Pikes Peak Trip Report 08/25/2006

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Pikes Peak - 14,109 feet
Date Posted	08/25/2006
Date Climbed	08/24/2006
Author	Cruiser

Pike‘s from Crags CG
I decided to hike Pike‘s at about 10pm on Wednesday night. So, I packed the truck and drove down to the Crags Campground. I have good clearance and 4wd but never needed it on the well maintained dirt road out to the TH. I got in about 11:30pm. I slept on my air mattress in the back of the truck and awoke about 6am. The hike began promptly at 6:30am. The walk through the forest was pretty uneventful. Bill‘s rout description and pictures are totally accurate. After you cross the 2 bridges and the last little stream the route becomes steeper. The section from about 11,400 to 12,900 is pretty steep, although the trail is easy to find and fairly solid. At 12,900 or so I was finished with the first steep section and continued on to Devils Playground. The hike parallels the road from this point on only leaving it briefly to follow a different path. This section was not my favorite. I kept thinking "Why am I hiking along a road that I could just as easily drive up?" I kept at it though. The top section of the route is very well cairned with some cairns reaching 4 or 5 feet tall. I chose to avoid the marked route and put my trekking poles away for the final summit push. This was a little more entertaining. The road disappears for a while below the summit and you actually feel like your climbing a mountain in the wilderness again. That feeling is short lived however. The summit has cars and doughnuts aplenty. I was on top by 9:30 and headed back down by 10:30. After a cup of coffee and a couple of doughnuts of course. I mean why not take advantage of the amenities if they are up there anyway. The hike back down was equally uneventful. I only passed 5 other people on the trail the whole day. It began to rain at about 1pm, but I was back to the truck a few minutes after that. This was a fairly straightforward hike with a very limited appeal for me. The scenery on the Crags side of the hike was quite nice, but it declined in quality immediately when I got to the road. I‘m glad to get this one done because I can see it from my house. It‘s been taunting me for years now but not anymore. I‘m not posting any pics with this one because they really didn‘t come out well. The sky was kind of hazy all day and the photos reflect that. Bill‘s pics allways seem to be better anyway.

Pike‘s from Crags CG

I decided to hike Pike‘s at about 10pm on Wednesday night. So, I packed the truck and drove down to the Crags Campground. I have good clearance and 4wd but never needed it on the well maintained dirt road out to the TH. I got in about 11:30pm. I slept on my air mattress in the back of the truck and awoke about 6am. The hike began promptly at 6:30am. The walk through the forest was pretty uneventful. Bill‘s rout description and pictures are totally accurate. After you cross the 2 bridges and the last little stream the route becomes steeper. The section from about 11,400 to 12,900 is pretty steep, although the trail is easy to find and fairly solid. At 12,900 or so I was finished with the first steep section and continued on to Devils Playground. The hike parallels the road from this point on only leaving it briefly to follow a different path. This section was not my favorite. I kept thinking "Why am I hiking along a road that I could just as easily drive up?" I kept at it though. The top section of the route is very well cairned with some cairns reaching 4 or 5 feet tall. I chose to avoid the marked route and put my trekking poles away for the final summit push. This was a little more entertaining. The road disappears for a while below the summit and you actually feel like your climbing a mountain in the wilderness again. That feeling is short lived however. The summit has cars and doughnuts aplenty. I was on top by 9:30 and headed back down by 10:30. After a cup of coffee and a couple of doughnuts of course. I mean why not take advantage of the amenities if they are up there anyway. The hike back down was equally uneventful. I only passed 5 other people on the trail the whole day. It began to rain at about 1pm, but I was back to the truck a few minutes after that. This was a fairly straightforward hike with a very limited appeal for me. The scenery on the Crags side of the hike was quite nice, but it declined in quality immediately when I got to the road. I‘m glad to get this one done because I can see it from my house. It‘s been taunting me for years now but not anymore. I‘m not posting any pics with this one because they really didn‘t come out well. The sky was kind of hazy all day and the photos reflect that. Bill‘s pics allways seem to be better anyway.

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