Day 13 - Colorado Springs, CO (Day 2)

Most of the day was partly cloudy and very pleasant.  It was a great day to see more of the area.  We drove to Pike's Peak, had lunch in Manitou Springs, drove to the Royal Gorge and had dinner at the campground.

Pike's Peak:
Entrance to the Pike's Peak Highway is just a few miles northwest of the campground on US-24.  We started the ascent at 9:15am and returned to the entrance 3 hours later.  It was a fantastic journey that we describe with two words ... Wow!  and Gulp!

The temperature was 76°F at the entrance and 46°F at the summit.  The drive to the summit is 19 miles.  The speed limit is 25 mph unless otherwise posted ...  we saw signs for 10 and 30 mph.  We were cautioned to turn off the air conditioner, drive up in 2nd or 3rd gear and drive down in 1st gear.  The following shows why we had no problem going slow.

The highway starts gently

You can see forever on a clear day

It's much easier to look ahead than down

Even looking ahead can be a problem

The highway just keeps climbing

All the way to 14,110 ft.

We both made it
(It's 46°F and there's a stiff wind)

Southeast from the summit

Scenes from the summit moved
Katherine Lee Bates to write the
words for America the Beautiful

The cog railway is one of three ways
 to get up here

These students climbed here
in 6 hours 42 minutes

Climbers follow the Barr Trail
(we didn't)

Cog rail 

The drive up was harrowing.  Carol had a firm (e.g. white knuckle) grip on the door handle most of the way and didn't take many pictures of the ascent.  After taking in views from the summit, we went into the Visitor Center to warm up and relax.  

They advertised "The World's Best Donuts", so we gave them a try with some hot coffee. Carol's judgement ... "If all old fashion donuts were this good, I'd convert.".

And down we go.

The highway is steep and twisty

Cairns keep hikers on Barr Trail

And up they go

There are many drop-offs

And many sharp turns

US-24, we're almost back down

Lunch:
We stopped in Manitou Springs to wind down and have lunch at PJ's Bistro.  Outside balcony seating was fun and their sandwiches were tasty.


Royal Gorge:
The June 2013 Royal Gorge Fire has shut down tourism at the Royal Gorge Bridge.  We decided to take a look anyway.  Cloud cover and showers moved in from the west as we approached Cãnon City.

Fire affected park land on both
sides of the Arkansas River

Royal Gorge Bridge
America's highest suspension bridge
is closed

A view of the gorge

It started to rain as we were climbing down a gorge overlook.  The picture taking came to an abrupt halt; we headed for home.

Dinner:
This was a long, strenuous day.  We didn't feel like fixing dinner, so we decided to try Lil' Howard's BBQ in the campground.

They serve pancake breakfasts on Sunday and BBQ dinners every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday ... and have done so for 42 years.  We had the Sunday night combo consisting of BBQ chicken and ribs, beans, cole slaw and a dinner roll.  The meal was served picnic style.  It was excellent and a lot of fun.