Image by @scottf on his cellphone at the ER.
What do you do when the love of your life has a broken heart, a real broken heart; a heart that is not working as it should while the two of you have no clue the heart is broken? You drive to the top of a fourteener in Colorado.
Image from our cellphone at Pikes Peak front gate.
On July 27 we made a trip on our "bucket list". We went to Pikes Peak just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a mountain 14,115 feet above sea level (often referred to as a "fourteener") that can be driven to the top. This drive, however, is not for the faint of heart. There are 156 hairpin turns and the road is extremely steep. The road is 19.25 miles from the front gate to the top and is marked by various signs each mile. Driving up the mountain road the air becomes thinner as the trees begin to disappear.
Image of the Life Zones created by @thekittygirl specifically for this post.
Thank you so much girl!!!
Pikes Peak is a very good example of what is called Life Zones. These are regions that are characterized by specific types of plants and animals. Colorado Springs is in the area where there plains grasslands meet the foothill woodlands. As you drive from the city to the front gate of the park you see the piñon and juniper woodlands which eventually turn into subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce. Once a driver reaches 11,500 feet (3,505 meters), the trees disappear and a tundra appears. Here you will see tiny purple flowers, moss, and pink granite with crystals. It is at this level of elevation the drive seemed to become rather difficult for myself. There was something so intimidating about driving upward with thousands of feet down below on the passenger side. It was also here we saw mountains goats and marmots frolicking along the roadside.
Image by ourselves on the cellphone at Pikes Peak.
Once we arrived at the top of Pikes Peak (the Nival Zone) we took the obligatory sign photo and then went into the Pikes Peak Summit House. Here we found the postcards we would mail out to the GrandGeorges, stickers for me to adorn my laptop, and other touristy items that would help us remember the marking off of this bucket list location. The best part of being on this fourteener is the view. Not only could we enjoy the vast landscape below, but we were able to experience being within a cloud. As we stood along the edge of this mountain, we were watching clouds from below swirling around us to pass over this massive mound of pink granite. It was exhilarating.
Image by ourselves on the cellphone at the top of Pike's Peak.
At the summit there are two buildings: the weather station, built by the U.S. Army in 1874, and the Summit House, built in 1963. In 1888 the U.S. Army left the weather station on top of the mountain enabling the mayor of Manitou Springs to begin to sell coffee and these amazing donuts to the visitors in this very building. This is still something that happens today and the recipe is top secret, but because of the altitude, they can only be eaten at the 14,115 elevation because they flatten when taken down the mountain. I can honestly say, this was one of the main reasons I drove up the mountain. The donut was totally worth the tears when reaching the top.
Taking a selfie of me and the best donut in the world.
Many people suffer from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS or Altitude Sickness) when they visit Pikes Peak. Symptoms of headache, nausea, fatigue, and reduced cognitive abilities can start at 8,000 feet. The day before, while we were packing up our campsite at John Martin Reservoir State Park, Scott started to feel unwell with blurred vision and fatigue. The next day, before our visit to the park he experienced a few more issues, but not until we reached the top of the peak did he experience major issues. His breathing was getting difficult and he was not feeling well at all. We were extremely concerned and waited to see if he would feel better before we had to drive down.
This road has is extremely steep and mostly no safety rails.
One of the concerns we began to have was getting down the fourteener mountain. My reaction upon reaching the top was panic, fear, and relief. This extremely steep drive up without many safety rails was very stressful for me and the relief of making it alive came out in the way of tears. Therefore, I was not sure I wanted to do the drive downward. To put simply, if I had to make the drive downward it was not going to happen to cause us to possibly live there permanently. Since this wasn't possible, we needed to figure out how we would get down safely.
Hopefully, watching the above video, even though the driving is a bit more extreme than we were going to be doing, it gives you the idea of how dangerous traversing this road can be. One of the issues I have is I do not like the feeling of roller coaster rides and the 156 hairpin turns tend to cause the same feeling as a coaster; going down would even be more so. I was terrified and could not make myself drive down Pikes Peak. Scott was sure he could handle the drive knowing it was just Altitude Sickness, but we were both still nervous that things could go wrong quickly.
It is not uncommon for snow to be in the upper elevations of Pikes Peak, even in the middle of summer.
