Pike’s Peak – 14,110’
07-28-2008
Closest town: Colorado Springs, CO
I suppose
it is only fitting that my first fourteener would be Pike’s Peak, since I can see it from my house. My friend
Pete Turner and I opted to hike up the west side via the Crags route, rather
than the standard Barr trail on the east side. The Crags route starts around
10,600’ near Mueller state park just outside of Divide, CO. We hit the trail
about 6am on a cool summer morning. This route is particularly beautiful and
the sun was behind the mountain for most of morning. As we approached Devil’s
Playground, we could see the peak and found a cloud had parked itself right on
top. So up to about 13,500’ it was clear and sunny. Devil’s Playground is the
point where the trail meets up with the road to the top. Beyond that, we hiked
into the cloud and the whole feel of the trip changed. Sorry, I didn’t take any
pictures once we got into the cloud. The cloud was thick enough that you could
only see about 10 yards ahead. At the same time, the light was coming up from
the sides of the mountain, which only added to the weird aura. As we approached
the summit, the cloud was thicker and the visibility much worse. We reached the
summit house about 5 hours after we started, and it was completely packed with
people who had just arrived via the Cog Railway. We sat for maybe 10 minutes
and decided to head down as my head was killing me! We went to the parking lot
and hitched a ride back down to Devil’s Playground with a family from Wisconsin. They were
apprehensive, but very nice. It is interesting the attitude people have towards
hikers. They know you are really in need if you ask, and most are very willing
to help out. By the time we got back to Devil’s Playground, we were again below
the clouds and had an uneventful hike down. We were wiped by the time we got
back to the truck.
| Pikes Peak - 07-28-08 |
1/13 |
 |
|
Just above the Crags area on the west side of Pike's |
|
|
