In the shadow of Pike's Peak, this national monument features fossil sequoias, about 35 million years old. Pike's Peak is a nationally famous 14,000+ foot mountain just west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A. A gravel road goes to the top. But of interest in this gallery is the fossil sequoias. These ancient fossil trees aren't gigantic like the ones in the Sierra Mountains of California today. Probably the biggest one featured in this national monument is not much more than 10 feet in diameter, a fraction of the size we have in the Sierras today. But what I find interesting about these fossils isn't their size, but the fractal detail in them. Most of these pictures are close-ups of the intricate patterns and structures in what remain of these fossils. So if you don't like abstractions in nature, skip this gallery, or at least skip to the last few pictures, which feature a few scenes from the nearby Garden of the Gods, east of Colorado Springs.