In an effort to burn some of the calories we consumed on Thanksgiving we went hiking out on the Greenland Open Space yesterday. We walked for 4.89 miles on Kipps loop. Some of it was in trees and scrub oak but most of the area is out in the open. The views of Spruce Mt. and Palmer Lake are really nice. We did pass by the grave of Edward Thomas Kipps who passed away at the age of 28 in 1869. Of course I had to do some research to find more info about him and found out that he was a leather merchant. He was from London, England and evidently came to the area because of TB but passed away at a young age. His wife returned to England after he died. The area is beautiful and is surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Evidently this area on the treed ridge was the Palmer Lake cemetery at one time and there are more graves (8) to the east hidden in the scrub oak. Most of the graves were moved to the Monument Cemetery because of the location which was too far from Palmer Lake. We'll have to do some more exploring the next time we are up there. Maggie wasn't moving so well after the hike and needed to have an aspirin and rest. I think 4-5 mi. is her max for a hike these days. The top pic is looking out from the cemetery area out to Spruce Mt. and the ranch below it.
