As anyone living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, can attest, Pikes Peak is a majestic presence over the entire city. When asked to think about one place of historic significance to my local area, I could think of no better topic than Pikes Peak. It provides endless room to perform outdoorsy activities for which Coloradans are known (hiking, backpacking, skiing, climbing, etc.), but is also our pride and joy. No other city in the United States has a 14er (a mountain 14,000+ feet) so close to the city, and no other city has embraced being on the Front Range like Colorado Springs.

The research process for finding resources about Pikes Peak was a bit scattered at first. My first stop, of course, was Google. After finding some basic tourist information, I decided to search further in the catalog of the local public library, Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD). I found a vast amount of historic information in their Regional History and Genealogy Page. This led me to discover the 1905 Carnegie Special Collections archive. This repository has some physical books that I referenced, but also a large digital repository upon which I heavily relied. Lastly, after some readings in my Local History and Genealogy course, I discovered that I could also use government resources (National Parks Service, National Geologic Survey, National Archives, etc.). I was happy to have found such a wide variety of resources to use.

My small collection (annotated bibliography) that I initially created quickly became larger as I continued my research process. The initial report was created by simply citing all of the various resources that I described above. However, I had to weed out the "bad" resources, which required a sense of best judgment. It turns out, there are lots of websites dedicated to describing specific aspects of Pikes Peak, but are created by individuals not affiliated with any association. For example, I remember finding a website dedicated to finding the areas to back-ski. Although I could tell it was written by a local who was trying to help others, the level of professionalism in the page was not up to par, and not worthy of use for this assignment. I similarly had to eliminate other such resources. As I created my annotated bibliography of sources, I quickly noticed the trend of different routes up Pikes Peak, as each source I found fell into one of four categories. And thus, The Road Path, The Rail Path, The Dirt Path, and The Summit structure was born!

When I first started my research process, I was a little concerned that I would struggle to find enough resources. Surprisingly, I had more difficulty in culling my resources down than finding enough! I discovered that my region has an immensely well-documented history, and I found myself wanting to check out half of the reference collection. I did check out some circulating books on the Cog Railroad and mountain itself, but quickly found that I could study this topic for five lifetimes and still not know everything. One night, I found myself reading late at night because I got caught up in the 88 page document of Pikes Peak's original nomination to be a National Historic Landmark from the United States Department of the Interior. Before I knew it, I had worked an hour past when I meant to work. Overall, my biggest struggle was keeping my research (for the time being) restricted to the scope of this class and project. I fully intend to continue an in-depth personal research on my own after the summer term ends!

The people who will find my website most helpful will be those who live in Colorado Springs. It could be someone who has lived here for years, or someone who just moved to town. Either way, I hope that this website gives a taste of what an honor it is to live near such a special landmark. I hope that future researchers of Pikes Peak will revere it with the respect that it deserves, but also not be afraid to fully take advantage of the wonderful life opportunities that it brings.