Hiking Before Breakfast, Really

We came to Colorado Springs because there were so many things to do; each day there's a possibility of something new.  Unfortunately, there are also trips to the grocery store, the post office (I go through stamps like a mad woman.), the gas station, and getting hair cuts.  Then, there's the vacuuming, car washing, bathroom cleaning, and general maintenance.  So, today, we decided to just jump into our hiking clothes and check out the Bear Creek Regional Park which is spitting distance from our front door.  I didn't even drink a CUP OF COFFEE. Afterwards, it was chore day.

Looking up toward the 'rim'

There's a regional hiking trail which circles the park.  Then, there are a series of interconnecting hikes in the center of the park.  This park includes a deep ravine as well as the rim around it.  One of its most popular features is the 'dog park'. This is dog country.  Bear Creek runs through the park, and this park is very popular, but not overcrowded because there are better hiking parks within five miles.  Today we did a 2.5 mile hike on the interconnected trails.  Then we went to eat the free breakfast at the dining room at the 'home'.  Boy, did we get the hairy eyeball striding into eat in our hiking boots.  

Apparently, the coyotes own Bear Creek Park because there are all kinds of signs up warning people about how to handle an encounter.  I'm covered there since there are packs which live in Sun City.  Coyotes really don't want to deal with people, just live around them.  Did you know coyotes and rock doves (city pigeons) are the two wild animals which have adapted best to co-existing with humans in an urban environment?  Some cities (like NYC) have actually imported coyotes to control the rat population.  In New York each one has a radio collar, so the parks department can actually track them. Coyotes also keep the Canadian Goose in check in some urban parks making them much nicer for people to use.  Coyotes have taught themselves how to cross busy urban streets.  They know how to look both ways and wait to cross.  Today, while hiking I spotted coyote tracks a couple of times on the trail, but we didn't see hide nor hair.

Spring has really just started arriving here in the past 10 days.  Today, I spent a lot of time photographing wildflowers.  I'd really, really like to know some of the names.  So, if you know the monikers of any of the flowers in the pictures, let me know.  If the picture label just says 'wildflower', then I don't know the name.
https://goo.gl/photos/zYDFCtZ6BBy1tpT57