Day 7- Pike's Peak and Colorado (June 12)

We awoke, broke camp and found some breakfast, then set to the task at hand- Go to the summit of Pike's Peak. The folks in the tent space nearest ours said we should take the cog railroad to the top, but we weren't having any of that. If Alton Brown could do it, so can we! Off we went. The first reality check was when the woman at the toll gate told us it was 23 degrees at the summit, and that it was very slushy, so we needed to be careful on "those motorcycles"!
We layered up, and off we went, with Hank in the lead. There is an annual race up Pike's Peak, where people use rally cars, motorcycles and other race vehicles and time trial up the alternating paved/dirt road. I can't imagine going any faster than we did. The views are magnificent (a common theme in Colorado, we found out) and the trip up the mountain should be done by anyone ever in the area.
The highlight of the ride up was when we rounded a corner and were challenged by someone in the middle of the road. I wondered what a beaver was doing up there, but Hank schooled me- it was a marmot. A marmot looking for a handout. Not a shy marmot, but a marmot used to getting his way. He ambled over to me, I poked at him with my boot while telling him what a good marmot he was. He grabbed my boot and sunk his teeth into it. It apparently didn't do anything for him, as he gave up on me and headed up to Hank, where he commenced chewing on Hank's valve cover. Hank took this opportunity to pet the marmot, who was none too pleased. Anyhow, the marmot took off and so did we.
The summit was as cold and windy as promised earlier, so we kept all of our gear on for warmth. We hiked around and took some pictures, but the rarefied air at 14,100 feet takes it's toll on you. I have no idea how people function on Mount Everest, twice as high. Anyhow, we got our pics, got snowed on, made a snowman, made fools of ourselves and generally had a great time up there.
The ride down was scenic, we went back to Alphonso's for lunch and then headed South on Co115 to U.S. Highway 50 West. It took us on an extremely beautiful journey across the Rockies, crossing at Monarch Pass, 11,000 or so feet- snow, extreme cold, but the views are worth it.
We rolled into Montrose, our destination for the night, and ordered pizza. Soon off to bed, hoping to make Moab, Utah tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.