Monument in snow

We had nothing on the agenda today. Chris had a show in the evening, so we couldn't go too far afield or wear him out too much, so we decided to drive up to the Colorado National Monument, see some sights, and take a walk in the snow.

We had to go through the same bundling ordeal that we did yesterday, but fortunately Cailan took a bathroom break before we put on the snow pants. At the monument, he threw snowballs, stomped through snow that was up to his knees, and made lots of iguanodon handprints with his mittens... mittens make great thumb spikes.

Although the elevation is higher at the monument than it is in town, it was much sunnier and felt warmer. From up there, we could see hazy air filling the valley where the town sits, so I suspect there was some cold air trapped in the valley and we were able to get above it at the monument.

We took a short hike on a nature trail near the monument's visitor center. At the trailhead, we picked up a brochure that described the points of interest along the trail. Some of them, like the yucca and the erosion holes in the sandstone, we were able to see. Others, like the prickly pear cactus and the cryptobiotic soil, were hidden underneath the snow.

We weren't the only critters out making tracks in the snow. We saw rabbit tracks, some chipmunk prints and bird prints, and predator of some sort who also left scat in the trail.


Cailan made lots of tracks of his own, including some full-body snow trails. Last winter he wept at the idea of walking on the snow in the yard, and this year he's wallowing in it like a baby harp seal.