Farewell to Colorado (for now)

All good things must come to an end, including vacations and vacation photos. Here are the final pictures from our recent trip to Colorado.

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On Day 4, I took my usual morning walk, and found still more flowers to photograph along the trail.

Wild geranium:

Huge drifts of lovely blue penstemon:

A small mystery plant about to burst into bloom (possibly Western stoneseed):

One last view down this loveliest of trails:

Teasels were growing next to the road on the way back to my nephew's house:

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Later that day, my nephew took us up to some higher elevations. We had hoped for a short hike at 10,000 feet, but the trails were covered with deep lengthwise ridges of hard-packed ice and snow - very awkward to walk on.

So back down the winding roads we drove, then turned to go up a hair-raisingly steep dirt road (no photos, I'm afraid) to meet my niece-in-law for dinner at a restaurant perched on the side of another mountain. The post-dinner drive down the dirt road was even more nerve-wracking than the trip up, but we got home safely in the end, full of good food and conversation.

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On Day 5, I walked to a different nearby trail that runs along a local creek.

Snowmelt was rushing down from the heights to my left, foaming over rocks and past fallen trees:

To the right, the water ran more quietly:

Near the creek grew a new-to-me wildflower that I haven't yet been able to identify:

Then it was time to hike back up the road to my nephew's house, and head down into Boulder for brunch.

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The next morning we said farewell to our kind hosts, and set off for home.

It's always hard to leave Colorado; to see the snowy Rockies dwindle in the mirror, and finally drop below the horizon, as we think of loved ones left behind. But I'm grateful for the chance to visit, and hope to return sooner rather than later.

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Thanks to the following websites for help in identifying many of the flowers I saw in Colorado:

https://coloradowildflower.com/

http://www.coloradowildbuds.com/

https://www.wildflower.org/

https://cowildflowers.com/

https://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/

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