PIKES PEAK
14,110 ft.
October 17, 2000
By Tim Briese
I first climbed Pikes Peak in 1980 when I hiked up the Barr Trail from Manitou Springs with my wife and friends. That climb was a daunting challenge, involving 26 long miles of hiking and a lung-wrenching 7400 feet of elevation gain, so we spread it out over three days by backpacking up to Barr Camp, about halfway up the mountain. Over the following years I was inspired and refreshed almost daily by the majestic view of the mountain as I lived and worked in Colorado Springs, but I had little interest in climbing it again. Finally, almost two decades later, I became intrigued by the personal challenge of repeating the climb, but doing it as a dayhike this time. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, though, for I had never done so many miles or so much gain in one day. It is good to explore our personal limits once in a while.
I hit the trail with my lab Allie in the dark at 6 a.m. on a clear, beautiful morning in mid October. It was an enchanting hike in the moonlight on the lower switchbacks of the Barr Trail, as the colorful lights of Colorado Springs were spread out in a glittering tapestry below. Allie and I were startled by four or five early morning joggers who abruptly appeared out of the darkness on the trail. What a spectacular place for an early morning workout!
I rapidly climbed the switchbacks on the east slopes of Rocky Mountain (9,250'), and was treated to a gorgeous pink sunrise a few minutes after 7:00, just as I caught my first glimpse of the summit of Pikes Peak to the southwest when I came around a bend in the trail. The summit didn’t seem too far away from this vantage point, but it turned out to be much more distant than it looked. I hiked through a grove of brilliant yellow aspens flaming colorfully in the early rays of sunlight, and I paused occasionally to admire other refreshing views along the trail.
The Barr Trail is an excellent one, a veritable highway compared to most 14er trails. The miles can be hiked rapidly on it, which is essential in order to cover them all in a day. My right knee, which had bothered me on climbs during much of the summer, began to hurt painfully about five miles into the hike. This development cast a long shadow of doubt on the success of the climb.
At 8:45 I reached Barr Camp, which is at about the halfway point in both miles and elevation gain on the hike. I took a fifteen minute break here and filtered some water from a tiny stream before pressing on up the trail. By 10:30 I reached the A-frame shelter just below timberline, and gazed up at the 2200 feet of elevation gain remaining above me. At timberline I paused to read a plaque along the trail that described how an 88-year old woman had collapsed and died there, on her way down from her 14th ascent of the mountain. I hope I’m still climbing when I’m 88!
The Barr Trail, built by Fred Barr from 1914 to 1918, is an amazing route. It is very long and grueling, but it maintains a rather gentle grade all the way because of countless switchbacks. This makes it easier, mile per mile, than most other 14er trails, but its extreme length and elevation gain make it a supreme challenge.
When I climbed above 13,000 feet I began to encounter small patches of snow along the trail. On one of the switchbacks below the summit I paused to gaze down into the gaping south cirque of the Peak, which fell away some 1500 feet below. I met a few hikers and one mountain biker on their way down who had ridden up on the cog train. That would be a more leisurely way to see the trail, I thought, but it would still require a thirteen mile hike!
At 12:20 I reached the summit, and it certainly felt good to be there. It was clear and calm on top on this beautiful autumn day. The temperature was only 27 degrees but it felt warmer in the golden sunshine. I walked to the west across the parking area over to the highest point on the broad summit, and continued on to the western side of the mountaintop to have a look at the Continental Divide off in the distance. I did not go into the summit building because I did not want to leave Allie outside by herself. A few tourists looked curiously at me as I sat on a rock outside and ate my lunch. I was thankful to be here, especially since my sore knee had rendered the ascent so doubtful. I considered asking someone for a ride down, but knew that this adventure would not be complete without also accomplishing the descent.
I left the summit at 12:45, walking very carefully at first to avoid bending my knee very much. I met three men hiking up the trail a short distance below the summit, the only others who climbed the mountain by way of the Barr Trail that day that I know of. They said they were in a hurry in order to get back down before dark. I wondered later if they made it.
It was a wonderfully pleasant autumn afternoon to be hiking in the mountains. It was so mild that I didn’t even need a coat except on the highest reaches of the mountain. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, in spite of the fact that I was very tired. I reached Barr Camp at 3:15 and filtered more water. I drank about a gallon and a half of water all day and ate every morsel of food I had along in my pack. My legs were getting rubbery and sore but I pushed gamely on.
As I came down the mountain I looked at Colorado Springs spread out below and thought about what a wonderful place it had been to live over the past twenty years. I could identify several memorable landmarks in the city, like Memorial Hospital, where I had carried my daughter down a hallway moments after she was born nearly eighteen years before. It seemed as if my life were laid out like a path, stretching out in front of me and fading away behind, much like the trail I was hiking on now. Time passes by so quickly!
On the last miles of the trail I encountered several casual hikers who were doing short outings on its lower sections. One man saw Allie carrying a stick in her mouth, as she had done much of the day, and remarked, “She’s found her mission in life!” I deliberately threw very few sticks for her to retrieve today in order to conserve her energy. Nevertheless, she started to tire and fade considerably during the last mile or two of the trail, falling back behind me by twenty feet or more, which I had never seen this energetic young lab do before. I estimated that I walked about 50,000 paces today, but I didn’t dare to calculate how many steps that Allie took!
I finally reached the bottom at 5:30, concluding the brutal eleven and a half hour hike. It was nice to get back a little before sunset. I could hardly believe that I had done it! I was exhausted, but I felt a glow of exuberance inside because I had successfully expanded my personal limits on this beautiful autumn day.
