Our group at the entrance of the Garden of Gods. In a hurry, we missed a few members. Where are they ??






The "Kissing Camel" formation in the rock. Please carefully see the area of a hole at the top center of the rock.
Your imagination will see two camels kissing.



The Visitor Center. Again, we strategically bypassed it as we still have a long way to go.



The "tilting angle" of the rock layer here is 80 degree toward the west (the angle may appear different depending on the direction you see). Remember ? It was 60 degree at the Roxborough State Park.

At the most popular scenic overlook. Due to so many parked cars, I couldn't get a satisfactory angle.



For a moment, Yonghoon Kim couple had the whole place all by themselves.



A quick shot of our captain, SeaWan Koo, just before he slipped out of the picture frame.






Incidentally, in the background at right side, you see an ordinary-looking mountain with a few antennas at the top. This is the famous Cheyenne Mountain, no ordinary mountain.  Deep inside the mountain's underground is the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

    

The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a military installation and nuclear bunker located in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, which hosts the activities of several tenant units. Also located in Colorado Springs is the Peterson Air Force Base, where the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) headquarters are located. The center for the United States Space Command and NORAD monitored the air space of Canada and the United States through a world-wide system for missiles, space systems, and foreign aircraft through its early-warning system.

The military complex has included many units of NORAD, U.S. Space Command, Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM), Air Force Systems Command, Air Weather Service, and Federal Emergency Management (FEMA). The complex's communication center is also used by the nearby U.S. Civil Defense Warning Center. The station is open 24 hours a day.

Together with US Air Force Academy, there are five strategic military defense and offence installations here. Should any enemies of US decide to attack America, Colorado Springs is the top priority target for their nuclear missiles.
My home is only 30 miles from here. I may be one of the first ones to turn into ash.



These are the highest rocky spires in the Garden of Gods that are visible from far away.



The white rock is, geologically, from another layer (Dakota Hogback layer on top of the red sandstone layer).
You saw the same "Hogback Ridge" layer (whitish color rock layer) at Roxborough Park.



Passing the "Balanced Rock" just before we drove out of the Garden of Gods.
There wasn't enough time to hike the planned "Red Rock Canyon" (about 2.5 miles) just next door and we headed for the summit of Pikes Peak. The "Red Rock Canyon" was in our orginal plan. It is an "Open Space" property of the city and free to enter. Anyway, once you had seen the red rocks at Roxborough and Garden of Gods, you did not miss very much.