Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway

There is the objective for today, Pikes Peak! Let's take the Cog Rail Road up.


Looking up the track from the Cog train station.


Folks getting on.


Up we go!

The train is four cars long, and this is looking down hill to the last two cars.


It leveled out for a while.


Were up high enough to see Colorado Springs in the distance.


The trees are getting smaller.


Another view.


Above the trees. We are over 12,500 feet.


There was another car in front of us that wasn't part of our train.


Big horn sheep in the middle of the picture standing on a rock. Zoom in by clicking the picture.


We made it. Boy the air is thin up here.


Loyce poses with the train.


Everyone had to stand in front of the sign an have their picture taken. I waited quite a while to get it by itself. It records the 14,110 official altitude. My headache is really kicking in now.


The sheer drop off looking out over Colorado Springs. The joke was that we were looking back at no mans land, KANSAS! Lol.


North East


South East


The lakes that are to the South


And the second lake.


In the center of this picture is a excavation that looks like stair steping, and is an active gold mine in the Cripple Creek area.


Yup, some folks really do drive up here.


To the North, they claim you can see the tops of the Denver skyscrapers. My eyes didn't see them.


The track abruptly stops, glad his brakes worked.


On the way back down, we passed the last train for the day going up. They were all excited, and we all had splitting head aches.


This is the section gang shack that years ago they stayed overnight in. About here the air became dense enough to make me feel a bunch better.


And there you have your tour of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. You are in a canyon all the way up and back, and this is the sheer rock wall to the North as we descended.


We went out to eat in a restaurant in Manitou Springs tonight, and I'll post a picture of the place tomorrow, as this is getting way too long.