More than 30 years ago we drove up the dirt road to the top of Pike's Peak outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. They run road races driving up that same road! Don saw one of them when he was young. Sometimes the cars would have back wheels off of the road as they slid around the corners at breakneck speed! Unfortunately they paved the road--no fun!
This time we opted to take the cog railway up.
In Manitou Springs, just northwest of Colorado Springs, there is a cog railway that takes tourists up the mountain.
We spent the night at El Colorado Lodge, a resort almost 100 years old. The rooms are traditional adobe construction with 'kiva' fireplaces in the corner of the rooms. The rooms were decorated with woven blankets
and dream catchers over the bed. That was a really good night's sleep!
On the way up you pass through lots of different habitats, going from 6,000 to 14,000 feet!
The rock formations and Engelmann spruce trees were beautiful.
Groves of Aspen Trees with their straight trunks.
The bark of the ponderosa pine trees changes to a cinnamon color when they reach about 80 years old.
Even before you get to the top of Pike's Peak, you are above timber line.
On one side you can see Colorado Springs....
and on the other side, mountains that are 150 miles away.
Our train had two cars and was almost full on the way up. We picked up a couple of hikers at the top for the way back down. It was about 40 degrees on top of Pike's Peak. My sister Dianne was there in June and there was still snow on the top.
Huff, puff, boy I am glad we didn't have to hike to the top in order to get this picture. I am also glad we took the train instead of driving, much less stressful. We were only there for about 30 minutes, so we didn't need oxygen tanks. Just walk slowly, no wild running around. As long as I had a jacket on I didn't mind not having long pants and shoes and socks
Several marmots were out scampering over the rocks even above tree line.
The change from forest to bare rock is dramatic, so is the temperature change, all of a sudden everyone is reaching for their coats.
The rocks on top of Pike's Peak and near the summit were pinkish grey granite. To read a little more about how Pike's Peak was formed go to this link:
How Pike's Peak was formed.
We wondered why in the world these big rocks didn't come raining down on the rail road tracks, maybe they do, but can you imagine trying to move them. All I could think of was pink granite counter tops.
We had to stop a few times to allow for changes in the tracks, done by hand.
One last look at the rocks, I may have found a new interest...
geology,
to add to...
cooking,
knitting,
spinning,
gardening,
star gazing..........
and someone asked me what I was going to do when I retired!
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