Miles Travelled: 2,106
Current Location: Top of Pike's Peak
Current Elevation: 13,882 feet
After we checked out of the hotel we decided to drive to the top of Pike's Peak just north of Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is one of a large group of mountains in Colorado with an elevation of greater than 14,000 feet. The drive to the top is 19 miles long. We were able to travel up 18.2 miles due to large snow drifts at the top of the peak. Laura and I agreed that this was the coolest thing we have seen on the trip so far. Here is the road as you head to the top.
The drive up is pretty intense as there are a lot of sharp turns and switch backs. Before you know it you are way above the cloud line with views like these:
The weather change is pretty dramatic on the drive up. When we left the hotel it was 44 degrees. By the time we reached the top it was 21 and extremely windy. This shot will give you an idea of what the winds were like at the top.
Another indicator of how cold the temps were was LD's reluctance to stray from the truck. This picture, with the window 3/4 down was as far as she made it on some of the tops. In all fairness she was a great sport and really toughed it out when she needed to. After all, it was FREEZING.
One last picture from Pike's Peak. The first image above shows how clear the road was on the way up the mountain. To illustrate how quickly the weather can change, this one shows the same point in the road about an hour later.
It was hard too choose from all the great pictures we took at Pike's Peak so if you are interested in seeing more click here to see the full Pike's Peak photo album
