Recently, we endured difficult winter weather as we were staying in Kentucky near family while waiting for our motorhome to be repaired. Ice, snow, power outages, and many things breaking tested our patience and resilience. Yet even after facing all of that, nothing compared to the biting cold at the top of Pikes Peak.
Three years ago, in April 2023, my husband and I boarded the Pikes Peak Cog Railway in Colorado, expecting beautiful scenery and a memorable day in the mountains. As a romantic suspense author, I’m drawn to places where beauty and danger exist side by side, settings that feel both breathtaking and unpredictable. Pikes Peak, rising 14,115 feet into the Colorado sky, promised exactly that.
From the moment the train began its steady climb, I felt the quiet stirring that happens when a place begins to feel like a story.
The Slow Build of Anticipation
The ascent unfolded like a carefully paced novel. Dense forests gradually thinned into rugged rock and open sky. Snow clung to the mountainsides in patches, and each turn revealed wider horizons. On the way up, I found myself watching ahead, thinking about how suspense builds slowly, before revealing the true intensity waiting at the end.
The rhythmic motion of the train created a pattern conducive to writing. Trains have always affected me this way. But this time I was taking in every scene, storing it in my memory. Instead of navigating winding mountain roads, as we’d done in many national parks, here we could simply observe the landscape and let the experience settle in.
As we climbed higher, the air seemed sharper and the views more expansive, creating a sense that we were leaving ordinary life behind. We were reminded to sip water slowly. This helps with rising in the elevation, the combination of swallowing to help your ears pop, along with preventing dehydration, and trying to prevent elevation sickness. Our bodies had to acclimate as the train slowly climbed.
A Shock of Cold at the Summit
Nothing quite prepared us for what awaited when we stepped off the train.
The wind hit with startling force — sharp, relentless, and far colder than we expected. We hurried toward the summit monument, laughing through shivers as we snapped a few photos of ourselves by the sign at the peak as quickly as possible before retreating into the visitor center for warmth. I have never, before, or since, felt cold and wind that extreme, even during the recent ice storms.
The sky felt impossibly close, and every breath carried a reminder that we were standing far above sea level. Mountain cold feels immediate and unyielding, a force that commands respect.
In romantic suspense, the setting often becomes a character. Standing in the fierce wind, the mountain felt powerful and unpredictable. Beautiful, but never entirely safe.
Forty Minutes at the Edge of the Sky
Visitors are given a limited amount of time at the summit, and we had only forty minutes before the train’s return whistle. That ticking clock added a subtle layer of urgency to every decision.
My husband ventured back outside into the cold to capture more photographs while I explored the gift shop. There, I found vintage-style black-and-white photograph postcards available only at the summit. The stark images felt timeless and mysterious, like fragments of stories waiting to be told.
We also walked through the exhibit area together, learning about the history of Pikes Peak and the people who braved harsh conditions to explore it. Reading about early travelers and builders added depth to the experience, turning the mountain from a scenic destination into a place shaped by determination, risk, and perseverance.
Limited time forced us to choose carefully what to see and do. A reminder that tension often grows not from danger alone, but from urgency and constraint.
The Famous Donuts — and Listening to Instinct
Many visitors talk about the fresh donuts served at the summit, a tradition for those reaching the top. Although they looked tempting, I chose not to try them. High elevation affects everyone differently, and sugar at altitude can raise my blood sugar and blood pressure quickly, even when I’m otherwise eating healthy foods.
Writers learn to trust instinct when shaping stories, and travel requires the same awareness. Choosing what keeps you comfortable and present allows you to experience a place more fully so that you remember it clearly later.
A New Perspective on the Way Down
Before long, the train whistle signaled that it was time to return. As we walked back toward the train, I took photos along the path, trying to capture the stark beauty of rock, sky, and sweeping horizon.
We returned to the same seats but faced the opposite direction for the descent. That single change transformed the journey. On the way up, I had watched the climb ahead; on the way down, the world opened beneath us. Valleys stretching endlessly, distant peaks layered in soft blue shadows.
The train was only a little more than half full, and no one else sat in our section, making the ride quieter and more comfortable. The peaceful atmosphere gave space for reflection, the kind of stillness where ideas begin to form.
Changing perspective reminded me of revising a manuscript. How the same story can feel entirely different when seen from another angle.
Inspiration Found Above the Clouds
Our time at the summit of Pikes Peak was brief, cold, and unforgettable. The fierce wind, the pressure of limited time, the stark beauty of the landscape, and the shared experience of facing the elements together created a powerful mix of vulnerability and wonder.
For romantic suspense authors, travel offers more than scenic inspiration. It provides sensory details. The sting of cold air, the urgency of a ticking clock, the intimacy of shared challenges, and the realization that love and risk often coexist.
Standing at 14,115 feet above sea level, I was reminded that the most compelling stories grow from contrast: warmth against cold, safety against uncertainty, quiet connection set against vast and unpredictable landscapes.
Sometimes inspiration arrives on a mountain wind, reminding us that suspense and romance often live where the air is thin, the stakes feel higher, and every moment carries the promise of story.
For more pictures of our trip to the top of Pikes Peak, visit:
https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/2026/02/12/love-wind-and-thin-air-finding-story-inspiration-at-the-summit-of-pikes-peak/
Debra Parmley is a multi-genre author who after living for 23 years just outside Memphis, TN, sold everything to live full-time in a 43-foot motorhome with her Air Force veteran husband. She writes as they travel the U.S.
She has written military romantic suspense, contemporary romance, historical romance, dystopian romance, holiday romance, fairy tale romance, urban fantasy romance, poetry and nonfiction.
Debra travels widely, reads widely and writes widely. You will find danger, action and adventure, and romance in her stories.
In her Tales from the Trailer articles for Fresh Fiction, she shares the RV lifestyle and travel adventures in the U.S. from the point of view of a working author.
www.debraparmley.com to sign up for her newsletter.
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