Hiking Down Barr Trail

After our wonderful train ride to the top of Pike's Peak, we needed to get down. The views from over 14,000 feet were stunning. I am totally in love with the mountains and would move there in a heartbeat.

We were 2 young gals, both fairly reasonably in shape & all, running marathons. We thought a 13 mile hike downhill wouldn't be too big of a deal. We grabbed a greasy burger, stocked up on water & trail snacks and started our descent down the Barr Trail.

The first few miles consisted of lots of rocks and many switchbacks to get down the steep slope. Every time we turned around though, we had another amazing view.

Oh- and it was about 35 degrees and pretty windy on the top of hate mountain. When the sun would come out, I'd start sweating. When clouds cam rolling by, my hands would get cold.

I loved looking at the trail below us- seeing where we would be hiking shortly.

This is a picture of the actual slope near the top- it was pretty steep!

This area is known as the Bottomless Pit and the sheer drop-off is impressive.

All the rock formations were just so interesting to look at. So many rocks, yet so many arrangements and formations.

We met a kind hiker that took our photo in front of the pit.

We were slowly getting closer to the treeline, which is at around 11,500' in most places.

It took us about over an hour and fifteen minutes to hike down just the first 2 miles.

Some rainy looking clouds started rolling in, and I was getting worried if it took us that long to hike the rest of the trail (or even get down into some shelter in the trees).

The rest of the hike was pretty easy & smooth once we hit the treeline. Looking back at the top of the peak, we were amazed that we had hiked that far.

The trees near the top of the treeline were very unique & interesting. They must be very hearty to deal with the wind, snow and lack of soil at these altitudes.

Near the bottom, when were just tired & exhausted and seriously questioning our sanity, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

2 awesome hours + 4 grueling hours later we made it back to the trail head!

We started around 12:45 and finished almost 6 hours later. The full hike was 12.6 miles long and about 7,300' down in elevation. I can't even imagine trying to climb up the mountain, although there were many people who went up & down in a day.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I can say I've hiked Pike's Peak now!

Pike's Peak Railway

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and headed downtown to the famous Pike's Peak Railway.

This was the view of Manitou Springs, with Pike's peak being the tallest, brown mountain in the center of the photo.

Looks like a pretty awesome mountain to go to the top of, right?

Also near the railway is a special torture device called the Incline. It's a super steep portion of the mountain that has railroad ties laid out for people to hike up or attempt to kill themselves as they climb up.

Although the tickets were sold out, we got the last 2 seats on standby for the 10:40 trip to the top. The railway has a great history, and even greater scenery as you descend up nearly a mile vertically.

We enjoyed beautiful scenery around every bend, and there was a great guide on the train telling us about all the fun facts & neat things to see along the ride.

Although many areas of Colorado are being devastated by the pine bark beetle, they haven't started destroying the trees in the Pike's Peak area yet.

There is even a very small hydro-electric plant that generates electricity for the town.

As we climbed higher, the temperatures started dropped & the views started becoming even more beautiful.

We saw several alpine lakes along the ride.

As we ascended above the tree-line, the winds started really picking up.

No trees in sight- just rocks!

We passed several other trains on their descent as we slowly worked our way to the top.

Quickly we were even with some of the surrounding peaks and looking down on everything below us.

The views from the top were simply breathtaking. And what does one do once you reach the top of mountain? Well of course, hike down!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm going other fabulous women for a yummy wine dinner tonight!

Wine in the Springs

I'm back to blogging & I've got lots of beautiful photos to share. My best friend Stephanie met me in Colorado Springs last weekend to celebrate Labor Day. As we approached Garden of the Gods, you can see it was about to get a bit stormy on us.

We did a quick drive through the park in the rain, and then checked into our bed & breakfast just around the corner in Manitou Springs.

By the time we'd unpacked & found a map of downtown, the rain had stopped. Manitou Springs has several of these natural spring wells around town, where you can grab a very refreshing drink of bubbly mineral water. Each of the springs is a unique and beautiful piece of art.

No small town in Colorado is complete without an idyllic stream running through the middle of it.

And no better way to get a vacation kicked off than to stop at the newly opened D'vine Wine.

We sat outside in the cool mountain air, enjoyed the great view and snacked on a cheese & cracker tray.

Inside the store, they sell a variety of bottles of wine. I loved drinking the local Colorado wine & getting in some girl talk.

However, the store is more known for making their own wine.

You can actually make a batch of your own wine if you'd like!

After tasting several yummy glasses of wine, we headed out on the quaint street of historic downtown Manitou Springs to people watch & see all the funky shops.

One such shop had hula hoops laying on the sidewalk for anyone young (or drunk) enough to give them a whirl. Stephanie has the hip shaking thing down, but you can see where my hoop always ended up.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I was able to visit with all 3 of my grandparents today.

History in the Making

Better (a week) late than never. I'm was so impressed and excited about the Democratic Convention last week, especially culminating with Obama's acceptance speech. I really wished I had planned my trip better & could have been in Denver a few days earlier.

As somebody who has always voted Republican & never really dove very deep into the issues or the political world, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was very happy with the organization & management of the convention- everything was smooth & looked wonderful. I'm more certain now than ever about voting Obama in November.

Now, onto Obama's speech. I can honestly say the first half was a bit boring for me to watch. I've watched just about all of his other major speeches, especially after key primary victories. Much of it was the same sort of thing, and nothing can top his "Yes, We Can!" speech in New Hampshire.

But during the second half of his speech, I was nearly in tears. I'm really terrified about many of the things that have been happening in the last decade, and the general direction things are headed in this country. Weather it's our declining education system, the abuse of executive power, the inability of so many to obtain basic medical care without falling into financial crisis, the trampling of our basic rights & the Constitution or the identity politics that have ruled, I am sick of it.

In Obama, I see a person who is willing to sit down at the table with all sides of the debate. The battle of "us vs. them" has only made our problems worse while we squabble and bicker over partisan politics. He highlighted that there aer many hot-button issues that sides vehemently disagree upon, but there IS a middle ground and we need to start working on our solution there.

We need to focus our energy on building a better America, rather than seeking to simply beat the other side this election. There are too many enemies, too many problems to solve, too much at stake for the tone to be so filled with hatred and anger. I really do believe that America is a better place than it has been in the last 8 years.

Everybody asks me "What's the change?" What does he really think he can. It's my ferverant hope that he can bring a change in the tone & attidue of politics to Washington. Somebody that will see the good in the other side, give them the benefit of the doubt, work earnestly to move the long-stalled problems toward solutions. I think he can bring a sense of decenacy back to politics, and an end to the cynacism that has ruled the political landscape and ended forward progeress on the difficult issues of our age.

If you are not following the elections, I really hope that you will take the time to start following the candidate. Please learn about the issues and decide what's most important to you. I know that everybody says *this* election is the most important one in a generation, but I truly feel that way about Election 2008.

You can read the full text of the speech here or watch it here.

There was also a fabulous intro video you can watch it here. Also, to see some of the newspaper front pages from around the country on Friday, click here.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Back from Colorado, going through hundred of photos, getting ready to head to Canada next week! Back to regularly scheduled blogging!