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Day 9: Wed Jul 30, 1997

We were going to drive up Pikes Peak today. First we got breakfast at the Waffle House which was on the way. We had to wait a bit, it wasn't a big place, but we got our table and ordered. Sharleen got grits (she seems to like food with no flavor, she sometimes eats rice cakes, I'd rather eat styrofoam, at least it has some flavor). The hash browns were very good and so was the Pecan Waffle. We were enjoying our meal until an older guy behind me lit up a cigar. The smoke wasn't too bad, just enough to be annoying. Next stop was Walmart's for film and camera batteries, then gas, and then we headed west on Rt. 24 to find the road up the mountain.

The Pikes Peak Toll Road is $6 per person, but it's a spectacular drive and well worth it. Last time we were here I drove up, and Sharleen didn't seem to enjoy the scenery, she was too busy making sure I didn't get too close to the edge as I pointed out mountains in the distance. So this time she drove up. She went a lot slower and stayed closer to the middle of the road than I would have.

Sharleen tries her sandals at Crystal Reservoir

We stopped at Crystal Reservoir for some pictures and Sharleen stepped in the water with her new sandals. The road up the mountain starts out paved but is dirt most of the way up. It's usually quite smooth and pretty wide.

Some of the switchbacks near the top are a lot of fun, you can look down and see many turns and watch the cars coming up.

Above the clouds

Switchbacks near the top

The Bottomless Pit

We made several other photo stops on the way up, one at the Bottomless Pit.

Sharleen on top

We finally reached the summit which was somewhat in the clouds and a bit windy and chilly. The road makes a loop around the top and cars park along the side. The top is broad and rocky and has several buildings.

We walked around the top for awhile and then decided to check out the Barr Trail. We started down it then remembered the camera, got it and headed back down. We decided to go down for 30 minutes. We talked to a hiker that had come up and then continued down. The top of the trail is switchbacks on the face of a steep rocky section of the mountain, we got to the bottom of that to where the switchbacks become very long.

The Barr Trail near the top

Long switchbacks on the Barr Trail

Part of the trail was a running stream of water and I was wearing my sneakers which got slippery when wet. I also kept turning my ankle so had to be careful with those shoes on such a rocky trail. We were down over the side sheltered from the wind so it was quite nice. There were lots of clouds below us, and above, and they could be seen blowing over the top. Hiking back up the trail I looked up at the clouds and they were almost blindingly bright against the deep blue sky. The altitude was noticeable, we stopped fairly often on the way up. After a bit more time on top we drove down, I drove. Had a break check part way down, since I was using 1st gear and not the brakes they were cold. We went to Jose Muldoon's Mexican Restaurant on the way back to the room. It was pretty noisy. We had to park several blocks away and on the way back to the car we passed a used book store, stopped in and got a couple computer books.

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