High in Mueller State Park

Teller County is such a great place to spend time if you enjoy the outdoors and

not a lot of people. We lived in Woodland Park part time for 12 years before

moving to Colorado Springs and had met so many nice people that I miss spending time

with. Mueller State Park was one place that we would hike and I wanted to return and

stay in the beautiful campground. It is such a nice place to stay with many hiking trails and amazing

views from any direction. Our drive from Colorado Springs was only 55 miles but what a

difference. We left an elevation of 6500 feet to 9500 in our drive with much cooler temps.

Nice big campsites with a view

Mueller State Parks has 50 miles of trails provide a 5,000-acre playground for the hiker, mountain biker, wildlife watcher and winter sports enthusiast. A popular Watchable Wildlife Area, Mueller is home to elk, black bear, hawks, and mule deer. The programs given by the naturalists were quite interesting in the evenings. We also heard that they did a nice job leading the hikes.

Where did summer go?

 The ruins of Dynamite Cabin is set back in the trees.  This cabin was used in the late 1800’s as temporary shelter for hunters and trappers.  When the Mueller family owned this land, they found a box of dynamite hidden in the cabin, thus the name Dynamite Cabin.

Dome Rock State Wildlife Area borders the southern part of Mueller and has some wonderful

hiking as well as other trails all along the highway to Cripple Creek. We were once again disappointed to have such a short stay. But with all that we wanted to do in Colorado in the short summer,we were glad for the time that we did spend here.

Monday morning we woke to temps in the 40s and more storms rolling over the snow covered

Pikes Peak. Fortunately, Monday, we hurried out the door for a hike. We had planned 7 miles but

cut it short after 5 due to the storms rolling over Pikes Peak. 1/2 mile from the end of the hike the skies opened up. We pulled out the rain gear and picked up our pace. As we returned to the

trailhead, two carloads of people were putting on their rain coats to start a hike. We

just looked at each other and shook our heads as thunder clashed and lightening lit up the sky.

Old Cheeseman Ranch homestead on the north end of Mueller can be reached by a 5.5 loop thru aspen and pines.

Boing....

It was August and the leaves were changing and snow on Pikes Peak.

Colorado has been in a drought for 10 years that seems to have broken with all of the rainfall

this summer after a wet winter. We had plenty of lightening and thunder for the two days we were

here. That's Colorado in August.

Colorado has been in a drought for 10 years that seems to have broken with all of the rainfall
this summer after a wet winter. We had plenty of lightening and thunder for the two days we were
here.

The rain wasn't a bad thing after all of the hiking and bike riding we had done last week.

We wish we could go everyday but sometimes we just need to rest. Insomnia is not a problem for
us. Well, maybe when the thunder clashes all night. Wait I slept thru that too.

We would watch the thunderstorms roll in everyday.

Hail

What a view from Grouse Mountain after a nice 1.5 morning walk. We could see the Collegiate Peaks, Sangre De Cristos and Pikes Peak with just a turn of our heads.

Mike found the cache. I wasn't putting my hand in there. I am not giving it away with this picture. There are many spots that look just like this all around.

I like when the GPS makes the sound that you are there.

It was 41 degrees when we woke up. The sunshine is the best while watching the fox trot by every morning.