Manitou Adventure

An outing with Abby is always an adventure, but this hike would turn out more adventurous than either of us had counted on! I had read about the old Manitou railway hike on www.localhikes.com (of course) and wanted to hike it as soon as possible! The trail was unique in that it lead you through 6 tunnels that were carved out of the mountain almost 200 years ago for a railroad. While the railroad is long gone, the tunnels and the trail still remain, and it sounded like a good time to me! Abby agreed, and we met up in the early afternoon and set off on our Manitou Railway adventure!

Here we are up the trail; which starts just behind a guardrail on highway 24, west of Manitou and near Waldo Canyon.
For the first half mile or so, the trail winds along above the highway.

The rock ledges and cliffs are quite lovely on the way up the trail. :)

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, the first of the tunnels appears in the rock wall. Of course Abby and I both immediately scramble for our cameras. :)

The first 3 tunnels are pretty short, and you're able to see light immediately. The fourth tunnel is longer and requires a good flashlight to navigate safely. The tunnels were fun and full of echoes, old fire pits, and lots of surprises along the way.

One of the shorter tunnels.
The views coming out of the tunnels were amazing! Especially exiting the first tunnel, it was like entering another world! You hear the traffic from the highway behind you, but as soon as you emerge from the first tunnel all you hear is nature an all you see is beautiful cliffsides!

The third tunnel leads almost immediately into the fourth and darkest tunnel on the trail.

The longest tunnel lead into pitch blackness. Eerie, isn't it? :)

But we eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel. *snicker*

We did leave the trail at one point to explore another side trail we found, and we ended up being trespassers. Whoops! :) But we eventually found our way back to the trail and back into the tunnels.

The last tunnel was neat because it still had the original wooden support beams that the trains would have passed through.

The website did warn that the trail ended halfway through this tunnel when you reached a cinder block gate. Beyond the gate was private property, and you weren't supposed to pass it.

There was quite a surprise waiting for Abby and I at the gate, however, and I must admit it made us feel right at home. :)

Needs some work, but it could be a great location? Haha. We laughed hard when we found this!

Knowing Abby's love for trespassing (just kidding, friend! ;) ), I wasn't surprised when she passed through the gate anyway and headed up the tunnel for a few more feet. There were a lot of interesting things to be found in the dark tunnel, ancient bath tubs, this old fashioned cement mixer/pourer...

Lots of interesting things. But the real adventure started when we turned around and made our way out of the trail and back to my car.

The website I find my hiking trails on is great for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorite things about it is that it allows for anonymous reviews of every hike. It's nice to be able to read what all the hikers that went before you had to say about the experience. They leave great tips about easy ways to follow the trail, what conditions to expect, landmarks not to miss, and in the case of this trail, dangerous places to watch out for on the trail. I had read on review that warned of an area that had been seriously washed out and had left little to no path. It was only a very small part of the trail, maybe about a five foot patch. I recognized it as the place I'd read about as soon as Abby and I came across it the first time. The trail was almost completely washed vertical in one area, and the entire cliffside was made of nothing but perilously slippery gravel pieces. The shelf we were hiking on was pretty darn steep in that area, and falling off of the trail would leave you sliding down gravel covered side of the mountain for probably a good 200 feet before the ground would stop you, and by then you'd be sliced to ribbons by all the tiny granite gravel pieces and tree roots you'd hit on the way down, not to mention bones that would probably break when you finally hit level ground.

All around, not a good scenario.

We managed a clean crossing on the way in, me being much more nervous about it than Abby (as usual ;) ), but it was a different story on the way out. As soon as we came around the curve in the trail and saw the washed out part of the trail ahead, I slowed down and said: "Uh-oh, here's the part I don't like again."

No sooner had these words left my mouth than the gravel shifted out from under Abby's feet, and down the side of the cliff she went. I was stunned for a second, and stood paralyzed as I watched Abby fall and begin to slide down the side of the mountain. I'm pretty sure I yelled her name, and all I remember Abby doing is putting her feet out to try and slow herself, and yelling "Catch me, catch me, catch me!"

