Pike’s Peak or Bust

Colorado Spring, Colorado

By Time2Geaux Unplugged

August 23^rd, 2018

Quote: “A bad attitude is like a flat tire… If you don’t change it you will never go anywhere” Author unknown; found in the window of J.E.T Service and Towing located in Victor CO

As our stay in Taos came to an end we packed up and headed out with our sights set on Colorado Springs, 229 miles away. Didn’t know the word colorado is a Spanish word meaning reddish or ruby which matches much of the rocks we have seen on our way into Colorado Springs.

When we arrived at the Foot of the Rockies RV Park we were greeted by Terry and Thelma, sisters who run the park. We got our parking assignment and drove up another level to a spot on the top terries of the park overlooking the surrounding area with a view of the mountains including Pike’s Peak. When I took Bella to the dog run I found an unusual sign on the gate, ‘beware of bear seen in the area’. The sign was dated two days ago… guess if your dog is misbehaving there are options!

During our week we got a good feel for ‘the Springs’ and surrounding area and will surely look forward to returning to the area. I personally would like to hike up Pike’s Peak via the Barr trail, about a 13-mile day hike up the mountain. It was nice to have dinner with friends in the area. We visited one of the areas many breweries which has even been review by one of the national new organizations. At Phantom Canyon Brewery we enjoyed the beer but the visit was the highlight.

JoAnn’s recovery is going slower than we had hoped so we have tried to limit our activity. She is getting better but the trip to Pikes Peak at 14K feet caused her ribs to hurt more than we expected, maybe due to the deeper breathing with the thinner air. Her shoulder is giving her the most trouble, limiting her use of her right arm… the bikes stayed in the rack this time.

Garden of the Gods

What a place and it does live up to its name! We started our visit at the visitor’s center where we learned about the geologic of the area which is sedimentary sandstone which was pushed up vertical during the formation of the Rockies. The mudstone eroded away leaving these thin sandstone formations which are unique to this area. This park was voted #1 park in US by TripAdvisor!

The area was discovered in 1859 by two surveyors looking for a place to layout Colorado City, a boom town to support the gold ore mining on the other side of the mountain. When one surveyor suggested this would be a ‘capital place for a beer garden’, Rufus Cable replied a ‘beer garden! Why this is a fit place for the Gods to assemble… We will call it the Garden of the Gods!’ and the name stuck.

This unique place was purchase by railroad magnate Charles Elliot Perkins and later donated to the city of Colorado Springs with the stipulation that the park remain free for anyone to visit.

When we were walking up to the gateway stones, we watched two large mule deer bucks, still in velvet grazing in the underbrush. Walking the trails, we enjoying formations like the Three Graces, Kissing Camels and Cathedral Spires. After walking the trails and back to the truck we drove to Balanced Rock and Steamboat rock which are on the other end of the park. Balanced rock draws a big crowd, even during the week with many wanting snapshots of themselves holding the massive rock up.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

After meeting a fellow camper in Taos who was from Colorado Spring and recommended Manitou Springs we looked at our travel guides and set our sights on the cliff dwellings. These dwelling were built more than 700 years ago by the Anasazi and have been restored to look somewhat like they would have looked then. The pueblo building next to the cliff dwellings dates to the late 1800’s and were lived in by Native Americans until 1984. They are currently used as a museum and gift shop.

We enjoyed being able to get a up close look at the dwellings but it was obvious they have been lots of efforts to restore them using more durable materials. These Native Americans made do with much less space than or 310 square foot camper! One thing that surprised us was that there is no evidence that fire was used to heat… archeologist believe that in the small rooms with large family group, body heat was sufficient to heat the rooms of the cliff dwelling. Another thing that surprised us was that if a family member died during the winter when the ground was frozen, the body would be stored behind the wall of the family dwelling in an area where refuge was put and packed with ashes and would mummify the body until spring when the ground was thawed and burial was possible.

Another surprise is the skills of the Native Americans, they had to make pots without using a potter wheel. Before they started making clay pots, they were weaving baskets that could hold water and use heated rocks to cook in them!

