For some reason we decided on our first full day in Denver that it would be a good idea to wake up at an ungodly hour and drive over to Red Rocks to watch the sun rise. So here we are on Sunday morning getting up at 3:00 AM to make the 45 minute drive west to visit the iconic amphitheater.
Actually, 3 AM in Colorado is only 5 AM back home which is a full hour later than I usually get up, so I was kind of sleeping in. However, not for a Sunday.
We actually wanted to see a show at Red Rocks, but although there were bands pretty much every night we were there, none of us could agree on one of the acts to see for a reasonable price. That's why we settled on just visiting for the sunrise. While seeing a concert at Red Rocks still remains on my bucket list, I can't complain about our recent visit.
Fair warning, this is going to be a photo heavy post. 
There are several parking lots at Red Rocks and having never visited before, I just picked one and we started walking. The hike up to the amphitheater was quite honestly pretty grueling. I don't know if I am just that out of shape or if we weren't acclimatized to the elevation yet, but my lungs were burning by the time we got to the top.
This shot was taken only about half way up the ramp, but I love how you can see the city off in the distance. Even in the dark at the butt crack of dawn there were some amazing views!
As we continued to work our way up the rows, there were cleaning crews diligently and even meticulously cleaning the seats from the previous nights excitement. There was a distinct smell of stale beer, vomit, and porta john at the venue that almost but not quite took away from the magic of the moment. I can only imagine the revelry that takes place each night there is a concert here.
They open the venue for free like this every morning, so the cleaners probably have it down to an art and they were very respectful of the people trying to watch the sunrise.
Finally, we just settled in and waited for the show.
You can see our nieces and their parents in the photo above at the upper left. It was a pretty magical experience seeing the sun rise at Red Rocks. When I was talking to my wife later about our trip, I asked her what her favorite part was. She said that her favorite part of our trip to Colorado was seeing my face at Red Rocks.
I played around with the panorama mode on my phone and I was able to get this shot. I should point out that all of these photos were taken with our phones. I'm quite impressed by the quality on many of them.
Eventually, the sun made its way above the hills and the city skyline in the distance and we knew it was time to head back to the house and get some much needed rest. We actually had some more adventures planned for the day that I will get to in another post tomorrow.
As we were leaving the venue, we took some final shots.
I really love the way that shadow photo turned out above. I was trying to get enough separation between us so you could distinguish everyone in the group. It ended up not being quite as clear as I would have liked, but I still love the end product.
Believe it or not, I only shared about half the photos we took while we visited for the sunrise. A lot of them are basically the same thing though, just with a bit different camera settings or a slightly different vantage point or zoom option. The last one was taken by my niece
Red Rocks is a truly magical place. There is almost an energy that emanates from the ancient rock formations. I really hope that I get the chance to visit it again one day and actually take in a show there. I've heard the acoustics are amazing!
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
