Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO...                                                                                       
"Siamese Twins"
These are the Siamese Twins.  The big bald mountain in
the background on the right of the pictures is Pike's Peak.
"Kissing Camels"
Probably the most recognizable landmark at the park, the
hole in the rock is the space in between the camels' necks.
"Dominoes"
This one isn't officially named, but one can see how the
rock on the left knocked over the rock next to it.  
"Hand"
I think that this one kind of looks like the hand of an
overanxious second grader trying to tell the teacher
the right answer.
"Big Rocks"
Unlike the ones at the Academy, these really are
some big rocks.
"Dangerous"
This is the other Siamese Twin from above.  I kind of
had to rock climb a little bit to get this shot.  Not too
dangerous, unless you're rock climbing in sandals
like I was...  Don't tell Laura.
"Red"
This is the side of one of the Siamese Twins.  This
one brings out the color in the rocks well.  The little
white speck near the rock is the moon.
"Rule of Thirds?"
The photography books I've been reading lately talk
about how you shouldn't center the subject of the
picture.  I think it works in this one, though, because
the rocks on either side frame it nicely.
"Pier"
Near the Siamese Twins, these rocks seemed to
form a  pier into the brush.
"Dead or Alive"
This tree was really struggling.  I couldn't tell
whether it was dead or alive.  I also couldn't tell if the
live parts were really part of the same tree.
"Dead"
This tree was definitely dead.  And sun bleached. I
was pretty impressed that it was still standing at all.
"Stairs"
This is the really long staircase on my "nice little
hike."  Humph.
"Yuccas"
There were these really young mini-yucca plants all
along the trail.  I've only ever seen them really large.
"Fence"
Again, along the trail.  I was trying to get a nice
macro, but those didn't turn out as well.
"Crazy"
This was a crazy tree. The roots started on the left,
made an arch, and then the trunk actually went
skyward on the right.
"Swirl"
The reason why Garden of the Gods even exists is
because it is made up of sandstone with variable resistance
to erosion.  The weaker layers erode, leaving the stronger
ones behind.  Here's a closeup of some layers.
"Swings"
I kind of like this one mostly because you can see the
big sky in Colorado.  I love the trees in the East, but I
love the big sky.  I also like the line the swings make.
"Canopy"
Maybe cupola is a better word?  This was the little
covering over the top of the twisty slide.  I've always
wanted to climb up there, and I got my chance.  The
playground was also deserted, so I knew I wasn't
setting a bad example...
"Monkey Triangles"
Whatever happened to plain ol' monkey bars?  
Hmmm.
Back to Rypics
RYPICS
I went to Garden of the Gods one afternoon to take some pictures.  I really wanted to take some pictures near the
Siamese Twins.  I didn't quite know how to get there so I asked a ranger who gave me directions.  When I asked how far
it was, she told me that it was a "nice little hike."  I forgot, however, to translate that into Average Joe from
Park-Ranger-who-hikes-for-a-living-ese.  It was a long hike.  I took some OK shots, however...  On the way home I also
stopped by a park near my house and took some pictures of the jungle gym.