Barr Trail to Pikes Peak - Pike National Forest (Colorado)

Location: Pike National Forest

City: Manitou Springs/Colorado Springs, CO

Hike Type: Point to Point

Distance: 12.6 miles (one way)

Net Elevation Gain: 7,300 feet

Date of Hike: September 4-5, 2010

I was in Colorado visiting my friend in Denver for the Labor Day weekend.  Our main plan for the weekend was to tackle Pikes Peak, which is one of Colorado’s 54 “fourteeners” at a peak elevation of 14,110 feet.  There are lots of options to the top including driving or riding a cog railway up the mountain.  We chose to hike up the mountain and ride the train down with an overnight stop at the Barr Camp cabin about halfway up the mountain.

View Barr Trail in a larger map

The hike is a pretty steep ascent all the way through.  You are below tree line all the way up to Barr Camp and then some which does obscure views most of the time on day 1.  However, the payoff on day 2 above tree line is mighty fine if you can handle the distance, ascent, and thin air when you get up there.   We started on the trail about noon and made it to Barr Camp by about 4:30. 

A view during day one

Barr Camp is a small cabin just below tree line at an elevation of 10,200 feet.  The cabin is basically a big room with 20 or so bunks and a small kitchen/dining area.  There is a nice porch that wraps around the cabin where most hikers congregate until 6 pm when dinner served.  The cabin staff cook/serve spaghetti and garlic bread (perhaps the best garlic bread I’ve ever tasted) for dinner and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast the next morning.  Light go out at 9pm and I squeezed in to my upper bunk that was maybe 3 feet below the ceiling, but considering where we were this was pretty much the lap of luxury in relative terms. 

We departed Barr Camp around 7:30am trying to get to the top before any possible thunderstorms developed and to make sure we didn’t miss our train back down that would leave at 1:00.  Pretty soon after the start of day 2 of hike we got above the tree line and the views opened up.

Day 2 View

Another Day 2 View

Just before reaching the peak

As you near the top you must traverse what is called the golden staircase which is a series of I've what is read is supposed to be 14 or 16 switchbacks (I lost count very early on).  My body and lungs were none too pleased with me putting them through the golden staircase nor placing them at an elevation some 30 times higher than my home elevation of about 500 feet in Dallas.  As depleted as I felt for that last half mile or so I knew there really was no choice but to forge on since the alternative was walking downhill for 12 miles versus having a nice air conditioned train that would take us back down in a fraction of the time.  Also, we were told by a few hikers at Barr Camp the day before that although the elevation may suck up all your oxygen it also has magical properties that when applied to craft of making donuts produces the most delicious tasting treat you can imagine.  They weren’t kidding.  The taste of those high elevation, thin air-infused donuts served at the concession building on the peak was just as good as the scenery.  But, the cruel irony was that I could only manage 3 bites of the two donuts I ordered.  My body was so exhausted the very act of eating was taxing.  But those three bites were worth every bit of the exhaustion I endured.  In fact, they were so good that what I had to suffer through was totally "worth it" just like in this scene from Scrubs (except it was cookies instead of donuts)

Finally at the Peak

Just before getting on the train

The ride back down on the train takes about 45 minutes and I definitely recommend it as it will save you probably 5 hours or so unless you can arrange somebody to meet you at the peak in their car and take you back down.  On the way down we saw a big horn sheep and a black bear (but no pictures as everybody raced over to the other side of the train to snap their pictures through a window and I was not in the mood to squeeze through the crowd at that time).

Bonus: Of all the views you will come across, it may not get more beautiful than Butt Rock