What to do when the car is in the shop? A car in the shop for old me would have been the perfect excuse to sit on the couch all day and binge watch some show on Netflix. New me is sitting on my back porch writing a blog while Netflix is playing on my phone. See if we try we can do anything! New me also got out to a city park today. I am lucky enough to live in Denver where there are some really nice parks. Today I decided to take a walk on the Cherry Creek path. While I have been on the path a handful of times, I had never really walked on it and really appreciated it until today.
The Cherry Creek path intersects with the South Platte path at Confluence park. If you have ever been to the really cool REI flagship store in Denver this is the park across the Platte river from the store.
The path actually goes all the way down to Castlewood Canyon state park and is one of the longest paths in the country. I am going to focus today on about a 2 mile stretch from the Platte heading south towards the Golden Triangle section of Denver. Like I said I have been on the trail a handful of times and there are hundreds of people that walk or bike it every day. Those people may be more observant than me because today when I walked with the idea of treating it like a hike and looking around to see all I could see.
Now normally on a hike I would be pointing out the beauty that nature has created. Waterfalls, unique rock shapes, forests and meadows usually populate this page. Today is all about man made beauty and art. There were still some waterfalls.
And some really cool old iron bridges that I know I have to add here or my ole Pappy would be upset.
Now I am not a well versed art aficionado. I’m lost at a gallery when someone frames a white sheet of paper with a single dot in the center and sells it for more than this blog will earn in 5 years. When Andy Kaufman painted a picture of a Campbell soup can it made me hungry. It made such an impression on me that I just realized it was Andy Warhol and not Andy Kaufman who painted it and if you didn’t notice then we are probably on the same page. I don’t get the Mona Lisa.
That all being said, what I saw today on my hike really impressed me. The murals painted in their detail and depiction of Denver’s past and diversity really made pause and appreciate what I was looking at. More so it made me walk faster to get to the next area. Here is my favorite.
Popeye, Wonder Woman, that dang soup can again, that mouse I can’t name or Disney will sue me. Look at the detail and effort that went into that work. Simply amazing. There was a series of a young lady that fascinated me. They were on the giant concrete supports that held up a bridge and I just wanted to get closer. Like the siren’s of the past drawing me closer to the water but with silence instead of song.
Across from her was an artist at work.
The native history of Denver was on full display with a story board that showed the history of this great city.
I also really liked these birds and mice that I saw a little further down the path.
There was also depictions of the diversity drawn into this city.
There are really too many to say something about all of them. I found some of the artists names and others I couldn’t find. The ones that I found, Elijah Kane Chong, Jason Garcia, Joseph Martinez, Yulia Augustinovich I am linking to here so that you can see the amazing work that they do.
It really is amazing how you can live in a place for as long as I have and still be surprised by whats around. I knew there was a good art scene in Denver but it is not something that I would actively pursue. Luckily, the art scene found me because I have decided to get off my couch and do something for a change. Netflix, I have found, will still be there. While these murals or a mountain will still be there as well, the longer you put off finding them the worse off you will be. While I prefer the clean air, wild animals, and breathtaking views of the mountains, today I really appreciated what human hands could do to inspire awe. As an added bonus my Fitbit told me I got 21,000 steps even though I felt like I was floating from mural to mural.
If you have a suggestion for a hike that you would like me to try, feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on the below social media platforms. I have also added this hike and all the hikes to the interactive map that you can find here.
