Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Do a trip report here....go to another city and want to relate it to what KC is doing right or could do better? Give us a summary in here.
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IraGlacialis
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Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Post by IraGlacialis »

Ended up going to Colorado this past weekend to photograph a couple of my friends performing for NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Nationals in Pueblo.
To make it worthwhile, I decided to bundle it with a little vacation in Colorado Springs.

Trip up there om I-70 (all-in all, it took about 9.5 hours to get there).
Windmills past Salina.
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Getting close to CO Springs with Pikes Peak in the distance.
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The city, in general, pretty much revolves around two things, the military (AF Academy, NORAD, Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB, and Ft. Carson) and tourism.
Those two things make the city, for its size, extremely congested. Also there alert police SUVs all over the place, always seeming to wait for that potential ticket.
Other than that, the city seemed to have retained quite a bit of charm to it, and the tourist revenue definitely has helped maintain it in tip top condition, even at DT, which appeared (didn't stop around there) to have shops all over the place. It is also appeared to be very bike and pedestrian-friendly.
On thing of note as well, while a good chunk of the locations in the area charge money, every which attraction I went to was free of charge.

Fountain at America the Beautiful Park
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US Olympic Headquarters and Training Facility
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Manitou Springs, which was a small town/suburb west of Colorado Springs. It is pretty much the gateway to places such as Pikes Peak, and it also has little springs (likely containing sodium bicarbonate due to the fizzy nature of the water) that the town has built fountains over for aesthetics and to allow people to collect and drink the water.
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Rainbow Falls. Waterfall just outside of Manitou Springs. This one is owned by the county and was extremely out of the way; no travel guide even mentions a peep about it. As can be seen though is that is still considerable. What also can be seen is that it is a hangout for kids, who have definitely left their mark; while I was there, there were a couple kids throwing rocks at the wall out of sheer boredom. Whether the lack of traffic made it a hangout, or vice versa, is unknown.
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Garden of the Gods. Park consisting of nothing but cool sedimentary formations.
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A little panorama I made while sitting on top of one of the formations. Pike's Peak can be seen to the far right, and Colorado Springs is a bit to the left from the middle.
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Helen Hunt Falls, which is located in North Cheyenne Canyon. Near to the more well-known Seven Falls.
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Pueblo seemed to be the complete opposite of Colorado Springs. While CO Springs was flush with tourists and the dollars they bring, the only people who lived in Pueblo seemed to be those who could live no where else. And while CO Springs was surrounded by dry plains, Pueblo was surrounded by desolate scrubby desert.
All the same, for what it was, Pueblo seemed to have done quite well, with a lively DT and such. It is also a gateway city, this time for the Arkansas River and Canon City.
Of note was the Arkansas Riverwalk. It is a controlled portion of the river re-diverted back to its original location (the current stretch run through an industrial/power plant area) and is pretty much a park lined with shops. Personally, I felt that it was something that Brush Creek could model itself from.
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Arkansas River to the west of the city.
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Raptor rehabilitation center. They take care of injured birds of prey and have breeding programs. The ones on display are those either too tame or too injured to be released.
American Kestrel
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Turkey Vulture
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Bald Eagles
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CSU Pueblo Thunderbowl, where I was photographing.
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Trip Back
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All in all, it was a enjoyable and affordable little vacation. One word of warning, it may not be noticeable at first, but the elevation does have an effect if you are going to be doing semi-strenuous activity all day. On the third day, I had a mild headache from running around with hefty equipment on me.
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Post by Roanoker »

Very nice, enjoyable pictures. Thank you!

You are right about the effects of elevation. When I was in college as a music major, the choir I was in visited Colorado Springs while on tour. As we sang on risers, one singer after another fell forward prior to fainting altogether. The local fire department was called in to administer oxygen. People need to be aware. As a Clint Eastwood character said, "A man's got to know his limitations." :)
IraGlacialis
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Re: Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Post by IraGlacialis »

Roanoker wrote:Very nice, enjoyable pictures. Thank you!

You are right about the effects of elevation. When I was in college as a music major, the choir I was in visited Colorado Springs while on tour. As we sang on risers, one singer after another fell forward prior to fainting altogether. The local fire department was called in to administer oxygen. People need to be aware. As a Clint Eastwood character said, "A man's got to know his limitations." :)
Much thanks. Your Colorado pics are quite enjoyable as well.

Sucks about choir incident. You would think that they would have people on hand just in case that happened.
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taxi
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Re: Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Post by taxi »

Nice. Let's see some action/performing pics!
IraGlacialis
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Re: Colorado Springs and Pueblo '12

Post by IraGlacialis »

On another note, I notice that the forum truncates my photos on the right-hand size.
taxi wrote:Nice. Let's see some action/performing pics!
If you wish.

The two guys that qualified were a vaulter and a sprinter (400m hurdles). This was both their last season of eligibly and, in the vaulter's case, last year of school. This was also my last year at school, and in extension my last season shooting for the team, hence why I decided to go to this nationals (my first and likely last one).
The vaulter ended up getting 4th at 16'2.75" (arguably he tied for 3rd with 4 other guys (the wind picked up severely at height #4, which took all but two people out), but placement was determined by attempts) and hurdler ended up getting 7th. This earned them both All-America awards, making it the 4th All-American for the vaulter and 3rd for the sprinter.

Vault
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400m Hurdles
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