Pikes Peak

Here's the front and backside views of Pikes Peak. To drive to Cripple Creek from the Colorado Springs airport, you head up Ute Pass on Highway 24 through Woodland Park (where I used to live as a kid.) Eventually, you make a sharp left at a town called Divide and head around the rear of Pikes Peak to get to the old gold camp. I've made this trip dozens of times, but I remember my first drive on that mountain road-- all of us fresh from Pennsylvania, and the whole family terrified looking out the windows of the Suburban at those steep drop-offs. Now my parents know every turn in the road, and drive this way several times a week to Woodland Park and Colorado Springs.
Pike's Peak looks unimpressive from the backside, partially because Cripple Creek sits at 9,000 feet, only 4,000 from the summit. But the higher you get, the more beautiful the the country becomes.

Everything went well flying today, considering the general chaos of airports and the surliness of everyone in them. A beautiful weather day in Colorado, a real bonus. More on Cripple Creek later...