Up, Up and Up Again--On Foot

Wednesday morning Terry and I drove over to The Seven Falls on the south side of Colorado Springs. The falls are located at the head of a narrow canyon and drop about 200 feet. While this isn’t a very far distance compared to some falls, there are two flights of steps (about 250 steps) alongside them that you can climb—slowly to reach the top. Feeling rather brave and needing to work off some of the good food we have been enjoying, we chose to take the walk to the top.



Once you have reached the top there are a pair of trails you can follow. One is a short 1/2 mile trail to another small water fall and the other is a mile long trail that takes you up to the crest of Cheyenne Mountain past the original burial site of Helen Hunt Jackson who wrote the novel Ramona back in the 1870’s in an attempt to provide impetus for the Indian Rights Movement in the way Uncle Tom’s Cabin did for the emancipation of blacks. Knowing we still had to climb back down the stairs—and figuring we hadn’t eaten that much—we took the shorter trail. The views from the top of the stairs were fantastic even though we weren’t at the crest of the ridge and the wild flowers along the short trail were beautiful.

Once back at the bottom of the stairs, we took an elevator to an observation point that allows you to view all seven of the waterfalls as well as the two flights of steps. The elevator was carved out of Pike’s Peak granite and caries you 7 floors above the canyon floor. We could have taken another flight of steps to reach the viewing point but our thighs needed the rest.

After leaving The Seven Falls, we drove downtown to the Pioneer Museum. The museum contains materials from El Paso County’s past and the founding of Colorado Springs. The building it is housed in was originally the county courthouse constructed in 1899. The building itself is very impressive and has been the setting for several movies. The District 1 courtroom is kept in its original form just so it can be used as a movie set and for special occasions. The other District Courts and various offices are now display rooms. (Sorry no flash photography allowed and I forgot to get a picture of the exterior.)

We spent some time relaxing in the campground’s hot tub and pool before meeting everyone at the Flying W Ranch for dinner and the show. The Flying W used to be an operating cattle ranch occupying 10,000 acres from Colorado Springs up to where the Air Force Academy now sits. Over the years, parcels have been sold off to become housing developments and, while a small part is still used for ranching, they now have a small “town” of shops and an indoor and outdoor dinner theater where you get chuck wagon food and some real good cowboy songs and picking.