An Early Winter Day in the Foothills

I let myself sleep in a little this morning. When I got up, I headed out to Red Rocks to kick it and take some photos. It felt so good to get outside that I ran out the door and forgot some essentials, like my water bottle and gloves. And boy, did I regret being careless. There hasn't been any snow yet this season. The days are very bright and blue skied. But even so, today the wind was freezing and coming right at you like something alive and starving. My hands and face were chapped by the time I got back to my car.

We've been here a number of times in the past for shows. But I'm not always allowed to take my camera in and the crowds make it tricky to take good shots. This was my first time visiting outside of concert season. I wish I'd gone sooner. I parked on the east side for a change, and took a new way up to the visitor's center. It was a little steep.

I caught a cute bird having a snack. It was plucking something off this pine tree and gobbling it down. I'm having a hard time narrowing down just what kind of bird this is. I was thinking a lark bunting, but it seems to have too much white on it's body. Hm.

In the amphitheater, facing roughly north.

Some various views from the top of the venue.

A distant clifftop.

You can see downtown Denver, about 15-20 miles away east.

Multicolored lichens.

Cold, bright light.

Here is a video I took from the top of the visitor's center, looking out. I was expecting it to be pretty empty, considering the wind. But there were all kinds of people enjoying being out....

...including some fire fighters getting in some training time.

And here is a video I took from next to the stage. There were people everywhere, including some sort of sports team doing some strength training or something. They were taking turns pulling each other up the stairs.

I lasted almost two hours, wandering around and enjoying the view. Then I drove back into town and treated myself to spring rolls and noodle soup at Pho 79, the Vietnamese cafe I've become obsessed with. Finished my Hercule Poirot mystery too. Just a nice, chill Saturday afternoon, exploring in Colorado.