short & steep: manitou incline

In 1907 the Manitou Incline was a 1 mile cable tram built to support the construction of a hydroelectric plant and waterline. Once it was done serving this purpose it was bought by Dr. Brumbach and turned into a tourist attraction. Visitors could take the 16 minute ride to the top for "scenic splendors", 10 miles of hiking trails in Mount Manitou Park and it claimed to be the "longest and highest incline on the globe". The Incline remained a tourist attraction for many years, but because of high maintenance costs eventually closed in 1990 as the attraction was overshadowed by the Cog Railway that takes visitors to the summit of Pikes Peak....if you are too weak smart to take the 12 mile hike. Ever since the closure of the incline railway, the route has become popular to runners, joggers, hikers, walkers and crawlers. Its short and steep and all of a Colorado workout.

The Incline gains about 2,000 feet in just  under a mile....see what I mean short and steep! And all in no less than 2,744 stairs.

2,744 steps and 2,000 feet elevation gain. nailed it!

Johler pose at the top of the Incline

 We weren't fast, but we made it and Assistant Pack Leader still had enough energy to celebrate at the end. After beating cancer, she was left with about 50% lung capacity and really struggles to conquer elevation and physical feats like the Incline.  We took it easy to avoid her getting overly tired, rest before  you think you need to. We would hike between 50 and 80 stairs and then rest for approximately 2 minutes. We made it to the top in about an hour and 40 minutes.

Knees - thanking me for taking the Barr Trail Connector

 For the love of all things uphill....take the Barr Trail connector and the "long way" down. Your knees will thank you, plus its super pretty! This is the part of the Barr Trail that we hiked in the dark on our Pikes Peak hike so it was great to see it in another light.

This is how we felt about returning down the Incline Trail

 We worked hard enough that we thought we deserved a yummy lunch at the Creekside Brewery. We scarfed down some delicious fried pickles, lamb sliders and Beehive beers.

Celebratory beers!

Lamb sliders

And this is what Colorado has come to these days, but I couldn't help but laugh and take a picture.

 After getting out of a parking ticket, our day of city fun was over. We headed home for a well deserved nap on the couch.