Scott decided he needed to be down further on the mountain, so he took the challenge of driving down. Unfortunately, I am not the best passenger and I grimaced, whined, and hung on for dear life while Scott smiled wildly with total excitement. I was able to look out at the views and take a few photos. One of the photos I was able to snap was the snow left behind just above the tree line. We were thrilled and amazed to see snow in July. For us the summer months are hot and miserable, so the cooler temperatures here were a much welcome change.
Here you can see the same patch of snow at the halfway point of the drive.
We stopped at a picnic area half-way down the mountain and enjoyed a nice lunch while discussing the amazing experience we had just lived through. He was ready to go back up while I was ready to get down to the flat land. Needless to say, Scott felt better at the 8,000 feet we were now enjoying. Soon we would be in downtown Colorado Springs visiting America the Beautiful Park then to Garden of the Gods. We had time to kill waiting for the AirB&B host to contact us about our lodgings for that night.
Selfie and image taken by us at Garden of the Gods.
After crossing fourteen counties in three states in just twelve hours, we arrived home. We had to unpack the car quickly and head to our bed as soon as possible because Scott would be heading back to work the next day. It was a wonderful journey, but little did we know there would be more "adventure" to come. However, the next two weeks would be some of the hardest weeks we have had to live through in a very, very long time.
Selfie by Scott.
Thank you so much for reading our post today. We will be posting part two next week so keep an eye out for part two of When A Heart is Broken.
This is one first class travel publication, once I started reading it, I couldn't stop; that trip is amazing. And the video compliments it extremely well also.
Welcome back Ren & Scott!!!
Thank you so very much. It was an amazing trip. I loved the mountains and so did Scott. It was our first fourteener and hoping it isn't our last. Thank you so much for reading the post.
Ren
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I love that you made the move to hive! Always loved sharing our adventures with you.
OMG, that sounds like an absolutely amazing experience! NO GUARD RAILS on most of the road was the biggest surprise for me. There are plenty of roads around here that have that many curves, but not at those elevations, and we have guard rails most places! 😮 The views off that mountain are amazing!!! So glad you wrote of this experience! 💜
That was one of the things that blew my mind. To be that high and there were few safety rails, it was so scary! But we did it!
Ok it’s Sssooooooo good to have you back !and I forgot that your writing is addictive. On that trip ok I would for sure have shorted my pants! Hahahah I am glad the trip was great but we also know what happens after.
Talk soon and keep writing
Well thank you sooooooo much. It felt really good to have you at the edge of your seat. So happy to be back.
Ren
@xcountrytravelers, the travellers, will always travel. I like that. I wish I could travel with them some day.
That's the thing, travel doesn't have to be to major places; go to the place near you that you know are amazing but haven't had time to go to. There are many times we travel right here in the same county we live in. It isn't the distance the adventure is, it's the fact that you adventure!
Thanks for taking the time to read the post and comment. It is wonderful to have you with us.
Rwn
I had to cover my face to watch that video
I would be just like you - up and down - totally freaking out
Ok, I am nervous about your next post
But I am really hoping it is storytelling purpose
I hope both of you are well <33
The post was getting so long I felt this would be a good stopping place, but, yes, it becomes pretty intense from there.
The trip was amazing and I really wish I could get the strong emotions from the drive across. The video did that well.
Beautiful pictures and wonderful story cant wait to read the rest.Hope all is well after seeing the last picture you will be in my prayers even more.. Take care and thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much Mama. It was an amazing trip. Without giving away too much, we are safe.
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #955.
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Hoping all is well, will be reading part 2. A real cliff hanger ;)
I visited these places back in 89 when I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver. Garden of the Gods is amazing place. Colorado in general is just amazing. Loved the read. Stay well peeps 🙂
We loved it there and I hope to work there next spring. Thank you so much for reading the post.
be cool to work there. Will keep my eyes peeled for more posts from that area. You take care for now though
congratulations! As of now, I do not even know how to drive. But that is one of the things I wanted to learn by the end of the year.
Oh, hurray! I love driving and you will too.
i hope I will. I won't be trying your adventures for the meantime though.
Awesome adventure you too enjoyed. Sort of like the calm before the storm. You will have those photos and memories to document your journey.