...on America's map. The Seattle Times covers an awesome happening this year surrounding the 14,110-foot summit along the eastern slopes of the Rockies known as Pikes Peak in Colorado. The peak was placed on American maps 200 years back after Zebulon Pike spotted the peak, never reached its top, had a horrible time in the Rocky Mountains, was eventually captured by the Spanish and taken into Mexico. To celebrate these fine details in history the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum and other organizations will run lectures, reenactments and hikes over the year. The events scheduled will illustrate Zebulon Pike's 1806 journey and images of the mountain in art and advertising. Very cool!

As a teen living in Colorado Springs I never gave a whole lot of thought to the beauty or the story behind ole Pikes Peak. For the most part it made for fun family outings except the one time my father thought he knew the gas tank better than he did and we ran out of gas up yonder. Though it may be a bit smaller in comparison to Pike's troubles, I've still got my own stories to tell about that very same mountain. In any case the real explorer's tale sounds much worth trekking to Colorado sometime over the next year to experience the all the activities.

Filed under: Climbing, Hiking, History, Learning, Festivals and Events, Stories, North America, United States