[FastCarFan]

I have been up Pike's Peak twice, once with my parents on a family vacation when I was a teen & once a few years ago with my wife & kids. We drove a rental Chevy Malibu. I thought I was being really good, but my wife still freaked out at the huge drop-offs & lack of guard-rails.

A few weeks ago my son & a friend (both recent college grads) hiked up Pike's Peak. They had quite an adventure. The trail was 12.6 miles long. About 2 miles from the top they lost the trail because the ground was covered with snow. They decided to "just go up" through a boulder field & snow. They made it to the top in about 7 hours. I joked that, "You know there is a road so you can drive up, or you can take the tram."

They had a reservation to take the 3:00 tram down, but they arrived at 1:57, so they took the 2:00 tram. I said, "You mean you took 7 hours to hike up the mountain & you only spent 3 minutes at the top?!" My son replied, "We had plenty of time to enjoy the view on the way up!"