The day started with a bolt of lightning splitting the air above the mountains.
The view definitely heightened the drama of the Salida Safeway parking lot.
A soft rain began. It didn’t look like it was falling nearly as softly on the peaks around us, where we’d planned to spend another day.
Plan B. Setting out from our Airbnb, we headed for the riverwalk along the Arkansas River.
We shared the day with families and kayakers, tubers and stand-up paddleboarders (those did take five while it rained, mostly), and happy dogs playing fetch in the river.
We passed restaurants, a park, an amphitheater where a band was setting up for later.
As we crossed under a bridge, the rain began in earnest.
It was the second time I’d felt rain on a desert hike in three weeks. I was grateful, for the land and for me: the rain washed away enough pollen that the death-rattle chest cough I’d had for a day subsided.
Like the last time I’d been rained on, I was grouchy, too. It was chilly and the wind was picking up. But we sought out the Monarch Spur Trail, leading away from downtown along an old railroad corridor. The trail snaked among lumberyards and condos, fields and parks.
Five mule deer noshed along the trail, a frequent sight in a town that’s teeming with deer.
As we walked, curtains of rain fell, intensified, then parted on the peaks all around us.
The trail opened up to cows and fields. The rain stopped. At Loyal Duke’s Dog Park, we turned around.
The sun returned to town, and we soaked it up on the patio of a restaurant overlooking the water.
We stopped to sit on river rocks on the walk back. As we neared the house, it warmed up enough to ditch the hoodies.
But the low, bruise-gray sky over S Mountain promised more action ahead for this lazy mountain-town Sunday.
Hike length: 4 miles
Difficulty: easiest
Trail traffic: moderate
Wildlife spotted: deer, magpies, bluebird, vultures, dragonflies
TIP: The riverwalk and the entire 2.5-mile length of the Monarch Spur Trail are paved, making it accessible to those in wheelchairs.
Woman Seeks Elevation 