Colorado Springs

Rather than take the direct road from Oklahoma City to Amarillo and then north to Dalhart (the halfway point to Colorado Springs), I thought I would take the hypotenuse from Elk City. This would be the black road route. Actually the roads were surprisingly good and the speed limit on these two and four lane roads was 75, which is more than enough for us.

The area we drove through was dotted with the bobbing horse-head oil wells, most of which were not operating. It looks like gas production has replaced oil production there, with occasional planted fields. A lot of flatland with an occasional ridge. From a distance, one ridge was loaded with what appeared to be large boulders, but turned out to be cows laying down in mud.

We left Dalhart the next day on a road that could pass for an interstate highway, straight and level. Except that it wasn't level. We noticed the engine working especially hard for much of the trip. Shortly before we reached Raton, New Mexico we passed through a town with an elevation of over 6200 feet.  Oklahoma City is about 1200 feet. So much for level. We had been climbing for two days without realizing it. By the time we got to Raton Pass we would reach 7835 feet, but this time it was a lot more obvious. By the time we reached Colorado Springs we dropped back down to about 6000 feet.

We plan to ride the train to the top of Pike's Peak, which is just over 14,000 feet. We will probably wait a day or two to get accustomed to the elevation before we do.