Pike's Peak or Bust 6/15/2010

This morning we had reservations at 8:00 am on the Cog Railway to ride to the top of Pike's peak so we were off early as we had to be there at 7:30. We got our tickets and got on the train about 7:40 and we were off at 8 sharp. What a WONDERFUL ride we had to the top of the mountain. The track of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway is 8.9 miles long. The round trip lasts 3 hours and 10 minutes. The first third of our trip is along Ruxton Creek in Englemann Canyon. Here the steep track follows a cascading stream through dense stands of Englemann spruce, Colorado blue spruce as well as Ponderosa pine trees. The track is built next to the stream and there are boulder fields on both sides of the train. Conductors like to point out the various "faces" and shapes which, with a bit of imagination, can be seen in the giant boulders. Right near the Minnehaha switch (where the down coming trains pass the up going train on many trips) is Minnehaha Falls. On the way up we passed a house where Darryl lived. He took care of the water system for Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. The snow melt off every year melts and comes down the mountain in streams and into reservoirs and then goes to purifying plants and then to the 2 cities and Darryl is the man who watches over the whole system. He lives maybe a mile and a half up the mountain and as you get close to the top you can see his driveway out to civilization.
The middle third of the trip is on a gentler grade. Right below the old settlement of Ruxton Park, the train passes through what is known as "Hell Gate", a natural gateway in the mountains. After a few more minutes, the train passes through Deer Park, where passengers sometimes catch a glimpse of mule deer grazing. Then we passed over the Four Mile Siding and get our first glimpse of Pikes Peak! Another siding comes up, Mountain View, which is the half-way point on the journey. At about the 5 mile point, the grade steepens again. Now we begin climbing in earnest. Lake Moraine and Mount Almagre dominate the views here. Many of the trees in this area are bristlecone pine, some of the oldest living things on earth! It is estimated that some trees on Pikes Peak are over 2000 years old.
Once we climb above timberline, the views become more expansive. Timberline is the area where trees stop growing. They cannot get enough moisture because, just under the surface, there is permafrost: the ground remains frozen year-round. What does grow is Alpine tundra; a mixture of mosses, grasses and wildflowers which have all adapted to the extremely short growing season. Here passengers frequently see Bighorn sheep and yellow-bellied marmots. Pikes Peak is home to one of the largest herds of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Colorado. The yellow-bellied marmot is the most populous animal on Pikes Peak. These playful creatures sun themselves on rocks and are noted for their piercing whistle which alerts others of danger (they are also called whistling marmots). They hibernate during the winters. The last 3 miles are all above timberline. To the east stretch the Great Plains out beyond the border of Colorado and Kansas. To the south, the Sangre de Christo (Blood of Christ) Range stretches south to New Mexico. On the western horizon, just slightly to the southwest, lies the Collegiate Range. To the southwest at the base of Pikes Peak, sit the old mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor. Once upon the summit, if the weather is clear (and there's not much Denver smog), you can see the skyscrapers of downtown Denver. When we arrived at the summit we both experienced dizziness, me more than Mom, so we bought a lot of water and sat down and drank it along with having one of the famous Pike's peak donuts. They say you can't go to Pike's Peak and not have a donut, so we did and they were good. By the time we rested and drank we were feeling better so we went outside in the snow as it had snowed quite a bit the night before and walked around. We actually went to the historic where we had a virtual cache and did that then walked all around taking pictures of the breath taking views.

The historic marker was concerning "America the Beautiful" which of course is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward. Bates originally wrote the words as a poem, Pikes Peak, first published in the July 4th edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. The poem was titled America for publication. Ward had originally written the music, Materna, for the 1600s hymn O Mother dear, Jerusalem in 1882. Ward's music combined with the Bates poem was first published in 1910 and titled America the Beautiful. The song is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs.
In 1895, at the age of thirty-three, Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a short summer school session at Colorado College. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its alabaster buildings; the wheat fields of America's heartland Kansas, through which her train was riding on July 16; and the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Zebulon's Pikes Peak.
