http://www.montychandler.com/Colorado.htm
On my first visit to Colorado Springs, I heard of a state park named the "Garden Of The Gods". I thought that a bit pretentious, but decided to go have a look. After the visit I completely understood the name and better yet understood the appropriateness. In fact, the state should be known as the Garden Of The Gods - thus the name of this blog post.
In addition to this little park, I decided on this visit to drive up to the summit of Pikes Peak. Little did I know how much my slight fear of heights would be kicking into high gear! About half way up the mountain, the nice paved road comes to an end and turns into a nicely graded dirt raod. This isn't bad as it is tree lined and begins to twist and turn a bit - comfortable switchbacks providing nice views at every turn. As you might imagine, it's hard to keep an eye on the road when you are constantly turning your head to appreciate the views. About a mile into the drive on the dirt road, all that lack of attention to the road changes. The tree lines go away and there is nothing at the dirt road edges except for a long and rapid decent down the mountain.
This is where the fear of heights comes into play. Although alone in the car, all I could hear was me saying "oh my God" - over and over again as I went higher and higher. The views became better and better - my heart beat went faster and faster. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on this day (late afternoon actually) as I was driving very slow and the switchbacks were frequent and very sharp. I wanted so much to stop many times and take photos as I went up, but I think my blood pressure was too high - fear is probably a better word - thus preventing me from doing so. At one point as I looked up at a beautiful snowcapped peak, I thought to myself - how beautiful is this? Next thing I knew, I was passing that snow capped peak as I approached the summit. The excitement I felt is difficult to describe. Once on the summit I parked and started walking around - taking photos of the most beautiful vistas I think I have ever seen.
Not long into this walk around the summit I realized I was feeling a bit chilled, then felt very cold. Mind you this is summer and it was 80 degrees at the start of this trek. A quick look at the thermostat in the car (nice little feature in todays auto's) showed that it was 33 degrees! Fortunately there is a souveniour shop on the summit (heated) so after a bit of lingering in there to warm up I bought a tee shirt (got oxygen?) and a light jacket to take the edge off the chill. As I completed taking my shots on the summit I was feeling a bit better about the height, the cold, and the lack of oxygen. So on my drive down the mountain I stopped numerous times to get some snaps of the vistas I had passed on during the drive up.
If you ever get the chance to go to the summit of Pikes Peak - do it. You won't regret it. Bring a jacket, or a sweater, or a coat/parka - you'll be glad you did. Might even want to be sure you aren't the one driving too - in this case, shotgun would be the order of the day. The views are unbelievable!
The photos I have posted on the site include Pikes Peak, The Garden Of The Gods state park, Royal Gorge, and a little old west town replica named Buckskin Joe's.
Hope you enjoy..
Cheers,
Monty
www.montychandler.com
