Day Six: Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs and Pikes Peak

With all of the unexpected changes this week, I wasn’t really sure if I would be able to make it down to Colorado Springs. I had made an attempt earlier in the week, but the shuttle I had tried to book was cancelled, so I had pretty much written this day off as another one spent in Denver. Traveling without a car can be challenging, but sometimes it’s fun to figure things out as they unfold!

However, late in the previous evening, I did manage to find a tour operator who was running a shuttle from Denver - so I booked the trip and decided I would just figure everything else once I got down there.

So, once again, I woke up early and headed over to Union Station (the main transportation hub in Denver) to make my way down.

My first stop of the day was Garden of the Gods. It was one of the top recommendations when I first started doing research for this trip and I’m glad I didn’t skip it. It was a unique park and it reminded me a lot of places I had visited in Utah - the red rock formations, the arches, the hoodoos that graced the park definitely added to the other-worldly feel. This was also one of the few places I went that I felt was truly accessible to everyone. I feel like we should all be able to experience the outdoors and they had a really great ADA compliant trail that circled the park.

One of my favorite features was a rock formation known as the “Kissing Camels” - you can definitely tell whoever named the structures in the parks took some creative liberties, but this one was pretty spot on.

I spent about two hours walking around, which was plenty enough, because my main stop of the day was off in the distance.

Before I continued on, I stopped in Manitou Springs for lunch, and this was one of the more quaint mountain towns that I have visited. It didn’t feel as touristy as some of the other places I had been, and the people I met were so friendly. I went into a pizza place for lunch and immediately struck up a conversation with someone who had just moved there and they were telling me how much they loved it. I then went into a plant shop because they advertised that they had a cat inside, so of course I went in to check it out - and I ended up having another very lovely conversation with the shop owner who had previously lived in Florida before making the move there. I don’t know if this was the universe subtlety telling me that I need to move to Colorado, but it did make me realize that maybe I do belong someplace in the mountains.

After lunch, I made my way to Pikes Peak - at 14,107’ in elevation, it’s the 39th highest peak and one of three major 14ers within driving distance of Denver. It was a very picturesque summit with 360º views where you could see downtown Denver, Kansas and the continental divide. I’m glad I went on a clear day. The drive to the top was a bit nerve wrecking - there are no guard rails and there are 159 turns as you zig zag your way up the mountain. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of time left to explore - so I did manage to get in a little hike near the summit. I had been acclimating all week, so the altitude wasn’t much of an issue, but you could tell that a lot of people who had come up on the train were having issues. What I loved about this was that there were snowy trails, but the sun is so direct that you felt much warmer. It made for a nice few hours before I made my way back down.

Overall, this trip wasn’t what I would call strenuous or as adventurous as my previous trip to Nepal, but it was a very laid back, relaxing trip that allowed me to explore some unique parts of a state that I had spent very little time in.

Since this was my last full day in Colorado, I spent the evening in downtown - originally I was supposed to be at a concert this evening (see my previous post) but thanks to reddit, several of us who had flown in for the concert had organized a meetup at one of the Irish pubs downtown, so we gathered for dinner, hung out and talked and maybe sang a few songs. It was a great way to connect with a community and make some new friends.

Colorado, you were a vibe - I’m already looking forward to my next trip here. Thanks for everything.