Colorado Part II – Garden of the Gods and Pike’s Peak

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO

Ahhh.. here that? That is the sound of solitude. As I mentioned in the first part of this series I went to Denver with my husband while he was there for work. Since he had to work in an office (boo) I had free reign to travel to all the tourists spots all by myself. Some people can’t stand to do things like this by themselves. But I wasn’t going to let being on my own stop me from seeing all the things on my “To see in Denver” list so I headed out.

My first stop was Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. There is no entrance fee to this park but there is a short video available at the visitors center that you can see for a nominal donation. I was a bit pressed for time since I had made reservations to take the Cog Railway to Pike’s Peak so I skipped the video and just strolled around the park.

I was walking on a trail headed to “Balanced Rock” when I cam across a mini version someone had piled up. The rocks on the left are about 4″ high and the ones on the right are much taller, maybe around 50′? The photo below these is Siamese Twins.

This one is called Kissing Camels. If you look just about center you can see the shape of two camels who appear to be.. well. kissing.

Aaannnd… the goofy part of the trip. Since I was on my own I didn’t have anyone to take pictures of me at these fantastic places. I have enough faith in my fellow traveler that I felt comfortable handing over my camera and asking them to take a picture. However. And this is huge… the pictures didn’t come out all that great. At this particular location a woman offered and I showed her where to look (through the viewfinder, not the LCD on the back) and where to press (yes, the shutter button). She was so excited to have such a big camera that when she took the picture I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was really out of focus. So desperate was I to have a good picture of myself at such a fascinating location I decided to get cozy with my self-timer. Picture it.

The camera is balanced on a rock. I press the shutter to trigger the timer. RUN to the rock, jump up, try to look natural. The one on the left is me doing my best profile to match the rock in the middle, as you can see I didn’t quite make it. The one in the middle is another where I didn’t quite get my feet into place….and finally a decent shot. Out of focus. Guess I’m no better than that hiker who took the first picture? I’m sure the wildlife had a good time watching me run around like a goofball smiling at nobody.

So I gave up on the self-timer and took a shot through the Twins with this gorgeous view of Pike’s Peak.

After the fiasco with the self timer I headed out of the park and on through Colorado Springs. A darling little town with this quirky mix of Alpine and Mexican influence. If you know me, you know that I’m not a hiker. So when I mentioned via text to some friends I was going up Pike’s Peak they completely misunderstood and thought I was hiking it. What? Really? I’d have to be life-flighted out once I got 1/3 of the way up!? Do you have any idea how thin the air gets at 5,000 feet? Nevermind 14,000? No, for real I would never attempt that. But the view from my seat on the train was lovely.

As we climbed my ears popped and it took me a few extra breaths to focus. Once at the top I stepped out of the train and walked the last few feet to the visitors center and I truly felt the altitude. At the base of the mountain the tour guide had warned us of altitude sickness and signs to watch for. Phew, thank goodness he had. I headed inside and stood still for a few minutes. I felt like I’d had too many appletinis before riding the Tilt-a-Whirl. That dizzy feeling but without the pleasant warmth of the alcohol. And poof, like that it was gone.

The image above was taken by another fellow tourist but this one, a Nikonian [Nikon user], knew her way around a camera.

Walking around the tippity top of a mountain, 14 thousand something feet about sea level is pretty surreal. Being at the same level or above the clouds is just unbelievable. The air is so thin yet so clear you can hear it move. By the way, did I mention it was 4 degrees with a windchill factor of -10? Oh yeah, it was frigid. Within minutes my fingertips, barely protected by thin knit gloves, screamed that they needed to be warmed. My nose put Rudolph to shame and I swear my hair was breaking off at the ends like icicles.

I grabbed a few more pictures before it was time to board the train for our hour long descent. Including my self-portrait overlooking Colorado.

And one final image from the train at the frost level. This is the area of the mountain where there is a permanent layer of frost several feet into the ground and nothing can grow. It’s interesting to see the exact point that it changes and the trees are able to take root.

Stay tuned for Part III – Downtown Denver and The Capitol.