I don’t know if any of you guys have gone up Pikes Peak but I can say that I now have. 

IM not sure what I was expecting. I knew that I wanted to be amazed and I knew that I wanted to go up to the top. When I had driven up to the window the lady smiled at me and gave me a set of instructions. Since I was driving stick shift she told me to keep it on a low gear when I go down the mountain. She then told me that up on the top it was 2 degrees. Yea, 2 degrees! She then crouched a little and saw the cat cage in the passenger seat. She smiled and asked if I had an animal in the car. I replied and told her it was a cat. She seemed to be taken aback by that reply and after a minute she recovered and smiled. 

"I don’t think we have ever had a cat on Pikes Peak but, in any case just be careful"

Inside I was laughing a little because I knew that dogs were in the norm but cats, that was still a baffling thing to most people. I smiled and told her that she would be with me the entire time and to not worry. She smiled and waved me on through the gate. Once I was through the gate I stopped on the side of the road and set up the GoPro. There was no way I was going to miss this chance to record this drive up the mountain. 

After I got that set up I started on the 45 minute road to the top of the mountain. The speed limit the entire time you are going up the mountain is 25 mph and being someone who likes to make regular stops I can tell you that it definitely took way longer than 45 minutes for me to make the drive up Pikes peak. I had regular stops and took lots of photos with Spice. I wanted to make sure that I marked the occasion for the "First Cat to be up on Pikes Peak". I know, I know it sounds lame but for me it was a moment that I needed to make real. One of the stops I made sure to capture was Spice in front of the sign that lets you know where she is heading. 

For Spice I can say that she was not pleased about the change in elevation and made it clear by letting me know as we made our way up. We even stopped so that she can feel and see snow for the first time and she acted like it was the worst thing she had seen. In a small way I expected it but I also had hoped that she would love snow and jump right in. Turns out that I know her better then I originally thought. 

Driving up Pikes Peak with a stick shift was a challenge. I know my car pretty well but I am still not very experienced when it comes to going up steep inclines. It took me a while to get used to the shifting and to also get used to the idea that if you mess up or your tire goes all wonky on a chunk of ice that you will fall off of Pikes peak and more than likely kill yourself. So of course that was in the back of my mind. All in all though, I think the danger was worth the risk. Getting to the top of that mountain was so amazing and the view, my god the view. Hundreds of miles, millions of people below, and one planet to support us all. It’s crazy how your view in perspective changes when you see new things. 

Pikes peak is something I will never forget and next time I am in Colorado I know I want to hike up the mountain. That is something I can promise and for those of you that are still following when that comes around, well I can that there will be a recording of the experience. 

 Have you guys been up Pike's Peak?