November 22: On top of the world . . .
Read MoreWe got out of the car and started walking toward a crowd near the Summit House. Two large signs mark the 14,115-foot elevation, with the one in the photo above located on the western side of the Summit House next to the parking area. This is a popular photo op location for obvious reasons. The view in the photo below looks north.
Visitors to the Pikes Peak Summit can take advantage of several features and activities. The Summit House has restrooms, a gift shop, and a cafeteria. An outdoor observation deck sits next to the Summit House and offers amazing views for the picture-taker. Those with a lot of energy have an unlimited supply of rocks on which to play. We decided to check out the view first and headed to the observation deck on the eastern side of the summit. Visitors are greeted by a monument known as "America the Beautiful."
Katharine Lee Bates, a poet and educator from Massachusetts, arrived in Colorado Springs during the summer of 1893 after a cross-country train ride. She visited the summit at Pikes Peak and was overcome with emotion by what she saw. She documented her Pikes Peak experience and combined it with numerous highlights from her train trip in the form of a poem that would eventually become one of the most popular patriotic songs - "America the Beautiful." The monument details the places and events from her trip that inspired the references in the song. For example, the line, "For purple mountain majesties," is a reference to Pikes Peak when viewed from Colorado Springs.
The original Summit House building started out life as a "signal station" built by the army in 1873 for the purpose of weather research. The building was enlarged and renovated a few times until 1888 when the army closed the station and the building was abandoned. Once the Cog Railway was completed in 1891, the unused building was enlarged and repurposed into a tourist attraction.
A second building, the Summit Auto House, so named to distinguish it from the Cog Railway Summit House, was built in 1917 to accommodate the increasing number of visitors arriving by car. Like the original Summit House, this facility was also expanded and upgraded as necessary, (including the addition of a second floor in 1951). Tragedy struck in 1953 when a fire caused by a malfunctioning oil furnace destroyed the Summit Auto House. After some debate, a new Summit House was built in 1963, (the current building seen in the photo above), that replaced both buildings.
With Pikes Peak being the highest point in this region, it's no surprise that you can see for miles in any direction, especially to the very flat east. A small observation platform with a couple of telescopes sits just beyond the train tracks for those visitors wanting to check out the view or zoom in on something specific.
The summit sign is located above the end of the tracks for the Cog Railway, which was closed for the season during our visit. The railway uses standard gauge track with 4 ft 8 ½ in spacing between the outside rails. The center rails with teeth mesh with a toothed wheel on the locomotive that allows the train to climb steep inclines, which is definitely the case here. The average grade of the 9-mile trip is 12% with a maximum of 24% in spots ! From what I read, this is the highest railway in North America.
I also discovered while doing research for this write-up that the Cog Railway, which was closed during our visit, will not be reopening anytime soon. The railway was closed so maintenance could be performed during the winter, during which time several issues with the integrity of the line were discovered. According to the company website, the railway will remained closed, "for the foreseeable future."