Letters to a friend...: Flowers of the mountain or back to Central City

About this blog:

We love traveling. We always capture tons of pictures from wherever we've been and we like sharing our traveling experiences with our friends. So, this is how this blog began - as short stories with pictures in an attempt to share where we've been and what we've seen. Even not stories , but just notes. Nothing serious and big. Mostly I'm writing these stories on a rush and sometimes even don't have time to re-read them. So, I apologize in advance for possible typos here and there. There can be some factual errors or inaccuracies and they even might be corrected one day. Don't hesitate to contact me if you find something that needs to be fixed and don't expect these notes to be a perfect novels ;) The stories in this blog are not in chronological order, but I will try to remember to put the date of the trip. So... welcome to this blog and, hopefully, you will find something interesting and have the same feeling we had when we were there. Let's go...

And... by the way... all pictures and texts in this blog are protected by International and USA Copyright laws, so if you'd like to repost or use something on your page - contact me first.

Using anything published here without permission is violation of the law and... it isn't really nice...

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Flowers of the mountain or back to Central City

I like this place. It is close to Denver, almost 9,000 feet above sea level and lets you dive into the mountain forest and enjoy some fresh (and relatively cool) air.

Hiking there is always a pleasure. One can walk between aspen trees and breathe this air, filled with all the flower aromas you can imagine.

Wildflowers, that is why this time of the year is the most beautiful. I don't know most of the names, but they all look very (and I mean it) wild and gorgeous.

But... from time to time you can find irises here. And not the wild kind ;) But, I am not complaining. I love irises and it's always a pleasure to spot one. Especially the rare kind... like this creamy-white...

Butterflies are very skittish there. It is almost impossible to capture one. They just don't let you go close enough and... once you are almost here they just fly away...

There are a lot of wild roses in the area and they are just so lovely!

Another flower I never miss to stop by and admire - Indian Paintbrush. Have no idea why I like it so much, but... it doesn't matter, does it?

The mountain ridges and aspens... Mmmm... nice combination and pleasure for the eyes.

Ants. Very quick moving and almost never stopping for a portrait. Except when two of them meet and stop for a sec to decide if they need to fight or fly...

Oh these lazy mountain roads... Overgrown so one can always find some shadow there.

This is one more flower I cannot pass by... These mountain sunflowers can be found everywhere in the mountains. And... it doesn't make them look boring. Every time I see one, it looks different and I want to capture it, isn't it crazy?

Wild roses again, just a bit different kind, more like rose hip...

And finally! This butterfly was not very scared of me, so... it posed for a few seconds. By the way, I am not sure if this is a butterfly or a moth... Never knew the difference ;)

Aspen, valley and mountain ridge far away... Very bucolic and picturesque ;)

And another moth-butterfly... What surprises me - it is very furry (or hairy) and shouldn't be cold, but it feels like they need some warm up so they were sitting on the ground with the wings spread and... just doing nothing. I am not complaining, it helped me to photograph a couple... out of dozens fluttering around...

So simple and elegant... can be found everywhere in the World, from cold Siberia to hot Colorado mountains (and I believe I've seen some in New Mexico)... Bellflower is special and I always glad to spot one.

Another ant on the run. What is so important for them so they never stop even for a sec?

Aspen leaf and tall aspens. In fact, they are just everywhere in this place. This is an aspen kingdom!

I've seen a dozen of these moths (but hardly captured one). This kind never spread the wings as the other one, but always sat on the rock with the wings closed. And... it is so hard to see it once it blends with rocks, it's just disappeared!

Another sunny and shadow (not that much shadow, I guess) road between the trees.

Just a bug on the flower... One of many, I guess...

Warming up?

A couple of Indian Paintbrush plants again, aren't they just beautiful?

That was a really short hike. Just around 2 miles on the relatively flat surface - just around 500 feet of elevation gain. But it took about 2 hours because of all these stops and hunting for butterflies ;)