Barr Trail to Pike's Peak - July 2017
Summary
The Barr Trail to Pike’s Peak is a strenuous out and back (up and down) style hike that is ~22 miles long. It offers great views and challenge, and for those that would like to only hike the ascent or descent, you can leverage public transportation either up to the peak or from the peak back down.
Where
The Barr Trail is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Pike’s Peak is a “14er” meaning the peak is higher than 14,000 feet. Colorado Springs sits at a much lower altitude, therefore this hike is a very steep ascent and descent. Don’t let the challenge of this hike discourage you, as the experience and views are incredible. Also, for anyone that has not summitted a “14er”this a very heavily trafficked trail and is a safe place to take on such a challenge.
Logistics
For us this hike was part of an extended weekend. We flew into Denver and rented a car to get from Denver to Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is not a large town and because we were there over the 4th of July weekend, parking was a bit of a challenge. Once parked, the start of the trail was easy to find, and for us, we decided to start with an alternate route called the Manitou Incline to reduce the amount of the trail we would need to do twice. This was a great way to get the legs warmed up and offered a great challenge right from the start.
Hiking
We got a late start on the first day and were only able to hike around 7 miles to Barr Camp. This was a very crazy experience for us, as we had no high altitude experience prior to this trip. We started the hike this day in 90 degree weather and woke up the next morning to below freezing temperatures. Barr Camp is at ~10,000 feet, so altitude plays a factor in the weather here. This camp is maintained and has a cabin where you can cook, buy food (if an attendant is present), and a tiny stream runs through the camp, so resupplying water is no issue here. The next day we summitted Pike’s Peak ascending to over 14k feet and descended back to Colorado Springs. This made for a very long day, but we pushed through the hike knowing if we finished the trail we could be back in a hotel with a shower! All in all it was a great introduction to hiking out west and managing altitude.
Photos
I took all of these photos with my iPhone 7.
