{"id":950,"date":"2024-05-03T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hernandi.com\/blog2\/?p=950"},"modified":"2024-05-21T07:45:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:45:25","slug":"colorado-2024-part-2-pikes-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hernandi.com\/blog2\/colorado-2024-part-2-pikes-peak\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado 2024, Part 2: Pikes Peak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I love mountains. I love driving through mountains. Pikes Peak is a famous mountain. Mmmmm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pikes Peak is famous for a race to summit that’s been held almost continuously since 1916. The winning time was just under 21 minutes, when none of the road was paved. Paved sections were introduced in 2002, and the last record set when there any dirt sections at all was a little over 11 minutes. Today, the road is paved all the way to the top, and the modern record is just under 8 minutes in an all electric full race vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no illusions about racing Pikes Peak, but part of my motivation for driving it was the race. I wanted to drive the same roads as those factory backed professional drivers, and get a feel for what it might look like at ‘ludicrous’ speeds. I was not disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other motivation to driving it was a text joke, from my brother Mark, when I remarked to him “I can see Pike’s Peak from here!”. Here, being about an hour away when I first spotted it from the highway. He suggested I drive it, and I thought, “Why not?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pike’s Peak, at 14,115′, is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. It is also one of 54 mountains in Colorado that rises to over 14,000′ above sea level. Furthermore, it’s classified as “ultra-prominent”, meaning it rises very high compared to its surroundings, especially the next closest mountain. I did not know this until I drove to Colorado this trip. When I drove there last year, the cloud cover obscured both the Front Range and the Rocky’s just behind(west) of that range. But on this trip, I could see for quite some distance driving towards Denver from I-70. About an hour away, I spied this peak in the southwest that was distinctly separated from the Rocky’s in front of me. Here is what I saw. Bear in mind this was more than an hour away(click to see larger image):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pike’s Peak from more than 60 miles away<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I asked Aria if she would like to drive it, and she agreed. She brought her little Polaroid camera, and I brought my DSLR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a beautiful drive, full of twists and turns and magnificent views. With Aria riding shotgun, she was able to take lots of pictures and video while I concentrated on not driving over the guardrail-less cliffs. Unfortunately, the wind and snow conditions at the peak were so bad that the last two miles were closed on that particular day. Nevertheless, we were able to park the Mustang and spend a few minutes outside. Here is a video of our ascent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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