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Last week I had the awesome opportunity to hike the incline, which is part of Pikes Peak. It’s been on my “to do” list for 9 years, since I lived out in Colorado for a summer. When I booked my flight into Denver the last week of July, I immediately texted my brother and asked “can we please do the incline?”. I‘d really wanted to do the incline the summer that I lived out there, but I had only been diagnosed with POTS about 10 months earlier, and there was absolutely no way that I could’ve made it. I can obviously work out now, but I didn’t know if I would be able to climb up a steep incline at such a high altitude. I was game to try though!
Before we start, here are a few fun facts about the incline: The website says that it is one mile in length, although my garmin and fit bit both tracked closer to 1.5 miles. In less than a mile the trail gains about 2,000 feet in elevation, and the trail difficulty is considered to be difficult. You can read more about the incline here.
My brother and I headed into Manitou Springs (just outside of Colorado Springs) on Sunday morning and were shocked at the amount of traffic. We ended up parking in a neighborhood a mile away from the trail head and had to walk up a hill to get there- not ideal to already be out of breath before the true hiking is about to begin. To be honest, this was the second day I was in Colorado, and I had started to develop a bit of a migraine that morning due to the altitude (typical for just adjusting to altitude for me). I had taken migraine medicine about an hour before I left, but by the time we had driven there, parked, and walked to the trail head, my head was pounding. I sat down on the pavement and wondered if I was crazy for trying this with a migraine. I decided to start, knowing that sometimes exercising actually helps my migraine. Then I looked up and saw this:
I mean, that looks insane, right? LOOK AT HOW STEEP IT IS TOWARDS THE TOP. I immediately thought I was absolutely crazy. The stairs were spread out at first, but the end they were much closer and much steeper.
We headed up and by the time I had walked about 30-40 steps I was panting and sweating. I’d say that’s a pretty strong start, right? Another 20 steps in and I began to pass people sitting on the ground. I was worried that I’d be the weakling having to take breaks while everyone else hiked past me, but the elevation and steepness of the hike was no joke, and most people around me were resting quite regularly as they hiked.
The sun beats down on the stairway and there isn’t any shade on the actual stairs, so we were hiking with the sun beating down on us the entire time. I’m so thankful that there are little trees along the way on the side of the path, and we stepped off the stairs from time to time to catch our breath and enjoy a few moments in the shade.
By about 30 minutes in I was stopping every 40-60 steps to catch my breath, and it I wasn’t on top of my breathing it would turn to just panting. I distinctly remember saying to my brother at one point “I need to override what my body wants me to do and try to take long, breaths”. The entire hike felt like one big override of what my body really wanted to do. The other reason I wanted to stop frequently was to enjoy the views. I wasn’t doing this hike for time- it was fun!
And then it got steeper. Because of how steep it was, everyone was bent over a bit, such that you could reach out your hand at points and touch the stair in front of you- crazy to be at such an angle. Some of the stairs felt so steep that I pretty much just climbed up using my hands too, which felt a bit childish but felt safer.
The good news was that my migraine medicine seemed to really kick in at that point so my head wasn’t throbbing, but my heart was beating hard enough that I could hear each pound in my ears. I remember saying “I think my heart might explode”, but I just kept taking it nice and slow.
At one point we sat down to eat some trail mix (I had no appetite at all that afternoon while hiking, which wasn’t great, but I was able to get some calories in me which helped) and I started to drink some nuun! I love the refreshing flavors they have and the electrolytes- it definitely helped to revive me.
This little guy kept sitting close to us which was fun, and he picked up some little pieces of the trail mix we dropped. He obviously wasn’t afraid of humans!
As I was watching people huff and puff as they climbed up the stairs, I wondered what makes people do something that is hard like this. I knew what was bring me up the stairs- the sense of pushing myself, of overcoming, of adventure- they all fueled me. But I wanted to understand what was carrying everyone else up those stairs too.
When we finally got up to the top I had the biggest smile on my face. This was a 9 year goal that I FINALLY was able to complete because I worked slowly on increasing my strength with POTS. It would’ve been easy to let this dream go, but I’m so glad that I didn’t.
(I took pics with my brother too but didn’t include them here since I keep my family members’ names and faces off my blog!)
I mean, look at these views:
You can’t see where we started because it is so far down there!
Sporting my UV Buff– I loved having it with me!
Beautiful, right?
We stayed at the top for about 10 minutes and then decided to hike down the Barr Trail, which runs on the side of the mountain and is more mileage but less steep. It was absolutely gorgeous!
This is the top of the incline
Hiking down the Barr Trail on the side of Pikes Peak
We ended the day with about 6.5 miles of hiking and a wealth of awesome memories. We had a really fantastic time and even in the hardest moments I told my brother that I would absolutely do this again! And it was a day of free entertainment 🙂
I recovered by enjoying a wonderful dinner at our friends’ house, rolling with my addaday roller, and sitting around the fire that evening talking and laughing with them.
The day was truly fantastic and one that will be a great memory from 2015. And mostly I’m proud that someone with POTS was able to work towards being able to hike part of Pikes Peak. I never thought it would be possible.
I have always wanted to hike the incline. Your pictures and description of it make it sound tough, but beautiful. I would probably do it for the views as well and take my time, but I’m sure there are people that live around there who do it for time and speed – always looking for a challenge!
Wow, that is awesome, it may need to be added to my bucket list too.
Congratulations on the Incline! Glad you enjoyed your time in Colorado. 🙂
Thanks! I hope I’ll have the chance to do it again one day!