How High Can We Go?

Day 8 (October 7, 2021): Remain in Manitou Springs, Colorado, approximately 25 miles.

Following breakfast at the hotel this morning, we drove a short distance to the new Olympic/Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs. We were a little early, so we all took photos of the parked cars and the front of the museum:

Exhibits included simulated sports we could try out, displays of Olympic torches through the years, Olympic medals, lots of photos of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and various types of adaptive equipment for the Paralympics.

Many of the docents were Olympians, and we had a delightful conversation with a young woman, Mckenna Geer, who was just back from the Tokyo Olympics. She is a rifle shooter:

Following our visit to this wonderful museum, we had a bit to eat and took the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Here are photos of the train depot while we were waiting for our departure:

Here are some photos of people on the train:

And views from the train. As we ascended, the scenery changed until we were above the tree line:

Here are some photos from the top of Pikes Peak (over 14,000 feet altitude):

Day 9 (October 8, 2021): Manitou Springs to Canon City, Colorado, approximately 52 miles.

Today was a short mileage day, but that’s deceiving! Our first activity was driving the Model A’s up the Pikes Peak Highway. Now we have proof that the Model As were higher than 14,000 feet altitude:

Here are shots from the ascent: