“Pause a moment before entering, and hold up your hands.  You can feel the sharp tingle of the electric current as it escapes from your finger-tips.  The storm is soon over, and you can see the sunbeams gilding the upper surfaces of the white clouds that sway and swing below you half way down the mountain sides, and completely hide from view the world beneath.  The scenery shifts, like a drawn curtain the clouds part; and as from the heights of another sphere we look forth upon the majesty of the mountains and the plains, an ocean of inextricably entangled peaks sweeps into view.  Forests dark and vast seem like vague shadows on distant mountain sides.  A city is dwarfed into the compass of a single block; water courses are mere threads of silver, laid in graceful curves upon the green velvet mantle of the endless plains.  The red granite rocks beneath our feet are starred with tiny flowers, so minute that they are almost microscopic, yet tinted with the most delicate and tender colors.

“The majesty of greatness and the mystery of minuteness are here brought face to face.  What wonders of creation exist between these two extremes!  The thoughtful mind is awed by the contemplation of this scene, and when the reflection comes that these vast spaces are but grains of sand upon an infinite shore of creation, and that there are worlds of beauty as far and varied between the tiny flowers and the ultimate researches of the microscope as those which exist, on an ascending scale, between the flowers and the great globe itself, the mind is overwhelmed with wonder and admiration.  It is in vain that one strives to describe the scene.  Only those who have beheld it can realize its grandeur and magnificence.”

Lovers of horseback riding regard the vicinity of Pike’s Peak and Manitou almost in the light of a paradise.  A ride of a few miles in any direction leads to some specially attractive or historic spot.  Crystal Park is one of the popular resorts of this kind.  It is enclosed by high mountains on all sides, with an entrance which partakes of the nature of a natural gateway.  In summer time this park is a profusion of bloom, with wild flowers and vines seldom seen in any other part of the world in such splendor.  There are several elevated spots from which the surrounding country can be seen for miles.  Above the park is Cameron’s Cone.  This is a mountain of much interest, although it can only be reached and climbed by hardy, athletic individuals.  All around there are a profusion of canons.  The Red Rock Canon was at one time a popular resort.  It took its name from the profusion of red sandstone on all sides.  This natural wealth finally destroyed the beauty of the canon, which is now a mass of stone quarries.  Bear Creek Canon has less of the practical and more of the picturesque about it.  A very charming brook runs down the center, and there are two or three small but very delightful falls.