A Trip To The Rocky Mountains

Gripes About The Oxford

The hotel provides breakfast but it’s not very impressive given how posh and important the hotel thinks it is. They do offer yoghurt, fruit and granola, with pastries and some savoury items, like smoked salmon. It’s poor to be honest.

And it’s served in the hotel lobby, where you have to perch on sofas or small tables to eat. I saw a room behind reception last night that was hosting a private dinner for quite a number of people. Why can’t the hotel put breakfast on in there, away from all the guests coming and going to Reception and their rooms?

It’s not the only problem with the hotel. There is no room safe, in-room fridge or any ice machines anywhere. I had to go down to Reception last evening with an ice bucket to get it filled by a staff member. The basin in the very small bathroom is tiny, almost unusable. And it’s very dark in the room with only one window that looks out onto other external walls, so very little natural light.

Garden of the Gods

Union Station, Denver

I walk out of the hotel at 9.30 am. I go up the street towards Union Station, turn right and about 200 yards up is our tour start point. Monica, our driver and guide, soon arrives. She checks in those of us standing around and we drive off a 9.45 am as advertised. There are about a dozen folks in total.

There’s a 75 minute drive to our first stop, the Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs. Huge red sandstone mounds of rock have been left in various shapes and sizes after millennia of erosion. Monica gave us a good commentary on the drive there about the history and other aspects of the Garden.

We are given an hour to walk the paths around the ‘mountains’ that criss-cross the Garden. I find the maps by the path-side very confusing. I’m not alone. When trying to figure out which way to go next, a number of strangers ask me “Which way where?” “Not sure” was my most usual reply.

I became concerned that I might go too far and not get back to the bus within the hour. I did however figure it out, eventually, and got back to the bus in good time. It was getting very warm towards the end of our walking hour.

Garden of the Gods panorama

Balanced Rock and Manitou Springs

Next up a mile or so up the road is Balanced Rock. The authorities have tried to stabilise the ‘neck’ with a ring of concrete, assuring that it is not load bearing. One assumes this will stem or even stop further erosion at the base so the Rock won’t fall over anytime soon.

We then drive to Manitou Springs where we will have lunch. On the way into town Monica points out various eateries and describes what they serve. We have an hour again to find our way around town, get fed and watered, then return.

I wander about town and look at various places. I then remember Monica, a NY native, mentioning a pizza joint that did slices “not quite as good as NY but pretty good.” So I search out Ruffrano’s Hell’s Kitchen Pizza at the other end of town. When inside I see the slices are huge, so one will suffice. I get a deal with three ‘knots’ plus a fountain drink for $6.66. Plus tax of course. Knots are balls of flavoured dough, a kind of version of dough balls as I know them in the UK. I choose two garlic and one ‘Hellfire’. The pepperoni slice is very good and the knots, with a tomato dipping sauce, are not bad.

Not being interested in the mostly tat shops that line the main street, I decide to try and resolve my Kansas Turnpike toll. After ten minutes on the phone I understand what I need to do. However the state does not process weekend tolls until 3-4 days later. So the customer service lady can see that I triggered a toll but it’s not been processed yet. So I can’t pay it. I need to wait another couple of days then call back.

Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak leaflet

On to the main event, Pikes Peak. At 14,115 feet it is one of the tallest mountains in Colorado. Sometimes called America’s Mountain, it is an ultra-prominent fourteener of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. To me it seems different in that you can get to the summit of such a high mountain by car. There’s a paved road all the way up. I take quite a lot of photos on the way up but also think I’ll take some coming down then sort the best ones out. Turns out I’m glad I took what I did…

As we climb the mountain the weather has turned and become cloudy. Obviously as we get higher, the temperature drops rapidly. But then Monica tells us that the ranger at the entry gate had told her that bad weather could be on the way. She said we needed to be watchful about this. Sounds ominous…

Looking east out of the bus window as we climb, I can see clouds in the distance and what look like rain and lightning coming from them. When we get to the Pikes Peak summit, where there is a visitor center (Summit House), it is cold. Monica says it is 50º F / 10º C but I reckon it is way colder when we get out of the bus to walk around. As I walked about with my jacket on, going to various vista points, my hands were getting very cold. The wind was also whipping up very strongly.

Pikes Peak map

The views all around were disappearing under the blanket of cloud. Within minutes we are shrouded all around by cloud. It’s a great shame not be able to see for miles as to what make’s this America’s Mountain. When Katharine Lee Bates, a visiting professor as well as a poet, reached the summit in 1893, she was so inspired by the views that she wrote “America the Beautiful”, an American patriotic song.

“Stormy Weather” *

It’s getting colder by the minute. I decide to go into the Visitor Center to use the rest room. I also opt to buy a coffee and a doughnut. These are special high altitude doughnuts that collapse or go mushy if transported to lower altitudes! A bit expensive but part of the experience I guess.

It is near to our departure time when a public address announcement advises that a storm is about to hit the summit: “You might want to consider leaving now.” I find this a bit strange – surely if a storm is imminent then inside the Center is the best place to be?

