Labor Day weekend - Saturday

Sean and I decided to take a weekend trip to Colorado Springs over Labor Day weekend since I had a 4-day weekend and we could. We won't have many more opportunities to just go wherever whenever we feel like it so we're going to make the most of them while we can.

We spent pretty much all day Friday driving out to Colorado and got to our campground around 10 pm Friday night. We had reserved a small cabin at a campground near Garden of the Gods. We didn't get a picture of the cabin so just imagine a small one room cabin...

Saturday morning we got up pretty early (7 am) thanks to the 1-hour time difference and someone's car alarm going off at 6:30 in the morning. We stopped for breakfast at a nearby pancake house in Manitou Springs before heading out to Pike's Peak. They had awesome blueberry pancakes.

Ymmm...blueberry pancakes!

We got to Pike's Peak before the lines started forming; we didn't see too many people driving down while we were driving up and we really didn't get stuck behind any super slow-pokey people. We stopped at the Crystal Reservoir on the way up and took a couple of pictures. There were some people fishing and kayaking.

Sean by Crystal Reservoir

Self Portrait #1

I didn't take any pictures going up to the top, but just imagine a two-lane windy road with a pretty steep drop-off on one side and no railing except around the hair-pin curves. Sean drove up and he could feel my car dragging thanks to the steep road and lack of oxygen. We didn't see much wildlife going up - just a couple of yellow-bellied marmots near the top of the mountain. They look like prairie dogs except they're at the top of a mountain.

When we got to the top, this is what we saw.

Tracks are for the train that runs to the top

Plaque is for Gen Zebulon Montgomery Pike

Another beautiful view

Self Portrait #2

14110 feet and about 45 deg F

We checked out the gift shop, took in the scenery, and then headed back down. When we got to the brake check point the guy measuring brake temps sounded very impressed that ours was under 100 degrees. He didn't say if his device measured in C or F, but I'm guessing C...either way, it shows some good downhill driving skills.

We saw a deer on the way down.

We also stopped at a scenic overlook on the way down, near the bottom.

Ute Pass looking towards Colorado Springs

And this is how I remember the name of the pass :)

After we left Pike's Peak, we grabbed some quick lunch and then headed out to a trail called "the Crags". It's south of Divide, CO off highway 67, just past Mueller State Park. The trailhead is at 9100 feet and the summit is at 10855 feet. There was some great scenery along the trail.

A babbling brook that ran next to part of the trail

Me on the trail

Sean on the trail

Rocks and trees

Some more great scenery

A cool looking tree

It didn't start to get really steep until near the end. Also, we could really notice the thin air as the trail got steeper. But we made it to the top.

The view is worth the hike

Sean enjoying the view

The Crags behind us

Looking back towards the trail

We could see rain in the distance moving towards us so we decided to head back down and we got back to the trailhead just as it was starting to rain. We stopped to explore a hole in the rocks on the way down.

Sean holding up the rocks

For dinner we went to this great small restaurant in Woodland Park called the Swiss Chalet. Their menu is constantly changing so they write it on a big chalkboard that they move from table to table. The food was delicious.

Highly recommended