The Colorado Springs INCLINE!

On Sunday, instead of going on a boring 1 hour 20 minute run, I finally got a chance to walk the Colorado Springs Incline!! I have wanted to attempt it since I moved here in May; I just never got around to actually doing it! You can see the ‘scar’ in the mountain side from almost anywhere in Colorado Springs…and I have heard horror stories about how HARD it is.
Well, now I can tell you the truth…it is VERY hard to climb! My legs were burning from the first few steps…and I had about 2,000 more steps to go! It starts off very easy and builds into an almost vertical scramble. There are steps made from railroad ties the whole way up…it never turns into a gravel scramble. (It was once an actual Railway up the side of the mountain called the Mt. Manitou Scenic Incline Railway)…hence the huge logs of railroad ties that make climbing it possible!
I went with Jasmine and Daimeon (a new friend at the OTC, he was hired by USA Cycling as the new mechanic…I think it was a good idea to befriend him right away:) free bike work) haha!! My method was the ‘slow and steady pace’ while Jaz and Daimeon used the ‘sprint, rest, sprint, rest’ method.
We started a bit late in the day…around 5:30pm. The temperature was dropping a bit so we each brought a sweatshirt for the trip back down (we knew we wouldn’t be using it too much on the way up!). The top of the incline met a trail called the Barr Trail. They both started at the same spot in town, but the Barr is more of a switch-back gradual path that continues on to the top of Pike’s Peak (that would be a LONG hike!). Instead of going back down the incline (which would be scary and dangerous) we chose to descend on the Barr trail. It was about 6:30pm now, we were on the East side of the mountains and the sun was almost completely down. Our descent was a race against the light…we definitely lost the race, it was completely dark when we got back to the car. Luckily we made it without any bad steps or slides and headed back to the OTC for dinner.
Next time (and I’m so excited about doing it again) we will plan for better light:)! Maybe I’ll attempt the hike to Pike’s Peak one day…probably NOT during race season though! I didn't carry my camera on this trip but I found some photos on-line and have included them below so you can get an idea of the incline...when I take some photos there will be people struggling to climb!