Summer Road Trip to Pike's Peak

YF19pilot

YF19pilot

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Apr 15, 2005
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Location
Massillon, OH
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2006 Honda Civic Coupe
So, thanks to FDIC regulations, I get a manditory 1 week paid vacation. I've decided I want to dick around the West side of the country, since (family vacations to San Saba, TX and my recent move to NoDak excluded) I haven't been West of the Mississippi/Missouri Rivers in about 23 years or so. About 10 years if you do include my family vacations to Texas.

Anyways, I've had everyone tell me to go to Yellowstone so I can watch it blow up, or get a Passport and go to the boringest part of Canukistan.

I figure, screw the hippies and nature 'adicts', and to heck with Yellowstone, I want to have a fun drive. So I chose Pike's Peak because there are less Mormons there than Bonneville.

So, besides the Minuteman II and Mt. Rushmore, which are on the way, what other things/roads are there to check out? And is there anyone willing to watch me understeer my Civic off a mountain side around the last week of July?
 
You're going around July? If so ONE month too late. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is going on June 27th. I'm going along with my brother and a friend. Its an event you must see if you enjoy racing at all.
 
Unfortunately the time period is kinda set. One of the other employees is taking that time off. Being the low man on the totem pole, I'm kinda the last in line to get my vacation in. :/
 
I've been out that way a few times. If scenery is what you're after you should go to Garden of the Gods, drive Gold Camp Road and go to Rocky Mountain National Park. I doubt you'll be able to do a whole lot of spirited driving, since there's a ton of tourists all over Colorado this time of year.

You should also think about rafting the Arkansas River down to Royal Gorge (or through the gorge if you're experienced/ambitious). That late in July the river is going to be low and a little slower, making it a lot more technical and fun as hell. And the view is amazing:

rg01.jpg
 
Or you could take the train. :mrgreen:
 
I visited Colorado last June and if you plan on screwing the nature addicts then I can't recommend anything. However if you do want to see some nature, I did the cog railway (15 degrees with feet of snow in the middle of June and not enough oxygen for an ascension that quick), Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Amphitheater (cool if you like music), Rocky Mountain National Park (not enough parking), Royal Gorge Bridge (gorge us awesome, bridge is a waste of time), saw some waterfalls, and did some other misc. hiking. If you see Mt. Rushmore, you should see Crazy Horse too. It is huge compared to Mt. Rushmore and they charge too much to see it since the view inside the gate isn't much better than the view from within. The monument features a Native American pointing, which strangely for a monument is contradictory to what my 'Survey of Indigenous Studies' prof. in college said that Native Americans never point. She was half Native American so I would expect she knows her stuff. Or I missed what she said because I was daydreaming about all of the hot girls in the class, especially considering the usual engineering girls I saw. That was a bit of a tangent...
 
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