Incredible mountaintop views like this make it so hard to say goodbye to Colorado summers. Mountain climber Edwin James originally discovered the Rocky Mountain Columbine, our state flower, on Pikes Peak in 1820. Student and outdoor enthusiast Steven Thomas followed suit by snapping this photo of the pretty blooms during a climb of Redcloud Peak in the San Juan Mountains. With this kind of scenery, we may just have to spend our holiday weekend tackling one (or more) of the 53 fourteeners Colorado has to offer.

(Read 5280‘s ultimate guide to hiking fourteeners)

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