On the pinnacle of that mountain, the words of the poem started to come to her, and she wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room at the original Antlers Hotel. The poem was initially published two years later in The Congregationalist, to commemorate the Fourth of July. It quickly caught the public's fancy. Amended versions were published in 1904 and 1913.
Several existing pieces of music were adapted to the poem. A hymn tune composed by Samuel A. Ward was generally considered the best music as early as 1910 and is still the popular tune today. Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward too was inspired to compose his tune. The tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in New York City, after a leisurely summer day in 1882, and he immediately wrote it down. He was so anxious to capture the tune in his head, he asked fellow passenger friend Harry Martin for his shirt cuff to write the tune on, thus perhaps the off the cuff analogy. He composed the tune for the old hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem", retitling the work "Materna". Ward's music combined with Bates' poem were first published together in 1910 and titled, America the Beautiful.
Ward died in 1903, not knowing the national stature his music would attain, as the music was only first applied to the song in 1904. Miss Bates was more fortunate, as the song's popularity was well-established by her death in 1929.


Pikes Peak is named for Zebulon Pike, an early explorer of the Southwest. Lieutenant (later General) Pike first sighted what he termed the "Great Peak" in mid-November of 1806. A few days later, he attempted to climb it with a small band of men. Heavy snows in the 10,000 foot area turned his party back. He estimated the mountain's height at over 18,000 feet (he was only 4000 feet off!) and is said to have claimed that it might never be climbed. However, a botanist who climbed many peaks in Colorado, Edwin James, did ascend the mountain in 1820. By the mid-1800's, a trail was well established to the top, and the first woman, Julia Holmes, climbed the peak in 1858.
However, long before Pike explored the area, the Ute Indians paused at the foot of the mountain as they traveled from their summer campgrounds to the winter hunting grounds. Most likely, they scaled Pikes Peak to place eagle traps on its summit, a common practice used on high peaks in order to obtain ceremonial feathers. The Spanish were well aware of the mountain through numerous expeditions, especially that of Juan De Anza, who explored the region in 1779. Trappers had also been working the territory which was rich with beaver, deer, elk, bear, buffalo, bighorn sheep and mountain lions around the same time.
Pike's Peak proximity to the edge of the Great Plains and its height made it the first sight of wagon trains searching for new fortunes and beginnings in the American West, leading to the expression in the late 1850's of "Pikes Peak or Bust".
Pikes Peak quickly became popular, and many people over the years found ways to travel to its summit. The U.S. Signal Service (an early Weather Bureau) built a telegraph station on the summit in 1873 to monitor the weather, and a guard was posted in Manitou at the beginning of the trail to collect a toll for hiking to the summit. On May 25, 1876, an interesting hoax was perpetrated by one of the soldiers and his wife who lived at the summit house when they claimed that their baby daughter had been eaten by giant rats! (Sgt. John O'Keefe had a vivid imagination- earlier he had claimed that Pikes Peak was erupting.)
The founder of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway was a Mr. Zalmon Simmons, owner of the Simmons Mattress Company and also quite an inventor. Mr. Simmons had patented a new insulator for the telegraph wires which were in use up to the signal station. In the late 1880's, Mr. Simmons rode a mule to the top of Pikes Peak to inspect his creations. He was awed by the incredible views, but was worn out and saddle-weary by the arduous trip. Legend has it that as he sat soaking in one of the mineral spring spas (reportedly at the Cliff House in Manitou), the proprietor of the hotel mentioned to him the idea of a mountain railroad to the summit. Mr. Simmons was taken with the idea, and soon set about organizing a company to build this scenic railroad.
In 1889, a carriage road was opened from Cascade, Colorado to the top. Horses brought passengers about half way, and then mules (noted for their hardiness at altitude) finished the journey. The opening of the Cog Railway, however, forced the carriage road into disuse until 1915, when Spencer Penrose, local entrepreneur and builder of the Broadmoor Hotel, enlarged and improved the roadbed for automobile travel. To promote his highway around the world, he began in 1917 the "Pikes Peak Hill Climb", the second oldest auto race in America. Mr. Penrose eventually purchased the Cog Railway in the 1920's, reportedly to obtain the parking and summit house for auto travelers on the highway.
Another local entrepreneur decided that the back of a burro was the best way to see the Peak (as opposed to Mr. Simmons), and from 1914 until 1917, Fred Barr built the trail that now bears his name. Mr. Barr operated a burro concession from the upper terminal of the now-defunct Mount Manitou Incline Railway. Hearty souls would ride to a group of cabins (Barr Camp) and spend the night there. Early the next morning, they would ride the burros to the summit and return back to Manitou. The trail was later extended to reach all the way back to Manitou Springs. Strong hikers today can make the 13 mile trip along the beautiful, but very steep, Barr Trail. About halfway along the way is Barr Camp, where intrepid hikers can get a meal or a bunk for the night (reservations are usually needed). Pikes Peak IS NOT the highest mountain in Colorado. It is 31st out of the 54 mountains in the state over 14,000 feet, the highest being Mt. Elbert at 14,433 feet. When traveling up Pikes Peak (or any mountain) ascending 1000 feet is like traveling 600 miles to the north. The temperature drops about 3.5 degrees, and different life zones are experienced. So, in general, the top of the Peak is 30 degrees colder than at the station in Manitou.
When traveling up Pikes Peak (or any mountain) ascending 1000 feet is like traveling 600 miles to the north. The temperature drops about 3.5 degrees, and different life zones are experienced. So, in general, the top of the Peak is 30 degrees colder than at the station in Manitou. See: Current Weather
Plant and animal life is extensive and varied on Pikes Peak. The mountain encompasses four of the eight distinct life zones that exist in Colorado.
Before you reach the Railway, you are in the Eastern Plains Zone (up to 6,000 feet) which is comprised of wildflowers and grassland and is home to many small animals like prairie dogs and rabbits.
The depot is located at 6,571 feet. The Foothills Zone (6,000 to 8,000 feet) is composed of small bushes and trees such as scrub oak, juniper, sagebrush and pinion pine and is inhabited by raccoons, skunks, various squirrels, deer and an occasional bear and mountain lion.
The Montane Zone (8,000 to 10,000 feet) has various wildflowers and small shrubs, but large forests of pines and Douglas fir, as well as the colorful aspen tree, are predominant. Deer, elk, bear and mountain lions can all be found at this attitude.
The Subalpine Zone (10,000 to 11,500 feet) is less hospitable. Englemann spruce, Douglas fir and bristlecone pine comprise the area’s dense forests. It is estimated that some bristlecone pine trees on Pikes Peak are over 2000 years old.
In the Alpine Zone (11,500 feet and above), tundra composed of tiny flowers, mosses and lichen eke out a cold existence in the short growing season.


Fred Barr built the trail bearing his name during the years of 1914-1918. Built as a trail for burro rides to the summit, it began at the top of the incline, a funicular rail that took tourists up one mile and nearly 2000 ft above the cog railway depot. The lower three miles were built in the 1920's by the Forest Service using CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) workers.
As well as Barr Trail, Mr. Barr built other trails on Pikes Peak. He built Barr Camp 1922-1924 as a halfway overnight stop for the burro trips to the summit and his other burro trails. In addition to the two cabins you will see when you visit Barr Camp, there was a third cabin that burned in the early 1970's and a burro barn.
Fred Barr never owned the land but had sole authorization for his burro concession from the Forest Service. After his death in 1940, the burro concession continued until 1959. The camp was abandoned and suffered vandalism during the time it was vacant. In 1964, the Mennonite Church took over the lease for the camp and worked to rebuild the cabin and grounds. While there were caretakers in the camp during the summer months, the vandalism continued during the time there were no caretakers on-site. After several summers of rebuilding, the Mennonite Community felt it was no longer possible to maintain the camp only during summers. The destruction continued through the late 1970's when the forest service was preparing to raze the buildings.Incline Summit
At this time, a couple of long-time hikers felt they may be able to maintain the camp with year around caretakers on-site and that it could be a oasis for hikers on the mountain. Through hard work and the donations of people over-nighting and eating at the camp, they were able to revive the camp as way-station on Pikes Peak. In the 1990's, Barr Camp became a non-profit organization.
