Driving up Pikes Peak Highway is simply exhilarating. The Colorado mountain Pikes Peak is the highest mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains – with the summit being at 14,115 feet (4,302.31 m), which makes it one of the 53 fourteeners in the Rocky Mountains.
This week, Scott, Whiskey and I took our friends Judith and Christoph (both currently visiting from Berlin) and GJ on a little road trip down to Manitou Springs and up to the summit of Pikes Peak.
With nerves of steel, Scott drove our car up the 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway and later back down. I recorded both rides with a GoPro. In this video, you can see sped-up excerpts from the drive up. One of these days, I’ll also release the full version of that ride. I highly recommend you watch that longer version as well, since I needed to take out quite a few of those hairpin turns to create a 1-minute version for the In A Colorado Minute series. It’s possible that I took out the scariest ones… Another week, I’ll share the drive back down and also a video about the Pikes Peak summit itself.
Pikes Peak Highway is the only road that takes you up to the summit, which is about 6,000 feet above the road’s entrance. Alternatives are the Broadmoor’s Pikes Peak Cog Railroad that rides up from Manitou Springs and, of course, hiking up the mountain along marked trails. The highway is a toll-road that cost us $40 for 5 adults. It takes about an hour to drive up the 19 miles – if you keep your speed at the recommended 25 mph (and 10 mph in the sharp turns). However, during the annual race, some cars cover the last 16 miles up in about 12 minutes.
The song in this week’s video is “Green Daze” by Jason Shaw. He has made this and many other lovely tunes available via a CC BY 3.0 license on his website Audionautix. Thank you so much, Jason!
Last but definitely not least, I highly recommend watching this video in HD – even if it takes a little longer to load. The low-rez version looks way too chunky to enjoy it.
Watch the complete and slower (only 4 times the original speed, vs. 9 times in the video above) drive up Pikes Peak Highway: Complete Drive Up Pikes Peak Highway, Colorado – (Extended Version)
Other videos from the Manitou Springs Road Trip:
Pikes Peak Summit – In A Colorado Minute (Week 280)
Helen Hunt Falls – In A Colorado Minute (287)
