Pike’s Peak!
Today we took a trip down/up to Pike’s Peak! It’s not a very long drive from here, and you can drive all the way to the top. 🙂 Our 2nd 14er in the bag! 🙂 The view up there was really pretty and it was a great day for it! We didn’t think it was a stunning as the view from Mount Evans, and it was a LOT more tourist-based, but it was a lot of fun. Sometime we’ll have to ride the cog train up to the top as well. The drive up to the top wasn’t near as nerve-racking as the drive to Mount Evans so that was a plus! What is amazing to me is how many people bike to the top! We also saw some joggers! Holy cow! No wonder CO is the healthiest and fittest state in the nation!
After we saw the sights at the top, we went into the gift shop and browsed around for a bit. They also have a cafe where supposedly they have the best doughnuts in the world. They say that doughnuts made at that altitude taste better than normal ones. We bought some and they were good, but they weren’t exactly the best ones we had ever had. 🙂
At that altitude, staying up there for too long being the “newbies” that we were, we were starting to get a little light-headed, so we drank a bunch of water and started our way back down into thicker air. We saw one guy up there totally pass out and hit the floor from a standing position. They have multiple EMTs up there to handle tourists with altitude sickness. It’s a really common thing. Even being in Castle Rock at only 6,300 feet, you can feel the difference whenever you walk, exercise, etc. We get worn out faster! 🙂
On the way back down, we were told we got off the mountain at the right time because they were expecting a big storm to come through. They had one such storm last week and it stranded everyone up there for 3 hours or so until they could plow the roads. At that altitude, it doesn’t rain much! All it does is snow.
On our way back home, we drove through “Garden of the Gods” and we also ate lunch at Rudy’s, our favorite BBQ place that we got to know on our trip to Texas last year! YUM!