Through the generosity of hikers and several organizations, Barr Camp underwent a major upgrade in 2000 with the addition of a Solar Power System and composting toilets. While these are modern updates, we think you will find Barr Camp to be a place far-removed from the fast-paced life you leave behind when you hike up the trail.
Today Barr Camp hosts day-hikers all but a few days of the year. Overnight guests stay year around, with the summer months busy with visitors from all around the world. Over 25,000 hikers visit the camp annually with 2,500 over night guests.
The main cabin was built in 1922, and is the main gathering place in the camp. The large deck welcomes hikers to take a break, eat a snack and contemplate the rest of the hike. Hikers as well as overnight guests are welcome in the cabin.

They have several running races to the top of Pike's Peak too. The Pikes Peak Ascent® and Pikes Peak Marathon® will redefine what you call running. Sure, they start out like a lot of races on Any Street, USA. But your first left turn will have you turning in the direction of up! During the next 10 miles, as you gain almost 6,000 vertical feet, your legs, lungs, heart and mind will be worn to a ragged nothingness. But it won’t be until your last three miles, with still over 2,000' of vertical to go, that you will realize where the Marathon got its moniker—America’s Ultimate Challenge.
There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000' on Pikes Peak. They can’t! Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury, it might start to snow!
Then, if you are on the deluxe tour, you run back down for the second half of the Marathon. Along the way protruding rocks are waiting to send you crashing to the ground mangling flesh and only temporarily masking the pain of blood filled blisters. Meanwhile, the temperature has often risen by more than 30 degrees since the race start. After all, it’s always best to cook raw meat.
The Pikes Peak Ascent® or ascent portion of the Pikes Peak Marathon® is the 3rd and final leg of the Triple Crown of Running series. The 1st leg is the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run® to be run on June 13, 2010. The 2nd leg is the Summer Roundup Trail Run 12K to be run on July 11, 2010. Series results are based on the cumulative race times for the three events. For those who run both the Ascent and Marathon (the Double) the faster ascent time will be used.
Because of the nature of the run (dirt trails, rock, and other natural obstacles) and the high altitude, the race is considered to be much more difficult than standard 26.2-mile (42-km) marathons. This is attested to by the best times for the round trip being typically just under four hours (versus the regular "flat land" marathon times of just over two hours). Although the average grade of the slope is 11%, some sections are much steeper because the central portion of the race is actually relatively flat. The initial three miles (5 km) are very steep. The central 7 miles (11 km) start as rolling terrain, but become progressively steeper toward the end. The top 3 miles (4.8 km) are above timberline and often require some rock scrambling to reach the summit. Oxygen levels drop progressively as altitude rises, further compounding the uphill ordeal.
Winning race times may differ significantly from year to year, often depending on weather and trail conditions. Some races have been associated with hot, dry conditions, and others have been associated with snow and cold at the top of the peak.
Currently, the race typically attracts hundreds of runners for both the ascent and for the round-trip. The USDA Forest Service limits the number of runners to 1,800 for the ascent and 800 for the marathon, and the race registration typically fills in one or two days.
The history of the race dates to 1956 when three smokers challenged ten non-smokers to compete the over-26-mile race. None of the three smokers completed the course. In 1966 a well-organized marathon was initiated, making the race the third-oldest marathon in the United States.
In 1959, Arlene Pieper became the first woman to enter and complete a marathon in the United States when she finished the Pikes Peak Marathon.
The most successful athletes in the history of the marathon have been Matt Carpenter, outright record holder and winner of the marathon on ten occasions, and Erica Larson, who has won the women's race five times.


