Couldn't resist this Gemini:
Who was the victim of Pike's peeking?
Actually, the peak was named for an early explorer mostly famed for saying, "Ain't nobody ever goin' to make it to the top of that there mountain." And just a few years later, probably just for sheer contrariness, somebody hiked to the top.
I'm originally from Colorado and sad to say, like Pike, I never went to the top of that mountain either. I did, however, watch several of the annual auto races on TV. The most memorable perhaps was when a front wheel drive Buick Riviera won. Drove my Dad nearly nuts. He just couldn't understand how a car with powered wheels on the wrong end could even compete, much less win.
The hike up isn't quite as bad a flatlander might expect. If memory serves, the altitude of Colorado Springs is around 6,500 feet, so the starting point in Manitou is already about half way to the top of the 14,000 foot peak. Which takes absolutely nothing away from the hike. The air is very thin at those altitudes. (It's a big advantage for the Denver Bronco players. Too bad their play calling often doesn't take advantage of the physical conditioning.)
Sadly the Front Range (Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins) has changed considerably since I grew up there. It's become nearly wall to wall people with some sort of suburb hidden behind every foothill. Malls and supermarkets seem to be winning their war against pristine mountain meadows. Sadly, people must live somewhere.
Luckily the hordes escaping from California and the East Coast haven't discovered the desert southwest . . . yet. I suppose they are waiting to fill up Colorado before migrating in my direction. Ah well . . . .
Anyway, the videos are worth a watch.
Galjaman
