Trotterish Ridge Scotland

The Trotterish Ridge is actually a 17 mile length and we did a portion of it.

Parts of the trail were relatively flat. We started out with good weather.

There were pretty wildflowers scattered here and there amongst the rocks.

Everything was so green and grass covered.

The stone formations made for beautiful scenery as we went.

We started climbing up to the top of the ridge.

It was so windy at the top and it started raining then.

All turned misty as the rain continued. Out came our raingear, gaitors, and rainpants.

Cullin Hills Glacier Cirque Scotland

Here you can see the cirque. It is an amphittheater-like valley formed by glacial erosion.

This was a bit challenging hike. A foggy day to start off.

We climbed along a ridge to get higher.

Climbing along the lines of boulders.

Beautiful views of the ocean.

Climbing up higher toward the waterfalls.

Hike Red Rock Canyon Open Space- Colorado Springs

Red Rocks canyon is a park near Colorado Springs that has many choices of trails.

We went in the middle of winter. There is not much tree cover for summertime. Fall would be nice too.

Trailhead parking is off of Gold camp road. The trail map is colored for levels of hiking. There are two other trailhead on the Northern part of the park.

We started on the Red Rock Rim Trail.

There is a mixture of scrub rocks and some trees. Boulders are in some areas.

You can map out an easy or harder route and decide on your mileage.

We moved onto the Roundup trail.

Views of Colorado Springs near the south end.

We added on the Mesa Trail in the Northern part of the park.

There is also technical climbing here though we didnt see any.

Hiking around Boulder rocks.

Some of the rocks reminded me of Garden of the Gods which is closeby.

Manitou Incline at Dusk/ December

I decided to do the Incline on my own since I was heading down that way in the afternoon. This was my second time completing the incline.

There was snow here and there so I was glad I brought my spikes.

As I got further up the rails were covered in snow.

On the way down I started taking the trail but it was getting so cold and I didnt bring extra layers. It was also getting dark and I neglected to bring a headlight. I guess I forgot what time it gets dark and how long it would take.

I decided to head back to the incline to go down because it was warmer. It was harder than coming up so I took my time. Colorado Springs in the distance looked so cool as it glowed with the snowfall- like a fire burning with embers.  I was never so happy to see my car parked at the bottom of the trail. By the way, no crowds or parking issues in December!