LOOKING UP
Summer brings warmth and riders to 4 favorite treks

HAPPY TRAILS PHANTOM CANYON RIDE
What better route for a Halloween bike ride or scenic drive than a narrow chasm called Phantom Canyon, which connects Cañon City with Victor. This old railroad grade makes a great outing. You can do a short ride or an epic 60-mile loop.

HAPPY TRAILS STRATTON OPEN SPACE/LADDERS TO THE CHUTES
This is a safer uphill access to the popular Chutes Trail that allows bikers to dodge most of the dangerously fast downhill traffic.

NORDIC WALKING GAINS GROUND
Poles boost fitness, aid recuperating, older walkers

PEAK EXPERIENCE
Veteran runners say the time to start preparing your body for summer mountain races is now

HAPPY TRAILS MAYS PEAK
This short North Cheyenne Cañon hike to a summit with broad views of the city is a nice, and often overlooked, alternative to more popular hikes in the canyon such as Mount Cutler.

Car Camping 101
Man has camped since he lived in a cave and hunted with a spear. But it wasn't until the 1920s that he camped in luxury " sleeping under canvas shelters with goosedown pillows and wool blankets on cots that kept him off the cold ground, cooking with utensils that made fancy meals easy, setting up housekeeping in the forest with lanterns and coolers and water carriers and lawn chairs and the kids' favorite toys.

Newfangled gadgets, old favorites are flooding outdoor stores locally
But before you head for the woods or the mountaintops, check your gear. Those boots you thought had another season in them are starting to show the miles.

Wood campfires get OK at new state park

The Colorado Springs City Council has been told that wood fires will not be banned at the state's newest park nor will the state install a system of propane-fed campfire rings.