Why they're called the Rocky Mountains...
So, we were driving on this beautiful Sunday afternoon up Gold Camp Road from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek, when we rounded a corner and saw a huge cloud of dust up ahead and something in the middle of the road. Several somethings in the middle of the road, in fact. Several LARGE somethings.
When the dust cleared we saw we had missed being pummeled with a rock slide by about 15 seconds. The dust was still settling as we climbed from the car for a closer look. Two mammoth boulders had become unearthed from the hillside and came crashing down, along with several smaller slabs of granite. The boulders stopped at the edge of the road and the other smaller pieces came to rest in the middle of the road. The smell of pine was strong in the air, limbs having been freshly crushed and trampled on the way down. Had we not paused at an overlook a mile back, we would have been right in the rock slide's path.
After a few minutes, we turned the car around because we were blocked from going any further. But then several trucks, coming from different directions, stopped and jumped out to ask if we were alright. And, being burly men, they moved the smaller pieces from the road so everyone could pass. Four or five of them attempted to move the larger rocks but finally grunted out a laugh as they realized they were no match for the slab. Still, the path was cleared enough to continue on, which we did. We were amazingly lucky.
So, we continued on our adventure and went to Cripple Creek, where we got to see the donkeys for the first time since summer. The Cripple Creek donkeys are ancestors of the mining donkeys from the 1800s and wander freely around the mountains until tourist season, when they wander freely all over downtown Cripple Creek, accepting snacks and scratches from tourists.
And, to top off a great day, we saw a Red-Tailed Hawk fly off into the sunset.
When the dust cleared we saw we had missed being pummeled with a rock slide by about 15 seconds. The dust was still settling as we climbed from the car for a closer look. Two mammoth boulders had become unearthed from the hillside and came crashing down, along with several smaller slabs of granite. The boulders stopped at the edge of the road and the other smaller pieces came to rest in the middle of the road. The smell of pine was strong in the air, limbs having been freshly crushed and trampled on the way down. Had we not paused at an overlook a mile back, we would have been right in the rock slide's path.
After a few minutes, we turned the car around because we were blocked from going any further. But then several trucks, coming from different directions, stopped and jumped out to ask if we were alright. And, being burly men, they moved the smaller pieces from the road so everyone could pass. Four or five of them attempted to move the larger rocks but finally grunted out a laugh as they realized they were no match for the slab. Still, the path was cleared enough to continue on, which we did. We were amazingly lucky.
So, we continued on our adventure and went to Cripple Creek, where we got to see the donkeys for the first time since summer. The Cripple Creek donkeys are ancestors of the mining donkeys from the 1800s and wander freely around the mountains until tourist season, when they wander freely all over downtown Cripple Creek, accepting snacks and scratches from tourists.
And, to top off a great day, we saw a Red-Tailed Hawk fly off into the sunset.
posted by JeepGirl | 11:04 PM
1 Comments:
Well dammit. I lost my comment because I had to switch to log into "new blogger" instead of "old blogger."
They went something like:
Wow! Wow! Wow!!! (I remember that part)
Thank the universe for luck in the right place at the right time.
And I LOVED the videos. I especially liked getting a peek or two of Scooter sitting in the car looking at the donkeys.
What a fantastic day! I'm so glad you live out there. :-)
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