Built To Roam: Hit the Ground Running

So apparently, in a state where the outdoors is as much a part of daily life as traffic is in the city, and where marajuana is legal, and people get in fights at little league games, you can still get a ticket for rock climbing. Really? I mean, I understand safety first and all that good stuff blah blah blah, but I would have though Colorado would be better than that.
Our first day in Colorado started off with a quick stop at Sam's #3 in Denver for one of their famous breakfast burritos, which lead to a not so quick waddle back to our hotel room to pack up day packs and head to Roxborough State Park for a hike in Colorado's Fountain Formation. Like Garden of the Gods to the south, Roxborough has a spine of red rock pillar formations running the length of the park, making for a dramatic landscape. We set out on the three mile South Rim Trail late in the morning, winding up Sharptail Ridge to a pretty sweet viewpoint of the surrounding valley, all the way to Denver. After the vista, the trail descended the ridge and headed into an open field filled with tall grass and rimmed by jagged red rock spires. This was one of the best views of the trip, and I found it almost impossible to stop myself from staying there all day. I clearly walked out just like that scene from Gladiator, and we made our way into the final section of the hike. This last section, which we had been eagerly awaiting since the beginning, took us directly through the center of the rock spires and it wasn't long before I beelined it off trail to look for an easily accessible spot to climb up one of the spires. Definitely not #1 on Mark's priority list, but he "quietly" followed along. Following the ridge for a bit, I was able to find a slightly less steep section to climb up and within 15 mins I was sitting about 300 feet above the valley floor on a thin stretch of rock. Now it was at this moment, that had I known rock climbing was illegal, I might not have yelled 'Wooooo Whooooo!"at the top of my lungs, nor would I have stayed up there admiring the views and taking pictures for 20 mins. But then again, I probably still would have. I eventually climbed down and we made our way back to the trail, and hiked the last quarter mile-ish out onto the road in front of the Visitors Center where I was met by two park rangers, one all-business-type woman, and one Fatty Arbuckle looking, broken armed, mute, who asked me (not the mute of course) if I had been rock climbing. Not knowing/thinking at all I proudly responded, "Yup!" which then led to me being escorted into the Visitor's Center where I was issued a ticket and asked to leave. Beautiful park, shitty staff, but I'll keep the citation as a souvenir. Fortunately for me the pictures were worth it, and I would do it again. Mark, it's worth noting, was also climbing and got away scott free.
Much more to come! Thanks for reading!

Mileage: 3 Miles