Monday, August 10, 2009

Devil's Head Lookout Trail

A planned climb up La Plata got canceled on Friday, so I took Zak to Devil's Head Lookout Trail instead. I thought he'd enjoy it when I hiked it for the first time last summer, and those feelings were reinforced by his reaction to the fire tower at the top of Burke Mountain.
Not a bad job looking "bad" for an eight-year-old.
Clearly distracted by the...
...THOUSANDS of ladybugs at the summit. I can't do their numbers justice with a picture. The ranger said this was probably the most he'd ever seen, thanks to the wet spring and the abundance of food.
Very nice view of Pike's Peak from the tower.
With a very small model astronaut, this could be a scene from a B-movie: "Journey to the Planet of the Ladybugs."
Not a bad view back to the east, either.

Our only mammal sighting, other than all the dogs on the trail.
This trip through a crevasse by the Zinn Overlook looks more impressive than it really was, even with a raven feather.

Not a good hike for butterfly viewing again. Just about 10 of these guys all around one patch of wildflowers.
We took our time, and spent nearly three hours here. Not exactly La Plata, but going with Zak more than made up for it!

1 comment:

Orontes said...

Beautiful pics. And I have to tell you I saved viewing this for the end of the week to help me relax. I really look forward to your posts and pics