I travelled to Colorado
Springs in February for two reasons: first to visit family and second to get
some altitude training in. It was great to spend time with my daughter Egypt. I
hadn’t seen her since she moved there almost three years ago. I also met her
boyfriend Ronny and my first grandchild Violet. Egypt and Ronny gave me a
tour of Colorado Springs and the surrounding area on my first afternoon before
I returned them to their home. I was surprised to see that the only snow
acumination was on Pikes Peak and a few of the deeper draws where the sun can’t
reach.
I had read that the majority
of people that live close to sea level, as I do, experience some sort of
altitude sickness when they first arrive in the Denver/Colorado Springs area.
Luckily I didn’t experience any issues. My appetite was fine. I slept fine. I
didn’t get any headaches or dizziness. As a matter of fact, I was running in
the 8,000 to 9,000 foot range just two hours after arriving without issue. I
spent most of the afternoon in the Gold Camp Road area. This beautiful red dirt
road winds its way along the side of numerous mountains, through old rail
tunnels, and along thousand foot drop-offs that have been the site of many
fatal accidents.
Later that evening, which
happened to be Valentine’s Day, I linked up with the local Hashrunners from
Colorado Kimchi H3 and CSprings H3 for a special “VD for Everyone” Hashrun/Pub
crawl they popped up because I was in town. We met at Garrison Tavern located at 424 S. Nevada Street and after a
few pre-lube rounds we set off following blue chalk marks to our next stop. Trail through town was short but the beverage was
plentiful. We rotated who set trail after each pub stop. Not knowing
my way around town made my turn somewhat questionable; however, I eagerly took
my turn. I set trail crisscrossing through town, in and out alleys, up and down
a parking deck, through a bus station, and eventually finding my way back to Garrison Tavern for our On-after.
The next morning I drove to
the Garden of the Gods where I spent most of the day running, hiking and taking
photos of the beautiful formations of red sand and limestone. The 15 miles of
trail cross their way past such formations as the Kissing Camels, Balanced
Rock, Three Graces, and Cathedral Valley. It was a beautiful day with
temperatures in the high 60s, sunny and clear.
Thursday morning I drove to
nearby Manitou Springs to climb the infamous Manitou Incline. The Incline,
which gains more than 2000 feet in less than 0.8 miles, has been on my bucket
list for many years and I was finally standing at its base ready to complete
the challenge. Once again temperatures were nearing 70 degrees which felt
awesome since it was snowing back home in New Jersey. I have to admit, the
Incline is no joke. It starts off at approximately a 45 degree incline and
continues to get steeper. I stopped numerous times to take photos; in other
words, to catch my breath. This was the only time during my 4 day adventure
that I was truly out of breath. I met a bunch of really cool people on the
climb including an older gentleman that lives nearby and said he had climbed it
for 78 days straight. When I reach the top I saw that the mountain continued to
climb so I altered my original plan of climbing the Incline and immediately
returning down the Barr Trail. After catching my breath and taking a few photos
I followed a trail toward the peak but eventually had to do some bushwhacking
and scrambling to reach the three rocky peaks of Rocky Mountain. The views were
amazing and well worth the efforts; however, the best part of it was that while
there was a large crowd on the Incline I had the peak all to myself! After a
snack and some photos I climbed back down to the Incline and then ran some 4
miles down the Barr Trail back to my car. I spent the rest of the evening with
Egypt, Ronny and Violet.
My final morning I squeezed in
a run in Red Rock Park before heading back to Denver airport for my flight back
to New Jersey. Next time I’m in Colorado Springs I plan to hike/run the Barr
Trail from Manitou Springs to Pike’s Peak. It covers some 11.8 miles and gains
almost 8000 feet on its way to Pike’s Peak which sits at 14,115 feet.
