We could see snow on the mountain for the next four days, increasing each day, which had us worried, but then on the Wed. before, we started to see melting occur, and as the weather was in the 70's and 80's the next three days we kept our fingers crossed. 
Saturday, ended up being 86 degrees in the Springs, and the train was going all the way to the top, so we excitedly boarded. (I have to sneak photos of MyGirl smiling, but she has lots of cute smiles, and she totally loved this adventure.) LittleBuddy was a bit nervous at the height we were going to, but he ended up sitting by the window, holding onto his big brother most of the way and was just fine.
The views going up the mountain were beautiful.
There were several lakes to see from the top, but this was the only one seen from the train.
Getting above the treeline.
This is the view from the top, looking towards the city. You can barely see the red rocks of Garden of the Gods in the center, below, but they are there. If you look far enough, you're looking at Kansas, and those "fruited plains."
You may or may not know that "America, the Beautiful," composed by Katherine Bates, was written after she visited this place and looked out across the prairie on one side and the Sangre De Cristo Mountains on the other side, and was inspired. I couldn't help but hum this to myself as I looked out in awe and felt inspired too by the "mountain majesties." It was a treat to see them still snow-covered.
Remember, that it was 86 degrees at 6,000 ft. elevation? Well up here at 14,000 ft. it was 22 degrees with the wind chill, according to the train conductor. And, yes, the wind did blow. Behind this rock formation is a building/gift shop/restaurant where we had warm homemade donuts and could get in out of the cold when our noses and fingers were too cold.
At this altitude, especially rising so quickly, it was easy to get a headache or feel dizzy. Most of the kids had a headache to some degree. I, of course, just got dizzy. Fortunately, I carry my anti-dizzy meds with me always, so was able to quickly take one and feel some relief. I also had ibuprofen in my purse so the kids were fine too. We were only allowed to stay up here less than an hour before the engineer pulled the whistle three times which was our signal to board again.
One last photo op before we left. Notice the snow is still five feet high in places around here. And, there were hikers going up or down, buying only one way tickets. I was grateful for the train. It would have taken me days to go 8,000 feet up. No thank you!
Here is our train. It only has two cars, connected together. We were in the one called, "Leadville." We had to carefully make our way through the mud, slush, and snow to get back and forth from the train, but at least the tracks were cleared.
At one point going both up and down we carefully passed a train going the opposite direction. Only when we went down, the switch for the track didn't work, so we had to back up and it was a little tricky. The conductor stood outside the train, watching that we actually went the right way, before we could continue, and I caught a sense of him breathing a sigh of relief, when he climbed aboard again, that it was able to work. Apparently this just happened before we got there. At 10,000 feet, and right next to a steep cliff, you don't want any misses. . . all part of the adventure. We were able to see wild turkeys and mule deer on our ride. Sadly, it was just too early for the mountain goats, who were below the tree line this time of year. Couldn't blame them, though, it was pretty windy and cold up there and I'd be taking cover in the trees too.
And, here is MyMike's newest fashion attire. It reads: "When it absolutely, positively, has to be blown up overnight." We got a kick out of it, since he's part of what makes that happen on Air Force jets. We got it at the Air Force Academy, another fun activity. More about that later.
Saturday, ended up being 86 degrees in the Springs, and the train was going all the way to the top, so we excitedly boarded. (I have to sneak photos of MyGirl smiling, but she has lots of cute smiles, and she totally loved this adventure.) LittleBuddy was a bit nervous at the height we were going to, but he ended up sitting by the window, holding onto his big brother most of the way and was just fine.
The views going up the mountain were beautiful.
There were several lakes to see from the top, but this was the only one seen from the train.
Getting above the treeline.
This is the view from the top, looking towards the city. You can barely see the red rocks of Garden of the Gods in the center, below, but they are there. If you look far enough, you're looking at Kansas, and those "fruited plains."
You may or may not know that "America, the Beautiful," composed by Katherine Bates, was written after she visited this place and looked out across the prairie on one side and the Sangre De Cristo Mountains on the other side, and was inspired. I couldn't help but hum this to myself as I looked out in awe and felt inspired too by the "mountain majesties." It was a treat to see them still snow-covered.
Remember, that it was 86 degrees at 6,000 ft. elevation? Well up here at 14,000 ft. it was 22 degrees with the wind chill, according to the train conductor. And, yes, the wind did blow. Behind this rock formation is a building/gift shop/restaurant where we had warm homemade donuts and could get in out of the cold when our noses and fingers were too cold.
At this altitude, especially rising so quickly, it was easy to get a headache or feel dizzy. Most of the kids had a headache to some degree. I, of course, just got dizzy. Fortunately, I carry my anti-dizzy meds with me always, so was able to quickly take one and feel some relief. I also had ibuprofen in my purse so the kids were fine too. We were only allowed to stay up here less than an hour before the engineer pulled the whistle three times which was our signal to board again.
One last photo op before we left. Notice the snow is still five feet high in places around here. And, there were hikers going up or down, buying only one way tickets. I was grateful for the train. It would have taken me days to go 8,000 feet up. No thank you!
Here is our train. It only has two cars, connected together. We were in the one called, "Leadville." We had to carefully make our way through the mud, slush, and snow to get back and forth from the train, but at least the tracks were cleared.
At one point going both up and down we carefully passed a train going the opposite direction. Only when we went down, the switch for the track didn't work, so we had to back up and it was a little tricky. The conductor stood outside the train, watching that we actually went the right way, before we could continue, and I caught a sense of him breathing a sigh of relief, when he climbed aboard again, that it was able to work. Apparently this just happened before we got there. At 10,000 feet, and right next to a steep cliff, you don't want any misses. . . all part of the adventure. We were able to see wild turkeys and mule deer on our ride. Sadly, it was just too early for the mountain goats, who were below the tree line this time of year. Couldn't blame them, though, it was pretty windy and cold up there and I'd be taking cover in the trees too.
And, here is MyMike's newest fashion attire. It reads: "When it absolutely, positively, has to be blown up overnight." We got a kick out of it, since he's part of what makes that happen on Air Force jets. We got it at the Air Force Academy, another fun activity. More about that later. This was a great adventure for our family. Though the whole experience was less than five hours from when we left our home until when we returned , it was the kind of experience one never forgets. We were grateful we could share it with our family, and hope they will be able to share it with their families someday too.
"America, America, God shed thy grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."
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