Pikes Peak Trip Report 08/30/2006

Peak(s):	Pikes Peak - 14,109 feet
Date Posted:	08/30/2006
Modified:	08/31/2006
Date Climbed:	08/25/2006
Author:	texas_7er

Pikes Peak morning hike
Thursday, August 24th 4:15pm Dad (66 yrs old) and I (33 yrs old) went through everything we had to make sure that we were not missing anything. I packed a long-sleeved shirt, wind-breaker, gloves, paydays, snickers, cliff bars, water, trail map, pocket knife, bandaids, and ibuprofen. Dad brought pretty much the same plus 2 rain ponchos just in case we needed them. 4:30pm We drove down to Colorado Springs from Denver. 6:15pm Checked into the Best Western on I-25 and drove down to the trailhead to check it out. At first it looked like there was no parking, but when we left, we saw all of the parking spaces near the Cog Railway about a � of a mile away. So, with no worries we went in search of food. 7:15pm Decided to grab a bite to eat at Billy's Old World Pizza. They were rated the top pizza buffet in Colorado Springs per a certificate on their wall. Considering how expensive it was and the quality of the food, we determined that they must be the only pizza buffet in Colorado Springs. 8:30pm Called it a night. Friday, August 25th 4:07am Our 4:15am wake-up call came through. We slowly got moving around. 4:40am We checked out and hit the road for the trailhead. 5am We got the last legitimate parking space at the trailhead. A couple more cars squeezed in after us though. I quickly realized that I had forgotten my flashlight. And since it was very dark, we decided to tag along with someone else that was better prepared. We ended up with a trio + dog (Lisa, Ashley, David, and Anushka the labrador). 5:20am We hit the trail. Part1 - initial switchbacks The initial switchbacks made kind of a rough start. For the first hour, I could definitely feel my heartrate speeding up. After about 70 minutes, Dad and I left the others to continue on to the top. They really helped us in the beginning, though. Part 2 - trail to Barr Camp After finishing a bottle of water, I put the empty one in my backpack and took a full one out. Dad did the same, and we both realized how heavy a bottle of water really is. I felt like I had taken 20 pounds out of my backpack. That along with the trail evening out made for a nice walk into Barr Camp around 8:15am. We bought some more bottled water, ate some grapes, took some pictures, and called home to let the group know where we were. You have to love technology...using a cellphone from the middle of Barr Trail. Part 3 - leaving Barr Camp Left Barr Camp after about a 12 minute break. The next stretch to the treeline was a good walk. This was either right before or right after Barr Camp. We ended up walking a ways with a fellow from the Air Force who was on a group walk. He had a great pace, so we stayed up with him for a while. We took a short break about halfway between Barr Camp and the treeline. We also stopped at the treeline to take some pictures. At this point, I was starting to breathe heavy and get sore. Every mile seemed to incrementally add more weight to my backpack as well. Part 4 - past the tree line From the treeline, we hit the rocks. This part of the hike about wiped me out. Dad was a machine, but I felt like I needed to take a break about every 5-10 minutes. There were instances where I would look down thinking it was time to take a break and only 2 minutes had passed since the previous break. A couple minutes later I would look at my watch again. A nice shot from above the treeline. Through this part of the hike, I was breathing very hard, could not look up, my back was killing me, and my legs were about gone. We must have taken 5 breaks each for 2-3 minutes during this part of the hike. The breaks were my idea and the 2-3 minute lengths were Dad's. I would have preferred 20-30 minute lengths personally. About 75% of the way through this part of the hike I asked a fellow if we were on the Golden Steps and he told me yes. He turned out to be wrong... Part 5 - Golden Steps After thinking (and hoping) that we were already on the Golden Steps for about 30 minutes, we came upon a plaque that told us that we were just now coming to the Golden Steps. I couldn't verbalize my disappointment, being very out of breath at this point. Dad's comment was: "Does that mean what I think it means?" We kept moving, knowing that we were coming near the end at this point. At one point, we saw about 8 Army guys in full gear and backpacks coming down. They were in great moods and very friendly. I asked them how close the summit was. Their response was 15 minutes. That ended up being pretty close to the truth. With a total of 16 steps in this part, we took one very quick break in the middle of step 11. By the end of step 12, we saw the building at the top. Also, each step consisted of 2 switchbacks - some very short. Part 6 - The Top At 11:50am, we arrived at the top of Pikes Peak. We had a fellow take a picture of us in front of a sign just in time before the mob showed up from the train. We ended up resting inside for about an hour watching people eat "The World's Best Donuts" before we got picked up by my mom, Wendy (my wife), Sarah (my sister-in-law), Madeleine (1 day shy of turning 3 yrs old), and Miriam (my younger daughter). When they arrived, Sarah started to feel a little light-headed immediately. About 10 minutes later Mom and I started feeling a little under the weather as well. So, we booked it on down the mountain and to McDonald's for some much needed nourishment. Final notes Madeleine got sick on the trip down to Colorado Springs. Wendy did a great job in driving up and down the mountain road. Sarah ended up having her hands full all day with the girls while Wendy drove. Mom declared that she would never drive up that mountain. Dad saw the Army guys in full gear wrapping up their descent at the trailhead while picking up the truck, probably not looking quite as refreshed as they did when they started their descent. We ended up celebrating the hike at On the Border in Lakewood, where the bartender gave Dad and me a congratulatory shot of tequila. I asked Dad how he felt that while at the restaurant, and he responded that he felt very good, about the same as if he ran a 15K. I was sore all over. The next morning Dad went running and I took more ibuprofen. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Pikes Peak morning hike

Thursday, August 24th
4:15pm
Dad (66 yrs old) and I (33 yrs old) went through everything we had to make sure that we were not missing anything. I packed a long-sleeved shirt, wind-breaker, gloves, paydays, snickers, cliff bars, water, trail map, pocket knife, bandaids, and ibuprofen. Dad brought pretty much the same plus 2 rain ponchos just in case we needed them.

