The Manitou Incline , Colorado
DATE 13.05.2022 | DISTANCE approx KM approx |
Posted by Matt | Filed under OTHER LOCATIONS
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Why do things like this appeal to me? It's a holiday and we choose to push our limits. To be honest, it was tough but not as bad as expected. What we found hard was the elevation in general... It starts at 6000ft! now seeing as we live about 15ft above sea level, you can imagine we were feeling the effects from the get-go.
The start of the incline. 2000ft straight up!
to do the challenge, we had to book a slot online. we were looking forward to this all week, strangely.
we checked in with staff at the start and we joked about how much catherine was carrying in her backpack. her pack weighed a tonne, but would it hinder her?
well there is no navigation challenge. you just go up. The trail is the remains of a former funicular railway whose tracks washed out during a rock slide in 1990.
as you climb, you notice that the wooden beams are rarely even. not even in height or distance apart. sometimes you are making big strides and at other times only half of a foot can fit on a step.
in some sections it got surprisingly steep. a total of 2744 steps.
strange to be gasping for air from the very start but stranger to have enough energy still to joke with the other participants.
looking out to colorado springs
the last few steps. we really enjoyed this challenge and we both agreed that if we lived nearby. we would do it regularly. good thing then we live over 4,500 miles away
alvin?
simon?
with the manitou incline completed, we headed back down via the barr trail
an equally enjoyable part of the walk
garden of the gods in the distance
we reached the bottom and walked into manitou springs. fridge magnet essential!