Which is exactly what I did. I saw a tree root sticking out of the side of the cliff next to me, grabbed it with one hand while I slid down the sharp gravel to catch Abby with my other hand. Thank goodness for that tree root, because without it I have do doubt Abby and I both would have taken off down the slippery cliffside. There was almost no way to gain any kind of purchase in the gravel, but I dug y shoes in as best I could and clung to the tree root as Abby began to pull herself back up by the arm I was clinging to.

Now, you'd think this sounded like a pretty desperate situation, right? I suppose it was, but all Abby and I could do was laugh as we tried to fight our way back up onto a solid footing. At one point I actually had to say "Stop laughing! You can't pull yourself up if you're laughing!" Which is true, since for some unknown scientific reason, you lose all strength in your muscles when you go into a laughing fit.

Anyway, she pulled herself to safety, and using the root, I pulled MYself to safety, and then we proceeded to hang onto an outcropping of shrubbery and laugh until we couldn't laugh anymore. After getting a hold of ourselves and removing ourselves from the dangerous area, we finally lost the adrenaline and giggles, and began to take stock of ourselves. Abby's arms were pretty cut up, and I looked down to discover blood dripping down my leg. None of this was surprising considering the sharp gravel we'd both taken a dive it, and I affectionately named it my "Indiana Jones wound" since I felt like an action movie hero for those few moments when I had reached out and snagged Abby's arm.

She even took a picture of it. This blog is privy to more wounds than it should be.

Well, after that ending to our Manitou Railroad trail adventure, Abby wasn't super keen to continue adventuring like we'd planned. I was going to take her to Ute Falls, or Graffiti falls. You should recognize that name from an earlier blog. Abby'd never seen the falls, and I'd never been behind the falls, so we'd planned to see it after finishing the tunnel trail. It was a warm day, so I thought it would be fun to walk into the stream and see the cave behind the falls.

Being the hardcore girl that she is, Abby put aside her near death experience and we made our way up to the falls.

Remember how amazing the falls are from in front?

Well they are a MILLION times cooler from INSIDE!

The water was a little cold, as mountain streams are made mostly from snow melt from the peaks, but it felt wonderful after two hikes, and it was so much fun to see the 'inner workings' of the falls! The cave under the falls is quite large, and full of other tiny waterfalls and interesting rock formations. The water from the main falls is falling HARD and FAST, and hurts if you get caught under it, but there is a big enough opening close to the cave walls that you can sneak by without getting pummeled by thousands of gallons of falling water.

The experience behind the falls filled our adventurous spirits back up and we were both happy that we'd gone, despite our already trying day. :)

This lion on the wall of the falls represents Abby's courage and determination to adventure through adversity (and the tiredness of pregnancy! ;) ). She's an awesome hiking partner and I'll take her on every trail I can get her on before her due date looms too closely! :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful week! Stay tuned, more to come!

Garden of the Gods

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately, I've just been so incredibly busy with lot of important things. Many of them. All important.

...no, really.

;)

A few tan lines and sunburns later, I decided it was once again time to hike the fabulous hills, mountains, and red rock formations that make up Colorado Springs. One of my new friends from work volunteered to come with me. Her name is Sarafia, and she's a pretty darn good time, I must admit. We decided to hike the trails in the Garden of the Gods. Since my last trip to the Garden left me with a bloody leg and a wounded pride, I was eager to have a better experience and further (and hopefully less painful) exploration. Well I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Garden of the Gods is INCREDIBLE. With its unique bright red rocks, its awe inspiring views, and, come spring, its blossoms, you can hardly ask for more from a hike.

...except for maybe some rocks to scramble around on. And the Garden does not disappoint there either! Scrambling, or rock climbing without official permission, training, or safety gear, is frowned upon in the park, but as long as you don't fall off and die I don't think anyone will make a big to-do about it. *snicker*
While traipsing and trailing it around the park, Sarafia and I would randomly leave the trail to climb something that looked interesting. (Translation: I would leave the trail and Sarafia would yell: "Where are you going?" to which I'd reply: "Look at this ROCK! We have to climb it!")

