Today, we thought we would head up to Pike’s Peak. The fall color here is absolutely beautiful! The Aspen trees are a yellow and golden with hints of red and orange and this weekend is peak color for the trees.

The drive up to Pike’s Peak started out great, like any other drive through the mountains, except when we got to tree line. It was a view I never expected. It was a drop-off like I never expected. Talk about narrow, winding roads.

It’s not like we’ve never been to the mountains before. We’ve driven up through the mountain passes to Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek quite a few times. I am not usually afraid of heights, either. I’ve been to the top of the World Trade Center, Empire State Building, Sears Tower and Eiffel Tower.

Today, however, I was a wimp.

When we started heading up, the rangers told us that the wind gusts were about 25-30 mph at the summit, which, when you’re here in the foothills, isn’t a big deal. It is a big deal, though, when you’re headed to 14,110 feet above sea level… to the top of Pike’s Peak.

We got to about a mile from the summit and not only was it steep, the road was extremely narrow. Doug was driving our Nissan Pathfinder, in 4 wheel drive with mini-vans and pick-up trucks driving by, when a Corvette zoomed by. I thought he, (the corvette driver, not my husband) was crazy.

It’s one thing when you’re the one driving. It’s another thing, however, when you’re in the passenger seat and you’re looking out the car window with about 24 inches between you and edge of the cliff to the earth below…. way below… like 12,000 feet below, no guard rail, above tree line.

Yes, today, I was a wimp. About a mile from the top, we turned around. Coming down wasn’t much better, especially when we saw the sign that said, “Hot Brakes Fail”. That was reassuring.. not! We got to the reservoirs and then we knew we were about halfway down, which is where most of the pictures in this slide show were taken from.

We stopped at the break checkpoint and the gift shop was your typical tourist gift shop. I saw a t-shirt that said, “I survived the drive”, so I asked the shop clerk if he had one that said, “I chickened out” (LOL)

Then! Come to find out that they actually have races up there. Races? Are you kidding me? We were watching a video and it’s called “Race to the Clouds” These drivers were doing these turns nearing 100 mph. I really need to get up to speed.. (no pun intended).

Our original plan was to spend the day up in Breckenridge. We nixed that idea when we found out that the upper elevations are under a winter storm warning and expecting up 2 feet of snow. We’ll save that for maybe next weekend.

I still want to go to the summit of Pike’s Peak. From what I’ve seen, the views are absolutely breath-taking, although I think next time, we’ll take the Pike’s Peak cog train instead.

In the meantime, enjoy the slide show of the fall color from Pike’s Peak. It really is so beautiful here.

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