2010 goal

old postcard of the Manitou Incline

a view down

it's a 40%-70% incline

Recently, I've been looking for a good challenge and goal to shoot for and I've finally picked one (or the first one of 2010) I'm working towards. This is my New Years Resolution, so to speak... The Manitou Incline... or "the cog" as Sean calls it. (Sean's done it numerous times.) It's not for the weak, or faint of heart... and judging by the pictures I've found online and posted... I believe the hype. I really want to complete it, and that means not taking the chicken exit half way up, this spring or summer. Here are some stats on it... One mile up. 2744 railroad ties. 2000 feet of vertical. And a four mile hike back down on the Barr Trail.

Believe me, I will post pictures once Sean and I complete it this spring/summer.

This is copied from another blog from Dave Philipps:

The Manitou Incline is the toughest, most-touted and most-trespassed trail in the region, and now it is officially on its way to becoming legal, too.

…the steep jumble of 2,744 old railroad ties

The Incline was never meant to be a trail. It began, just over a century ago as tracks for a work train used to install a pipeline. Then for decades it acted as a tourist attraction whisking riders 1,900 feet up a steep mountainside.

When the tourist train was scrapped in 1990 the abandoned ties became a cult workout of a few mountain runners. Slowly word spread. Today on a nice summer day it can attract over 1,000 people, making it one of the most popular trails in the region.

It has been written up in the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.

The stairs are a regular regimen for everyone from stay-at-home moms to Olympic athletes to soldiers getting in shape to return to Iraq.