Reminders of our amazing planet

It’s something we all know, but only seldom take time to think about: we are one country, but we all live wildly diverse lives based on the place we reside. We Minnesotans pride ourselves on our ruggedness (or is it stubbornness?) because we stay here despite our harsh winters. Many of us, I believe, feel a certain level of smugness when news agencies from coast to coast are announcing International Falls is the coldest place in the country.

 

My recent stay in Colorado Springs, followed by a 12-hour car ride homeward caused me to reflect on the diverse circumstances our gigantic nation imposes on respective groups.

Because I don’t really expect to be in Colorado Springs again, I made sure to experience three things the locals take pride in: Pikes Peak, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and the “Garden of the Gods” geological area with grandiose rocks and rock formations.

 

I rode the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak, which was persistently referred to as “America’s Mountain.” Its claims to fame include its prominent skyline, which catches the rising sun well before any other piece of land within sight; the mountain towers to 14,115 feet, but is not even among the top ten highest elevations in the contiguous 48 states. The title in that category goes to Mt. Whitney in California, which is 14,550 feet. A long list of “Fourteeners” falls in between. More prominent than its height, though, is what I’m going to call its social profile. “Pikes Peak or bust” is a well-known phrase nationwide, with many couples choosing the mountain as their honeymoon destination. The song most of us call “America the Beautiful” was originally (and briefly) titled “Pikes Peak” because the view from the summit was what inspired college professor Katharine Lee Bates to write the song in 1898.

 

The ride on the cog railway was an enjoyably mild adventure, with the train moving less than 10 miles an hour as it worked its way up the 8 miles of track at grades as high as 26 percent (gaining 26 feet of height in every 100 feet of length).

 

We enjoyed descriptions of landmarks, narratives of past events and moments of humor shared by our conductor both on the way up and the way down.

 

The Garden of the Gods is a natural preserve well over 1,300 acres in size where deep red sandstone has been sculpted by wind and water over time. The formations are dramatic and impressive; to even begin to understand, you will probably want to have a look at information about the park online.

 

One particularly popular stop is “Balance Rock,” where a gigantic piece of stone stands on an impossibly small center.

 

My visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was very enjoyable. Between the unaccustomed altitude and the fact that the zoo is, in fact, on a mountain, my tour did not set any speed records. Perhaps my favorite part was the giraffe feeding platform, where visitors could purchase a head of leafy lettuce and feed it to the animals. The mountain setting made it possible that the giraffes could be standing on solid ground in their compound while we “feeders” were on solid ground above them on the mountainside. It was grand fun being at eye level with such magnificently tall creatures.

 

The drive home, of course, brought us across wide expanses of amazingly flat, nearly treeless open spaces. I found myself thinking, persistently, how grateful I am for our varied landscape and–perhaps most of all–our many lakes. I could not help speculating about how it is to live in those places today, and how it must have been for indigenous peoples for the thousands of years they occupied the land.

 

I am grateful for the many reminders I received during my trip of the utterly amazing planet we live on.