7th Stop - Pikes Peak & Colorado Springs

On Friday, we decided to head out and conquer another 14-er.....Pike's Peak because this 14-er is one of only 2 that you can drive up to the top.  Pike's Peak is located just outside of Colorado Springs (about and hour & a half south of Denver).  Mackenzie got a nice nap on the way down and we stopped to eat in Colorado Springs before conquering the mountain.

Once we got to Pike's Peak - we paid the entrance fee and were off..... noticing  that there was sign saying 'Please No Babies Under 4 Months'.   We asked the attendant why & he said because the lack of oxygen is hard on babies that young.  Interesting!  It also said to turn off AC in your car....I guess climbing the hill is hard on cars so they don't want to waste any energy on the AC.  Maybe this drive would be more precarious than we originally thought!  Good thing it would be cooler as we ascended....no need for AC!  It was supposed to be 55 degrees at the peak!

Then, up the mountain we went.  And precarious it was.  STEEP in fact.  I must admit I was a little nervous looking down the cliff as we drove along.  19 miles to the top.  The part that bothered me was at two points (one being at the very 

top....last couple miles) the road was a gravel road!  I felt like we might skid off the mountain as we rounded each tight corner.  Slowly but surely we progressed and about an hour later, we made it to the top (you can only go about 20 mph!).  Mackenzie was not worried....she slept the whole way to the top :)

And what a view it was!  It's crazy to be that high up (and not in a plane!).  I didn't notice the lack of oxygen immediately, but after being up there for about an hour, I felt a little headache coming on due to altitude sickness/lack of oxygen.  So, we grabbed some souvenirs and water (helps with the altitude) and we headed back down the mountain.  I found the way down far less scary

 (though my mom thought it was about the same!).  

We headed back to Denver for a nice dinner & then back to Aunt Natalie's for our final night of the visit :(  Home was calling us back.