While it was still dark outside, I prepared to leave for the
next leg of my 17-day road trip adventure.
I said my goodbyes to my sleepy Amarillo Airbnb hosts and hopped into the
car just as the sun was breaking. While
Palo Duro Canyon was a grand site, I was excited to move on to Colorado.
I traveled northwest on Highways 87 and 354 and it wasn’t long before I left Texas and crossed over into
northeast New Mexico. Almost immediately
the landscape changed. The contour lines
of the desert began to rise towards the sky and the clouds lowered to meet them.
Charming and peaceful communities were
nestled in between the hills. Having no
idea what this part of the country would look like, it was a wonderful and
unexpected view.
A sign appeared on the highway for Capulin Volcano National
Monument. Ooh, a volcano! I turned right and drove down the path to my
next adventure. At the visitor’s center
I purchased a National Park annual pass hoping I would get to take full
advantage of it in the next couple of weeks.
The 2 mile drive up the volcano was steep and narrow and I
was thankful my car wasn’t very big.
There was not much wiggle room between me and the sheer drop and no
guard rail. When you reach the top, you
can hike the trails, walk the lava field, listen to park rangers talk about the
history of the volcano or just simply enjoy the view. I chose the view. It was a perfect place to
eat my brown bag lunch and rest. The
landscape was quiet but majestic, full of pastel colors. My trip was definitely off to a great start.
Happy that I took the time to see the volcano, I finished my lunch and continued
on.
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| The view from Capulin Volano National Monument |
Eat lunch on top of a volcano.
Check.
The drive through north east New Mexico was short and soon I
crossed the border into Colorado. I drove
north on I-25 enjoying the impressive change of landscape and elevation. The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains became
an ever growing presence in my view demanding my full attention.
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| The view from I-25 as you enter Colorado from New Mexico |
My destination was Colorado Springs and my accommodation was
another Airbnb property, this time an adorable camper. It was tucked away in the forest with an
amazing view of Pikes Peak. It was fully
equipped with a stove top, microwave, full sized bed, bathroom…and did I
mention the amazing view of Pikes Peak??
Worn out from the drive, I grabbed a chair from the porch to
relax in my little courtyard. Within
minutes, the locals come out to play, the furry and feathered kind. A large bunny nibbled a blade of grass mere
inches from my chair. A plethora of tiny
birds shared the bird feeder. I had to
duck more than once as humming birds flew with purpose in the direction of my
head.
After a nice rest, I took a drive out of the forest. My peripheral vision was filled with movement
of deer. They were everywhere. I pulled over to the side of the road when I
came to a field full of Pronghorn. I got
out of the car with my camera and watched them for a while. They were watching me, too. I crept up to the fence and slowly lifted my
camera and as I got them into view they took off! Those animals could fly!
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| Pronghorn: The second fastest land mammal in the world. |
When I got back to my trailer, I made a dinner of Campbell’s
soup and worked out my plans for the next day.
A sunrise photo over the United States’ most popular mountain, Pikes
Peak, was first on the priority list.
Because sunrise was at 5:30 in the morning and I wasn’t exactly sure
where I was going, I set my alarm clock for 3:30.
In the pitch blackness of the morning, I crept my car out of
the forest and headed towards the mountains.
After about a 20-minute drive I arrived at the Pikes Peak entrance. There
was absolutely no sign of life. The
entrance didn’t open until 7:30am! Well,
clearly I wasn’t going to get a sunrise photo on top of that mountain (not by
car anyway.) So I drove back down
Highway 24 to the historic town of Manitou Springs, parked my car and
walked around the city center. It was the
end of July but still very cold at 6 am so I looked for a place to get a cup of
hot coffee. There was exactly one place
open at that hour. Manitou Springs might be filled with many historic points
of interest but it also looked like it had been visited by one too many
tourists.
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| Manitou Springs |
At 7am, I drove back up to the Pikes Peak entrance and pulled
up to be first in line. When the park employees drew up the shades at 7:29 I
paid my entrance fee and received my instructions. “Turn your air conditioning off going up and
use lowest gear going down.” Turn my a/c off? The drive is so steep that using
your a/c can actually burn up your car’s engine.
I had done minimal research on Pikes Peak but I knew a few
things. I knew I didn’t want to take the
Cog Train because I would have to take photos through a closed window. I knew
the top is over 14,000 feet elevation. What
I didn’t know was what impact that elevation would have on me.
