Thursday, August 12, 2021

Littleton Colorado & Pikes Peak

 We have been in Littleton just south of Denver for a few days, staying at the Chatfield State Park. We are leaving tomorrow for Kansas. The drive from Wyoming to here was not easy. I-25 has construction everywhere and heavy traffic, another reason to stay out of Denver. It's hot here but low humidity so overall, the weather has been good. The exception is the smoke from California fires and the air pollution that is apparently always present in Denver. The Rocky mountains are just west of us but some days you can not see them. 

Yesterday, we made the trip to Pikes Peak. Anyone going there will need to study maps carefully. The road to the entrance is poorly marked and no signs point to it along US-24 in Manitou Springs. It's twenty miles up hill and worth the drive. The fee is $12.00 per person. There is the Cog Railway that you can ride but tickets are booked two months out so we had to drive. The summit is being rebuilt so there was lots of construction equipment. We had to ride a bus the last four miles due to no parking at the top. You are right on the edge of the road with a very long drop. If a wheel gets off the edge, there is a long way to the bottom. The bus driver kept the wheels on the road. The summit is 14,155 feet above sea level. They still have the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb up the hill. This year it was June 28, the 99th year since it started in 1922. 

Click the arrow two times to start the videos.

This is going down from mile 16.




Getting on the bus at mile 16 parking lot.

Finished visitor center. Other work is under way.



Food is available. 



The Cog Railway. There are two trains.

This is the "cog" that the train used to get up and down the hill.



A wall from the original building in 1873.

The high altitude with 60% oxygen make you feel odd.

The sky was clear but looking down the haze made the view poor.


Construction everywhere.





1 comment:

  1. Pikes Peak is awesome. We went up on the Cog Railway in 1982 or 83. We love all of your posts.
    Thank you
    Greg & Cheryl

    ReplyDelete