Picture Post: Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak

Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, in pictures. Brace yourself, because there is almost nothing of Pikes Peak--the visitors center and the cog railway were both under heavy construction, and all the views were obstructed at the top. 

Of course, SOME of us like the construction vehicles (ahem, JD).

Kind of sort of a view.

Don't let the lack of pictures scare you off BUT MAYBE this drive up the mountain should. I am kidding, it was spectacular. I love stopping at the pull outs and scrambling around. 

Although it turns out I am a very anxious passenger on this ride up Pikes Peak, I still love it. LOVE IT. It's such an adrenaline rush. Also there are brake check stops, where they take the temperature of your brakes and sometimes make you pull over if you brakes are overheating. That's how steep the incline is.

Like I said, I love stopping at the pull outs. We did a bunch of short, one mile hikes at a ton of stopping points. 

After Pikes Peak, we went on to our house in Garden of the Gods. This view was 50 yards from where we stayed. Seriously. 

We actually hiked this trail in the late evening our first night there, but the view were, uh, limited then.

There was something so magical about this section. It was like walking through a long hall, approaching a god's throne. 

We kept going but then the kids got goofy and there are many silly kid pictures.

The famous Kissing Camels, on the main track of sights to see.

If you zoom in on the wall, you will see a surprise.

This is just amazing and it really made me wish I could join those climbers on the top. Zoom in on the peak! What an adrenaline rush that must be. Yes, please.

Balanced Rock, which hangs over a main road in and out of the park. It's often quite busy there.

The tree is not dead-dead, it's only MOSTLY dead. Joke compliments of my niece.

The Siamese Twins rock, which was part of a really great hike. 

Real talk, that red dust is brutal. Look at JD's butt! Also, look at the awesome piggyback assist device we have.

At one point, we took a break and sat under an outcropping for snacks. It's hard to believe you are in a smaller park in the middle of a city with that view. Also, our butts were totally covered in red dust after this break. 

Finishing up our hike and our time at Garden of the Gods. We hiked the kids into exhaustion that day with 2 three mile hikes, then drove them home starting at 3 am the next morning. They slept hard in the car for a long time.