Manitou springs

A hike in the Garden of the Gods park; a trail through rolling foothills, punctuated by vertical red sandstone, scattered pinon/oak scrub. Headed back, directly into the afternoon sun setting behind Pikes Peak. No visor cap on to shield my eyes from the sun, I’m wearing a ski hat to keep my head warm. Suddenly I found myself in the middle of a crowd of people. That was odd, but looking down, the only direction I could see, I could see their long shadows in the afternoon sun. I looked up. I was not in a crowd of people, I was in a crowd of mule deer. Accustomed to humans, the deer didn’t bolt. They stood there. I stood there. Then they quietly walked away. All but the spike. I thought he might be feeling the fall juices flowing and have something to prove, but after munching on a bush to demonstrate he wasn’t concerned by my presence, he walked past me within two feet.

That was fun.