Looking down from above

This post was written offline while I was flying from NY to NV on Saturday morning 5/17/08.

I flew over Pike's Peak today en route to Nevada. It was a beautifully clear morning with the sun shining so brilliantly below that it looked like Pike's snow-capped peak was glowing! My first reaction was one of excitement looking down so clearly on what I was preparing to ascend 3 months from now. However, then the awesome size of that massive mountain hit me. From above, it is plainly apparent that there is no other mountain in the area even close to its size. It's obvious height and girth makes it the big daddy of the mountains around Colorado Springs, and it was backing the clouds up as they tried to pass around and over it! What an incredible sight to see from 38,000 feet as we screeched by at 541 mph. If our approach to Las Vegas is on the vector I believe it to be, I think I'll be getting treated to looking down on Bonanza Peak the same way! I guess there is some good to having missed my flight last night due to Friday rush hour traffic in NY after all... had I flown out last night it would have been dark while flying over Colorado.

Flying out the morning of my run instead of the night before leaves me considerably less time to get off the plane, drive a few hours outside of Las Vegas to the mountains and run up Bonanza Peak & back before it gets dark, so the pressure is on to keep moving and not waste time today. I have a ton of nervous energy building up inside me and I am ready to go!