Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods

To round out the Denver trip, we visited Pike's Peak, also know as America's Mountain. It is 14115ft high which is the highest either of us have been except for in a plane.

We took the Cog railway up to the top.  The center rail has notches in it that the rail car gear hooks into to get up the steep grade.  The railway has been running since 1891 although it was refurbished in 2017.

The views at the top are wonderful, even on a cloudy day

At the top they also had EMTs in case anyone experienced altitude sickness

This is where Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write the poem that became 'America the Beautiful'

After coming back down we ate at Manitou Springs which is named after several local carbonated water springs.  Each one has a slightly different taste.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Garden of the Gods city park