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| I defeated the Manitou Incline one bloody stair at a time!!! Death felt close but I pulled through!!! |
The Manitou Incline is an extremely popular hiking trail here in Colorado. Mike, Dave and I challenged ourselves to the 2,000 ft vertical incline today. There were several times on the trail when I thought I was never going to reach the top! The slope of the trail reaches 68% at one point which makes it the perfect strength and endurance test. The average slop up is 40%. This test just proves that I am still a weakling and have a LOT of work to do... What a trip!
Here is a photo of the stairs:
This trail is like an endless stairway to heaven! Oh man, my legs hurt just looking at those rail ties. This railroad was built in 1907 for the hydroelectric plant and its' waterline. After that service was done it was turned into a tourist attraction boasting a 16 minute ride to "scenic splendors." Technically sections of the incline are owned by U.S. Forest Service, Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway Co., and Colorado Springs Utilities and is not open to the public. This doesn't stop the flood of people hiking up the trail!!!
I would walk about 20 steps then stop, 20 steps then stop, 10 steps then stop etc... This a difficult trail! There were a couple spots where I dumped my water on my back to cool me off. I'd look up on my breaks and think, "damn! there's sooo much more!" Of course my language was not that great, the only words that really formed in my mind were curse words. I trudged on and made it to the top!!!
There is a Bailout Point at about .6 of a mile up the trail. Boy, I am glad I didn't know about the bailout point! I may have taken it!!! My legs hurt! Or I guess the feeling in my legs would be described more as jello than pain... Few! The hike up to the top of the stairway to heaven...or hell was .9 of a mile. This is where the second link to the Barr Trail is. The total mileage of our loop was about 3.7 miles. The Barr Trail was great! I think I would like to look into going back and just doing the Barr Trail start to finish instead of the incline.
How long did the whole trip take me? I finished the incline in about an hour and a half and made it back to my car within hours. I didn't keep a good log of the times we made, I was focused more on finishing the challenge I gave myself.
On to the next challenge! Anyone have ideas on what I should do next? Where should I go? Are there any trails or anything that you would suggest I try??
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| Look at these happy folks. They get the easy trip up! :) This photo was taken in 1914. |
This is awesome !!! I have been wanting to do the Manitou Incline, but wasn't exactly sure where it is or what it was like.. Great blog! Love how you gave the history of it as well. GREAT JOB girl! HIGH FIVE ! WHOOP!
ReplyDeleteWay to go girl! That's so impressive! I'm glad you stuck it out and completed the challenge you gave yourself. The jello feeling will go away, but that accomplishment will last and last! Great post, loved the historic info (like Kelly!)
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