For the next hour, I drove the most interesting, scenic and
scariest drive of my life! The elevation began around 7,000 feet where there were
plenty of squirrels, birds and deer about. The road cuts through a thick forest
of pine trees. As I got higher up the
mountain, the trees began to fade to scrubbier brushes. I saw less wildlife
activity but more impressive views. When I got to around 11,000 feet, the marmots
appeared. These critters, and lots of
them, liked to hang out in the middle of the road. The landscape at this elevation is mostly
rocky with short grass, wild flowers and few trees.
There was probably a lot more wildlife I missed on the
journey up, but I kept my white knuckled focus ahead of me. The drive was so steep at times I couldn’t
see over the hood of my car. I felt like
I was driving blind. The winding turns
could be tricky at times and any mistake in judgment could have had consequences
I didn’t want to think about.
I was starting to feel light headed and was extremely relieved
when I reached the summit. The landscape
on top of the mountain was not much more than a pile of rocks. The high altitude, cold and wind make it
difficult for anything to live at that elevation. I pulled into a parking space and grabbed my
hiking boots from the back seat. I was
beyond excited! When I jumped out of the
car, I immediately saw stars and collapsed on the hood. I
slowly stood and tried to walk but it felt like I was swimming through
molasses. An unbelievable thirst came over me and my head pounded. A park ranger came over and recommended I go
into the gift shop café, rest and drink lots of water. I sat down at a café table and massaged my
throbbing temples. After about 20
minutes I felt a bit better and was determined to get my mountain top
photos. I slowly swam through the
molasses to make my way to the edge of the mountain top. It felt like I was in a slow motion video and
about every 20 steps or so I had to stop and sit down. I was breathing like I had run a marathon. When I got to the edge it occurred to me I
could pass out and fall off the mountain so I sat down on a big rock. My hands and arms were still shaking too much
to get a steady grasp on my camera so I just sat there and took in the amazing
view.  |
| View from the top of Pikes Peak |
The Cog Train approached and unloaded its first round of
passengers of the day. A man with an
infant in his arms walked towards me and continued on to the very edge to look
out and over. I had to turn away. Why would anyone do something so dangerous
with a squirmy baby in their arms??
My head cleared a bit so I slowly worked my way to each side
of the mountain taking wide angle shots, then some zoomed in shots. I carefully inched my way closer and closer to
the edge of the Alpine tundra. It really
was something to be so high in the sky, above the clouds, with a 360-degree
view of the Rocky Mountains. I will never forget that moment.
My breathing was getting heavier and my head started to
spin. I sent a text message to my host
to ask her if my altitude issues would get any better. Her response: “No! Get down to lower elevation!
It is not going to get any better because you are coming from sea level!” She suggested I go to Devil’s Playground
where the views are great with a more tolerable elevation.
When I started to make my way back down I got behind a
guided bike tour. They were stopping
every so often to take photos and look around.
I decided to follow them and everywhere they stopped I stopped. The trip
down was a lot more enjoyable because I could see the landscape better and was
easier to pull the car over and stop. In
one direction I saw many interesting sand stone rock formations and in another direction
fields of wild flowers. My breathing was
much better and the views much prettier than the summit. I took photos until my heart was content.
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| The drive back down offered more opportunities for photos! |
In the not so far distance I saw very dark and low clouds moving
in. Thinking I didn’t want to tackle the
drive down in wind and rain I decided it was a good time to make my
departure. I made it to the bottom just
in time. That was the hardest downpour I
saw on my entire trip.
A visit to the rock formations at Garden of Gods was how I
had planned to spend my afternoon. But
my battle with altitude sickness has completely wiped me out. I couldn’t get
back to my camper fast enough to take a nap.
My new plan was to take sunset photos at Garden of the
Gods. My host recommended entering the park from the
back entrance and that was great advice.
This place was one hot tourist destination and there was not a single
place to park. So I just drove through the park stopping along the side of the
road whenever I wanted to take a photo.
It was a short drive so I made the loop several times. There were many professional photographers
there taking photos of engaged couples and bridal portraits.
The rock formations were really impressive, especially when
the view is back dropped by Pikes Peak. There are so many people there it was
difficult to get an image without a tourist in it. That’s where Photoshop comes in handy.
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| Cathedral Valley in Garden of the Gods Park at sunset |
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| Balanced Rock is a popular spot! |
Feeling satisfied with my day’s work I drove home to my
little piece of heaven in the forest. A storm came through in the middle of the
night and rocked the camper. The wind
howled through the tall pine trees drowning out almost any other sound. I
hardly even noticed.
Next leg of the trip…traveling to Steamboat Springs via
Independence Pass
Miles driven: 861
States traveled: 3
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