Garden of the Gods

Had a job interview in Colorado Springs yesterday for an RN position (more on that later). Decided to take advantage of having made the 1.5 hour drive and went running in Garden of the Gods.

The woman at the visitor's center indicated that there is a gravel trail that follows the road 'round the park in addition to a winding network of marked and unmarked trails that meander through the park. I took a map from the visitor's center, which I left in the car.

Started out from the parking lot at 2:45pm. Despite the recent rain, the trail was fairly dry except for the puddles. As one might imagine in a park in the foothills of the Rockies, the trails are rolling with a mix of rocks and gravel scattered amongst the red dirt.

I suffered through the up hills in order to coast down the other side and was feeling pretty good until the new pain in my right hip returned. Pushed through that to get to the southern tip of the park at 3:30pm at which point, I thought, turned around to head north to the car.

Ended up climbing a hill and seeing a deer only to turn around at 4pm in order to head back to the car. Took a wrong turn and ended up at the outer limits of Manitou Springs, CO. Retraced my steps and headed back into the network of trails figuring that I still had time to get back to the parking lot in which I had left my car before the gate is locked at 5pm.

When I exited the park in a residential neighborhood at 5pm with no sense of direction (couldn't see the mountains) and no park map to be found, I knew I was in trouble. Panicked for a moment then flagged down a woman on her way home who explained to me that in the summer she shuttles lost hikers back to their cars frequently. She was very gracious about helping and felt fortunate that this particular lost hiker speaks enough English to coherently explain where her car is.

The parking lot was NOT locked. Relieved and annoyed about the panic the threat caused. Will consult with brownie before running in the Garden again.