I came in from Honolulu on the morning of the 9th and headed home for a few hours of heavy napping before heading back to the airport that evening with Kirsten. Our flight out to the Springs was heavy, but First Class was open and she and I found ourselves in seats 3E and 3F for the quick flight west, and had to time to enjoy a few Gin and Tonics.
We landed in Colorado Springs a bit late, but my friend Bruce was standing by and he picked us up at the airport and we headed downtown to a local brew pub that Bruce found on the internet, called Phantom Canyon Brewing Company. We decided if we were going to head to the Rockies, we should try some local microbrews.
While the food was good, the service was only so-so. We decided to forgo giving them our dessert business and instead walked over to Josh and John's, the local ice cream parlor. Bruce and I chose the milkshakes. I opted for the Yellow Cake flavored one. Kirsten just had a boring old cone with Mint Chocolate Chip (she has never been one for the exotic flavors).
That night I woke up at about 2am with heartburn that was pretty bad. So bad I had to sit up in bed for about half an hour while the Pepcid worked it's magic.
We had to get an early start the next day because we had already reserved our train tickets on the Cog Railway for our trip up to peak departing at 10:40 a.m. Bruce took us back to the airport where we picked up our rental car. The compact econo size was not available so we were given a complimentary upgrade to this orange monstrosity.
We reunited with Bruce out in Manitou Springs, at the base camp for our train ride up Pikes Peak. The ride takes about an hour and half each way and you spend about 30 minutes at the top of the peak, which doesn't sound like a lot, but with the lack of oxygen, any longer and you's probably faint.
We purchased liters of water for the ride as the guides informed us that we would lose that much water during the journey.... might be true, but might also be a ploy to get us to spend $4 on each bottle.
We were on the smaller of two trains, the Aspen. Cue the John Denver music.
We were pretty packed into the train. We all had assigned seats of course. We were aft facing so the whole trip was spent leaning forward.
We sat across from a nice lady named Vera. She had brought her two granddaughters along for a little trip. They lived outside Denver, but Vera was originally from the Czech Republic. Bruce and Kirsten got to talk with her about their travels to Prague, but I had to sit their quietly and feel left out.
We started our train ride right on time and made our way up the steep train tracks towards the top of the peak. Our conductor was very informative and pointed out lots of interesting facts along the way, none of which I can remember two weeks after the fact.
It was actually a rather gloomy day in Colorado, but after we made our way above the clouds a few thousand feet, we had nothing but sunshine and cool air!
About two thirds of the way to the top we passed the timberline, where trees stop growing. Just under the ground there is a layer of permafrost all year long, which makes it impossible for trees and large plants to grow. At this point, the views really became spectacular! We also started to experience the "Rocky Mountain High" as we began to experience oxygen deprivation. My ears started to tingle and Bruce turned bright red on his face.
We finally made it 14,110 feet to the top of the peak. The weather was chilly and I loved every minute of it.
Now since this was a trip with Bruce and we were dubbing it a "mini man-cation" we needed to make sure one important ingredient was included.... Single Malt Scotch. I secured a three bottle set of travel size miniature bottles of good Balvenie Scotch for our "tasting" at the top. The trio consisted of 12, 15, and 21 year old malts (naturally Bruce took the 21 year old). We celebrated our exhausting and challenging climb to the top with a wee nip or two.
We had some time to walk around the top and explore the vistas. It was very dry and dusty.
In 1893, Katherine Lee Bates visited the top of the peak and was so inspired she wrote a song, "America the Beautiful". A plaque with the words commemorating the song is at the top.
Just when I thought I would pass out from lack of oxygen, it was time to board the train and begin our journey back to the bottom. At this point we were all a little tired, but the ride down was still pleasant.
We spent a little time walking around Manitou Springs, a little hippy town at the base of the mountain. We ate at a place called Hell's Kitchen. After the dietary disaster the night before you think I would have learned my lesson, but no no no, I opted for the Macaroni and Cheese Pizza for lunch.
Medical Marijuana is also a popular product in the town. We saw lots of signs with the distinctive left around town.
At this point we said our goodbyes to Bruce as he had to make his way back to Denver for the rest of his business trip. Kirsten and I went back to the hotel and freshened up and then went out to my cousin Leslie's house for dinner with her family. I had not seen her in years, so it was nice to spend time visiting and getting to meet her three kids for the first time. The highlight of the evening of course was her husband Bryce's "Media Room to end all Media Rooms". Puts any theatre to shame!
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