Some of you know that two years ago I took a road trip down to Colorado Springs and while we were there we joined a lot of other people and hiked the Manitou Springs Incline (often just called the Incline).
In addition to all the other crazy things going on in my life right now, we ended up flying down to Colorado Springs a few weeks ago for a long weekend due to my father-in-law coming to the end of his life. Although the trip was quite somber in nature, we did manage to have time to replenish our stores and get outdoors. And we repeated the Incline.
Let’s just say I learned (relearned) a few things!
Don’t Do The Incline Shortly After Getting Off The Plane In Colorado
Unless you live at 6,660ft or have been training at that elevation, attempting the Incline before acclimating to the altitude will have a serious effect on your ability to climb 1,919ft in a little less than 1 mile.
Don’t Do The Incline If You Have Been Sitting Inside All Winter
Okay, so I haven’t been sitting inside all winter. But I am definitely not up to my usual routine and I can’t even blame my injury. Things have just been biz-zee. Anyway, you might want to build up to attempting the Incline. Or set your expectations lower.
Don’t Do The Incline In Jeans
This may seem like a no brainer and it really wasn’t my intention to hike in jeans (cotton kills, you know). But when we left the house we were planning on wandering in Garden of The Gods and somehow (because we are just like that) we ended up at the Incline instead. And the reason you don’t want to do the Incline in jeans doesn’t really have to do with hiker dogma, bending your knees to climb stairs in stiff material will SLOW YOU DOWN. At least I was carrying food, water and extra clothes which was more than most of the folks I saw.
Needless to say, all these factors meant the time it took me to complete the Incline was 35 minutes longer than the first time. Now, one could argue that doing it at the end of August after months of trail time is different than March when one might be just getting back out there. I, also, didn’t have 4 kids I was trying to keep up with. No one wants to be last. I’m not trying make excuses, however. It sucked and now I know it is game on…time for hitting the parking garage stairs on a more regular basis.
I will add here that going in I already knew I was coming at it from a deficit and had NO expectation of matching my previous time. In fact, I only gave myself three goals. One, to pick an appropriate pace. Two, make it to the top and not bail on the shortcut about 2/3 of the way up, And three, not to DIE. Which, as you are reading this I can safely say I accomplished. Not only did I not embarrassingly perish on the side of the mountain (there was a woman bravely crawling up), I managed just 4 minutes of rest time for the entire climb (that took 1 hour and 20 minutes). It was hard to believe but GAIA doesn’t lie.
My tricks? The Incline has regular stops or breaks in the steps along most of its path and I made myself stop at each one for a few seconds whether I needed to or not. I, also, ignored everyone passing me by telling myself they all live here and do the hike on a regular basis. Competition would have taken me out if I had tried to match their pace.
And, to make up for my sluggish ascent, we jogged (and I don’t jog) down the entire 3 miles back to the car with a top speed of 5.3 MPH. I had to celebrate that, at least. Yeah, I was that crazy woman trail running down from the Incline in jeans, passing all those folks who passed me on the climb. Okay, maybe I’m a little competitive.
On a side note, the reason we jogged down was not just to redeem ourselves, we had a lunch date with the family at a restaurant in Colorado Springs called Fargo’s. I guess it’s a local thing because everyone was all excited about going. If you ever find yourself at this little piece of CO history and wonder what you might eat, the salad bar is passable, they do have a gluten free crust (Udi’s) available (not on the menu but posted at the counter) and their French Dip sans bun was a great side (at only $4 I didn’t mind only getting meat and juice).
You can read my Manitou Springs Incline page for more information about this brutal grueling challenging climb if you have had it on your bucket list!
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