For several Sundays, I’ve been recapping my trip out West with my father this fall. We traveled there for the Ring of Fire Eclipse. I checked many things off my bucket list and got some fantastic photos. This article is a continuation of that series. For more in the series, click here.
When you are up above 14,000 feet, you begin to understand what John Denver wrote about in his song “Rocky Mountain High.”
We left the Great Sand Dunes on our way to Pikes Peak, Colorado, early in the morning. On the way there, I managed to finally get a shot of a pronghorn. These American versions of the antelope can run at speeds up to 60 m.p.h. to escape predators and are easily spooked and, therefore, hard to get a good photo of. I saw this one while driving and quickly pulled over and it was kind enough to pose for me in a field at least 100 yards away.
Our drive would eventually take us through the dumbest detour I have ever been on due to construction on I-25 headed north toward Colorado Springs. Who decided to route all interstate travel, including semi-trucks, onto a narrow, unmarked dirt road? You can imagine how well that was going.
After surviving the off-road adventure, we quickly arrived at the base of Pikes Peak. Nicknamed “America’s Mountain,” Pikes Peak is one of just a handful of easily accessible mountain peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation. The road to the top is well known for a race held there each year where many classes of cars race to the top on the narrow, non-guard-railed road.
You quickly climb from the entrance gates and the views are almost immediately spectacular.
The quick climb takes you through forested areas where, if you pay close attention, you may catch sight of some very large bull mule deer hanging nearby. These guys were walking in and out of the trees but seemed unfazed by our presence. This 8-pointer wasn’t the biggest in the bunch but was the only one to give me a nice pose out in the open.
There are plenty of places to stop along the way up to the top, especially once you get above the timberline. This was both my and my father’s first trip to this elevation so it was somewhat surreal to be on a peak with no trees to be seen anywhere. The rock formations were absolutely incredible and some snow could still be found in the shaded areas.
When you arrive at the top, you find yourself at a staggering 14,151 feet above sea level. Up here, the air is very thin and it will quickly make you dizzy. My dad and I both got dizzy at points along this trip, especially around the top. However, the view is absolutely worth it and unlike anything you will ever see anywhere else.
The top of the mountain consists of nothing but a pile of rocks. Everywhere you look are just various-sized boulders strewn across a gradually decreasing slope. Near the top, there is a surprising lack of sheer cliff drop-offs, but rather a gradual decrease until it eventually drops off very quickly. Here you can see a car on the narrow, winding road below. The lack of guardrails allows the road to be plowed during the winter months, which can include any month of the year at this altitude.
One thing you have to try if you ever go to Pikes Peak is the local donuts.
Due to the elevation and air pressure, donuts cannot be made like they are in the towns below. Up there, they use a special recipe to make the donuts properly and it is the only place in the US where donuts are made that way. It’s anyone’s guess what the special recipe is, but all I can say is that the donuts are delicious and certainly worth the surprisingly cheap $1.25 a piece.
After spending around a half hour at the top, neither of us was getting used to the lack of oxygen, so we began our trip back down, but not before I snagged a photo with the summit marker sign.
On the way down, we made a few more stops and got this spectacular view of the mountain from a distance. Photos really can’t capture the scale of this place. The late afternoon sun made the view even better, with shadows being accentuated.
The mountain has been the place of many Bigfoot sightings and while we didn’t see one on this trip, we did find a tribute to one.
With the day running short we headed back for one last night in Colorado….
