Thursday 31 May cont'd

A very straightforward drive down the E470 to the I-25, arriving at the USAF Academy around 12.30. Had a quick lunch and then a short but very hot walk to the Chapel. Spent  a long time here looking at this lovely modern (1965) building. A hot walk back to the car and then we completed the tour on the circular drive, our main stop being at the B52 near the exit. It was then simply a 20 minute drive down the I-25 to the Quality Inn in Colorado Springs. The whole journey was only about 90 miles.

Got unpacked and sorted ourselves out and did the washing. Downloaded the photos and wrote up diary. Then went to Safeways to buy a coolbox and water. Decided we’d also buy food for dinner as the selection at Safeway is better than Walmart.

Had dinner in our room whilst watching very interesting programme about Denver City Parks on Rocky Mountain PBS .

Friday 1 June

Woke around 7.30am (noisy children at vending/ice machine opposite our room). Sent Linda Happy Birthday and Anniversary texts. Had free breakfast in hotel lobby and then set off for Pikes Peak. When we reached the entrance gateway the ranger said the road to the summit was not open to the top because of the high winds (63mph). We would be able to drive two-thirds of the way to Glen Cove at 11,440ft. We were advised to turn off the air-con so that the engine didn’t overheat and to use lowest gear on descent so brakes do not overheat.

We set off and drove to the Crystal Reservoir Visitor Centre at 9,160ft. It was very windy and the temperature had dropped to 18c. We had a coffee and took some photos of the reservoir which looked very choppy. We also started to notice the lack of oxygen.

We carried on up to Glen Cove where we discovered the road to the summit was now open. The last stretch to the summit was above the treeline, very steep with hairpin bends and sheer drops. Immediately before the summit a work crew was repairing and resurfacing the road. Working at this altitude must be quite difficult but presumably they acclimatise. While we were waiting for our turn in the traffic Les went to change the battery in his camera and found to his horror that the spare one he’d brought was for his previous Canon, so he’ll have to rely on a single battery for the rest of the holiday.

When we reached the summit at 14,115ft the temperature had dropped to 9c and it was still extremely windy. We had a quick lunch (only chips for Anne!). As we were both feeling the effects of the altitude (dizziness and a general unwell feeling) we decided to start the drive back down. Les did this as Anne had driven all the way up.

As we came through Glen Cove the park rangers were stopping all cars and testing the temperature of the brakes with a little handheld gizmo. The man pronounced ours as fine and told us to keep driving carefully. We stopped again at Crystal Reservoir and had another drink and shared a muffin. Still felt a bit woozy but slowly adjusting.

Continued down to the base and headed back towards Colorado Springs but turned off into Old Colorado City Historic District. In effect this is a few blocks of shops on what was presumably the old main road before the i25 was built. There’s a mixture of restaurants and arts and crafts shops. We spent about 40 minutes wandering up and down looking in shop windows. We might’ve felt inclined to browse for longer but the heat was debilitating (32c). We ended up at a ‘creamery’ - which is now an ice-cream parlour. Sadly for Anne it was strictly dairy but Les had a nice ice-cream.

We left with the intention of going to Cripple Creek but had misread the map and it turned out to be 18 miles away. We turned off onto a side road, initially simply to find somewhere to pull off and look at our maps. We then realised that we were on the road that leads directly to The Garden of the Gods.

This really needs a long visit so we simply decided to go into the Visitor Centre. We looked around the various exhibitions of wildlife and geology and decided to pay to watch the short film which purported to explain how the area was formed. Unfortunately it was far too gimmicky and done in the form of a space ride back through time to the pre-Cambrian and then forward to the present day. We doubted that anyone withour prior knowledge would’ve gained anything from watching it. A simple gimmick-free explanation would’ve been far better.

On leaving the theatre we returned upstairs to go to the information desk and found a local choir of school children just finishing a song. Amazingly they were singing America the Beautiful - the very same song that had ended the film (the connection being that the song was written after its author had visited the area).

We had a chat with one of the volunteers on the information desk and she gave us lots of tips for our visit tomorrow together with a map.

Leaving the Visitor Centre, we searched for Safeway on the satnav and it took us to a very nice once where we bought some more bits for tonight’s dinner. Setting off back for the hotel we passed yet another Safeway virtually on the W Garden of the Gods Road and only a few minutes from the hotel even in the rush hour traffic. Annoying that we didn’t use this one yesterday.

