Day 3 - Pueblo, Colorado

A glorious, sparkling day! I avoided the interstate all day - and my reward was lots of wildlife - a yellow-bellied marmot munching in a suburban garden, an eagle soaring over a canyon, a coyote wandering across the road, 2 magpies (1 for sorrow, 2 for joy ...) flitting over the grassy plain.

I was heading more-or-less south, but meandered around to take in some interesting sights - Red Rocks at Morrison, the aptly-named and very attractive town of Conifer, a wonderful road (CO-126) running down the canyon beside the river through Pine and Buffalo Creek - though somewhat marred by extensive fire damage to the pines for many miles.

I stopped at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument where I got my exercise for the day! There are 14 miles of trails here, but I only had time to do 2; it's over 8,500 ft above sea level here, and there's a distinct effect on breathing (though not enough to slow me down much). The trails wind around petrified sequoia trees, which were a great deal larger than the currently-common trees, the Ponderosa Pine; these are all around the trails, and smell wonderful!

All the way along my route today, I had intriguing views of the snow-capped Pikes Peak from the north, the west and the south - I plan to visit it in the next couple of days!

And so through Florence (full of antique shops) and out to the grassy high plains passing the very blue Lake Pueblo on the way to Pueblo, where it is 20degF hotter than in Denver!