PIKES PEAK HIKE On Barr Trail; Pictures Of This 14er Near Colorado Springs

COLORADO 14er! Hike to Pikes Peak Summit Via Barr Trail (Photos - September 5, 2002)

I started at the Barr Trailhead at exactly 6:10 a.m., but didn't take pictures of the lower part because I wanted to move through that beginning area at a swift pace. In retrospect, I probably should have started a couple of hours earlier to avoid most risk of afternoon thunderstorms, but thankfully, it was a sunny when I arrived at 1 p.m.

About four miles into the trail, I brought out the camera. The eastern sunlight reflected on the building at the summit.

I drew in the approximate zig-zags of where the trail goes. That's my best guess! :)

Aspens surround the trail.

The halfway mark of the 13-mile trail! :) 9,500 feet in elevation

What's notable about this middle section (besides some relatively flat spots) is just how close one seems to approach the summit. Yet at the same time, the summit still appears way above up in the sky.

Barr Camp at 10,200 feet. Hikers can rest, refill water containers, use a bathroom or camp.

I did rest for a few minutes. That's all the water I carried along with me on the hike: Two 1.5 liter bottles and three smaller bottles.

Yes, it was very heavy at the beginning of my hike and before the days when I owned a Camelbak. I also ate a bunch of those power bars and granola bars. ;)

Only six more miles to go ... Hooray!

Great shot! Slowly and continuously I went up, anticipating the inevitable!

The squirrels way up there in 10,500 to 11,000 feet range were not scared of me at all. In fact, this one posed for the camera quite well!

The "Bottomless Pit" is the bottom of the very steep northface of Pikes Peak.

In 2008, Josh and Jason Friesema traveled to the Bottomless Pit and summited Pikes Peak via the "Y couloir." You can see their fascinating trip report here.

Leaves turn yellow a bit early at 11,000 feet! :)

My other Pikes Peak stuff:

Pikes Peak Highway

Fun Atop Pikes Peak

Steve Frolicks on Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak Donuts

Marmots & Elk Park

Pikes Peak Highway

The trail just kept going up and up and up ... with one switchback after another. :)

Close to timberline. The views become increasingly stunning.

Timberline! Three miles to go and altitude 11,500 feet. Notice how dwarfed the pine trees look. :)

A pretty boulder field.

Special thanks to Kristin of Palmer Lake, whom I met and hiked with starting around this point. We had some good conversations as we slowly trekked up.

Somehow, we veered off the trail and wandered upward on the rocks. We knew to simply continue going up, but it was quite unnerving.

After speaking with a few others, I learned the trail is indeed somewhat easy to lose around timberline. Be careful!

Me standing out there to provide more perspective.

We continued hiking up and finally "stumbled upon" the trail. I was very happy and just had to document my relief in a photo! :)

Hmmmm ... kind of looks a brain to me.

Other area (and much easier) hikes:

Waldo Canyon, The Crags

Williams Canyon, Mount Cutler

Red Rock Canyon, Queens Canyon

Red Mountain, Garden of Gods

Palmer Park, Manitou Incline

Two more miles. The path seemed to go on forever! >:O

(I kind of lost it up there. I blame tiredness.)

I gotta tell you, this hike was one of the most rewarding hikes of my life!

And I'm not kidding you, this switchbacks go on forever up there!

There's a long stretch that travels from right to left all the way across the big arch. Notice how small the hikers look i n this picture. Also, notice how below those green mountains appear way below. That's the Rampart Range and yes, we really were that way up!

TOP: Mount Almagre is the mountain in the middle. Just a great view!

MIDDLE: Another perspective shot. I love this picture. That's Cheyenne Mountain way out there to the right. The flat land in the upper left corner is Colorado Springs.

I know some of these pictures are redundant, but hey, I had to soak it all in! :)

The one mile marker! HOORAY!

The summit house is looking bigger and closer.

Lots of rocks.

On my occasional glances down, it was very fascinating to see the switchbacks below that I had walked on.

I was warned about the 16 Golden Stairs, but as painful and steep as they were, by then I had some adreniline going because I knew the hike was almost over.

By the way, I counted the switchbacks to the top and I it wasn't 16 ... it was more like 27 or 28 staircases. ;)

Two more glances down at those switchbacks!

Fred Barr, the builder of this trail.

Look how close the Summit House looks now! :)

Friends, this can be done! Thousands of people do it every year. All you need is to be in reasonable shape, be mentally prepared and carrying the right things with you (water, sun lotion, food, etc.).

Pikes Peak Denise and her two delightful kids were there to drive me down the mountain and back to Manitou Springs. What friends! (And what a cute picture!)

I was definitely trashed at the summit. Inside the summit house, I dined on a very healthy meal of a cheeseburger and pretzel. What can I say? I earned it! :)

This was my first Colorado 14er and looking back, I was definitely a novice. Here are my most recent 14ers (typing this in 2008):

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