The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-07-07
Pixies PEAK BY RAIL.
The Scenery En- Route to the Summit

-
trying to describe what may be
: seen from train ascending Pike 5
Peak. A picture for the mind,
Of the varied tints and colors, and
constantly changing panorama,
can reach it only through the hu-
, man eve.
The lower terminus of the cog
} wheel road is situated at the
mouth of Engeimann's canyon,
! whose sides are formed by the
slopes of Manitou and Hiawatha
/ Mountains. Rushing through this
canyon, now swiftly flowing be-
side us, again far below, dashing
madly on over the massive boul-
ders and forming numberlesS cas-
cades and waterfalls, is RuXton
Greek, a sparkling mountain
stream. whose source Is the per-
petual snow. and which is foS~3w-
ed for two and three-fourths
miles.
The scenes and points Of inter-
l
into the canyon to the left, short
distance from our starting point,
are Shady Springs, hidden under
| the slope of the massive noun
tain under which rest Cog and
Magog. To the right is the Lone
Fisherman, who patiently fishes
from the top of the northern wall
of the canyon. Now we enter the
Grand Pass where we see the
Echo Falls, named from the Echo
Rocks above, from whose high
walls the sound of dashing waters
is distinctly reverberated. Just
beyond is the Natural Creek tun-
mel, an archPd waterway, formed
| by fallen bouIders, through which
the stream flows. Passing the
stupendous Hanging Rock and
Frog Rock, we are soon at Artist :
] Glen. from where a good view of
/ Cameron Cone 10,695 feet
and the Garden of the Gods may
be had. Next, on the right, is the
Plum Pudding, on the left, the
Turtle and Pnnch, and passing
through 4 natural gateway We
come INTO view of 3linmehaha
Falls. Here is picturesque
group Of Swiss cottages, set
among the pines and occupied by
! pleasureseekerS. Lizard Rock ,
Pinnacle Rock, The DEVILS Slide,
/ Woodland Park. the Elk's Head
and the Fleuride Gold Nine are
left behind,and we suddenly come
upon the Halfway House a COM
Portable little hotel situated in a
beautiful grove at the foot of
Grand View Rock, where a short
stop is made.
Up through the narrow ragged
i wnlls~of, Hell Zs~ Gsst's--~a@-e,-- svr-zyuci
enter the verdant RuXton and AS
pen Parks, over which Bald and
Sheep Mountains as sentinels
stand; here, for two and one-quar-
tel miles, a comparatively level
stretch is travelled, and a. good
view of the sGrand Old Noun
tain" is had: and, as we are al
most directly under the summit,
we gain better idea of the alti-
tude than from any other point
of view.
Our train now makes a stop of
a few minutes to replenish its
suppl of water,a AS we have before
Us the longest and stecpest incline
on the road, winding around the
/ southern side of the mountain: as
we ascend, the mountains to the
east seem to sink until they be-
come mere foot hills, and our
view to the east and south be-
comes more extended. From ms
piration Point we see far below
us Il glacial lake covering 10
acres; glacial rocks, upon which
are marks showing the action of
! ice in ages past; Mount Badly,
Mount Garfield, Bear Creek Ca
nyOn and the Southern Mountains.
After passing Timber Line (1l,5 ,578
feet) we cross Il great field of
broken rock, in which are small
areas where enough soil is found
| for some small moses and many
low Alpine plants to fnI root;
and where, in certain seasons,
there is a profusion of these small
flowers which one would hardly
expect to tiDd at 50 great an alti-
tude.
When Windy Point Is reached
we get our first western view and
are but a short distance from the
summit, which is reached in one
and one-half hours after leaving
Manitou.
The world is now before US,
And Iare, indeed, would be the
art, that could picture to the soul
unaided by the sense of sight, the
the unapproachable magnitude of
the view that now greets the be-
wildered eye. Spread out before
Us is a mighty panorama of 40 900
square miles. To tn east is CAV
confusion of buffalo plains.
streams and towering fields dot
ted over with villages lsqd cities.
Colorado Springs, .MaH>su and
the Garden of the GodsN e at
our feet. and look like 9A)wer
beds: To the south are SSen
Lakes, the Ration Mountains IF
| New Mexico and the fan, 1'
Spanish Peaks; the cities of II Mr.
bio, Florence, Canyon City a e
Altman,-the highest mimi
town in Colorado,-and the Ark
"