Heather and I spent a lot of time meandering at Pikes Peak which didn't end until late in the afternoon. Even though we didn't have much daylight left, Heather still wanted to show me a little bit of nearby Garden of the Gods Park, a well-known public park in Colorado Springs.

Garden of the Gods Park is a public park that attracts more than 2 million visitors each year making it the most popular park in the city. The park's beginnings can be traced to the purchase of 480 acres of land by railroad executive Charles Elliot Perkins in 1879. Perkins fell in love with the place and originally wanted to build a summer home, but later decided to keep the land in its natural state. After his death in 1909, the land was deeded to the city of Colorado Springs specifically for the purpose of establishing a free public park. The city was subsequently able to purchase additional surrounding land which allowed the park to grow to its current 1,367-acre size.

The park is known for its abundance of sedimentary rock formations of deep-red, pink, and white coloring.

These rock formations were produced via geological processes I'm not familiar with and don't quite understand. The Cliffs Notes version is that the formations are sedimentary in nature, having been deposited millions of years ago. The uplifting forces that created the Rocky Mountains lifted the sedimentary beds vertically, and the process of erosion created the individual formations seen today.

The parking area offered a wonderful view of the immediate vicinity and many of those deep-red, pink, and white formations.

The photos above and below actually show two different sets of peaks, one in front of the other. As near as I can determine, the deep-red formation in the foreground is known as Keyhole Rock and sits in front of the grey formation known as Grey Rock. A deep-red outline is clearly visible in the photo above.

One of the more famous rock formations in the park is "Balanced Rock," which gets its name because of the way the 700-ton rock appears to be "balancing" on top of another rock.

Across from Balanced Rock sits Steamboat Rock.

Steamboat Rock is so named because the formation resembles the front of a boat when viewed from a distance.

The two formations sit across one lane of the roadway from each other, (the roadway splits going around Steamboat Rock).

Steamboat Rock (L) and Balanced Rock (R).

Steamboat Rock (L) and Balanced Rock (R).

If I understand what I read correctly, Balanced Rock looks the way it does because the millions of years of erosion removed the softer layers of rock at its base.

The result is a rock that appears to be balanced on top of another rock. And if you look closely, a little bit of daylight can be seen between the two.

We decided to check it out and were greeted by signage at the base of the rock. The marker on the left describes the geological processes I mentioned earlier, but in more detail. The center marker tells the story of Paul Goerke, a photographer who owned the land around the rock in the 1890s and charged visitors 25 cents for a portrait. The marker on the right describes the various wildlife in the area.

Seeing a crowd of people behind the rock lead us to believe a good photo op location stood at the top of that small hill. We climbed the hill to the back of the rock and waited for the crowd to subside. In the meantime, I got some more great shots of the surrounding area. The photo above looks southwest toward the sunset and the wonderful colors.

Looking west toward Cameron Cone (10,707 feet).

Looking west toward Cameron Cone (10,707 feet).

Looking north.

Looking northeast toward Keyhole Rock (F) and Grey Rock (R).

And while I was waiting, I snapped a few pics of the moon because I could.

Once at the top of the hill, visitors make their way toward Balanced Rock for pics.

A ledge on the rock served as a make-shift chair.

With the crowd out of the way, I could see where navigating that ledge could be more challenging than originally thought.

But most people managed ok.

I chose to avoid the crowd and put my 35x zoom lens to work.

At one time, climbing was permitted on Steamboat Rock, and stairs and a railing were installed for visitors wanting a picture from the top of the rock. Not anymore, though.

Once I got the chance, I moved closer.

The effects of millions of years of erosion were clearly visible once I got closer. The softer layers of rock eroded much faster than the harder layers resulting in what is seen in the photos above and below.

Seeing daylight under the 700-ton rock shows why it is called Balanced Rock.

I saw another tree growing from the rocks below where I was standing.

I'm fascinated by the fact that a tree can not only grow here, but grow very well. Yet I have to cross my fingers when I plant something in the dirt in my front yard.

By this time, we were running out of daylight, thus putting an end to my picture-taking adventures for today. We decided to take a drive through the park before heading back to Greeley. Following Garden Drive from the Balanced Rock took us to the Juniper Way Loop which circled around the back side of Grey Rock that I photographed earlier. My Canon SX40HS is a great camera as a whole, but is somewhat limited in low-light conditions which causes the auto-focus to not cooperate at times, with this being one of those times.

I was able to catch a couple of decent shots of the colors in the sky before putting the camera away for the day.