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Empty Chair
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Ginger’s Flowers

Ginger’s Flowers. Copyright © 2026 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Ginger loves to sit here in the sun in the winter. I liked the light on flowers and thought I’d try to capture it. Unfortunately, the battery was dead on my camera, so, I used my cell phone instead. The odd colored highlights are caused by the crystals we hang in the Sparkle Zone’s windows.

Ginger’s Flowers. Copyright © 2026 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
The Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

The Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs. Day 9 – Road Trip October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I arrived in Colorado Springs on time, and we packed Ginger’s stuff into the car. Now what? We’d booked a hotel in Colorado Springs so that Ginger could take a rest, and I could get cleaned up ready for the next part of our trip, a visit to Ginger’s childhood town and haunts. Our hotel room wasn’t ready, so we went for a drive around, and quick a walk around some of the more popular parts of the Garden of the Gods. For a Friday afternoon in October the place was packed, so I gave up trying to get pictures there were just too many people getting in the way. This picture originally had four people in it.
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The sudden shock of being confronted with the expanse of the plains

The sudden shock of being confronted with the expanse of the plains. Day 9 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I saw this picture — well, one like it — while driving north on Day 3 and made a note to take a picture on the return trip, except I couldn’t find the exact viewpoint I’d found, which is a shame because it was a much better composition. Oh well, this photograph will have to do.
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Plains and mountains
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Leaving Chalk Creek Canyon
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Sunshine on the cliff tops
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Day 9. Pre-dawn light

Up before dawn. Day 9 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It’s six-thirty, and I have to be in Colorado Springs shortly after ten. I allowed plenty of time to wake up and get ready to go. I packed away most of my stuff before bed, and set my alarm, and this was the view that greeted me when I got out of the tent.
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Well staked out

Well staked out. Day 8 – Road Trip October, 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It’s been very windy, so I used all the tie out points on Ginger’s Zpacks Duplex tent. I also used the freestanding kit so I didn’t have to collapse the tent to use my hiking poles for hiking. Though, had I thought of it, I think Ginger has some carbon fiber tent poles I could have brought along.
I do like this tent, though I’ve never used it for backpacking. It would certainly be lighter than my hammock set up. But sleeping on the ground, even with Ginger’s four-inch thick sleeping pad, is not as comfortable as sleeping in my hammock. As to having to get down on my hands and knees to get in and out… I think it’s the hammock life for me.
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Entrance to the Cascade Campground
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Back to the start and some trailside pumpkins
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Nearly down
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Trailside deer
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A brief respite
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Looking up the trail
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The views continue to impress me

The views continue to impress me. Day 8 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I didn’t take a compass bearing, so if my interpretation of the map is correct we are looking at (nearest to furthest), first, an unnamed peak with the Mt. Princeton Chalet and Lucky Mine out of view on the top, then Tigger Peak (I misread that name earlier and called it Tiger Peak), and finally Mt. Princeton.
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Descending

Descending — Day 8 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The long trudge down the ridge has begun. The trail is steep and sandy at the top, making for a very loose footing. I’m always surprised to find sand in high places. Of course, it makes perfect sense when you consider the entire area was buried under an alluvial plain at one point.

It’s a tad steep in places — Day 8 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Yes, it really is that steep. This descent is not for sissies, or the wrong footwear! I was fine with my Bedrock Sandals and hiking poles.
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A last look to the southeast
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The endless play of light

The endless play of light — I stayed here for several minutes watching the ever-changing light move across Chalk Creek Canyon. Day 8 – Road Trip, October, 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved 
Long way down — about 900 ft. and I’m parked in the bottom of the valley. This viewpoint shows how massive piles of scree have spread out across the canyon’s floor. Day 8 – Road Trip, October 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Chalk Creek Canyon











