9th August.
Garden of the Gods was pretty neat. These massive and yet marvelously thin rock that jut out in the middle of nowhere, pushed up by tectonic action and then weathered down.
Here’s a panorama shot from the visitor centre.
But then I started thinking about all those canyons I visited 2 years back and then it didn’t seem so great. Still, we spent a good amount of time exploring the place and walking around.
It’s funny how rock can look so different as you walk around it. The perspective changes, the colours change and that photo you took that looked good earlier, seems better now, at this other angle. Then you’ve shot hundreds of photos of one rock. And they all seem remarkable. Just at that moment.
Then you’re faced at home, at the computer with a just one thought: why the hell did I shoot all these shots of the same damn rock? Delete, delete, delete.
But actually what you were trying to capture is the feeling of wonderment. Humility at nature’s work. And somehow, no photo I’ve taken has captured that.
Then we took the drive up to Pike’s Peak. It’s a challenging drive and the scenery is good, but the top – more than 14000 feet up, is rather unspectacular. It’s rather ugly and barren with a souvenir shop up there.
I think I was also experiencing a bit of hunger and altitude sickness. There was a pain in my ears.
Okay, no mountain in the photo. But you get the idea. It was nice views from the peak. But the peak itself was awful.
We ended our day taking a short walk through the town of Manitou Springs with it’s many touristy shops. Didn’t like it.
