Thursday, June 28, 2007

Top of Cheyenne mountain: lots of cool stuff

The Broadmoor's Cheyenne Mountain Lodge (pictured below in 1954) is on private land, so you can't visit it. And it was demolished in the 1970s, so there is only a foundation left. (Too bad, it's a great Mission Revival-style lodge. It reminds me of the main building at the zoo.) But there's plenty of other stuff to see on the mountain.
Like this old pump, along the McNeil Trail, which was used to pump water from a spring to the lodge. If you see this pump when looking for the Swisher trail, you've gone too far.
The Swisher trail climbs up, up, up until it finally empties into this gorgeous meadow. Doesn't look like you'd think Cheyenne Mountain would look, does it?
More aspen meadow, on the way to the old Swisher homestead.
Not much is left of the homestead cabin, but you will find this old wood stove on the edge of the meadow.

3 comments:

Zen said...

Beautiful lodge.

Beautifuller meadow.

One wonders what Cheyenne Mountain would have been like today had the lodge survived or been rebuilt.

Steve said...

Did you go to the end of the MacNeil trail where it almost reaches the Horns Road?

Dave Philipps said...

Steve,
No, I turned up the Swisher, though I have been to the Horns before, on the Sunrise trail from the north. Great area. I would have liked to see the lodge while it was still standing.