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So here it goes my first report, I will consider this one my warm up as I hope to post many more in the future.
Trail conditions: We brought along snowshoes but they weren't used at all, microspikes did come in handy.
It was 4 of us who started the hike, and thankfully 4 of us ended the hike. Besides myself I met up with Wes(weschun), Will(hunterwf), and Jim(Yikes) at the Crags TH for what seemed like a nice day to hike up the back side of Pikes Peak. The weather was forecasted for partly sunny, and of course we knew it was going to be windy at the top. We left our cars at 7:08 AM to begin what turned out to be a very interesting day.
Will in the foreground and Jim above us just above tree line.
As we continue our trek there are a lot of great photos to be had. I've only done Pikes Peak from the Barr Trail side and didn't realize all of the beautiful shots there were on the back side of the peak.
Here is Will stopping to take a picture of Wes and I, I'm taking a photo myself.
Me taking a photo with Wes coming up below us.
We are now about 2-2.5 hours into the hike and we can finally see the summit house...YAY!
You can see the summit house!
So after hiking for nearly 5 hours Jim and I were the first ones to reach the summit with Will and Wes about 20-30 minutes behind us. Here I am at the summit. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a pick with everyone that I hiked with.
My summit shot.
At the summit the wind really started to pick up and that partially sunny day turned in to gusty winds with some snow. We decided we would all hike down the road until we had to get back on the trial by the Devils Playground. This is where the hike became a little more interesting.
We were all spread out while hiking down the road and kept our own pace until we reached the turn off back to the trail. Jim was leading the way and Wes had fallen a bit behind. We ended up getting further ahead of Wes than we had thought and he lost track of us. So we stopped at a point where Jim had stowed his snowshoes and waited for Wes...but he never came. One of the guys saw Wes hiking what we thought was the ridge above us and turned out later we found out it was the road. To make a long story short as we kept hiking on the trail and we kept looking for Wes and couldn't find him. In the end we called 911 and then waited for SAR to call us back. In the mean time Wes hiked down to the gift shop, that was thankfully open, and then caught a ride into Manitiou Springs where he then took a taxi back to the TH. Jim, Will, and I got the phone call saying he was okay and Wes let us know he was going to be taking the taxi. The 3 or us got back to the car around 6:39 PM, just as it turned dark. We all learned a very important lesson and that is to make sure everyone is staying within visible distance of one another. I'm just thankful that we all made it back to tell the tale.
In the end I met a great group of guys and hope we can hike together more in the future. Jim, I know you asked for a photo of a sasquatch or something...here is the closest pick I could find...courtesy of Will.
Is that a sasquatch posing as me???
Happy hiking everyone!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Glad you all had a good hike. Have done the Craigs side twice now, but never in the snow. Last time was last June. What was the trailhead like? Much snow? Sometimes that area gets a bit sticky/muddy.
The road to the TH had some snow but we had no problem making it their in an Audi A4. The trail was snow packed most of the way, but having microspikes on made it an easier climb. Hope that helps.
Think I will head up there this Saturday. With this warmer weather I am getting the itch to start 14ers again. Take care.
Dr. Dave
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