Pikes Peak

We visited Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak is the most visited mountain in North America and the second most visited mountain in the world after Japan's Mount Fuji. Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet above sea level, and is the 31st highest peak out of 54 Colorado peaks. It is the farthest east of the big peaks of the Rocky Mountains chain.

It was a very full train station. Trains are going up and down to the summit all they long.

Waiting for our train time

Finally, our time came to board the train!

Close up of the train tracks that take the train up and down. Notice the middle rail has teeth that the train grabs to go up and and down.

At first there were lots of trees. It does not look like in the picture, but this train tracks are incline going up and up.

Getting higher and higher!

We went so high that now we were traveling above the tree line. It is so high, trees don't grow here.

Animals up this high. Look at them, they are beautiful!

The train that brought us up here

Pikes Peak was the inspiration for the author of the patriotic song America the Beautiful. This majestic song was written by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. In 1893, Bates came to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a summer school session at Colorado College. She visited Pikes Peak several times during that summer and here is were she was inspired to write the words for such a beautiful song that later became to be a patriotic song.
The picture above is Gordon standing next to the words of America the Beautiful. The immediate reaction is to want to start singing it when you come to this place. Such a majestic feeling!


Too bad is was overcast and raining down below and the view was not clear to see out into the farthest distance. I can imagine how fantastic the view is in a clear blue sky day. But it is an experience to be here so high on top of the world! The world seems so huge!

Yes, here we are at the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet above see level! It was cold and even that it was windy, we found ourselves breathing more frequently using the nose and mouth.


Here we are back in the warm train ready for the trip back down the mountains. The altitude and cold weather was getting to us. They recommended to drink a lot of water to aid the body cope. At this high altitude the body has to very quickly produce double, maybe triple red blood cells to compensate for the change in oxygen level. So the body is very busy, working hard. After about 25 minutes of walking around, trying to see the different view points here is the summit, people want to sit down, have low energy, and some complained of feeling dizzy. But it's great to come here and be this high. Someone has to experience it to know what I'm talking about.