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On the way up to the main mountain, the road took us by a small reservoir/lake. The water was so clear and clean we could see far into the water depths and see the fish. Here is a picture of me beside the lake. You can see the Pikes Peak mountain range in the background.
The 12000 foot level is called the "timberline" or "treeline" and no trees generally grow above that elevation due to the thinness of the atmosphere and the colder temperatures. As you can see in this picture, there are still some traces of snow here and it is summer. This place would not be very comfortable in the winter. In fact it is dangerous and they close much of the park and the main road leading up to the peak during the winter.
The temperature dropped very fast as we drove up the mountain. When we started up the mountain road, at the bottom of the mountain, the temperature was 85F. At the top of the mountain, the temperature had dropped to 45F (at 3PM in the afternoon). And it was windy. Here is a picture looking down on the winding road as we were on the way up.
There were several places to pull over on the way up (overlooks). Here is one of the overlooks when we were getting close to the top.
At the peak of the mountain, there is a small shop for drinks and food and souveniers. The atmosphere was so thin at 14,100 feet that it was very hard to breathe sometimes. Even when we didn't really do much physical activity, I was breathing hard. But it was worth the trip for sure. Here is a picture of me at the sign at the summit.
They have a train called the COG Train that takes passengers to the top also. I am glad we drove to the top instead of riding the train, beacuse we enjoyed stopping at the overlooks and getting more pictures. Here is a picture of the train as it was arriving at the summit.
Pikes Peak is part of the Rocky Mountains range. And of course the upper mountains are very rocky once you get past the timberline. Here is a sign that was posted at the top of the mountain proclaiming the Rocky Mountains to be the longest mountain chain in the world.
These pictures can't really tell the whole story, but at least you can get some idea of how awesome the view was from these pics. Here are a few more various pics.
At the base of the mountain, ther are many birch trees growing. These trees are unusual since they have a white/grey bark. here's a picture of a few of them.
