Our first trip was to Seven Falls. Martha came across this adventure from reading a brochure available locally. Seven Falls is near one of the public parks operated by the City of Colorado Springs. It, like many of the natural sights in the area including Garden of the Gods, is a privately owned, commercially developed attraction. Unlike Garden of the Gods, there is a charge for parking and exploring the feature. Seven Falls was developed as a feature for tourists in the late 19th century before the US had a park system.
Seven Falls is a series of seven cascading waterfalls of Cheyenne Creek in
Cheyenne Canyon. It is part of the fall line of the
Colorado Front Range. The sum of the height of the
seven falls is 181 feet. This photo shows a pool and three falls
as seen from the half-way point on the stairs that
ascend from the visitor center.
On the way down the first flight of steps Byron took time to capture
Martha’s descent. There are a total of 224 steps on the staircase
from the base to the peak. Trust us, it’s easier on your heart,
lungs, and leg muscles to take them 10 or 12 steps
at a time with brief pauses to look around. From the
vantage point in this photo the canyon floor is in the upper right
corner of the photograph about 150 feet down.
About three quarters of the way to the top Byron noticed some 10-inch pipes and wondered if water was pumped to the head of the falls. Sure enough, the water is pumped from the pool from a man-made pool at the base to the top because, at this time of year, the creek feeding the falls doesn’t flow fast enough to provide any significant flow. The melt-off of snow has occurred. The owners have also provided lighting at different levels for viewing in the evening.
Once at the peak of the falls, visitors may take a one-mile hike around to another viewing point (Eagles Nest) where an elevator has been installed by cutting through the rock. We, however, chose to go up and down the steps at the falls and then walk to the elevator ride to Eagles Nest. From this viewing point it is possible to get take a photo of the full view of the falls. A larger photo showing all the falls on Wikipedia is available here.
After returning to the KOA for lunch and caring for the pets, we struck out for Pikes Peak. In typical fashion for this time of year, clouds were beginning to build on the edge of the mountains where they build pressure and then force themselves on eastward.
There are three ways up Pikes Peak. Hike, drive, or take the Manitou Springs & Pikes Peak Railway, a cog train, to the top. Either way, the trip involves several miles winding back and forth through the forests, bolder fields, and area above the permafrost. The drive up is a little less than 15 miles. The difference between driving and taking the train is roughly six miles. The reason for the difference, if you can’t figure it out, is that an automobile can’t handle the steep grade the way a cog train can. Be aware, however, that there’s a toll both along the way and that a part of the roadway isn’t paved. (Go here for some panoramic photos taken along the highway as well as additional information about the trip by automobile.)
Hiking is done by taking the Barr Trail. Barr Trail offers a spectacular route up the Peak. It is also the course for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon races each summer, which attract thousands of runners from all over the world. The trail offers the greatest base-to-base summit climb in Colorado, with an altitude gain of over 7,800 feet in 12-plus miles. It is the most difficult regional trail because of the elevation gain and the distance. Take our advice, the M&PP is the route to take unless you’re a young, enthusiastic hiker or extremely well-prepared marathoner.
This sign at the terminal let’s travelers know what
to expect at the 14,100-foot summit. We brought our
jackets but didn’t think about oxygen. Not to
worry, 50-breath bottles are available in
the gift shop. If unused, the bottles can
be returned for a full refund. Nice.
We rode in the first car of the consist. Note the arrangement of the teeth
and rails for the cog system. The average degree of angle is 14 with the
maximum being about 25. That’s a steep incline.
Seating is assigned. Seating is in a 2 x 3 arrangement with rows
facing each other. Fortunately for us, the partner across
from Martha was about 5' 2" so they didn’t
bang knees. There was no one sitting opposite
Byron so he had no problem.
Photos do not adequately show how steep the angles are nor the subtlety of all the vegetation and changes in the surface features. The trees change while changing elevations, of course. The rocks and formations change in size and orientation, too. At some points the formations are nearly vertical like in the Garden of the Gods. The boulders are tremendous in size and one wonders how they stay in place. There are creeks with water streaming from the remaining snow or from the springs that dot the mountainsides.
OK, we have to do this. Byron took Martha’s photo and
Martha took Byron’s. They had their “world famous doughnuts”
for sale. We have yet to figure that out because they’re
just cake doughnuts with no icing or other decoration.
We did buy a mug. Two doughnuts came with it.
During the centenniel of the writing of “America the Beautiful”
The state of Colorado and the city of Colorado Springs
erected a monument on Pikes Peak. This is one one
face of the three-sided structure.
The view from the summit was a bit hazy but we could still
see for a great distance. From around 11,500 feet on up
the rocks are small or there are areas where there are
no trees but only tundra grass growing in a thin
layer of sod. This is above the tree line, of course.
After giving everyone about 40 minutes to walk around the relatively
flat surface, the engineer sounds the horn of the train to
summon the passengers for the 8.9 mile descent to
the Manitou Springs terminal.
Among the wildlife living in the area are marmots (mountain groundhogs), deer, and bighorn sheep. We did see two deer on our trip and several marmots but no bighorn sheep, which stand almost 4 feet tall at maturity.
Though we saw now bighorn sheep on Pikes Peak we have seen
a few from the motorhome while traveling in Wyoming.
Riders of the 8 AM train almost always see these
sturdy animals that enjoy the elevations
and high pasture land.
Here's a bit more information on the cog railway. The railway’s inception was the result of the efforts of Zalman Simmons, the Simmons of mattress fame. I raised funds and got construction started after a visit in 1880 to check the telegraph systems being used (it was also done under his guidance). He remarked about the beautiful view and a hotel owner in The Springs mentioned that it would be nice to have a train to the top so more people could see it. In 1889 construction began on the M&PP.
The M&PP keeps one of the original Baldwin engines in working
condition for celebrations. Also shown is one of the
original passenger cars.
This side view of No. 5 show how the chassis was
mounted at an angle to the drivers and wheels.
No. 4 is on display in Manitou and another
engine is on display in Denver at
the Colorado Railroad Museum.
Sunday we head back up I-25 to Estes Park near the Rocky Mountain National Park after attending a service provided at the KOA by a local Baptist church. See you later.
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