Mueller State Park, Divide CO
We drove through Denver with no issues, right passed the Broncos stadium. We stopped about half hour north of Colorado Springs and said goodbye to Anthony, he was going to Great Sand Dunes, further south from our turn off.
We got to Mueller State Park, there was no check-in, we already had Colorado Park Pass, so we just setup our site. The site was great, with nice stand of aspens, which I’m falling in love with, and nice platform overlooking the woods. The park is at 9600 foot elevation and that was a challenge for me! Where’s the air?! The first couple of days I struggled, there was not enough water for me to drink! Plus my sinuses decided to act up. Still, we walked around the campground, the view of high peaks in Pikes National Forest, lit up by the setting sun, was just perfect.
Tom had some health related stuff (his knee was acting up) to take care of, so we drove to Colorado Springs. Everyone in the health facility was super-nice, we planned another visit later in the week. We enjoyed the town and I enjoyed another visit to Trader Joe’s!
We decided to take the cog rail to Pike’s Peak. It starts in Manitou Springs, quaint town squeezed into steep hills. The downtown has stores and restaurants and apparently lots of hiking trails, including the infamous Manitou Incline. No, we did not hike it, I was still having issues just breathing.
We boarded the cog rail, the views on the way up were amazing. Pike’s Peak is called America’s Mountain because it inspired Kathleen Lee Bates to write “America the Beautiful”. The Summit House is at 14, 115 feet, it is about 33% less oxygen than at sea level. The Pike’s Peak Marathon, taking place September 21, is a 13.3 mile race with over 7,800 of vertical ascent. Talking about ultra-marathon!
Our visit was very tame comparatively, we walked around and took pictures, had some water and donuts in the Cafe and boarded the train back. We learned, first hand, that if you are late, you have to make other arrangements. There was one passenger that showed up after the doors closed and was not allowed to board.
Though it was challenging to walk around on the summit (where’s the air again?), I loved the views and the experience.
I finally got my sinuses and altitude sickness under control and did an easy hike in the park. The Peak View Pond trail goes through pine forest, then comes to open meadow with views of the high peaks. You then continue to the pond (very small) and then back to the campground. Easy and very scenic, it was so good to get out on the trail.
Our neighbors, Sarah and Chris, were great, and newly retired like us. We had number of conversations and trailers and travel, it was good to connect. As I travel and meet people, it is good to find kindred spirits along the way. There are times we meet people and though you have a conversation on some topics, you can see there’s a gap in other areas. We met a nice couple on the cog rail, had a great time talking about traveling but once they veered into religion, they lost me. I’m not sure how to respond when someone is exulting the Creationist Museum in Kentucky, better stick to travel as a topic.
We decided to go to Breckenridge instead of Gunnison. The bridge connecting the town to Black Canyon of Gunnison is not fully open and would require us to do a detour.
So Breck it is, driving across the Hoosier Pass and Continental Divide.
