We drove up Rampart Range Road after taking the pictures that I've been featuring the last few days. This winding dirt road originates in the Garden of the Gods and takes you all the way to Rampart Range Reservoir outside Woodland Park. It's a very scenic drive. Lest you think all of our views are pristine and beautiful, though, let me bring your attention to our infamous scar. See how the top of this ridge is suspiciously flat? I don't mean level, I mean flattened instead of jagged and rocky, as it should be. That's because it was a large quarry for decades, and it left a giant scar just north of the Garden of the Gods that's highly visible from practically anywhere in the city. I just spent the last half hour going through every post on this blog that features the Garden of the Gods or our famous view from the overlook, and not a single one of them shows the scar, because I always reflexively shoot around it or crop it out in post. It's not exactly scenic, at least I don't think it is, and unfortunately it's hard to miss!
Since the quarry has closed, the site has grown over with a few stubby trees and undergrowth, but it's never going to look normal. As you drive on Rampart Range Road you'll eventually go past the back side of the scar, and you can clearly see where the natural shape of the foothill ends and the manmade destruction begins. I don't know whose idea it was to put a quarry in such a highly visible spot, but there's not a lot we can do about it now. The next time I go to take a picture of our view I'll purposely include the scar so you can see what it looks like from the front. But first, I'll be continuing my series on Rampart Range Road for the next several days.
One last image from our New Year's Day drive up to Rampart Reservoir. The reservoir is closed during winter, but there are still many magnificent views to enjoy there. This is the north side of Pikes Peak.
Late afternoon sun peeks through the bare branches of a grove of aspen trees on January 1st. As with the previous three posts in this series, this photo was taken near Rampart Reservoir.
On New Year's Day we decided it would be fun to explore the area around Rampart Reservoir. It was gorgeous! I'm sure you know that Colorado has more than its share of natural beauty, but this area is especially breathtaking if you ask me. The snow made everything magical. I'll be posting photos from our drive for the rest of the week, mostly without commentary since the next few days are going to be quite busy for me. Enjoy!
