Mile-high meandering

As six people were piling out of a white Expedition with Arizona license plates, thunder clapped in the distance. A storm was forming on the Front Range and Daniels Park was half sunshine, half darkness. Amanda Steirstorfer sat her dog, Lily, on the gravel terrain, and the big-eyed Pomeranian looked up at her and started panting. Shaking their heads, the family giggled. “She doesn’t want to walk, she’s a princess,” Amanda said to her mom, Michelle, who was standing on a rock, soaking in the vista. The group had just gotten back from picnicking at Cherry Creek Reservoir and was adventuring. “Look at this place, you can see forever,” Michelle Stiersorfer said to her husband and two grown kids before taking a big breath of fresh air. After moving to Highlands Ranch from Arizona a couple of weeks ago, Michelle and her husband, Steve, were jumping up and down over the 81-degree weather on that Wednesday afternoon. No one likes 110 degrees, she said. “Zach (son) found this place last week,” Michelle said. “I saw a dirt road and kept driving,” he said. Their eyes were on the prize and that prize was open space. “That’s what we really enjoy about Colorado — look at all of this land.” Their Yorkie, Zoe, was off sniffing away at the flora. As Amanda was heading down a trail from the mesa, she scooped up her ball of fluff and gave her a smooch. Her brother Zach, who was proudly wearing a Colorado flag T-shirt, took a break from snapping photos and rested on a bench for a moment to take it all in. “I was really hoping we’d see the bison today,” Michelle said to her daughter. The roaming bison weren’t roaming that day. Daniels Park’s hairiest residents include about 20 breeding cows that have a 1,000-acre ranch to mosey about on. Another excuse to visit has arisen. “Next time,” Amanda said.