Rare quiet in Garden of the Gods

Pikes Peak photobomb

Shadows and light on the west side

Nothing beats experiencing a familiar site from fresh angles. Little elements like visiting at a different time of day or a different vehicle can shake up a stale view. 

When Colorado Springs’ top tourist attraction shuts down its congested roads to motorized vehicles, it’s time to take to the streets – at least, in theory. For four years, I have missed every motorless morning in Garden of the Gods. 

But this year, I decided no more skipping. I asked my friend Tim and he was interested. After a cold winter when hiking opportunities often proved nonexistent, a 35-degree start sounded pleasant. 

We arrived at the trading post entrance at 5 a.m. A ranger opened the gate a few minutes later. Just a few early arrivals queued up. The ranger warned us that a black bear had been spotted at the west end of the park, near Balanced Rock. 

Walking the park on foot, prospect of a bear sighting did not bring big excitement, just a twinge of fear. If we encountered that bear, it would be in this pre-dawn hours. The park road would fill with pedestrians and cyclists in a few hours, at which point any bear would be back into nearby Pike National Forest. 

Soft light crept from the east, but a foraging bear did not. The park road has mild hills by car standards and some pretty steep ones by bicycle or foot standards. My heart raced by the top of the first hill. Fortunately, the five-mile route would provide intervals instead of sustained uphill challenges. Rarely was there a span that didn’t come with a gentle descent or flat spot after a climb. Cyclists dominated the early arrivals.

Morning bird noise from the trees already started. But our early start helped to get some good pictures of sunrise hitting the Central Garden. We turned the corner to the east side of the Central Garden as sunrise began illuminating the red sandstone formations, bringing out other shades in the rock. 

After the sunrise, we passed the 30th Street entrance and the flow of people grew, albeit not to levels I expected. A few runners, a few people with dogs, but the car-free day mostly drew cyclists. The scenic view north of the Central Garden is a stunning spot with a frustrating parking situation. Even with a 10-minute limit, the wide spot in the road barely has room for four cars. Time limits were waived on Motorless Mornings. One could watch the sunlight steadily move along the east faces of every rock formation. 

We took a swing through the Central Garden, still empty by Garden of the Gods’ measures. A few people walked through, but the atmosphere was calm. Birdsong prevailed. Along with the geese and swallows, Stellars jays, magpies, mountain bluebirds, and a variety of others roamed the scrubby, gnarled junipers and pines. Those gnarled junipers are the park’s oldest living residents, some more than 1,000 years old. 

The bear never showed up, nor did the famous bighorn sheep that hang around the park’s north end. Instead, noisier creatures intruded. Canadian geese nest in the park. While cliff swallows build their muddy nests in divots along the rock walls, the Canadian geese go for safety atop the rocks. They seem to take delight in photo-bombing anything scenic. 

Mule deer in the sunrise shadows

Canadian goose photobomb

In a tree-rimmed meadow next to the Central Garden, a herd of mule deer ignored the people and kept grazing. The occasional rabbit watched warily from the roadside vegetation. On a normal day you couldn’t force me to go anywhere near Balanced Rock. Since it’s one of those pictures everyone has to have, the area has long lines and people posing in the road. So for once, I posed with the ancient rock and the base that seems to small to keep it aloft. 

A few motorized vehicles snuck in, but just e-bikes and one-wheel skateboards. Nor were they present in numbers to diminish the quiet. At 8 a.m. we finished the loop. The trading post lot had only a few cars. The ranger from earlier said it would pick up during the second half of Motorless Morning. But we wouldn’t see the crowds. 

Motorless Morning easily earned a full-throated endorsement, since we left in time to catch always-busy Adam’s Mountain Café at opening. That breakfast was worth any soreness from the walk.