Early this week we finally walked up to Iron Springs Geyser near the Pikes Peak Cog Railway station.  The distance turned out to be much shorter than the 1.5 mile walk that I had estimated earlier.

Along the way we passed by  Miramont Castle, built in the late 1890’s.  The castle can be toured and they also serve afternoon tea.  There is a nice little garden on the side and a bastion along the back.






Iron Springs, located under a pavilion,  used to be a geyser that shot up into the air every 20 minutes.  The taste is vile due to the high iron content. 







The springs is not very nice to look at but we discovered that there is an entrance to part of the Intemann trail system at this location so we walked a little way along it on the creek.

Because the walk had not been very far we went farther up to see where Barr Trail, which goes to the top of Pikes Peak, begins.  As you can see from the sign,  it is an 8 hour brisk walk to the top.  There is a website that has the record times among the different age groups for the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Marathon held each year in August.  I see that someone made the ascent in 5 hours and 30 minutes and was in the 85-89 age group!




We walked a little way up very steep Barr Trail only to be passed by people who were running up.  I used to have a neighbor in Woodland Park that was in her late 50’s or early 60’s.  She had severe arthritis which began when she was only two years old and over the years had surgery multiple times on her joints.  When I first met her she was in a leg cast but walked every day anyway. Her doctors had told her years before that she should be in a wheelchair.  Several years after I met her she climbed Pikes Peak.  I always thought her story should have made national news.


 Ute Chief Spring is looking a little neglected due to being the farthest west in town to which few people walk. 







 Navajo Geyser is located in a covered outdoor eating area of the Manitou Outpost. 









My family regularly complains that there are rarely pictures of me on this website.  This is a reflection of yours truly, Steve, and Molly in Fountain Creek.  Note that Steve is standing sideways so that he will look slimmer than me.