Pike's Peak

July 20, 2021

Pike’s Peak

Since 1891, the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway has been taking visitors up the beautiful slopes of Pike’s Peak. Literally millions of people have ridden the highest cog railway in the world to the summit of Pike’s Peak at 14,115 ft. Kathy and I have both ridden it numerous times but it has been closed for the past couple of years since being purchased by the Broadmoor Resort and completely refurbished and upgraded, including a brand new visitor’s center on the peak and new rail cars and engines that just resumed operation in May of this year.

From the base station on Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs, just a block from where Kathy’s brother Chris and his family reside, we boarded the train and begun the 45 minute or so journey up the mountain. It is an absolutely beautiful ride and we were blessed with just about perfect weather. 

The ride takes you up through forests of aspen and pine, past gurling creeks up and past the timberline to the rocky flats that give the Rocky Mountains their name and finally to the flat wide-open windswept plateau at the summit. You can see wildlife such as Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Deer, Rabbits and Marmots along the way, which is pretty cool and the views are pretty spectacular all along the way.

The summit features the brand-new visitor center where they still make the famous Pikes Peak donuts which we of course had to have and we walked all around the summit perimeter to take in the views in 360 degrees. It was the view from the top of the peak that inspired Katherine Lee Bates to write the song “America the Beautiful”. 

The stay on the summit was about an hour before we boarded the train to return to Manitou, it was another spectacular ride down and a just about perfect day exploring the peak. It is something that I highly recommend if you happen to be in the area, even if you don’t take the cog train, then drive up to the summit to check it out.

Kathy’s brother Chris is training for a triathlon so Kathy agreed to join him one morning in practicing his open water swim and they ventured up to Rampart Reservoir which is located on a granite plateau at 9,000 ft. just to the northwest of Colorado Springs.  Kathy found the area to be so beautiful that she wanted to return with me and do some hiking around the reservoir.

The Rampart Reservoir was created in 1967 when the 3,400 foot-wide dam was built along West Monument Creek. The reservoir was created to supply water to the growing population in Colorado Springs and the surrounding towns.

By 1972, the reservoir filled to capacity and the area was opened for recreational use. Forty years later, the Waldo Canyon Fire caused the Rampart Reservoir to close between 2012 and 2013. Today it is open and a popular recreational area for hiking, camping, fishing and boating and the trail that leads around the reservoir is beautiful and quite an enjoyable hike.

https://www.cograilway.com/