4:30pm
We drove down to Colorado Springs from Denver.

6:15pm
Checked into the Best Western on I-25 and drove down to the trailhead to check it out. At first it looked like there was no parking, but when we left, we saw all of the parking spaces near the Cog Railway about a � of a mile away. So, with no worries we went in search of food.

7:15pm
Decided to grab a bite to eat at Billy's Old World Pizza. They were rated the top pizza buffet in Colorado Springs per a certificate on their wall. Considering how expensive it was and the quality of the food, we determined that they must be the only pizza buffet in Colorado Springs.

8:30pm
Called it a night.

Friday, August 25th

4:07am
Our 4:15am wake-up call came through. We slowly got moving around.

4:40am
We checked out and hit the road for the trailhead.

5am
We got the last legitimate parking space at the trailhead. A couple more cars squeezed in after us though. I quickly realized that I had forgotten my flashlight. And since it was very dark, we decided to tag along with someone else that was better prepared. We ended up with a trio + dog (Lisa, Ashley, David, and Anushka the labrador).

5:20am
We hit the trail.

Part1 - initial switchbacks
The initial switchbacks made kind of a rough start. For the first hour, I could definitely feel my heartrate speeding up. After about 70 minutes, Dad and I left the others to continue on to the top. They really helped us in the beginning, though.

Part 2 - trail to Barr Camp
After finishing a bottle of water, I put the empty one in my backpack and took a full one out. Dad did the same, and we both realized how heavy a bottle of water really is. I felt like I had taken 20 pounds out of my backpack. That along with the trail evening out made for a nice walk into Barr Camp around 8:15am. We bought some more bottled water, ate some grapes, took some pictures, and called home to let the group know where we were. You have to love technology...using a cellphone from the middle of Barr Trail.

Part 3 - leaving Barr Camp
Left Barr Camp after about a 12 minute break. The next stretch to the treeline was a good walk.

This was either right before or right after Barr Camp.

We ended up walking a ways with a fellow from the Air Force who was on a group walk. He had a great pace, so we stayed up with him for a while. We took a short break about halfway between Barr Camp and the treeline. We also stopped at the treeline to take some pictures. At this point, I was starting to breathe heavy and get sore. Every mile seemed to incrementally add more weight to my backpack as well.

Part 4 - past the tree line
From the treeline, we hit the rocks. This part of the hike about wiped me out. Dad was a machine, but I felt like I needed to take a break about every 5-10 minutes. There were instances where I would look down thinking it was time to take a break and only 2 minutes had passed since the previous break. A couple minutes later I would look at my watch again.

A nice shot from above the treeline.

Through this part of the hike, I was breathing very hard, could not look up, my back was killing me, and my legs were about gone. We must have taken 5 breaks each for 2-3 minutes during this part of the hike. The breaks were my idea and the 2-3 minute lengths were Dad's. I would have preferred 20-30 minute lengths personally. About 75% of the way through this part of the hike I asked a fellow if we were on the Golden Steps and he told me yes. He turned out to be wrong...

Part 5 - Golden Steps
After thinking (and hoping) that we were already on the Golden Steps for about 30 minutes, we came upon a plaque that told us that we were just now coming to the Golden Steps. I couldn't verbalize my disappointment, being very out of breath at this point. Dad's comment was: "Does that mean what I think it means?" We kept moving, knowing that we were coming near the end at this point. At one point, we saw about 8 Army guys in full gear and backpacks coming down. They were in great moods and very friendly. I asked them how close the summit was. Their response was 15 minutes. That ended up being pretty close to the truth. With a total of 16 steps in this part, we took one very quick break in the middle of step 11. By the end of step 12, we saw the building at the top. Also, each step consisted of 2 switchbacks - some very short.

Part 6 - The Top
At 11:50am, we arrived at the top of Pikes Peak. We had a fellow take a picture of us in front of a sign just in time before the mob showed up from the train. We ended up resting inside for about an hour watching people eat "The World's Best Donuts" before we got picked up by my mom, Wendy (my wife), Sarah (my sister-in-law), Madeleine (1 day shy of turning 3 yrs old), and Miriam (my younger daughter). When they arrived, Sarah started to feel a little light-headed immediately. About 10 minutes later Mom and I started feeling a little under the weather as well. So, we booked it on down the mountain and to McDonald's for some much needed nourishment.

Final notes
Madeleine got sick on the trip down to Colorado Springs. Wendy did a great job in driving up and down the mountain road. Sarah ended up having her hands full all day with the girls while Wendy drove. Mom declared that she would never drive up that mountain. Dad saw the Army guys in full gear wrapping up their descent at the trailhead while picking up the truck, probably not looking quite as refreshed as they did when they started their descent. We ended up celebrating the hike at On the Border in Lakewood, where the bartender gave Dad and me a congratulatory shot of tequila. I asked Dad how he felt that while at the restaurant, and he responded that he felt very good, about the same as if he ran a 15K. I was sore all over. The next morning Dad went running and I took more ibuprofen.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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