Finley, I am.

So day 4 was an early start. I hit the road at 4:10, made it to Saint Catherine’s Chapel before 6 and saw some beautiful elk, mountains, and sunrise views you couldn’t imagine.

Now, I am a creature of habit. I get up early, make coffee, and do things. So my morning brew… was a can of Starbucks Nitro. Yeah, sometimes I have to go easy. But that was before 4am. By 7 I needed more coffee. For that, I planned out a stop by Bluegrass Coffee Co., which couldn’t be more perfectly named and they had one of my favorite types of coffee: barrel-aged! I spent some money and went to work.

My final evening in Denver was a quick drive half-way up Mt. Evans to capture some of the snowcapped beauty and some final dusk views.

This was a great adventure to Denver. Now we plan our return.

Up at 3:30 am, driving for an hour and a half through the mountains and I get to my picturesque destination: a beautiful stone chapel. And just as a pull off to take some pictures: boom! Elk. Two gorgeous elk sauntered out. I start taking some pictures of them and another with a much larger rack steps into view.

Denver. Y’all have it good. Reminds me of Switzerland, which I visited back in 2005. So many beautiful destinations. I’ve got one more batch of photos for tomorrow to wrap up this trip.

Enjoy some wildlife and scenic photos below and check out the others from this week in Denver.

Thursday I woke up at 3:30 am and left by ten after four. I trekked the Peak to Peak during the early morning, slowly watching as more and more was illuminated by the light of the rising Sun. I got to see some stunning views and stopped many times along the way. After an hour and a half, I got to my destination and because I am a tease, you’ll see those photos in the next post.

If you listen to music, you likely have heard of Red Rocks. Needtobreathe, Shakey Graves, The Dead South, and so many more of my favorites have played at Red Rocks. It was on the short list of cool places to check out while in town and as I drove to my campsite Monday I passed it. So that settled it.

Wednesday I started early, got coffee and headed to Red Rocks and took in the gorgeous sunrise over Denver. From the ampitheatre you have over a 200 mile view thanks to being on the edge of the Rockies and the rolling plains to the East. If you zoom into the Sun in the photos below you’ll see the skyscrapers of Denver. Incredible. And the natural landscape, the coloration of the huge rocks, and boy did God paint a perfect sunrise for me and the few dozen folks hanging out for it. Perfect performance.

And I found this cool church near my office. Random church. The coolest church I found comes in the next day of photos.

Tuesday I had a lot of work things and had folks over for a steak and taters night at my campsite. But the morning was a nice relaxing start, trucking around and seeing wildlife in the mountains nearby. And the views from my mountain retreat was just stunning.

Well, I had a work trip drop out of the blue. I could have flown to Denver and stayed in a hotel downtown. But I am not a city guy and I’m not a huge fan of airplanes. So… I drove 14 hours and crashed in a tent in the Rockies. As one does.

Having just gotten back from Appalachia on Tuesday, leaving Monday for the Rockies just made sense. I stayed in Chief Hosa campground 30 minutes from our office, making my morning commutes easy. Many more photos are coming. Tuesday I saw a bunch of mule deer and caught some nice views. Wednesday I caught the sunrise at Red Rocks. Yeah, if you know, you know. And Thursday… wait for those pictures!