Song: Oh Babe, What Would You Say
Artist: Hurricane Smith
My wife had long had the Manitou Incline as a hiking milestone...
and so...
yesterday, for her birthday...
she decided to hike up the Incline
(I will give a full description of the Manitou Incline...
along with my wife's pictures from her climb in the next blog.
It is ranked as the second most difficult stair hike in the world...
second only to one in Norway that is number one).
My wife was apprehensive about the hike...
as she had been training for it for a while...
and she had researched about how people from around the world attempt it...
and how many fail to complete it...
as it is deceptively difficult as in many places.
The height of the "stairs" (usually railroad ties)...
are very high (halfway up to the knee on my wife)...
and muscle fatigue very quickly sets in.
There is a return trail of dirt which is a much more gentle grade
(but is more than 3x as long as it has many switchbacks)...
and with many turn around points on the way up the incline...
and many people opt out by just taking the walking trail back down.
She had a 10:30 AM starting time that she had reserved.
I took the above picture on our way down our mountain ridge on the way to Manitou Springs.
We were in Woodland Park with just another 15 minute drive to the base of the Incline
in Manitou Springs in the above photo.
This is the Cog Railway which operates year round...
to the top of Pikes Peak...
and one we will take this Winter.
It is also where the shuttle service picks up the people after they complete the Manitou Incline.
I dropped off my wife at the end point of the return trail (Barr Trail)...
as the trail leading to the Manitou Incline is at the opposite end of this parking lot...
and only after a 1/4 mile hike does one reach the beginning of the Manitou Incline.
After dropping off my wife at the Incline...
I just drove a few minutes into the town of Manitou Springs...
walked around, ate a BLT, and took photos for a while...
as I knew that it would take my wife about 3 hours before she arrived
at the bottom of the Barr Trail once again.
I love the unique shops in Manitou Springs.
This particular shop caught my attention because they were burning incense
in the bottle at the base of the pink door.
I love the smell of incense...
and so...
as I was walking past it...
it made me search for the origin of the aroma.
I decided to eat at Red Dog (with a depiction of a cat? :)
I had a Red Bull...
...and a BLT.
I then continued to walk around town.
A fondue restaurant.
I just love the colorful and festive atmosphere of Manitou Springs.
This outside flower pot had a motorized humming bird post
which flitted the hummingbird about as it floated suspended on a thin wire.
There is a small river which flows through Manitou Springs.
There are several mineral water fountains throughout Manitou Springs.
My favorite midnight cafe...
the one I had recently eaten at...
and absolutely loved.
I will be returning again sometime soon...
at midnight.
After spending some time in Manitou Springs...
I decided to take a short drive up to Green Mountain Falls to just enjoy the ambiance
at the lake.
You can see Pikes Peak in the background...
and the Manitou Incline in the mid-ground of this photo.
It puts the Manitou Incline into perspective as to how steep the climb is...
as the line going up the mountain can be seen...
and the gradient starts out gently enough...
but quickly goes to 45 percent grade...
and at certain points...
has a 68 percent grade.
I was near the lake in Green Mountain Falls.
I parked near the lake...
and walked over to the small island gazebo to just relax and enjoy the views for a while.
After just mellowing out in the gazebo for half an hour or so...
I decided to drive back past Manitou Springs on my way to old town Colorado Springs...
to find another mellow place to walk around.
I found Bear Park...
and just walked around for another half an hour or so...
as I enjoyed some of the fall colors there.
After enjoying my walk around the park...
I decided to drive back to Manitou Springs to await my wife's text
to pick her up.
I arrived at the outskirts of Manitou Springs...
...and decided to gas up at this Sinclair gas station.
I like their dinosaur theme.
It is a cute marketing gimmick.
I can just imagine young kids wanting their dads to stop in so they can see the dinosaurs.
The Incline is just visible in the distance from the far side of town.
Actually...
the Barr Trail not only leads back down from the Incline...
but it is the starting point for hikers to walk up to the summit of Pikes Peak.
My wife wants to do that sometime in the future...
but only as a part of a group...
or possibly with me accompanying her with my boar spear as a "hiking stick"...
for it was on this trail on the way up to the summit of Pikes Peak...
that a lone female hiker was killed by a mountain lion just last year.
I had pulled into a small park to await my wife's text to pick her up.
I had only just sat down when I decided to text my wife as to her ETA...
and it just so happened that she had just completed her hike and was just walking
down to the Cog Rail station to await the shuttle to the small park at which I was.
I just told her that I would pick her up there.
I arrived at the Cog Railway station and picked her up.
She seemed very happy for having completed one of her dreams...
and on her birthday.
She wanted to make it a memorable birthday.
She is also training for a 5K...10K...
and she also wants to try a half marathon...
and perhaps a full marathon.
Boulder, Colorado has famous foot races there...
and as it is only a few hours North of us...
she has her mind set to run some of them...
and Colorado Springs also has famous foot races she may try.
My wife talked excitedly about her great adventure all the way home.
I stopped at the Cripple Creek post office before going home.
Once we arrived at home...
my wife took a shower...
and then rested for a few hours.
We then went back to Colorado Springs to eat out
at an all you can eat sushi restaurant
(she wanted to try a new sushi restaurant...
but it was one in which we will never return...not good).
In the next article...
I will give a more thorough explanation of the Manitou Incline...
and it will be filled with nothing but my wife's photos...
and some of her stories of her hike.
I was glad for her...
as her eyes brightened and she became animated
in the relaying to me of her grand adventure.
