Day Six of our nine-day vacation began in Colorado Springs, traveling from our east-side hotel to the Rockies on the west side of town, where resides the attraction called Seven Falls. The septet of vertically stacked waterfalls begin eighteen stories above ground, each one a direct tributary to the next one down. They’re not especially loud or powerful, merely peculiar in their natural occurrence.

They’re also apparently contained within a critically acclaimed canyon. They did it! They finally did it! They found the world’s most beautiful canyon! Congratulations, God!

The falls begin roughly up here:

The falls bottom out here:

Over to one side is the designated area for their Native American Dances, performed during the summer. At 9 a.m. we were among the few humans present. The snack bar wasn’t even open yet. I’m guessing none of their Native American dancers are morning people.

The falls feed into a stream that leads to a pretty, peaceful Trout Pool. We saw no fish, but may have been looking in the wrong end. Or perhaps trout aren’t morning fish.

The halfway point of the falls appears approximately like so, give or take a fall:

An eighteen-story network of staircases grants healthy visitors a higher vantage point allowing views from above.

While my wife and son waited below, I braved several of those stories to capture the previous pic. Morning exercise plus the thin air at this altitude was a slightly less painful combination that I thought it might be.

If I wanted to continue even higher, another daunting staircase lay before me. A closer look at the summit revealed even more ironwork to climb beyond this stretch.

I decided I needed thiiiiiiis much more energy to ascend the totality of the site. Perhaps if it had been eight p.m. I might have possessed the necessary reserves. At 9 a.m., I would’ve needed to triple my coffee intake in advance.

In our next installment: more scenic views of the surrounding rock formations and man-made structures to be found within the Most Beautiful Canyon in the World! (Better luck next year, Grand Canyon. Have you considered adding a Native American dance floor?)

[Link enclosed here to handy checklist for previous and future chapters, and for our complete road trip history to date. Thanks for reading!]