Pikes Peak Trip Report 02/18/2012

Report Type	Mini
Peak(s)	Pikes Peak - 14,109 feet
Date Posted	02/18/2012
Date Climbed	02/17/2012
Author	oldschool

Crags - solo
START TIME 5:00 AM SUMMIT 10:15 AM 45 MINS AT SUMMIT LEAVE SUMMIT AT 11:00 AM BACK AT TRUCK AT 1:52 PM Looked at the weather report. Not bad....was expecting some light snow and winds on Friday. Drove to the trailhead Thursday night and camped. It was VERY cold....probably -10 or so at the trailhead. Had planned on starting the hike at 4:00 am. Started at 5:00 am instead. Getting out of my sleeping bag and dressing when it's that cold sucks! I had been to the Crags route just 6 days earlier so I knew it was trenched. No new snow had fallen so off I went with snowshoes and micro's, which I never used. Got a bit further than last time without the snowshoes...maybe a 1 1/2 miles, then put them on. Easy going....just follow the trench. Bluebird skies and little to no wind. Got to the road where the trail crosses it in 3 1/2 hrs. (Devil's Playground) Dropped my snowshoes there. Walked the trail and the road the rest of the way. No worries. The last bit to the summit I climbed the Cog rails. Summit house was open. As I was walking the road earlier the Ranger came by and said that the road and Summit house were open. Of course I had NO money to buy a doughnut! Spent a nice 45 minutes in the Summit House warming up and eating Clif Bars and drinking Gatorade. Started down at 11:00 am. Made good time down. As I was walking down I did walk along the road a bit and another Ranger/Sheriff told me it was illegal to hike on the road! WTF! So off to the snowy trails I went. Got back to my snowshoes quickly (damn that downhill stuff is easy!) and off I went back to the trailhead. Down in 2 hr 52 minutes from the summit. Great day, super weather, hardly any wind and I was the only climber on the mtn. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Crags - solo

START TIME 5:00 AM
SUMMIT 10:15 AM
45 MINS AT SUMMIT
LEAVE SUMMIT AT 11:00 AM
BACK AT TRUCK AT 1:52 PM

Looked at the weather report. Not bad....was expecting some light snow and winds on Friday. Drove to the trailhead Thursday night and camped. It was VERY cold....probably -10 or so at the trailhead. Had planned on starting the hike at 4:00 am. Started at 5:00 am instead. Getting out of my sleeping bag and dressing when it's that cold sucks!

I had been to the Crags route just 6 days earlier so I knew it was trenched. No new snow had fallen so off I went with snowshoes and micro's, which I never used. Got a bit further than last time without the snowshoes...maybe a 1 1/2 miles, then put them on. Easy going....just follow the trench. Bluebird skies and little to no wind. Got to the road where the trail crosses it in 3 1/2 hrs. (Devil's Playground) Dropped my snowshoes there. Walked the trail and the road the rest of the way. No worries. The last bit to the summit I climbed the Cog rails. Summit house was open. As I was walking the road earlier the Ranger came by and said that the road and Summit house were open. Of course I had NO money to buy a doughnut!

Spent a nice 45 minutes in the Summit House warming up and eating Clif Bars and drinking Gatorade. Started down at 11:00 am. Made good time down. As I was walking down I did walk along the road a bit and another Ranger/Sheriff told me it was illegal to hike on the road! WTF! So off to the snowy trails I went. Got back to my snowshoes quickly (damn that downhill stuff is easy!) and off I went back to the trailhead. Down in 2 hr 52 minutes from the summit. Great day, super weather, hardly any wind and I was the only climber on the mtn.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Dean82	snowshoes needed? 2/19/2012 3:09pm Do you think snowshoes are required or could I get by without them.
oldschool	Snowshoes 2/19/2012 3:11pm You could do it without them but....it will suck for some sections! I wouldn't go without them.
FireOnTheMountain	Cool 2/20/2012 12:05am Never seen the inside of the Pikes store. Had Pikes all to ourselves on a snow climb once but no store :(. I loved it nonetheless. Nice job!
tockelstein2005	good job 2/20/2012 3:50am It's nice to be the only one there. Cool pics
holttd	Avy danger? 2/20/2012 10:36pm I assume the avy danger on this route is minimal right now, would you agree? I might be soloing it on Saturday.
Oldskool70	another old school up dar' 2/21/2012 7:08pm Did you have a grey/tan SUV in the north part of the parking lot? I came later to scout the areas conditions & took the winter route to about 12,200 and took some turns on my snowboard. You musta took the summer route as all I saw was old skinned tracks at treeline. Was there much loaded snow on the south side of that ridge? The winter route was safe but I was curious how the summer route was.

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