Monday, July 11, 2022- Pikes Peak

    Last night, Scott explained to Emma who Zebulon Pike was.  Like Lewis and Clark, he was sent west by the government to find out what exactly the Louisiana Purchase consisted of.  As his expedition approached this region, he saw a mountain in the distance that appeared to him to be a blue cloud.  He said they would be camping at its base that night.  The next night he expected the same thing.  And the next.  He did not expect that this mountain ws over 14,000 feet in height and about 100 miles off when he first spotted it.  Like Lewis and Clark, he expected the western mountains to be like those they knew in the East.  He did not try to reach its summit because his expedition did not have the equipment to do so, but he marked it on his map as the "Grand Peak."  Later pioneers would then refer to it as the peak that Pike saw or, Pike's Peak.  Emma was not pleased to hear that he has occasionally been suspected of helping the treasonous Aaron Burr contact the Spanish in what is now New Mexico, but that accusation cannot be proven.  Burr plan did materialize.  What Scott knew best about Pike was that in the War of 1812, he led the attack on Fort York in Toronto in 1813, and died when the powder magazine exploded there.  His body was taken back to Sacketts Harbor, NY, and we have seen his grave marker there.

     Pikes Peak is billed as "America's Mountain."  It is not the tallest mountain in America.  It is not even the tallest mountain in Colorado.  But it may be the most famous.  It sits at the eastern edge of the Rockies overlooking the high plains and dominates the skyline there.  Unlike most other 14ers (mountains over 14,000 feet tall), its summit is accessible to anyone because of the road and other systems that there are to get people up it. 

      We wanted to visit Pikes Peak while we were in the area.   We had planned on taking the cog railway up, but we didn't realize that it was so popular that it requires advanced tickets to be purchased.  We considered other ways to get to the top, like tour buses.  Julie was reluctant to tackle the mountain driving of Pikes Peak Highway.  Scott said he understood and she wouldn't have to do it... if she was too chicken.  So we went up and she drove.  It helped that we were not able to drive the entire 19 mile drive to the summit because we didn't have reservations to drive to the top.  There is limited room there.  We would be able to drive to the 16 mile mark, park there, and get a "shuttle" to the top.  Julie wouldn't have to drive the last bit herself.  

     It was a rough drive up, but not as bad as it might have been.  The rangers told us to keep the air conditioning off to keep the engine from overheating.  Luckily, it was a beautiful morning and the cool air felt nice.  We wove through pines and spruce trees, noting a couple of places where we might want to stop on the way down in order to give the breaks a rest.    We passed across the timberline between mile markers 13 and 14, somewhere just below 12,000 feet.  Then the rocks had what was called the "Double Cut" and the section known as the "Switchbacks".  If there was a nerve wracking part of the road for Julie, it was here.  Actually, she said afterwards that it was harder for her to drive in Rocky Mountain National Park than it was here.  The presence of guard rails here helped.  Just after the 16 mile marker, at 12,780 feet, we parked the car and got onto a school bus that served as the shuttle.  the driver was very talkative, and he told us about the annual auto race up the mountain that happened recently.  They left bales of hay on some of the turns, and the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep were eating it and could often be seen in large groups.  He had no sooner told us that when we went around the corner and saw a whole herd of them, with mothers and babies and a few males.  He stopped the bus for a few moments so that we could take pictures.  Eventually, we came to the summit of the famous mountain at 14,115 feet.

     Unfortunately, we were all not feeling well.  Scott had been having issues this morning from the Burger King, the bucket of movie popcorn, and the Taco Bell he had in quick succession last night.  But the altitude sickness was effecting all of us.  Emma was being made unusually tired (even for her).  Scott and Julie were both lightheaded and dizzy.  Abby was cranky and restless.  None of us were having an easy time negotiating there.  We went into the new summit visitors center, got water for all of us (since that was highly recommended to help with altitude sickness) and the traditional summit doughnuts.  We looked in the gift shop, where we refilled our water, and looked at the historical information in the visitor's center.  Then we went out the the summit to look around.  Scott really wanted a picture at the sign that said where we were, but Emma was feeling so bad she went back to the bus.  Scott, Julie, and Abby did pose at the summit sign.  Scott took some panorama pictures and some video, and eventually joined the others on the bus for the start of the descent.  As the bus was pulling away, he saw the "America the Beautiful" monument, and wished he had gotten a picture there too, but it was too late to go back.  That monument marks the fact that it was at the summit where Kathy Lee Bates was inspired to write the famous song on 1893.  This peak and the mountains around it are the "purple mountains majesty above the fruited plains."

     We got back to the car and Julie started the drive down in the lowest gear.  Emma and Abby slept for most of the trip down.  At Glen Cove, mile marker 13 and 11,800, there is a mandatory brake check.  The rangers checked the temperature of the brakes on the cars and pull you over if they are too hot in order to let them cool.  The ranger said that Julie was doing great and she should keep it in first gear.  We continued to the gift shop at the Crystal Reservoir Visitor Center, at mile marker 6 and 9,166 feet.  We took turns going into the gift shop because the two girls were still sleeping in the car.  Julie bought Scott a "Pikes Peak Road Trip" pin.   Scott read some of the reports of Bigfoot sightings on a sign here and we stopped again between mile markers 4 and 3 to get a picture of the "Bigfoot Crossing" sign.  We weren't the only people getting that picture.

     After we left Pikes Peak, it was after 1:00 and we needed a place to eat lunch.  We drove through the nearby town of Manitou, which is a cute town, but had zero places to park and was filled with people.  Emma pointed out that these same things could be said about many towns we've visited this trip, but Manitou seemed worse because of the narrow streets with steep inclines.  We ended up stopping at a place outside of town called "Rudy's Country Store and Barbecue."  It was an interesting place and the food was good.  They were a little hostile to vegetarians there, though.  The staff was wearing shirts that said, "I didn't scrape and claw to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables."  Abby and Emma both had corn on the cob, though, and Emma did find a few things she could eat.   

     It was getting later in the afternoon, and we could see and hear a thunderstorm rolling in from the west, so we had to make a decision.  We could go to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, more than 700 years old, or we could go to the Garden of the Gods.  Both were nearby.  We chose the Garden of the Gods to try first.  This park is free to drive through and the drive circles around large red rock formations.  There are several parking spots where you can get out and take in the view.  The formations are impressive and large enough that the scale isn't always clear.  We followed signs to the Trading Post and were very impressed with the store there.  It is very large and takes a while to browse through.  Julie said it was there to make up for all of the little shops we had to skip along the way.  Abby and Emma got some ice cream and sat outside to eat.  Scott found a shirt that he liked.

     We had spent about an hour and a half at Garden of the Gods, so it was now getting close to five o'clock.  We still had to drive to the Denver area to get to our last hotel for this trip, and that was an hour and a half drive away.  As we were driving, we got to see the skyline of downtown Denver from several angles, and passed by the stadium where the Denver Broncos play- Empower Field at Mile High.  We got checked into the hotel and settled in.  Julie went out to get Pizza Hut and brought it back for dinner.  We then went for a swim in the hotel pool.

Views from the summit of Pikes Peak: