Pikes Peak – It's a "Sick" Life…Adventure!

Today we hiked the beautiful RED ROCK CANYON OPEN SPACE, which lies at the Western edge of COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, and also borders the historic town of MANITOU SPRINGS. The park was stablished in 2003 and sits adjacent the one million acre PIKE NATIONAL FOREST. We hiked and explored four trails today including the MESA, ROUND-UP, QUARRY PASS and ROCK CANYON TRAILS. We witnessed some of the most gorgeous RED SANDSTONE ROCK FORMATIONS, ponderosa pine filled valleys, and impressive mountains you can imagine. We also really enjoyed an old DAKOTA SANDSTONE ROCK QUARRY, which operated during the 1870’s and 1880’s, and mined in the so-called “hogback” (highest ridge) of the mountain. We then went into historic MANITOU SPRINGS for some terrific post hike food and refreshment. With a summit elevation of 14,115 FEET above sea level, the Manitou to PIKES PEAK RAILWAY is the highest railway in North America, which is a real tourist attraction in the area. What a beautiful site of Pikes Peak from town, and a glimpse into the very impressive railway as well. What a fabulous day!!!!!

We were able to build three extra days into our schedule to visit the incredible area in and around COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, located immediately south DENVER. We arrived midday at ROCKY TOP CAMPGROUND, situated at 8,000 FEET near the base of famous PIKES PEAK, which towers above the surrounding high level landscape, at an impressive 14,115 FEET. Instantly after arriving we left to investigate the stunningly beautiful, very large, and quite unique, rock formations at the GARDEN OF THE GODS. It is a donated, 1,350 acre, city park, which was dedicated a NATIONAL NATURAL LANDMARK in 1908. The park offers stunning views of magnificent red sandstone rock formations, many of which were formed over 300 million years ago. We investigated the park by car and on foot, hiking three trails, the BALANCED ROCK, SIAMESE TWINS and the CENTRAL GARDEN TRAILS. Some of our favorite formations were the BALANCED ROCK, SIAMESE TWINS, and the entire, impressively beautiful, CENTRAL GARDEN area. What a fabulous place!!!!!