Saturday, May 12: Climbing the Incline

I was awoken this morning at 9:00 AM from a startling knock on my door. It turned out to be Kevin’s Uncle Brian who told us that it was perfect weather to do the Incline. For those of you who don’t know much about the incline like we didn’t, the following is a description and some facts taken directly from their website. The incline is a series of 2800 railroad ties which gains over 2000 feet vertically in just a span of a mile. It is arguably the most difficult hiking trail in Colorado Springs and is often used by Olympic athletes to train during the summer. Outlining the entire website is the following quote, “Even if you go slow, this trail is difficult. If you’re new to the altitude, maybe swallow your pride and skip this one. That’s not a challenge, it’s a word of warning.” In addition, just a few days prior, there was a story in the news about a middle-aged man dying from a heart attack while on the incline. Needless to say, Kevin and I were slightly frightened but definitely up to the challenge. We showered, came downstairs, ate a hearty breakfast, watched an inspiring YouTube video of a woman finishing the climb, and packed our book bags with food and extra clothes. Just before leaving the house, Uncle Brian remarked, “Worst comes to worst, you guys will pay the $500 fee and get airlifted down. But… I’m sure you will be just fine.” After the 20 minute drive to Old Colorado City -with Uncle Brian’s inspirational words still resonating in our heads- we set out on the hike. Fourty-nine minutes later, we were at the level of the clouds looking down at the city from the summit of the mountain. We took several pictures and even a few videos during our climb -which served as crucial quick resting points- which can be found on our gallery. After regaining our breath, we decided against what we were advised in that it would be easier to simply walk down the steep slope rather than take the 4 mile Bar Trail back down to the bottom. We were congratulated by the entire family in our success and spent the rest of the day just walking around Old Colorado City looking for cool souvenirs to bring back to our families and friends in Cleveland. It truly was an exciting experience and we plan to have the chance to do the incline once more in hopes of shaving a few minutes off our time.