The rock above provided a lovely place for a shadow play, which Sarafia and I gladly put on for an audience that consisted of a slightly confused but patient family of four. I think they'll appreciate it more when they've had time to discuss it amongst themselves and recognize it for the true piece of art it was....or they'll just talk about the 'crazies' in the park.

We continued to climb up and around that rock formation until we could get no higher and go no farther forward lest we fall off the edge and down to our deaths. Since it was a dangerous and life threatening situation we found ourselves in on the edge of that cliff, of course it turned into a perfect Kodak moment opportunity!


And yes, that is exactly as DOWN as it looks. :)


Sarafia did not appreciate me making her hold that pose while I took the picture. Brave as she is, it's never fun to lean over a precipice like that and look down for long. :)

Sarafia and I on the edge!

I did actually find another way around that lead a little higher, so of course I went. I blame it on my new shoes. They're so sticky and handy for climbing! Sarafia proved herself wiser than I and stayed at the bottom while I climbed up to get this picture of the view below and behind me.

After we had our fill of scrambling for a bit, we got back to the trail and continued our hike. The views you come across around every corner in the Garden are all photo worthy, this was one of my favorites.

But it wasn't complete without our grinning faces in front of it.

On our way out of the Garden, we stumbled across a bathroom that Sarafia immediately made a break for. As she was heading in, a man heading out said "It smells like 20 bears peed all over in there." Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to warn Fia before she'd already disappeared inside. Pity. I thought I'd take a picture of her on the way out to see if I could capture on her face what I'd heard from the unfortunate fellow. If the women's was as bad as the men's, she didn't seem too offended by the alleged bear perfume.

While driving out of the park, we stopped to scramble around some more on some of the rocks at the high point of the park. The sun was setting ,and therefore the lighting was ripe for some heroic poses. If you know me, then you know what's coming next. :)

Yep. You know it.

I am rather proud of this picture. I love the blooming plant right in the center and the Garden's beautiful rock formations framing it in the background. That picture is my computer's background right now.

Aaaaaaaand of course I can't end on a serious artistic note no matter how hard I try.

Hence the seal-like posture I'm striking here as I stop to smell the flowers. :)

After the successfully sweaty and fun hike, Sarafia and I ended the evening with ice cream from Dairy Queen and a Disney movie from my extensive collection. A good time all around!

Coming soon: The hike with Abby through the old Manitou Railway Tunnels! During which we visit 'Starbucks', blatantly trespass on private property, and Abby falls off the side of a cliff. Stay tuned!

Section 16/Palmer Trail

So the weather outside has been absolutely beautiful this past week, so I've been trying to be outside as much as possible. I've wanted to hike this trail ever since I heard about it, and after doing the Waldo Canyon in 3.5 hours which was about 7 miles, I figured I'd have plenty of time to hike Section 16/Palmer trail before work on Tuesday since it's only 6 miles. I expected it to take just under 3 hours, and since I had to be at work by 2pm, I started out at about 9:30am. As you can see, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and there were barely any clouds in the sky. A perfect day for a hike.

The trailhead started like I've found most do: which a sign, a map, and some crude steps up to the trail.

Immediately I was surrounded by beautiful, green mountain views. Trees and flowers are all blooming up the mountainside.

The path is made up of red clay and pink Pike's Peak granite pieces, like usual. :) This one was a little more gravely though, and made for some slippery climbing conditions when the path got steep. And it DID get steep. OMG SO STEEP.

Lovely rock formations along the trail!

Random outcroppings (upcroppings? :) ) of rock in the middle of the trail made paying close attention important if you didn't want to end up with a twisted ankle.

The views in the first quarter mile of the trail were spectacular.

Colorado Springs from above!

More of the city became visible as I hiked higher.

This is a zoomed in picture, and those red rock formations in the center/lower left center of the picture are in the Garden of the Gods, viewed above from the southwest! These pictures just don't do the views justice, it was incredible to see!

