Pikes Peak

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You see my really groovy mountain bike in the above photo? Well, don't look at that. See the rock formation behind it? That's Garden of the Gods, which I'll be getting to soon, but don't look at that, either. At the top of the picture, on the right, is Pikes Peak, often referred to around these parts as "America's Mountain." Thought to be 1.05 billion years old, Pikes Peak is located 12 miles west of Colorado Springs (although Manitou Springs, where I live, sits at the foot of the mountain.) The National Historic Landmark is one of Colorado's 53 "fourteener's," which are mountains that are at least 14,000 feet in elevation (at 14,115 feet, Pikes Peak is the 30th highest in the state.) Although he failed to summit, Zebulon Pike was the first American to discover the mountain in 1806 (it is thought that Spanish explorer's saw Pikes Peak first, way back in the 1700's.) Young scientist Edwin James is credited with the first summit (1820,) while Julia Archibald Holmes was the first woman to make it to the top, in 1858. Inspired by the view from the summit, Katherine Lee Bates wrote the song "America the Beautiful" in 1893. The mountain has hosted the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb auto race since 1916, and also the yearly Pikes Peak Ascent (in which crazy people run to the top,) and Pikes Peak Marathon (up and back.) Bates' song is sung before the start of both footraces (I know this because both the Ascent and the Marathon literally start on the street right in front of our apartment door!) A ski area existed on Pikes Peak for roughly 50 years (I skied there once in the 80's, and was not impressed, so I wasn't surprised when it folded the following year.) At present, a hiking and mountain biking trail called "Ring the Peak," which will circumnavigate the mountain, is nearing completion. You can reach the summit by car on the Pikes Peak Highway, by train via the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, which starts here in Manitou, or by hiking up Barr Trail (which also originates in Manitou.) Pretty cool, huh? Now you can look at my bike! (Photo by me) (Info verified by Wikipedia)