A day trip to Pikes Peak (whatever happened to the apostrope in "Pike's Peak," anyway?) from Colorado Springs. I was going to drive up there but the highway was closed 4-5 miles from the summit due to snow. Instead, I took the cog railway that runs to the summit from Manitou Springs. A good way to get to the top, but not so great if you're a photographer who likes to stop to admire and photograph the views.

Pikes Peak tops out at 14,110 feet, which is tall by most state's standards, but is only the 31st tallest peak in Colorado. Nonetheless, coming from the dizzyingly high peak of Mt Sunflower in Kansas (just over 4,000 ft.)only a couple days before, I wasn't ready for the altitude at the summit of Pikes Peak when we got there. Instead of heading out to see things I went into the visitor center and drank copious amounts of water and sat down for a few minutes. Then I bought some of the most delicious donuts I've ever eaten. If you've never tried high-altitude donuts, you've really been missing something--they're made on site and are greasy, crispy on the outside and doughy inside.

I finally got over the altitude sickness enough to head out and examine the peak. There were snow showers and sunshine, and sometimes both. This made me wish once again that I had been able to drive to the summit, but so it goes. The experience was worth it, even the time up there was limited.