Colorado, Part 5

Pikes Peak, and the cog railroad that goes to the top.  (Thank goodness.  I'd hate to have to hike that....)  (And, for the record, people don't just hike it, they run marathons up and down it.  No joke.  The record to the top and back is just over three hours.  You can also drive to the top.)

Pikes Peak is the inspiration for Katharine Lee Bates' well-known song "America the Beautiful."

One of only a handful of cog railroads in the United States, this is the longest and climbs the highest.  As you can see in the picture on the left, there is a "third track" in the center.  This is where the gears on the underside of the train connect, and literally pull the cars up the hill.  (The two outer tracks are for balance.)

This railway was started in 1889, after a tourist named Zalmon Simmons road to the top of the mountain on a mule, but decided there had to be an easier way to get there.  He raised over $1 million to build the first set of tracks, which were used by steam engines.  Of the six original engines, only one still operates on special occasions.  The first diesel cog engine was used in 1938.

Here's the actual train itself.  The trip up and back takes around three hours.  You spend half an hour at the summit, where there's a gift shop and a set of rest rooms and observation platforms.  The conductor gives information about the vegetation, local activities, and the history of the railroad as you ride to the top.  There's often a 30- or 40-degree difference in temperature between the bottom depot and the top.  Also, it's a good idea to bring along a can of oxygen (sold in the gift shop) if you or someone in your party has trouble breathing.  After all, you're going up to over 14,000 feet above sea level -- air's pretty thin up there.  (The poor fellow across the aisle from us had such a hard time adjusting that he threw up when we reached the top.)  It's not unusual to need to sit down and drink something for the first 10 minutes you're there.  Also, because of the change in atmosphere and air pressure, your voice changes.

Below are some of the sights we saw on the way up.

Some of the trees look tilted.  Actually, they're growing perfectly straight -- we just rode up at an angle.  And that line across the middle of the picture is the top of our window.

Below is a video shot at the top.  The wind covers up a lot of other sounds, so my narrative may not be audible at all times.  Basically, it's about 40 degrees F, with a wind-chill factor of 20 degrees.

 

And below is another of Mom's "waves", this time for Jeff.  We're at the summit of Pikes Peak.