28 September – Colorado Springs

After having an RV maintenance man do some plumbing work, we headed out to Manitou Springs and the Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

In the late 1880's, one of the tourists who visited the Pikes Peak Region was Zalmon Simmons. Mr. Simmons rode to the summit of Pike's Peak on a mule as in those days, the arduous, two day trip on a mule was the only way to reach the top. Mr. Simmons was awed by the scenery and determined that the views should be experienced in a more civilized and comfortable manner so in 1889, he founded the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway Company.

The round trip takes over 3 hours – over an hour in each direction with 30 mins at the top to look around and take pics. The reason for the short stay at the summit is that most people get altitude sickness after half an hour. Steve was fine, but Ros succumbed to dizzy spells and light headedness and had to sit down in the visitor centre. The summit of Pikes Peak is 14115 feet (a long way up!)

The trip is spectacular, with spruce trees, ponderosa pines and aspen groves lining the track. The aspen are in full autumn colours at the moment and are bright yellow against the deep green of the conifers. Parts of the track are a 25% grade, so it’s a very steep climb!

Once we were above the tree line the views were incredible!  To the east are the Great Plains out beyond the border of Colorado and Kansas. To the south, the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Range stretches south to New Mexico.

After we returned to Colorado Springs, we fired up the scooter again and rode to the Garden of the Gods.

The park is filled with ancient sedimentary beds of deep-red, pink and white sandstones, conglomerates and limestones that were laid down horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted into "fins" by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains. 

We took a trail that wound its way around and amongst the most stunning of the rocks, and took lots of photos. Sadly the sky was overcast so we didn’t get the true colours showing in the pics, the way we would have if the sun was on the rocks.