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Fresh snow blanketed the Pikes Peak summit overnight Sunday with snow showers expected to continue throughout the day. ... Scattered snow showers are forecast before 2 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Scattered rain showers are then expected between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., with scattered snow showers returning after 5 p.m.

"Father!" I said, "I've got nothing, here!" I had all sorts of material available for a Sunday morning story. And I decided it was time for another personal piece about the author’s ongoing weird life. I am ecstatic to report that I have received several letters from people who follow my writing. I guess I can call them ‘followers’ - and they have informed me that I have a following! Before I had been writing for a while, I had no following as a writer. As a portrait-painting and wildlife artist, I still have quite a following. But, back when...

A fast-growing wildfire in Colorado forced 11,000 people from their homes at least briefly on Sunday and threatened popular summer camping grounds beneath Pikes Peak, whose vistas helped inspire the patriotic tune "America the Beautiful." Live summit video from the 14,115-foot (4,302-metre) peak showed plumes of dark smoke billowing in the air, and a cog railway that ferries tourists up the side of the famous mountain was shut down because of the wildfires.

The U.S. Forest Service wants to thin or burn 25,000 acres of overgrown forest on Pikes Peak and surrounding foothills, areas where fire suppression has created "unnatural forest conditions prime for catastrophic wildlfire," . It would be the largest tree removal project on the peak since 1890s loggers left wide swaths of the mountain bare to meet the demands of Cripple Creek's gold rush. Officials say thinning and burning is needed because a major fire on the peak would pose a threat to the lives and property of the many people who live adjacent to the peak's forests, Colorado Springs'...

OLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hikers who climb to Pikes Peak's summit but don't feel up to walking the 12 miles back down could soon have to pay for their ride. The Colorado Springs city council is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal from Pikes Peak Highway officials that would charge up to $500 for each uninjured hiker who calls 911 for a ride down. The city runs the toll road up the 14,115-foot peak, but the U.S. Forest Service owns the land.

Kevin Moloney for The New York TimesMelissa Bechhoefer, registrar of the Colorado Historical Society, with a sword and scabbard that belonged to Zebulon Montgomery Pike. Kevin Moloney for The New York TimesIn spiffying up to attract tourism, Pueblo, Colo., settled on the idea of a River Walk to anchor downtown. Much of the attraction, along the Arkansas River, offers themes related to Pike’s Southwestern expedition. PUEBLO, Colo., July 13 — All over tourist country, there’s an invisible borderline where people stop and shut their wallets, as if halted by a sign: nothing beyond here to see. snip... Now Pueblo...