The Incline

 When I was researching about Colorado for this trip I happened upon a blog posting on a hiking challenge in Manitou Springs. At that instant I knew I would conquer the incline.

Not clickable video, just a picture.

What is the incline? The facts first, it is an old cog train track that runs from the town of Manitou to the top of a mountain. The rails are long gone as are the original ties, having been replaced with pressure treated timbers. 

2744 steps

The railroad bed is .90 miles to the summit, the altitude at the base is 6600 feet above sea level, and the top of the mountain is 8600 feet. The journey to the top is a rise of 2000 feet and is accomplished by hiking up 2744 steps. The angle of the accent is always upwards, with an average angle of 40 degrees and an extreme section of 62 degrees.

8600 feet to the summit

Hiking the incline started with locals and whiles no longer a low key feature of the town; it is still run by volunteers and not overrun with participants. The incline is not a walk in the park, it is challenging and probably more acutely described as grueling or at least difficult. 

A walk in the park

So what was this 74 year old doing on the mountain? First off, like a lot of male boomers, I still think of myself as fit and capable……able to leap tall buildings…..no wait, that’s someone else’s story. 

The beginning steps

Additionally, and I am spilling personal info here, I’ve always been drawn to individual challenges; I’m not much of a team player. It’s a personality type, I’m a Sigma male.

I didn’t tell Millie about my commitment to do the hike at first. I knew she would not be happy about it. I usually take her council into consideration about big decisions but I had to do this. She was pretty good about it when I did tell her, but I know she worried about me. 

The incline from town

The climb

I was at the start of the incline at 6:30 in the morning. After the first couple hundred feet I knew this was going to take some commitment, when going up the steps the mountain is controlling your stride and lift. You don’t get to decide to take smaller steps.

As the angle of the incline increased I found myself running short of breath and my heart was racing. Besides being a flatlander who lives 30 feet above sea level, I was making the same mistake as most beginners. I was going too fast.

Town from about 1/3 of the way

I tried several different techniques to balance my need for oxygen with the ability of my plumbing system to deliver it to my muscles while I continued moving upwards. I counted steps for a while, stopping to get my breathing under control at a predetermined number of steps. It worked somewhat but I still wasn’t happy about my heart racing or not making continuous progress in the march.

Very thankful for the cloudy day

The solution came from observing several women who passed me. They were doing what looked like the Texas Two step. As they brought their trailing leg forward, they tapped the step next to the lead foot before continuing to the next step. It sounds weird I know, but it slows down the process and let me make greater distances between rest stops. While I did stop occasionally when I felt the oxygen levels were falling, I never had to stop again because my heart was racing. I am not a medical professional, nor do I play one on YouTube, but the system worked for me. 

About halfway

Other than having to work out a pace for the oxygen delivery, my body did amazingly well. I have all my originally issued parts and my joints and muscles never gave me any pain or refusal to continue climbing one step after another. Coming down was a different story, more on that later.

Halfway looking up to false summit.

I got so into the climb I stopped thinking about counting steps or having to abort because of an injury or worse still, losing my commitment. I thought about all sorts of things, like for what purpose was I doing this. It seemed like it should be dedicated too, or in honor of something. 

Crossing over the false summit at about step 2700

I had a good friend die earlier this month, he was the same age as me and that got me thinking about all the people I knew who died too young and didn’t get to enjoy the full measure of life. I decided I would make it in memory of my daughter Melissa who died at only eight years old. She had battled Cystic Fibrosis since birth. She was a beautiful loving child who deserved more than life gave her.

Melissa Marie Midash

I’d like to say all too soon I was at the summit, but really it was three and a half hours later. As is the custom, the other hikers who were at the top would applaud your success. It was a Rocky Balboa running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art moment. I rested for a little while and cheered on the hikers who likewise conquered the mountain.

A female Rocky moment!

The summit

I didn’t linger at the top; I had a four mile hike down the other side of the mountain ahead of me. Besides there is absolutely nothing at the summit, which is how wilderness should be. There was one enterprising man who backpacks bottled water to the top and sells it for $7 a bottle. He looked like one of the local humanoid climbing machines that race up the mountain every day. 

How come everybody but me looks young?

I hadn’t thought much about the decent prior to today, the uphill climb was the challenge or so I thought. The down hill part is a continuous decent down a narrow switchback trail, it is four miles long. To further complicate the down hike the material the mountain is made of a short rock that easily pulverized. Between erosion, foot traffic and the downward slope it was often like walking on marbles. 

The incline and return trail on the left

Starting down

Some people found it easier to run down, I took to listening for the crunch of their footgear on the loose stone and would move to the side and let them pass. I had packed my collapsible hiking stick in my backpack and used it while I proceeded carefully down the mountain. The only problem with my method was using my legs basically as brakes put demands on thigh muscles that aren’t normal in flatlander walking or even in uphill climbs. 

The town from a gap in the trees on the return trail

Lots of big boulders on the way down

Too be honest, I was in pain when I got to the bottom, just my front thighs, all the rest of my muscles were ok as were all my joints. I must say I was surprised by this, I thought my knees and ankles would have give out first. All said, I don’t really have anything to complain about, this old body has had one too many hard landings and I’m amazed it’s working this well.

So what did Millie do while I was on the mountain, She stayed at the campground and I’m sure worried some about me, I am a senior citizen, and she loves me! One of the advantages of living in this modern world is our communication systems. I was able to send her periodic texts with pictures, informing her of my progress, I’m sure that helped some.

Was I glad I took the challenge, absolutely!

What advice do I have for anyone thinking of challenging the incline, or any other adventure. In the words of Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail around the world alone.

“To young men contemplating a voyage, I would say go”