Back at the hotel we downloaded the photos and had a cup of tea. Les went for a quick swim in the pool. The water was really very warm and the problem was getting out, not getting in.

Had dinner in room and managed to look at our photos via the TV. A very quiet night.

Saturday 2 June

Anne had to convince Les that it was 7.30am when he came back to bed from the bathroom. Usual breakfast. Noticed that the motel was fuller today. Quite a few families (several with lots of children).

Set off for Garden of the Gods and went to the viewpoint recommended to us yesterday by the Visitor Centre staff. Unfortunately it’s only small and was already fully parked and there were no other points on the road where you could park and get the view. Went on first to the Visitor Centre for a quick coffee and then into the park itself.

Stopped at the first car park and had a walk. Although it was noticeably colder outside at breakfast time, it was still quite warm walking when you weren’t in the shade. We did a walk of about a mile looking at the rocks and watching the swifts and other birds that nest in the red sandstone. We also saw several climbers. You’re only allowed to climb if you have a permit and all the technical gear. Even then, there are lots of warnings that the rocks can crumble when wet. 

Back to the car and spent the rest of the morning moving round between parking places. The park is quite busy and a couple of times we were lucky to be able to just slot into a remaining parking place.

Ended up at the Trading Post. This was much bigger than we’d imagined with many different areas of different things for sale ranging from $1.99 trinkets to artwork costing upwards of $2,000. The place seems to be really thriving with loads of staff although we had no trouble finding a table to eat (perhaps because lots of people were sitting at the outside tables. We each had a grilled cheese sandwich and shared a large bottle of still lemonade.

Back in the car we looked at the remaining points. The last one was High Point where a wedding group were having photos taken. We had intended to then go back to the Visitor Centre and sort out a route to Manitou Springs to go to Miramont Castle. We needed to do this as there’s no signal for the GPS within the park - probably because of the canyons. Unfortunately we missed the turn off for the exit and had to do the whole circuit of the Juniper Loop again. By this time the park was quite busy so it was slow going.

Eventually we made it to Manitou Springs. Getting to the Castle was a bit of a trial as the parking is at the rear and the ‘Castle’ is a 4-storey house built into a hillside. It was a bit nerve wracking going round a tiny lane and then manoeuvering into the car park.

The Castle was quite interesting. It’s actually a Victorian house built by a French priest for himself and his (extremely wealthy) mother. It was built in two stages and is a complete mixture of styles. It eventually fell into disrepair and was bought by the local historical society who have been slowly restoring it since 1976.

After our tour we started the return journey with an even more difficult exit from the car park back to the main road. At one point  we had to wind in the wing mirrors to squeeze between parked vehicles. Once on the main road we thought we would go back through Old Colorado City and past the Garden of the Gods taking the route we used yesterday. However we saw a sign for the park and followed it and this took us in to the actual park via an entrance we hadn’t seen before, so we had a very pleasant drive through most of the park again. Much better than using the main roads, and we stopped again at the Trading Post for a lemonade.

We came back to the hotel via a filling station and also Safeways where we bought a spray window cleaner and another kitchen roll. We’d forgotten that you need to keep cleaning the windscreen to be able to take photos while driving.

After downloading photos and writing up diary we checked the menus of the adjacent restaurants and decided to go to Applebees. Very simple American diner/family restaurant chain - we remember going to one in Spokane. It was literally two minutes walk from our hotel room and was quite empty when we arrived although it started filling up with a couple of large groups during our meal. Very nice food - Anne had grilled salmon with mash and brocolli. Les had stir-fry chicken. Quite enough for each of us and as an added bonus we got a 10% discount as we’re staying at the Quality Inn, although it would still have been good value without this.

Back in the hotel room we decided on our route for tomorrow and started packing things to speed up tomorrow’s departure. The hotel seems very full now so breakfast maybe even busier tomorrow. Strangely this evening everybody seems to have rushed to park in the shade. We park outside our window as usual in the full sun, but tomorrow morning our car will be in the shade and all the others will be in the full sun.

The rain has disappeared from tomorrow’s forecast and although it will be in the 30s in Colorado Springs, it will be cooler (20c) in Gunnison.