After a very filling American breakfast (thanks Stacy and Kent), we were back on the road again. Here's the view, looking towards the Garden of the Gods. This is a very cool, and very large rock garden, just outside Colorado Springs.
We were reminded again that we were in Rattler country...stick to the trails...
Just a couple of shots from the Garden of the Gods...very much worth the visit.
Here's another one...
There are Harleys all over this place. I don't know if we've seen too many riders wearing helmets, though. They just don't seem to do that there.
Another very worthwhile attraction at Colorado Springs is the Pikes Pike Cog Railway. This is a cogged railway carriage that carries you up to over 14,100 feet into the Rockies. That's pretty high!
The railway sets off from a suburb from Colorado Springs called Manitou Springs....
Once we arrived at the Cog Railway, we were informed the temperature at the top was 26. That's 26 Fahrenheit, ie -3 C in no wind. When the wind whipped up, you really knew about it. The wind chill of 15 F equates to -9C. Brrrrrr.
Here's the downward tram. Our driver had to hop out and flick the points before we could start off again on our 1.5 hour up-hill leg.
Here's the track from the driver's seat. The track has a maximum incline of 4:1.
Here's a little critter we saw on the side of the track. He's a Marmot and was happy just sitting there watching us go by...
Getting close to the top now...
Even closer...
And there's the summit.
Just to prove it...
The altitude affected some people more than others. Some felt dizzy, others nauseous but we were OK. I'm picking we wouldn't want to run a marathon at this height and to be fair, the half an hour we had up there was enough, thanks very much. But the view was spectacular...
You can drive your car up to the top if you want to. The road is only open during the summer months and it takes around an hour vs the 1.5 hours it takes in the train.
Here's the road disappearing into thin air...
Once at the bottom of the hill, we drove out to the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. After the guards at the gate house checked our 'trunk', we were free to explore this part of the air force base. Specifically, we were interested in the B52, we knew to be there. Here it is...
The B52 has eight jet engines, suspended under a huge wing span.
All up, a pretty impressive bit of kit
In the afternoon, we set out from Colorado Springs to explore the Rockies National Park. The scenery, in many places, was a bit like parts of the South Island...
Just after we left the cog railway, cumuliform clouds started to develop over the Rockies. Some of these clouds developed into Cumulonimbus clouds that darkened the skies and generated a few showers here and there.
The road from Colorado Springs into the Rockies took us high into the mountains. The highest point was 9500 feet. Our poor old car was struggling a bit at this point. Perhaps we should have pushed for the V6 version of the Malibu after all.
We pulled over and found a hotel at a place called Buena Vista - a lovely little town between two significant mountain ranges, at an elevation of just a few feet under 9000ft.. We're enjoying the Rockies and I think we'll stay another day in the mountains tomorrow.
John Denver anyone???
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