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Southwest USA 2001
Colorado
(Page 2 of 6)
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Pike's Peak
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In the USA, they love
building roads up to the tops of mountains, and Colorado is no
exception.
We drove up to the top of Pike's Peak, near
Colorado Springs. The road ascends from an elevation of 7600 feet to
the top of Pike's Peak at 13,665 feet, an elevation gain of 6065
feet (more than a vertical mile) over a distance of 19 miles!
This is part way up, looking up towards the top,
which is the rightmost peak visible here.
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There are many switchbacks along the road, as it twists
and turns up the mountain.
When you come down, you must stop half way down and
have your brakes checked. If they're too hot, they won't let you
continue until they cool down.
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The road ascends at a
constant grade of 9%, which is fairly steep.
This is near the top, well above treeline.
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One of the many
spectacular views along the way. I couldn't look at much of
the scenery - I was concentrating on staying on the narrow road. |
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There are no guardrails
anywhere along the road. Often there's a scary drop off over the
edge of 1000-2000 feet or more.
The speed limit is 20 or 25 mph. But having a
speed limit is almost redundant - I certainly had no urge to go any
faster, either up or down. The edge was too close.
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There is a cog railway up
to the top. That would be quite a trip.
The mist that you see in the near distance is
actually snow - it snowed while we were up here. |
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Another log view from the
top.
It's too far away to make out in the photo, but
from the top you can see Colorado Springs in the far distant plain
below, about 1 1/2 vertical miles below.
Quite a drive! A real white-knuckle ride, but we
would do it again!
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