[Colorado, United States – 4,302 m]
I access the main summit trail via the Manitou Springs Incline, a busy set of old steps that people climb for a workout and to make a checkmark on a bucket list.
And a workout it is, probably the most physically demanding part of the climb to the summit of Pikes Peak, which stands at 4,302 m.
According to the website, there are 2,744 steps on the Manitou Incline.
I stop counting after 1,000.
I can’t seem to count and also gasp for air at the same time.
I see also on the website that reservations are now needed for the Manitou Incline.
I guess it’s gotten much busier since I climbed it fifteen years ago.
The Manitou Incline is not the shortest route to the top of Pikes Peak.
Indeed, I need to do some down-climbing and traversing to get to the main trail, but a dear friend had joined me on the Manitou Incline.
She is working in Colorado Springs and has been climbing the incline every day before work.
I can’t believe how fit she has become.
Despite that I have been doing a lot of hiking myself, she leaves me in the dust, coaxing me up the incline with promises of chocolate at the top.
Thankfully, she delivers.
The chocolate is melted a bit, but earned chocolate always tastes awesome anyway.
After we eat, my friend heads back and I continue towards Pikes Peak.
–
This is my second time hiking to the top of Pikes Peak, and I’m anxious.
My first time summitting here was not pleasant.
I began experiencing altitude sickness at about 3,900 m, which is the altitude I normally start to feel sick when I’m not acclimatized.
When I managed to struggle to the top, I discovered that there is a train that goes up there and even a tourist centre.
But I could see I wasn’t the only one suffering from the altitude.
One woman just sat on the steps of the train entrance with her head in her knees, moaning.
This time around, I feel better.
I have just been hiking for the last week in the Grand Canyon, followed by a trip to Denver.
I’m more acclimatized than I think I am.
As I approach the summit, I keep expecting to feel sick, but I don’t.
I enjoy my lunch on the top, watch tourists come and go from the tourist centre.
One man tells his wife, I can hardly breathe up here.
Poor fella; I can commiserate.
