Friday June 14 2024

Friday June 14

Travel day to Mueller State Park. We opted for a direct route north along the express way to Colorado Springs where we did our grocery shopping (Sprouts Health Foods) before heading into the hills to Mueller SP. Our route was very picturesque and took us past Manitou Springs, home of the Manitou Incline. The Manitou Incline is a mountain challenge similar to Vancouver’s “Grouse Grind”…although I believe the Manitou Incline might be a tad tougher rising over 2,000 feet with grades between 45 and 68 percent! Steep! It's on our to-do list for Monday morning.

We arrived at Mueller mid afternoon and were totally impressed with the campground. It sits between 8,500 and 9,500 feet ASL with large well laid out campsites dispersed nicely along a mountain ridge.

After camp setup and before dinner, we went for a nice walk to Grouse Mountain, the highest point in Mueller State Park. It was an easy walk through a beautiful alpine forest to a rocky overlook – a breathtaking 360 degree view of Pikes Peak and waves of mountain ranges to the west.

We returned to camp for dinner and our evening routine of tea, treats and either reading or using the computer.

Free-da at Mueller SP, nice

View to the west from Grouse Mtn

Looking east to Pikes Peak

Grouse Mtn overlook