Pikes Peak Summit storm

Too late, however. A minute later I’m about to walk outside to the bus when I see through the glass door that an almighty hail storm has descended. I have no choice other than to run for it through the storm. Monica has moved the bus as near as she can to Center but I’m still pounded by hail. When I board the bus it is a real struggle to close the bus’ sliding door as the wind is blowing so strongly, never mind the hail lashing inside as well. But I do it. There’s a short video of the storm on YouTube here.

After the last two tour members return, Monica drives away. The storm is still raging and she asks if we want to descend in this maelstrom, or stay put until passes. She says she descended in such weather before and is happy to proceed if we are. I’m guessing someone said “no” because Monica just goes back around the car park. A number of us then say “go for it” so Monica turns right out of the parking lot and we’re on our way.

“Rain rain rain” **

Descending Pikes Peak

The mountain is completely shrouded in cloud. You cannot see anything other than the road ahead. The hail has turned to rain but seems to be easing. Monica takes us down very slowly, carefully negotiating the sometimes tight bends. Until we are nearly at the bottom – albeit still at 7,800 feet altitude – we saw nothing of the mountain hillside due to the clouds.

We stop nearly at the bottom of Pikes Peak Highway, the summit road, for a bit of breather at the closed Crystal Reservoir Gift Shop. There are outside rest rooms to use before the drive back to Denver. The weather has brightened up, still some clouds but also glimpses of blue sky. It has stopped raining. What an experience!

Crystal Creek Reservoir

The drive back to Denver is uneventful apart from the horrendous traffic congestion into the city. We are dropped off back at Union Station at 6 pm. It is warm and sunny downtown. You really wouldn’t know what weather we’d just experienced. Until later. It was a good day out and I enjoyed it.

A Bit Early For That…

The Oxford Hotel is old fashioned in many respects, including real room keys. I don’t take that with me when I go out, so I pick it up back at Reception. Another of the ‘benefits’ is nightly bourbon tasting in the lobby between 5 and 7 pm. The receptionist on bourbon duty tonight recognises me from last night and asks if I will be joining him for a drink. Seems a shame not to, I say, adding I’ll be back down in a few minutes.

20 minutes later I’m sampling two rye whiskies and bourbon. The first sample is absolutely huge. Drink that at 6.30 pm and I’d be passed out by 7 pm. So I ask him for one half the size, and he obliges. He spouts the usual “notes of black tea and treacle” verbiage, none of which resonates with me. I just like what I do. I’ve never had the nose or palate to engage in that type of descriptive language, for wine or spirits. I liked one of the ryes, the other not so and the bourbon was OK.

I’m not quite sure what the point of the tasting is, other than the bourbon can only be bought through the hotel. It is not offered for sale in liquor stores or bars. I can’t see the point of that. Seems a bit stupid and snobbish to me to make a bourbon then not sell or market it to as wide an audience as possible.

“Hear the thunder, don’t you lose your head” ***

Back in my room I prepare for tomorrow. At 8 pm I go back downstairs to walk to Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, a blues bar. To be greeted at the hotel entrance by the mother of all rain storms. The rain is torrential, thunderclaps of thunder and flashes of lightning regularly light up the black sky. Whilst the bar is only a five minute walk away, I would be soaked inside a minute of trying to walk in that.

There is a bar attached to the hotel, Urban Farmer, “a steakhouse with soul”. I can’t see the storm blowing over any time soon so I reluctantly opt to ‘stay in’. There is an upside though: another ‘benefit’ of the resort fee is a $10 a day voucher to spend in here or the other bijou bar they have.

I can sit at the bar in the steakhouse restaurant. There’s a TV showing baseball and the staff seem friendly. Draught beer is on tap and I have a burger for dinner, which was very good. The beer was Bell’s, Two Hearted Ale, an American IPA, also good. It’s quiet so there is no bar chat but a couple of the bar staff talk to me every now and again.

How Much?

Out of curiosity I look at the cocktails and spirits menu. There is a malt whisky listed at $1500 a shot. Yes, one thousand five hundred dollars. It’s a Macallan No.6 in Lalique. I later look this up: it “is a luxurious, limited-edition single malt matured in first-fill Spanish sherry casks and presented in a six-faceted crystal decanter crafted by Lalique. Part of the 1824 Master Series, it features a dark color, 43% ABV, and a rich, spicy flavor profile of dried fruits, ginger, nutmeg, and velvet oak. It is considered a premium collector’s item and, on average, is priced around £4,000 ($5,350)”. F*** me!

I have to see this so I ask the barman if I can see the bottle. He even takes the cork out so I can have a sniff. Nothing special to me. Barman tells me the bottle has been there since they opened a few years ago but there’s only about an inch gone, so maybe 3 or 4 shots at best. Not a surprise at that price.

So I’m doing some diary whilst keeping an eye on the baseball. When I next look up the TV has been turned off. With no announcement or warning, the bar is obviously closing for the night. “You are closing down I guess as you’ve turned the TV off?”  I enquire of the bar staff. “Yes we are” one of them replies. “Would have been nice to be told” I retort. No response. I disgruntledly settle my check and return to my room.

It was an interesting and varied day, not on the road as such, but nevertheless I think a good one overall. More westbound travel awaits tomorrow.

* Stormy Weather by Various Artists including Frank Sinatra and Etta James

** Rain Rain Rain by Roxy Music

*** It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls