedly given to it on July 4, 1870, by Martin Van Buren Luther, a pioneer Colorado judge. It was renamed Garden of the Titans in 1906 by famed editor John Brisben Walker when he purchased the place with proceeds from his sale of Cosmopolitan Magazine. Known by the folk name of Red Rocks since the area was settled, it was formally given that name when Denver acquired it in 1928 from Walker.

As it was Cinco de Mayo, we enjoyed margaritas and Mexican food at El Tapatio in Denver.

El Tapatio

*Saturday, May 5, 2108*

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“PHOTOGRAPHY” INVITATION:  I invite you to create a photography intention and then create a blog post for a place you have visited. Alternately, you can post a thematic post about a place, photos of whatever you discovered that set your heart afire. You can also do a thematic post of something you have found throughout all your travels: churches, doors, people reading, people hiking, mountains, patterns, all black & white, whatever!

You probably have your own ideas about this, but in case you’d like some ideas, you can visit my page: photography inspiration.

I challenge you to post no more than 20 photos (fewer is better) and to write less than 350-400 words about any travel-related photography intention you set for yourself. Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, June 20 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, June 21, I’ll include your links in that post.

This will be an ongoing invitation, every first and third Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

the ~ wander.essence ~ community

I invite you all to settle in and read a few posts from our wandering community.  I promise, you’ll be inspired!

• Jude, of Under a Cornish Sky, wrote about an installation called ‘Rites of Dionysus’ inspired by “accounts of the Bacchanal – of women who roamed mountains in a trance and at the height of ecstasy seized an animal, tore it apart and ate it raw.”
  • The Rites of Dionysus
• Jo, of Restless Jo, wrote about a walk through the stunning gardens at Northumberlandia, a place that brings back fond memories of a dear friend.
  • Jo’s Monday walk: a lady and a folly

Thanks to all of you who shared posts on the “photography” invitation. 🙂

on returning home from pittsburgh

On returning home from Pittsburgh on Sunday, March 4, we had to throw away much of our refrigerated and frozen food because we had lost power for some 35+ hours due to the Bomb Cyclone that hit right before we left home.

A couple of days later, I received the postcard I had hastily written over Sunday brunch at Smallman Gallery.

Since I returned home, I’ve reflected often on our immersive experience in the City of Steel.  Pittsburgh has transformed itself over the years from a gritty industrial city to a vibrant artistic center. It has two huge sports stadiums, one of the most expansive botanical conservatories I’ve ever seen, The Frick and the Carnegie Museums, a vibrant food scene and lively markets at The Strip. The city is a work in progress, with shuttered factories, abandoned warehouses, and even churches being repurposed into upscale lofts, museums and restaurants. Famous Pittsburgh natives are honored by museums, football stadiums, statues and bridges.

downtown Pittsburgh

The city represents the backbone of America.  Hard-working immigrants (as America is, after all, a country of immigrants) gave their all to build our country.  Most of them worked under less than pleasant conditions and dreamed of providing opportunities for their children. The industrialists who made their fortunes on the glistening backs of these workers contributed to the culture of America by donating large sums of their wealth to the arts.

Pittsburgh from West End Overlook

Overall, I was impressed by the spirit of the new Pittsburgh, and now have a strong desire to delve into other American cities to see what they’re made of.

Here is my one decent video of emerging from the Fort Pitt Tunnel and seeing the city before me.  It was too cold to stand up through the sunroof, but maybe I’ll do that, as in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, if I’m ever back in the city in more temperate weather!

I wrote numerous blog posts about Pittsburgh once I returned home.  They featured photos of found art, exhibits at the Heinz History Museum, downtown architecture, the bridges and rivers, the food, and the quirky art museums.  In my posts, I tried to explore the overlapping point between history and everyday life, to explore the essence of the place, and to write about what I found surprising.  I still have a goal to write a short story that takes place in Pittsburgh; this should be one of my next prose pieces, although I haven’t yet started it! 🙂

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“ON RETURNING HOME” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 500-750 word (or less) post on your own blog about returning home from one particular destination or, alternately, from a long journey encompassing many stops.  How do you linger over your wanderings and create something from them?  How have you changed? Did the place live up to its hype, or was it disappointing? Feel free to address any aspect of your journey and how it influences you upon your return. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments.

For some ideas on this, you can check out the original post about this subject: on returning home.

Include the link in the comments below by Sunday, July 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Monday, July 2, I’ll include your links in that post.

This will be an ongoing invitation on the first Monday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

 

 

 

poetic journeys: U T A H

Unquenchable land of blushed sandstone, fragrant with cliffrose,

Tossed with tumbleweed, desert globemallow and gnarled junipers,

Awash with arches, hoodoos and bridges — remnants of ancient seas. Ages ago,

Hapless dwellers sighed farewell songs to these sacred grounds.

desert globemallow in Utah

fragrant Cliffrose and Balanced Rock

Cliffrose

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park

Skyline Arch at Arches National Park

Park Avenue at Arches National Park

Landscape Arch

Partition Arch

sunset at Arches National Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Utah juniper

Canyonlands – Grand View Overlook

Sipapu Bridge Overlook – Natural Bridges National Monument

Owachomo Bridge at Natural Bridges National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Valley of the Gods, on the way to Monument Valley, which is officially in Arizona:

Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods

Approach to Monument Valley

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“POETRY” Invitation:  I invite you to write a poem of any poetic form on your own blog about a particular travel destination.  Or you can write about travel in general. Concentrate on any intention you set for your poetry. In this case, I wrote an acrostic poem about Utah.

“The basic acrostic is a poem in which the first letters of the lines, read downwards, form a word, phrase, or sentence. Some acrostics have the vertical word at the end of the line, or in the middle.  The double acrostic has two such vertical arrangements (either first and middle letters or first and last letters), while a triple acrostic has all three (first letters, middle, and last)” (from The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms).

Some examples of acrostics can be found in Seasonal Sonnets (Acrostic) by Mark A. Doherty.

You can either set your own poetic intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: poetry.  (This page is a work in process).  You can also include photos, of course.

Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, July 5 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, July 6, I’ll include your links in that post.

This will be an ongoing invitation, on the first Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!