Devil's Head Trail, June 2023

After more than eight years in Texas, Danelle and I decided to move back to Colorado. That will likely mean more photo outings and more activity on the blog again, both of which I'm looking forward to!

Of course there is the issue of readjusting to the altitude.  I have aspirations of possibly trying to do Longs Peak this summer, which would be my eighth 14er to summit.  But there's no rush; baby steps are fine.  I took the first of those baby steps yesterday by revisiting a hike I've done twice in the past -- the Devil's Head Trail.

I headed out early to avoid traffic and precipitation, and succeeded on both counts.  The skies were cloudier than I had expected when I hit the trail at 7:30, which makes this shot a tad flat.

Bright overcast conditions are ideal for shooting wildflowers like this Sharpleaf Valerian, though.

The cool morning temps helped my climb to the tower go quickly and smoothly.  And the skies were beginning to clear to the west ...

... and to the north.

No worries about exceeding the maximum number of visitors allowed on or in the tower at one time, since I was the only one there.

The tower itself is a neat little structure.  I wouldn't mind hanging out in there with a cup of coffee and a good book, just watching the clouds roll by.

The 143 stairs somehow seem sketchier looking down.

I tried to take the side trail to Zinn Overlook as I had in the past, but was stymied by a lot of felled trees.  After slogging through this nonsense for several minutes -- over some, under others -- I wasn't even sure I was still on the trail, so I decided to just turn back.

Thanks to one of many helpful signs along the trail, I learned that the pink color in the rock formations is due to "large amounts of microcline feldspar and various iron minerals that permeate the rock."  Cool.

There were some great vistas even down off the summit, made even more appealing by the dwindling cloud cover.

I loved hiking through a small aspen grove, and got excited thinking about fall hikes to take when they turn gold!

I didn't get a picture that does this justice, but there was a large area near the trailhead that had been just wrecked by an F1 tornado back in 2015.  I've never thought much about tornadoes touching down at high elevations.  Apparently, they occasionally do.

I covered 3.78 miles with 882 feet of total elevation gain in a little more than two hours, not counting my time taking pictures at the tower.  Look out, Longs!  I'm coming for you ...

Related Links:

• Devil's Head Trail, 2009
• Devil's Head Trail, 2008