Summiting Pikes Peak via Barr Trial

Barr Trail gains 7,400 vertical feet over 13 miles (one way). Because of afternoon thunderstorms in the summer, it is important to leave early enough in the morning to be back down below treeline by noon.

I arrived at the trailhead in Manitou Springs at 5:30am. Even if you don't plan to hike all the way to the summit, it is still nice to leave early because the first section of the trail is not well shaded and becomes very crowded with runners coming down from the Manitou Incline by 7:00am. I didn't take any pictures for the first portion of the trail.

 The half-way point! My camelback was less than half full and warm, so I was excited to be almost to Barr Camp so that I could refill. At the camp, there is a cold stream nearby and the camp has water filters available to rent. I was too preoccupied with my short break that I didn't get any photos of the camp.

After refilling my water, I took a quick detour to go check out Mountain View, which is a small station for the cog wheel rail that is situated on the side of the mountain. If one of the trains passes by while you are there, expect a lot of people hollering encouragement from the train.

After my little detour I continued up the mountain until I reached the A-frame emergency shelter, which is right below treeline. At this point I checked the sky to make sure there were no storms rolling in early. The sky was clear and I decided to keep going.

Past the treeline, you will enter a boulder field. I was lucky enough to briefly gain some company. Besides this lovely buck, I saw lots of marmots dashing around and barking when I ventured to close to their boulders.

Only two miles left to go! I felt exhausted, but at the same time I was thrilled.

As you might notice, it was also around this time that the sky was starting to look ominous. Part of what makes these storms so dangerous is that they can form very quickly. I weighed my options and decided to keep going up since I was less than 2 miles from the summit.

I think it was the most difficult 2 miles I have ever hiked. The winds were strong and cold. Even though it was July, sections of the switchbacks were still covered in snow.

These snow crossings were very slippery and required care when crossing so that you didn't step wrong and fall through the snow and into the water flowing underneath.

As soon as I reached the summit I had to layer up. It was so cold!