Pikes Peak Climb via The Crags

I met up with Dave yesterday morning for a long and cold day on Pikes Peak. It was to be my first summit climb over 14,000 feet. In the past I have attempted many 14ers, but have always come up short of success. The weather was suppose to be marginal at best. 40% chance of snow, winds 20 to 25mph gusting over 30mph, and highs in the mid 10's. It looked like the snow would end early and the wind would pick up and persist throughout the day. The snowfall from friday night made the road to the trail head icy and treacherous. We reached the Crags trail head around 8am and were en route by 830am. The snow was not deep enough for our snowshoes, so we elected to leave them in the truck. As we began hiking through the forest, the clouds began lowering and the snow started falling steadily. It continued on throughout the entire climb up.

Along the way we were passed by a group of 2 men and a soloist. Both groups had summit ambitions. I have always looked up at Pikes Peak and visualized myself hiking up her broad shoulders and summiting quite easily, even in winter conditions. I never imagined that I would not be in the physical capacity to make it to the top. It was during our march slowly upward into the blizzard, that I realized that I needed to make a more consist ant effort to get myself into shape and strength. The altitude was causing my lungs to gasp for air, and the steady uphill slog, eventually made my legs into rubber. The start of the trail is at roughly 10,000 feet and the summit is 14,100; making a 4,000 vertical climb over 5 miles long. The further up we climbed the worst the weather became. When we reached treeline, the wind was howling, mixing with the snow, causing the visibility to become very limited. At times, I would lose site of Dave, which was at most 50 feet in front of me. Somewhere between treeline and the ridge, we ran into the group of 2 men descending down. They were covered in ice and looked a bit on the cold side. It would be a rough guess, but I would say the wind chill was somewhere around Zero degrees F, or lower. Nobody would summit Pikes Peak from the Crags on that day! The conditions were just too bad.

We never saw a glimpse of the summit block. As the clouds, snow, and wind kept her out of sight all day. After a long haul to the ridge, encountering gale force winds, blinding snow, and near exhaustion, we decided the best action would be to head down and call it a day. We made it back down to the truck at 3pm, making a 7 hour trek into the winter among Pikes Peak. We will be back for another attempt and she will be waiting for us, always looking down, as a queen atop her throne. As we descended the frozen tundra, the clouds began lifting to the west. Although they never broke above the ridge, looking west we could see as far ad the San De Christo Mountains, the Collegiate Peaks, and the continental divide. Below, South Park, Lake George, and Divide were clearly visible. It would only take a turn of ones head to see the shoulders of Pikes Peak, and at that point realize that each person is only a small part of a much larger thing.

I did not take many pictures, as the cold kept my hands in my gloves. Dave took quite a few pictures, and I will add them to this post as I receive them.