Up on Cripple Creek

Seeing a flow of Harleys heading up Ute pass we decided to pass on Pike’s Peak today and head to the other side of the mountain where gold was found in them there hills. As we passed the Pike’s Peak turnoff we keep seeing motorcycles and after doing a quick search figured out we picked the same day as a veteran ride to Cripple Creek. After several traffic jams we made it to the visitor center outside of Cripple Creek and stopped.

The visitor center also has a nice museum focused on the gold mining that made this area a boom in the late 1800’s, which is where the slogan ‘Pike’s Peak or Bust’ came from. After talking to the nice lady at the tourist information section of the heritage museum, we decided to take a gravel road over to Victor, the sister town to Cripple Creek. Victor was established in 1893 on the south slopes of Battle Mountain which was considered the world’s greatest gold camp. From downtown Victor you could see about 500 headframes, the hoist system to lift ore out of the underground mines. Over $125 million worth of gold at period prices of $22 to $35 dollars an ounce. That’s over $6 billion at today’s prices!

We had lunch on Victor Avenue (main street) at the Fortune Club Diner which is housed in a building dating back to 1899 with hotel rooms upstairs. The room was keep as authentic as practical, with the tin panel celling and wooden floors. We get the impression Victor now play second fiddle to Cripple Creek tourist driven by the song recorded by The Band or the casinos that now call Cripple Creek home. Another interesting business in Victor was the Kat House Liquors & Splendid Pleasures, which we can only imagine was one of the many brothels that once were a part of the ‘World’s Greatest Gold Camp’.

Leaving Victor headed for Cripple Creek we passed the modern-day mining operations that are moving mountains. It was hard to grasp the size of these crushed stone terraces that were as high as the surrounding mountains. The dump trucks that several half ton pickup could fit into the bed with ease and that require the driver climb more than 8 foot to reach his cab. When we got to Cripple Creek motorcycles were everywhere, thousands of them. Looked like what I imagine Sturgis to look like during bike week. We just passed through town figuring we would come back when there was more mules than hogs! So the next time you listen to the ‘Up on Cripple Creek’, listen to the lyrics through the lens of a late 1800’s mining town during the Colorado gold rush boom town.

Pike's Peak

We summitted Pike’s Peak via the road in our truck, da Rougarou and am glad we were able to get up and back down quickly. JoAnn did get a bit short of breath at the summit and it was colder than either of us expected. It is a tall mountain, 31st tallest ‘fourteener’ in Colorado with an elevation of 14,115 feet and has the highest base to summit elevation gain which is 7,400 feet. The peak highway is 19 miles long and was first built as a carriage road in 1888. In 1915 a motor car road was built at a cost of $500,000. Above mile 16 (about 12,780 ft), the cost of the road ballooned because workers could only work half of the time, having to rest the other half due to the altitude.

If you would rather hike to the summit, Barr trail is the most popular route and the 13.1 miles can be done as a day hike (provided you have transportation down). When the cog railway that ran out of Manitou Springs was in operations this was a popular option but this year the railway ceased operations due to maintenance concerns. It had been operating for more than 125 years. As of this writing it is unclear if the cog train will ever grace the summit of Pike’s Peak again. If you are really in for a challenge, there is always the option to participate in the Pike’s Peak Marathon or if a half marathon is more your speed then the Pike’s Peak Accent which is 13.1 miles to the top and a ride down. When we went to the summit on Sunday, the Pike’s Peak Marathon was underway. I didn’t see any athletes finishing the assent but I can’t really imagine what kind of person can do a trail run like that.

The view for the summit is quite something to behold. Even though it wasn’t a clear day, the weather system had dropped snow at the summit the night before and while we were at the summit we saw a small flurry. It was cold, the ranger on the way up told us it was 31° F at the summit. We saw some people getting off the shuttle with only short pants, bet they enjoyed their visit! Pike’s Peak is called America’s Mountain, due in part to the fact that the song America the Beautiful was based on a poem inspired by the view from Pike’s Peak, written by Katharine Lee Bates after she visited in 1895.

What we Learned

We don’t bounce back from injury like we did when we were in our twenties.

It is cold at the summit (you decrease about 6° F for every 1000 feet) and you should bring more cloths than you think you will need.

The air is thin at 14 thousand feet (about 60% of sea level).

What's next

After our time in Colorado Springs wrapped up we are heading for Estes Park, Colorado at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. We have enjoyed our stay and I am sure we will be back but time to move north and west!