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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Garden of the gods and Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Saturday we had another great day. We started the day by visiting the Garden of the gods. What a beautiful place!

This is a view of several of the formations near the visitor center.

We had just started looking around when we saw this bighorn sheep way up high. If you look closely you can see 6 others further down on the rocks, 5 are on the right and one is on the left.

There were several people climbing while we were there. It doesn't look like anything I would ever try!

More beautiful formations.

This is called the balancing rock. It doesn't look like it should stay there!


Here are a couple of cute guys I found in the park!

After we left the Garden of the gods, we visited the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.

This young man is a descendant of the original cliff dwellers. He did several of the dances from that time, which were quite interesting.

We were able to go into the actual dwellings and look around. We were surprised by how cool it was inside, when it was very warm outside. These dwellings were quite small for many people to be living in.

Here is a picture of the Cliff Dwellers homes, built right into the rock of the cliff. I'm glad someone had the foresight to preserve them!
That's it for today - more coming tomorrow!



23 comments:

Heart2Heart said...

Mari,

I love all the beautiful pictures of not only the rock formations but I love the traditional Indian cultures! I would have sat there for hours just watching and being immersed in their life.

Love the picture of the big horn sheep on top of the rock. It's my favorite. Just never understand that sheeps hooves can give them that kind of climbing ability!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Brenda said...

Garden of the God is such a unique and beautiful setting.
(Actually we cleaned a house yesterday at Garden of the Gods Road--I know not very exciting!)
The cliff dwelling are on our to-do list.

A Captured Reflection said...

What a wonderful place. I loved the formation of the rocks and the Sheep was a treat to see. It's good to learn new things and I loved the photos.

Justabeachkat said...

What a gorgeous part of the country! Wonderful photos. Looks like you had wonderful weather too.

Hugs!
Kat

Mary said...

I'm am amazed at the wonders created at the hand of God! I haven't seen much of the world, and it is so nice to visit these places through my blogging family...thanks so much for sharing!

Mary

Anonymous said...

woh those were very interesting rock formations and if you hadn't mentioned the other 6 mountain goats I would not have seen them!! oh and that rock climber's going to give me nightmares :)

A Stone Gatherer said...

Great pictures Mari! I love how God set up the Ram for you guys to take a picture of, and :built right into the rock of the cliff" it made me think of the "Cleft of the Rock" that God puts us in! Beautiful!

Susan said...

You have so captured everything with that majic camera of your.s
Susan

Mary Lee said...

I have been to Garden of the gods...it is spectacular! Your pictures are great, but it is even more awe inspiring in person. I am sure you would agree!

Growin' With It said...

cool scenery and all that sunshine...my kind of vacation!☺

Just Mom said...

Beautiful!

I love looking at vacation photos. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Brooke said...

that climbing looks awesome! and scary. while i think it would be fun, i'd never have the courage to do it either.

Pat said...

One of the best things about blogging is visiting places with our friends. These pictures are beautiful...those rock climbers are very brave..not my cup of tea! As for those cute guys, What a lucky find for you!

Beth Cotell said...

That looks like an amazing place to visit!

TJ said...

Awesome pictures. If I had to climb the rocks I think I would freeze half way up and have to be rescued. Glad you had an awesome time.

Grandma Elsie said...

Love traveling with you . But Never ,never could I rock climb. I can't even climb a tree. Get so dizzy headed..
Can't wait to see more.

Bonnie said...

Can you believe that in all my time living in Colorado I've never visited the Garden of the gods ??? CRAZY !! I'll have to fix that next time I'm there ...

Betty W said...

What I notice is how blue the sky is. Awesome and impressing!

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

breathtaking!
You have been my mode of transportaion to these gorgeous places!

Kayren said...

Those are great pictures with the sheep and the rock climbers. That's not something I think I'll be trying either, although I have repelled before. It was off of a 30-foot tower made for that, not jagged cliffs that you had to climb up and plan your way around. Your pictures from this trip have wonderful color!

Rebekah said...

Breath taking- and I'm sure these pictures dont give enough justice. I would love to travel out west to take in all Gods glory

Kim said...

Great photos! Looks like so much fun. Those two guys you found are mighty cute! :-)

Lynn said...

More great pictures...the colors are amazing! The cliff dwellings are so interesting.

All your sunset pictures are breathtaking.