My friends are leaving this morning and now I can recover from an action packed long weekend of activities…zoo, 6 Flags, Pikes Peak, Manitou Springs, Anazazi cliff dwellings all capped off with a Colorado Rockies Baseball game last night!
It was a lot of fun and we did some things that I had never done before despite having lived in the state for some 12 odd years. We drove to the top of Pikes Peak outside of Colorado Springs. It is one of the most accessible “fourteeners” in Colorado. Unlike other mountains that reach above 14,000 feet above sea level, Pikes Peak is maintained by the forest service and has a road all the way to the top, albeit a hairy one.
The temperature at the base was approximately 93 degrees fahrenheit and by the time we reached the summit it was 56 degrees. I felt like I could reach up and touch the clouds! Another interesting tidbit were the health warnings. At 14,000 feet above sea level, there is only 1/2 as much oxygen available to your body as at sea level. So people with health issues were strongly advised against traveling to the summit. It takes about 1 hour to ascend the mountain…but much longer if you stop to take in the surrounding vistas…lakes, big horn sheep, marmots, birds and the sweeping vistas from the top of the summit.
The night was capped off by a shut out by the Rockies against the Cardinals. I’m not much of a sports fan, but even I thought it was pretty exciting! Anyway, a photo of my husband, daughter and myself at the top of the summit and I think I can squeeze a few paintings out today!
Entries (RSS)