Back to the mines (Thursday Travels)

When we left off last week, we were just working our way down to the Paint Mines.  It was cloudy, breezy, and storms were rumbling off in the distance.

I almost used “back to the salt mines” as my post title today, but thought better of it for two reasons:  1) These are not salt mines; and 2) I read this article about using the metaphor “back to the salt mines.”  Visiting the Paint Mines was pure pleasure, and had nothing to do with dangerous or slave labor.

I have a question pertaining to hiking for you ladies out there.  Gentlemen, please scroll on down to the next photo now as I doubt this will be of much interest to you.  Then again, perhaps you’ll know of someone who is knowledgeable on this subject so I’ll leave it up to you.

One of the problems with hiking, especially when you’re out in the wilderness, is the lack of a loo.  For men, it’s not a problem at all as far as I can tell.  For women, it involves a bit more work and a lot more exposure.  I can handle that, but… I’ve been wondering about using a product called Whizzy.  Have any of you ladies out there used a Whizzy?  If so, was it easy to use?  Not so easy to use?  Were you better off with the tried and trued method?  I’m doing some planning for our upcoming trip and thought the Whizzy might be worth a try.  Any advice on the matter will be much appreciated.

Back to the hike.  There are approximately four miles of trails, roughly shaped like a figure eight, in the Paint Mines Interpretive Park.  The mines are near the center of the eight, to the southwest.  As mentioned in previous posts, it’s an easy hike.  There is no shade until you get down into the rock formations so I wouldn’t recommend it on a hot, sunny day unless you like hot, sunny days.

Hoodoo

I found it difficult to capture the beauty of the place.  I’d love another try at it someday.  Because of the storms, the mosquitoes, and the lateness of the day, we had to move pretty quickly and didn’t spend nearly as much time exploring as I’d hoped.

The trail leads down into a labyrnthine landscape, meandering around the various rock formations (hoodoos and sandstone-capped spires).  I think I could spend days in there, exploring and taking photos.

We did not see any wildlife although the descriptions of the park mention to watch for red fox, coyotes, mule deer, and pronghorn.

That’s it from the mines for today.  I’ll have more for you next week.  Here in the Bogs we are enjoying another beautiful day of sun and clouds and breezes.

Today’s view of the pond

See what I mean?   Isn’t it gorgeous?  I did not want to come back inside after my walk.  I probably wouldn’t have if there hadn’t been some work that needed to be taken care of today waiting for me.

Another view. Because it’s so pretty out there.

I reckon that’s enough from me today.  Thank you for dropping in and putting up with the display of vacation photos.  Hopefully it hasn’t been too dull.  I would like to finish going through and posting the Colorado pics before we take off for Maine and the Eastern Canadian Provinces.  *fingers crossed*

Related articles

• Thursday Travels (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
• The Eastern Plains (Thursday Travels) (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
• Wednesday wanderings (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
• Old (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
• A foggy start to the day (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
• Paint Mines Interpretive Park (www.awayfromthegrind.com)

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