We 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.

Pikes Peak Summit observation deck.

Beyond the monument was the incredible view I was expecting. The photos above and below look to the southeast at the peaks on the eastern edge of the Pike National Forest.

The camera doesn't do justice to what your eyes are seeing in person. The distances involved play with your mind and skew your perception of size. Before me at that moment were numerous large mountains peaks, some as high as 12,600 feet. And I was looking down on all of them !

I started zooming in on various places. The photos below look toward a rock formation on the side of Pikes Peak.

Zooming in on a rock peak on the eastern side of Pikes Peak.

Zooming in on a rock peak on the eastern side of Pikes Peak.

Two-picture panorama of the mountains to the southeast of the summit.

Almagre Mountain (12,367 feet).

Zooming in on the side of Almagre Mountain (12,367 feet).

Lake Moraine sits to the southeast.

Zooming in on Lake Moraine.

Zooming in on Lake Moraine.

Mason Reservoir also sits to the southeast not far from Lake Moraine.

Zooming in on the Mason Reservoir with the McReynolds Reservoir in the background on the left side of the photo.

I believe the body of water seen in the photo above is the Rampart Reservoir which sits to the northeast of the summit. The prominent peak on the left side of the photo is Mount Herman (9,063 feet).

I spotted a few people playing on the rocks in front of the observation deck.

Actually, I saw numerous people wandering all over the place. I didn't see an area that was designated as "off-limits," which makes sense given that this is a mountain summit. One of the main purposes of being here is to climb on top of stuff.

The whole area is completely accessible to anyone with a little bit of coordination and enough energy.

The observation deck on which we were standing was built on top of the remains of the original Summit House from 1873.

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.

The original Summit House served as a train station for the Cog Railway and as a visitor center where tourists could eat and buy souvenirs.

An elevated observation deck was built in 1900 on building's roof which offered tourists an unobstructed 360-degree view. The facility continued to be enlarged and upgraded through the early 20th century as tourism grew.

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 city of Colorado Springs can be seen in the distance.

Zooming in on Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs near the university.

We came down from the observation deck to check out the area around the train tracks near the Summit House. The second of two "Summit" signs sits next to the summit house near the end of the tracks.

Like the other summit sign, this is also a popular place for tourists to gather to take turns taking pics of each other.

A lady asked me to take a picture of her family at the sign, then returned the favor for us.

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."

I'm looking northeast from the end of the Cog Railway tracks. The monument in the photo is for General Zebulon Pike, the mountain's namesake.

Monument for General Zebulon Pike.

The monument was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Pike Expedition that first documented the mountain in 1806.

Zebulon Pike monument.

The above photo looks northwest beyond the Pike monument toward the Bottomless Pit and Devil's Playground. The Pikes Peak Highway is visible in the upper right corner of the photo.

I spent some time zooming in on the various rock formations.

The cage full of rocks stands at the end of the Cog Railway tracks.

Pikes Peak Summit at the end of the Cog Railway.

The North and South Catamount Reservoirs.

The Crystal Creek Reservoir near where this journey began. The Pikes Peak Highway can be seen crossing over the end of the reservoir. US Route 24 can be seen in the background.