One never knows which creatures one will see on a hike.

But it is almost a certainty to see horses on many of the trails in the Garden of the Gods.

And if you don’t actually see the horses, you always must be careful where you step, because horses have been there and leave their calling cards everywhere. No one comes and cleans up after them, and some days in the summer it can be pretty rank on the trails where the enter the Garden of the Gods.

This hike that I started my year of 52 hikes starts where all the horses enter the park. It is not a very well known entrance to the Garden of the Gods, unless you ride or live in that area.

I like it because I an immediately climb up on some boulders and get a totally different feel for the park that most of the trails.

It gives a great view of Pikes Peak and has many old cedar trees that I love to lay on or rest my head among their branches. Breathing in the scent of their needles crushed under my fingers always uplifts my spirit.

But back to the horses.

As I was leaving I encountered a couple of young girls just beginning their ride into the Garden of the Gods. They were laughing and enjoying the day.

I think I may have to ride a horse sometime this year into the Garden of the Gods to experience that energy again. I used to ride when I was a young girl in Illinois and at camps in Wisconsin. I loved being on a horse. What magnificent beasts they are.

And it certainly must be a different perspective riding the trails rather than walking them. I may just have to find out this year what that would feel like . . .

And as I drove away down Columbia, a group of about 15 riders were being led into the Garden of the Gods for just such an adventure.