The travel time between that picture and the next pictures below quite....extensive. And INtensive. That 3 hour time frame I'd given myself was quickly ticking by and I was quickly getting nowhere. I had read that the first third or half of the Section 16 trail was a 'moderate to steep climb', but the Waldo Canyon trail had been listed as 'moderate' and, though challenging, I handled that trail just fine. The website had said to set aside 4 hours for the Waldo Canyon, and I'd finished in 3.5, so I thought I'd have plenty of time to finish Section 16/Palmer trail in plenty of time before I had to get ready for work. An hour and a half into the trail, and I had already contemplated turning back at least 5 times. The trail was KILLING me, literally, I felt as I no matter how deeply I inhaled I couldn't get enough air. My legs were burning from the continuous steep climb, and I felt I could only climb about 20 steps at a time before I had to stop again. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't make it out of the trail on time in I didn't turn around. But after hiking up that heinous hill for over an hour already, I was so tired and sick of not being able to BREATH that I figured I wouldn't be back to this trail anytime soon, so I had better just finish it that day in order to see all the amazing views I was supposed to see. So far all I had seen was more uphill trail in front of me. It seemed to go on and ON AND OOOOOOOOOOON, but finally, finally and blessedly, I reached the top.

The views were gorgeous, as promised. I met two other hikers on the top of the trail and asked them if they thought I could make it around the rest of the hoop in two hours or less. They thought I could, so I dug in and went for it, hoping and praying for NO MORE UPHILL PARTS OF THE TRAIL. I know, I know, I moved to the mountains, what did I expect? Mountains are all uphill until they're downhill. :)

From one side: mountainous gorgeousness. To the other: a fantastic view over Colorado Springs.

Zoomed in to snap a picture of this rocky peak. I want to stand on top of it! :)

There is a tiny lizard hiding beneath that piece of fallen pine bark. It ran further underneath just as I snapped the picture, but if you look closely, you can see it's tail in the lower left hand corner! I've seen a few of these little guys on the trails I've hiked, about the size of a field mouse, they're cute but wicked fast! This is the first time one held still long enough for me to get a good look at it, but not long enough for me to get a good picture. Maybe next trail!

The little waterfall in the middle of Palmer trail. Lovely, there's a video of it and the log bridge at the bottom of this blog. :)

Standing on the log bridge over the stream.

A close up of the mountain side.

I made good time down the second half of the trail. I was still nervously looking at my watch almost every ten minutes as it ticked past noon and closer to 12:30. I wanted to be back at my apartment before 1 so I'd have time to shower before work, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it, so on my way down the other side of the trail loop I began to plan and strategize different ways to get to work and not smell terrible and be full of mountain dirt and still be on time, when the trail suddenly split in front of me. Now, in my short experience of 'loop trails', the loop means that you end in the same place you began the trail in. Not so with the Section 16/Palmer 'loop'. Luckily, before I could get too horribly lost, I met a very nice couple who were heading back to the parking lot at the trailhead and they set me in the right direction. Turns out, you have to walk about a quarter mile down a narrow dirt road to get back to the maid road and the parking lot. Who designed this?!

Anyway, with the help of the friendly couple ( one of whom works at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts centre and was very excited to hear of my involvement in theatre) I made my way down the narrow road (dodging trucks every now and again) back to the parking lot and to my car. Thanking the couple again for their help, I quickly made my way back to my apartment and had time to sit, down a big glass of water, and even shower before dressing and leaving for work. My legs were pretty tired during my shift, but I was proud that I had finished the trail despite the challenging beginning.

The sights that I got to see were breathtaking, and I think, after having time to get over my anger at the steady incline of the trail, ;), I may even challenge Section 16 again.

Here's a couple videos from the trail! The first is of the waterfall and log bridge, and the second is just a video of the trail itself as I'm walking it. Those of you who get motion sickness may want to skip the second video....:) Enjoy!

Stay tuned!