Yesterday morning we drove from Boulder to Colorado Springs. Our original plan had been to go up Pikes Peak on the small cog railway but all journeys were fully booked so we called at a place called Garden of the Gods just outside Manitou Springs. This is an impressive collection of red sandstone formations.
We had then intended to drive up Pikes Peak but by the time we had finished our visit the mountain had clouded over. So we we paid a visit to Cripple Creek, the old gold mining town (I should have written "city" - all settlements in the USA, no matter how small seem to be cities) commemorated in song by, among others, The Band. It's still a small place and appears to have replaced one form of gold mining with another - casinos.
This morning we drove up Pike's Peak. The road goes right to the summit, over 14,000 feet, so you can imagine that some of the driving is a little hairy! However, the drive was well worth it because the views were stunning. Since we were at the top early, the visibility was very good and we could see the Rocky Mountain National Park where we were a few days ago. We could also see out across the Great Plains.
We then drove to Alamosa via Canon City and Salida. This took us along the gorge of the Arkansas River and between two towering mountain ranges. Very enjoyable.
Tomorrow we're off to Utah and the Mesa Verde (that's Green Table in English!).
2 comments:
Hi you two, you've been to some interesting places and seen some stunning sights, no panning for gold then. Is it Utah where the mormons hang out? Keep on trekking.
Lots of Love
Pam & Terry
Hello Pam. No panning for gold, just the opposite - spending it at a rate of knots! Salt Lake City is the Morman centre and we're not going there.
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