Out of Breath

I was contemplating driving to the top of Pike's Peak today.  Then I read about a Cog Railroad and thought, aha, why not save my nerves and my car.  The AAA book said you had to have reservations, so I called to see if they had an opening.  Well it isn't tourist season so there were plenty of seats available.  I rushed over because there wasn't much time before the train was leaving, but of course I was early.  The train is very modern and quite smooth considering it's a cog rail.  There was plenty to see on the way up and you try to acclimate to the altitude slowly but there is no way you can be ready for 14,000 feet.  When I got off the train and started to walk it was like someone had sucked all the air out of my lungs.  I found it hard to breath and it took me a while to even be able to talk.  I would say something and it came out as a whisper.  I know a lot of you would have enjoyed hearing that.  It was slightly overcast but you could see for so many miles all around.  It was magnificent.  Pictures that a non-professional takes don't do it justice.

The next place I visited was more of a giggle.  It was a Victorian House that had been owned by a priest and his mother.  It is called Miramont Castle.  It is made of hand quarried greenstone, which is very rare and it is built into a hillside.  It is just wonderful to walk through, the Historical Society has done a fantastic job restoring it to its former glory.  There are 16 rooms to be viewed, the basement has been turned into a memorial to fire fighters and all things fire fighting related.  I loved the kitchen and bathroom best.  The other rooms were decorated rooms.  But it is always fun to see the products that were used to cook with and on what equipment.

My last foray was to find the Seven Falls.  These are supposed to be spectacular and I suppose they are when the winter snows are melting.  But either they had very little snow or it melted early or both.  The falls just weren't that spectacular.  I don't mean that they were a complete dud but they didn't take my breath away.  There were really seven steps to the falls and that was interesting.I had never seen that sort of falls before.  You do meet some strange people off season at some of these places.  One man spoke so loudly that I thought he was deaf but his girl friend spoke to him quite softly and he heard her and she could hear other people at normal volumes.  They were very friendly and had a cute dachshund.

I then hit the road for Denver.