Pike's Peak

Pike's Peak is the most visited mountain in the United States, and the second most visited mountain in the world, behind Mt Fuji, according to research.  It is also one of Colorado's 54 peaks, which are over 14,000 feet.  Phil had wanted to visit here for quite a while, so on this Sunday, we decided to do it.  Halfway there, we thought - I hope it isn't affected by the Government shutdown, which had forced the closure of a number of National Parks, but it is managed by the city of Colorado Springs, so we were OK.  We drove through the tollgates to the Pikes Peak Highway, and the boys got their Junior Ranger booklets, to look for flora and fauna, and do some puzzles on the way up.  There is amazing scenery on the 19 mile trip up to the summit, up a windy road. 

 

You can see from the photos above, it is quite a drive up and down the mountain - there is a car rally which takes place on the mountain each year, along with bicycle tours, and apparently some friends who drove up the other day had to stop for a downhill skateboarding race which was taking place!  They did have hay bales along the side, in case they crashed into them, but it would have been a bit of a hairy ride!  There is also the famous Cog Railway, which you can ride to the summit of Pike's Peak.  We saw quite a few people hiking up the mountain, and some bike tours coming down the mountain (which Phil would have like to have done), but I was pretty happy to take it all in from the car.

It was a beautiful day, but once you reach the top, the temperature drops dramatically.  We all rugged up, and got out of the car at the Summit, and Summit House, where you can buy souvenirs, or a 'famous doughnut'.  Of course we had to try them - not sure what they are famous for,  but they tasted OK!

 

There were amazing views all around from the Summit, and a bit of an old crumbly - the wall of the original Summit House, built in 1892.







 

We didn't hang around for long up at the top, but had a slow drive back down the hill.  About half way down, there is a stop at Glenn Cove Inn, where the rangers are meant to check your brakes, for that they are OK for the rest of the descent.  The ranger just waved us through.  We had our car booked in the following week, and we discovered that we needed new brakes - they were almost metal on metal; not a good way to travel on Pike's Peak!

Just a little lower, we reached Crystal Creek Reservoir.  We got out here, and had a nice walk around.  There are beautiful views, with lots of aspens around which were changing colour for the fall, so got heaps of photos of yellow and red trees.

 

There have also been Bigfoot sightings here, and there is a wooden monument in his honour.

 



 

We had a great time wandering around the tracks, skimming rocks in the lake,

 

and taking lots of photos!  There was a seat which had been carved out of wood, in a beautiful spot, so the boys obliged, for one of the last photos of the day.  I took quite a few, and managed to get one of everyone having a great time.  Phil was a really good help, and managed to entertain them so I could get this really nice photo of the boys.

 We stopped on the way down to take one last photo of the sign, warning of possible Big Foot sightings.  Lucky for us, we didn't see any!