Conventional railroads use the friction of wheels upon the rails, called "adhesion", to provide locomotive power. A cog, or rack, railroad uses a gear, "cog wheel", meshing into a special rack rail (mounted in the middle between the outer rails) to climb much steeper grades than those possible with a standard adhesion railroad. An adhesion railroad can only climb grades of 4 to 6%, with very short sections of up to 9%. A "rack" railroad can climb grades of up to 48%, depending upon the type of rack system employed. Some Swiss trains use a combination of "rack" and "adhesion". This enables the trains to reach much higher speeds on the adhesion sections (rack railroads can not go much faster than 25 miles per hour or they run the risk of dislodgement from the rack rail- M & PP Ry.'s top speed is about 9 MPH).
The first cog (or "rack") railway was built in New Hampshire in 1869,
but the Swiss were quick to make use of this technology, and numerous rack railways were built there. Indeed, Switzerland is still the country where most rack railways are located. The Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway is, however, the highest rack railway in the world as well as the highest railway in North America and the Northern Hemisphere. The M&PP Ry. has a perfect safety record.
The Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway uses the Abt rack system. The maximum grades are 25%, which is about the upper limit for the Abt system. Many rack railroads use the Riggenbach system, also called "ladder rack". The steepest cog railway in the world is the Mt. Pilatus Railway in Lucerne, Switzerland. It uses the Locher rack system to climb grades of 48%.
One of the tourists who visited the Pikes Peak region in the late-1880's was Zalmon Simmons, inventor and founder of the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress Company. Mr. Simmons rode to the summit of Pike's Peak on a mule, partly to enjoy the view and partly to check upon one of his inventions: an insulator for the telegraph wires which ran to the Army Signal Station on the summit. The arduous, two day trip on a mule was the only way to reach the top in those days. Mr. Simmons was awed by the scenery but determined that the views should be experienced in a more civilized and comfortable manner. He was relaxing in one of Manitou Springs' mineral baths after his return, when the owner of his Hotel mentioned the idea of a railway to the top. Mr. Simmons agreed with the concept and set about providing the capital needed to fund such a venture.
In 1889, the Manitou & Pike's Peak Railway Company was founded and track construction began in earnest. Top wages were 25 cents per hour. Six workers died in blasting and construction accidents. The Age of Steam predominated the late 1800’s, and from Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, three engines were delivered in 1890. Limited service was initiated in that year to the Halfway House Hotel . These locomotives were eventually converted to operate upon the Vauclain Compound principle, and a total of six were in service during the "steam" era. The original three were named "Pike’s Peak," "Manitou" and "John Hulbert," but they soon were assigned numbers. Of the original six, only #4 is still in operation and along with a restored coach makes infrequent trips short distances up the track.
The spring of 1891 was a snowy one, and the opening of the line was delayed until late June. On the afternoon of June 30th, 1891, the first passenger train, carrying a church choir from Denver, made it to the summit. A scheduled group of dignitaries had been turned back earlier by a rock slide around 12,000 feet. The railway was now operating.
A new era began in the late 1930’s with the introduction of gasoline and diesel powered locomotives. Spencer Penrose, owner of The Broadmoor Hotel, had acquired the Railway in 1925 and efforts were begun to build a compact, self-contained railcar, which could carry fewer passengers during the slow parts of the season. These efforts culminated in No. 7; a gas-powered, 23-passenger unit, which made its first run on June 16, 1938. It is believed that No. 7 is the first rack railcar ever built in the world.
The experiment was a huge success, and within a year of No. 7’s introduction, No. 8, the world’s first diesel-electric cog locomotive, was delivered from the General Electric Company. Coupled with "Streamliner" coaches, No.s 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 formed the backbone of the Railway’s fleet in the period from 1940 through 1965. The coaches could carry 56 passengers in comfort and style, and the diesel locomotives eliminated the time-consuming water stops as well as the back-breaking job of shoveling coal.
The modern age of the Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway began with the requisition of railcars from the Swiss Locomotive Works in Winterthur, Switzerland. In the early 1960’s, as tourism began to increase in Colorado, the Railway needed additional equipment, but the General Electric Company was not interested in the project. Mr. Thayer Tutt, President of the Railway, traveled to Switzerland to arrange for the modern railcar acquisitions.
