The Penrose St. Francis Hospital and medical complex is coming closer and closer to completion.  It is located on the SE corner of Woodmen Road and Powers Blvd., just west of Tutt – in the northernmost part of the Stetson Hills neighborhood.

Penrose St. Francis Hospital Address: 6001 E. Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs CO 80923

Check out the Stetson Hills Real Estate Connection and the Stetson Hills Real Estate Blog

Today, I was driving to Black Forest from Greenhaven, and decided to take Templeton Gap from Dublin to Woodmen. In the past, the street wound around and dumped out onto E. Woodmen Rd. at Black Forest Road.

This time was different. The whole street was realigned and incorporated a couple roundabouts and the layout to accommodate the further expansion of the medical complexes surrounding the new Penrose St. Francis Hospital.

The coolest part of the new construction was the ENORMOUS new statue of St. Francis to the east of the hospital – at the entrance of the building.  The Catholic Herald reports:

“A 21-foot steel statue of St. Francis of Assisi that stands at the east entrance to the hospital was designed by artist Dale Lamphere of South Dakota and donated by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration.”

If you ever get the opportunity to visit the new Penrose St. Francis Hospital (hopefully NOT because you have H1N1) … make sure you check out the new statue!

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Rel Estate Connection – 719.434.7525

But here are some pictures from our trip to the Manitou Incline. However, before I continue, here are some info on the Manitou Incline:

• The Manitou Incline used to be a railroad track. The rails are no longer there, but most of the ties are still in place.
• The average grade is about 40%, and the steepest grade is 68%!
• The complete hike is 1 mile long and ascends over 2,000 feet in altitude.
• The first 1/4 of the incline is owned by the City of Colorado Springs and the last 1/4 is owned by the Forest Service.
• The middle section is PRIVATE PROPERTY and to cross the signs and continue the hike is TRESPASSING … and  ILLEGAL.
• Regardless of this fact, DROVES of people (athletes and non-athlete’s alike) trek up the Manitou Incline every clear day.

Read More: About the Manitou Springs Incline

For as steep as the incline is, the hike TO the incline (from the parking lot – or where we parked …. further down Ruxton Avenue) is QUITE the workout as well.

Okay … Onto the Pictures:

WOW.

For as long as we have called Colorado Springs “home” we had never experienced Red Rock Canyon… and it is in our OWN backyard! (I guess  we are all guilty of that sometimes …) There are places for off-leash dogs, bicycle riding and massive amounts of easy, intermediate and advanced hiking trails. We spent over 2 hours on the easy and intermediate trails, taking in the beauty of the Red Rocks and the Blue Sky …

(Views of Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs from Red Rock Canyon)

(Views of Garden of the Gods from Red Rock Canyon)

(Red Rock Canyon)

(Red Rock Canyon)

(Red Rock Canyon)

(Red Rock Canyon Trails)

Next time you have some time to hike around and enjoy living in Colorado Springs … Check out Red Rock Canyon!

I post the pictures of Colorado Springs that I take on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/ColoradoSpringsRealEstate

And the especially good ones, I will also post to our new Colorado Springs Picture Blog: ColoradoSpringsPix.wordpress.com (Occasionally, I will post other local Colorado Springs photographer’s photos on this blog, as well – with their permission of course…)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Colorado Springs:

And here is a picture of a sunset in Pueblo, Colorado:

All photos were taken by Mariana Wagner, and are fully copyrighted.
Please do not copy or use (in any medium) without express permission from me.