A favorite walk

Life is entirely too dreary these days-- too many things to be upset about, too many things to be angry about... so perhaps it's time to switch direction a bit. In fact it might be nice to take a walk on a favorite path where one can enjoy nature in the midst of chaos. (Daring oncoming traffic to have a go at me, I ran (or was pushed depending on who tells the story) out into traffic to capture one of those beautiful yet perhaps too common to truly be appreciated panoramas that give Denver it's reputation) Here we are looking west toward Dinosaur Ridge, Green Mountain (another favorite hike) and if the resolution in this photograph were a little better you could see the Mount Evans Massif.    

 So, off we go! 
Let's turn left
off the bustling thoroughfare of Hampden. 


Into the wilds and into...

The Highline Canal

was apparently developed in 1870  by James Duff, a fellow countryman (I lay claim to the Scots mostly because I love their accents and the music-- otherwise the family is mostly germanic-- but in fairness to my maternal Great-Grandfather- his name was Scott- I still think it appropriate to recognize the Scots as part of my heritage. However, I digress...) this NON-Englishman (My mother's paternal father was English- although he rarely, if ever, laid claim to his native soil) Duff was determined to bring water to the farms east of Denver so he plotted a 71-mile waterway which is, to this day, an irrigation canal. 

The canal apparently originates by the South Platte Canyon (south Denver) but I have yet to make my way to that part of the waterway, having yet to tire of the section of path that runs just south of Hampden, the busy street pictured above. 

 It is also apparently 58-miles-long,  with a 8- to 12-foot-wide pathway (paved in urban areas, hard-packed south of Hampden Avenue, as you see here)--

 I have no plans to undertake that long hike but it is not an unusual thing for the outdoorsy type here to decide to pedal the entire length of a path such as this. Bikers-- the pedalling type- have a Lance Armstrong kind of reputation in these parts. I didn't get a picture of any but I should because they are quite a sight and almost always come equipped with the tight little shorts, the stretchy shirt and helmut- all put together with the intent to put the rider in the mindset of their role model Lance (who is even as I write possibly being taken down as a drug user) so that they too can attempt the unattainable and attain it (of course hopefully they won't be using steroids and blood transfusions for a simple cross-town journey- even it they are incredibly DRIVEN!) 

So here we are... not in the heart of the city- but in the city nonetheless- yet, we're not too far from the bustle of overcongested and incredibly frustrating I-25. Hampden, as you saw above, is often overly crowded and has caused me no end of frustration as I try to get through the multitude of ineptly timed lights in Englewood in time to make it back to work after picking up my son after school. Yet were I to turn right as I pass Colorado Boulevard, I would pass down from so-called civilization and stumble onto this: 

Bliss!