Roxborough State Park, that is.

On our last day at Chatfield State Park, we decided to go for a hike at Roxborough. Rox is just up the street from Chatfield, and we already have a state park pass, so it was a no-brainer.

What a find this place was! It was only a few miles from Chatfield, but it was surprisingly empty. With only a couple of cars in the parking lot, it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. That feeling quickly evaporated when we found our friends above.

[More:]

We got a little bit of a late start, but figured it would work for us since it was so hot out. We had spent our day cleaning up from the night before, and getting packed and organized so that we could leave on Monday. With the weather playing a bit nicer with us, we leave the parking lot and head for the trail heads at the park info office.

As we studied the map, I saw a loop that looked nice, but it showed on the map to be only a half mile. I thought that seemed a bit short, but thought we could take that loop, then take on another if we still wanted more.

Our first encounter was with this beautiful, small buck, only a few feet from the trail. We were both very surprised that he was letting us get so close. He kept eating, so we kept taking pictures. It seemed that he has figured out that he is a resident of a cushy state park, and they only shooting that was going to be done was with a camera. Nice gig.

As the hike continued, we were blown away by how beautiful it was, and how nice the weather was, and how friendly the critters were. We were also a little perplexed on how long this half mile hike was!! It kept going, and going, and going. No matta. It was nice.

When we finally got back to the trail head, I found that my map reading skills were a little lacking. We had taken off on the Fountain Valley Trail. Unfortunately, I had read the mileage for the Fountain Valley Overlook. Not only did I mess that one up, but the Overlook was .05 miles, not .5 miles. Just a bit of an oversight.

The half mile hike we went on ended up being 2.3 miles. It was a very nice walk, and ended with a stop at a little pizza place for a Wild Dog Double Pale Ale (or two) and a calzone. Had to replenish the calories lost from the walk

It was a good day.

--kev