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I returned to get revenge on Pikes Peak. On Thursday, August 17, 2023, I hiked with a friend to the summit from Devil's Playground and back.
My friend Dawn and I took over where I left off a couple of weeks ago with my big brother. See my trip report Senior Sibling Summit Challenge. This time, we took a shorter route up the mountain, from Devil's Playground. We saw mountain goats, marmots, and a Bighorn ram.
We began the hike at 8:14 AM. A hiker can't start much earlier from there since the toll road gate doesn't open until 7:30.
Shortly after we started, we saw a mountain goat and her kid.A Bighorn ramThe ram seemed to escort us ladies up the trail for a while.The ram clearly seen against the blue sky.
"Why am I doing this? I think I might die. I wanna go home." Don't talk yourself out of finishing.
One of several marmots we spotted that day.A view back from up the trail 2.3 miles.
Scrambling and cairn-spotting skills need to kick in for the last half mile at the top. Several decades ago I would have found it to be a delightful dance, bouncing from rock to rock. The cairns mark the route very well. There are several areas where trail builders made some steps. Thank you very much!
A happy moment - we're getting close!Summit at last!
We summited at 11:00 AM, on the west side.
A photo (myself on the left) from the east side of the Visitor Center.Our "official" summit photo.
We relaxed with a donut and some nourishing soup. After a nice break, we started back down at 12:33 and reached the car at DP at 2:40.
AllTrails recording, The distance includes walking around on the summit.
Total time: 2.75 hours up; 2 hours down. I stopped a lot up because of exhaustion, I guess; Dawn stopped a lot down because of her knees.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Yes, you can count this 1,000' gain as a bagged peak, as long as you also did the lower portion. Even though not on the same day, as Kilimanjaro and Everest as NEVER done in a single day climb either! Great job, and congratulations on another bagged 14er.
It wasn't much gain, about 1,300'. Even Pikes Peak isn't done in one day when people split the hike in two or three parts by camping at Barr.
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