The first units to arrive from Switzerland were Nos. 14 and 15, which were put into service in 1964. They proved so successful that soon after, the Railway ordered two more nearly identical units, Nos. 16 and 17. These Swiss railcars are self-contained units, powered by two Cummins diesel engines mounted underneath the seating area. As with the GE locomotives, they are diesel-electric. Generators driven by the diesel engines provide the power to traction motors for the ascent. For the descent, the diesel engines are shut down and the traction motors work as generators. The electric power generated is consumed by resistor banks on the roof of the railcars.
Bigger units were needed as tourism continued to grow into the 1970’s. The Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway officials returned to Swiss Locomotive Works in 1974 with a request for a train which could carry over 200 people. The results were the articulated railcars Nos. 18 and 19. These cars resemble the smaller single units but are joined by a bellows in the middle. A key difference is that they are diesel-pneumatic. The braking is done through a pneumatic retardation system, and the diesel engines must idle on the return trip. These first two modern railcars were put into service for the 1976 season; No. 24 was added in 1984 and No. 25 in 1989. As an adjunct to the arrival of the first big Swiss railcars, new switches were installed along the line. Prior to 1976, trains departed the Manitou depot only three times a day in the summer. The equipment needed to transport the number of passengers at the depot was brought down from the shop, loaded up and arrived together at the summit. With the sidings which were added at Minnehaha and Windy Point, trains can run up to eight times per day and pass along the line.

In the early days of the Railway, snow was a huge problem. Most of the snow falls on Pikes Peak in the spring, and the Railway cannot open until the line is cleared. Removal was a lengthy and exhausting task involving little other than muscle power. A steam engine would ram a flat car outfitted with a wedge on its nose into the massive banks of snow that had been loosened by charges of dynamite. The section crew would shovel as much additional snow as possible onto the flat car which would then back down to the nearest available opening. The "gandy dancers" would shovel off the snow, and the whole process would be repeated. From timberline to Windy Point, drifts up to 15 feet are normal, and the job was slow and time consuming. For many years, the line was not fully open until June (for the opening season of 1891, it was not open until June 30th). Even today, it is not uncommon to have an overnight storm completely cover the deep cuts below Windy Point with a new blanket of snow.
n 1953, rotary snowplow No. 21 was constructed in the Railway shops in an attempt to open the line earlier. This early plow, however, met with only limited success. The unit was plagued by mechanical difficulties and subject to easy dislodgment from the rack rail. Much of the time the old wedge plow, powered by diesel locomotive No. 9 or No.11, would be responsible for the lion’s share of the work in opening the line.
The spring of 1973 was one of the worst in the Railway’s history. Snowstorm after snowstorm pummeled Pikes Peak, and the line was open for only two days in May. Even on days of sunshine, winds would blow the huge drifts above timberline and fill in the cuts overnight. The next morning, returning workers would arrive back at timberline to find the previous day’s gains wiped out. Railway management decided that a new plow, using thoroughly modern technology, was needed. The next winter was spent constructing No. 22, the current snowplow. This massive unit, powered by a 500 horse-power, 12-cylinder Cummins diesel engine, today enables the Railway to open after all storms and stay open through the big snowstorms of April, May and early June (April and early May are usually the snowiest months).
If you want to see some fantastic videos of the plow making its way through the 12' high drifts along the cog route go to the following web site. They said the the winds through the Windy Cut can approach 175 miles per hour. http://www.cograilway.com/Pikes%20Peak%20plow%20train%20videos.htm


Well I guess that's about it for our trip on the Pike's Peak Cog Railway and we really wish that someday all of you can take this trip as it was FANTASTIC and so so beautiful. The scenery was lovely as you can see by the pictures and it is still hard to believe we took the trip. After we got back we headed back to the coach to let the puppies out and have lunch and we kind of just hung around as we both had a slight headache from the high altitudes. Well until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick