July 19

I felt like an inchworm climbing up the mountain. It was the first part of June, the flowers, trees, and bushes were in full bloom. The air was a bit cool, a jacket felt good. It was trying to rain as we waited for the cog to return at the depot. When it did the passengers stepped off wearing hats, gloves, and coats. I asked one of them if it was cold up on the peak. They said it was 20° and snowing up there. My daughter decided to make a hurried trip to the van to grab her coat. We boarded the cog soon after she returned. I am not a huge fan of heights; I had mixed emotions about the climb. My daughter had flat out refused to go the day before, but felt better about it once she saw the cog. The cog is very similar to being on a bus with the exception of the windows. The cog windows are very big and can either be up or down. The scenery was beautiful as we wound our way through the mountainside. The cog operator gave us information about the trees and animals that we saw or would hope to see along the way. I remember being a little over half way up and saw the summit, I panicked inside at the thought of going all the way up to the top. It seemed so high. As we continued to climb the air started to get chilly and then it turned cold. All the windows at this point had been closed. Then we started seeing snow, it was strange to see it in June. I felt like an inchworm climbing up the mountain. When we reached the summit, the air was freezing and it was snowing. Just outside the cog door was a red fox, he looked skinny and dirty. He wasn’t afraid of people; I managed to get within about three to four feet of him for a picture. It was warm inside the gift shop, and the fudge was unbelievable. The 14,110 ft altitude made my daughter queasy; she had to sit down most of the time we were there. We were above the clouds and Colorado Springs looked like a dot down below. We all loaded back into the cog and slowly made our way back down the mountain. I overcame my fear of riding the cog that day and wouldn’t mind riding it again someday.