We Survived The Drive To Pikes Peak and Back!

This morning we were going to go to Seven Falls, but after checking some information about it on the web, and seeing that they wanted $9.00 per person to view a waterfall, we decided against it. There are way to many waterfalls that can be viewed for free in the US! So what do to? We had talked about driving to the top of Pikes Peak, yea, I know, we already took the Cog RR there, but by driving we would have unlimited time on top. After a little discussion about taking the Pikes Peak Highway, off we went.

Well, I have to tell you that it was one of the most exciting, thrilling and scary drives I've ever done. It is 19 miles to the summit and probably two-third of it is paved roadway. The rest is gravel. Fortunately, most of the roadway is wide, which is great because there is very little guard rail used on this road. The drive to the summit takes about a hour, depending on the stops you make on the way up - same thing coming back down. The speed limit is mostly 25 mph with several curves at 10 mph. Speaking of curves - we were informed that there where 160 curves/hairpin curves on the road - I think that is counting going both ways meaning 80 one direction. After driving to the summit I can believe it!

We spent about 2 hours at the summit which was nice. We could take our time and check out the gift shop, eat some really good, but expensive, chili at the cafe, watch the Cog RR arrive and depart and leave when we were ready.

Dean drove us back down and we had absolutely no problem. We put the Jeep in Lo4 and low gear and he hardly ever had to step on the brakes. When you reach a half way point, they have security that checks the temperature of your vehicle brakes. If you read 300 degrees or more, you must pull over and wait for them to cool off. Our reading was 100 - below highway normal!

It was an exciting day and one that won't soon be forgotten. I took several pictures and will let them tell the true story of the road. Check them out at - http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos

Tomorrow we are going to Breckenridge, CO. Should have lots of pretty scenery to take pictures of. See ya later.....