2020 Road Trip Journal: Colorado Springs

Day 3: June 12

Not a travel day today (although I did note my mileage for the trip report at the bottom of the page). Instead, today was the trip’s first full sightseeing day. I visited the Garden of the Gods, and took the drive up to the summit of Pike’s Peak.

Garden of the Gods is— as its signage is proud to report— neither a National Park nor a State Park, but a City Park, in fact the most visited City Park in the US. (I find it hard to believe it gets more visitors than Central Park in the center of Manhattan, but that’s what the signs say.)

The geology of the area is very similar to that of Arches National Park, which I’ll be seeing later this trip: sandstone outcroppings, weathered into “fins” and other unique formations. It’s a much more isolated outcropping than the Arches area, making it stand out to travelers in what became Colorado Springs. In the nineteenth century, railroad magnate Charles Perkins bought the land, but was so impressed by its natural beauty that he never built on it. He kept it open to the public for all to enjoy, and when he died in 1907 his will left it to the city of Colorado Springs, on condition that they keep it free to the public, and would never build on it except necessary facilities to serve as a park. And so it remains today.

I took a ton of pictures as I explored the park; there’s not a lot of individual narration needed for any of them, so I’ll just put them out here (you can click on any image to see the full size version):

	There were lots of rock climbers scaling the formations (which is allowed, with a permit and proper equipment). This would get a big “nope” from me!
The “Kissing Camels”
	Two different types of sandstone, completely different in color, lie side by side in the uplifted sediments that produced the outcroppings.
Balancing Rock

From Garden of the Gods it was on to Pike’s Peak. Unlike the city park, the highway up Pike’s Peak is not free to enter— there’s an entry fee. Since it’s a drive rather than a get-out-and-walk-around, I took fewer pictures. But I didn’t pass up any scenic overlooks! (I actually have a dashboard mount for my GoPro camera and hope to be able to get some pictures along to road, but I neglected to set it up for today’s adventures.)

No actual sighting, alas.
	The view from “Camera Point” back down toward the town below.
Unfortunately they’re building a new visitor center up on top, and the entire summit area is just one massive, ugly construction site. You can’t even get a good view from up here, since they’re building new observation platforms which are between you and anything you might see. All the better pictures are from lower down. (Still, it’s something to have been up that high.)
Of course, “lower down” on Pike’s Peak still leaves plenty of “up” to go around.

After completing the drive up Pike’s Peak and then down again, today’s adventures were over.

Tomorrow, I move on to Estes Park, Colorado, where I’ll spend three nights. It’s a shorter drive than the previous two days, and I expect to have a good half day in Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as the two full days to follow.

Trip Report:

Miles driven today: 62
Total miles so far: 785.7