Pikes Peak Trip Report 09/22/2016

Peak(s):	Pikes Peak - 14,109 feet
Date Posted:	09/22/2016
Date Climbed:	09/17/2016
Author:	Fishert2

Pikes Peak with an overnight in A-frame
Started from Barr Trail trailhead. I had seen another report stating that bathrooms were locked at trailhead but they were not when I went to use them at 4:30am. Parking lot was about half full already but I think most of the vehicles belonged to campers at Barr Camp. Started trail at 4:35 am with my dog, headlamp, and backpack loaded down with necessities for an overnight outing. Made it to where the trail meets with top of incline in an hour. Full moon was bright and beautiful with the early morning clear skies. This was the setting of the harvest moon. As I watched the moon descend it appeared as if it was going to land right at the Summit House on the peak from my perspective along the trail. Made it to Barr Camp before 7:30 and enjoyed a quick power bar while chatting with some of the campers before heading back up the trail 20 minutes later. Played leap frog on the trail with another hiker for a bit but lost him after the Bottomless Pit turn off. I thought he had kicked it up a gear and left me in the dust but just as I was entering the part of the trail where the Aspen trees thin out he came up behind me. He had proceeded onto Bottomless Pit trail without realizing it. We stayed close until the treeline shelter where I turned off and he proceeded up towards the summit. My watch showed just past 9:30 - good timing by my perspective. I had hiked to the summit twice before without ever stopping at the a-frame so this was my first time going down the small trail to it. There were two young guys preparing to head for the summit after a long cold night in the shelter according to them. After chatting for a bit as they finished breakfast and waiting for their water iodine tablets to purify their water bottles the two left the camp with intentions to catch a ride with someone from the summit. With the guys cleared out I did a quick recon of what I had to work with in the shelter and surrounding area. Fire pit with the remainder of unsuccessful fire attempt, full size spade shovel with broken handle, a throw blanket folded up in corner of shelter along with a carpenter's hand saw, small cooking pot, a two man basic tent, and a decent size bottle of Makers Mark whiskey. All of this appeared to have been left intentionally by previous campers. Between all of that, the small stream just 15 yards from the shelter, and the amazing views every direction I looked I felt like I had it made for the rest of the day. I gathered some firewood made a small fire in the fire pit and made a tinfoil dinner with a potato I had brought with me. After eating I crawled into the shelter unpacked the sleeping bag and passed out for a while. I woke up some time around 2pm just before two other hikers strolled up to the shelter. Two gals from Minnesota were looking for shelter from wind that would come about at night. They set up a two person tent inside the a-frame and there was still room for the dog and I on half the floor. The gals passed out pretty quickly so I decided to head towards the summit instead of tiptoeing around camp for the rest of the afternoon. Purified some water, grabbed a jacket, put the dog on a leash and headed up the trail around 3:30pm. Made it to summit, grabbed some food at the top, ignored the "no pets" sign at the summit house and took the dog inside and sat down to eat. Made it back down to the shelter by 6:30pm to find the girls still passed out. I decided to call it a night myself, after all, I had hiked the entire Barr Trail and then the few miles back down from the summit to the tree line! Had a hard time sleeping after the sun went down due to the wind speed picking up. The two tarps we had pulled to close the opening of the a-frame kept rustling loudly. Sometime around 1:30 am Sunday morning I opened my eyes and saw that one of the tarps had blown open to reveal a surreal view of the twinkling lights of Colorado Springs. After the taking in the sight for a minute or so I pulled the tarp shut again and was able to eventually pass back out, but not before reaching for a pair of thermal underwear I had packed - with the girls sleeping when I had gotten back to camp I didn't have the chance to rummage through my bag to find my beanie for my head but I did find the longjohns easily and proceeded to wrap them around my head. I must have looked like a fool, but I was warm! At 4:30 an alarm went off in the tent next to me signaling the girls' plans to get an early start towards the summit. The alarm cut off quickly, but there was serious hesitation from either of them to want to move as both vocally declared how cold they were. I felt plenty warm in my sleeping bag but I had also slept with my Columbia omni heat shell on as well as my improvised head garment. The girls told me that after I had left for the summit the afternoon before they were able to get a call into one of their mothers and successfully pleaded with them to purchase them cog rail tickets down and they felt the rest of the hike to the summit would exhaust them. By 5am we had all managed to gather the will to exit the shelter and begin packing. After taking some photos of the city lights against the dark background of the pre-dawn sky we all parted ways - the girls up towards the summit and the dog and I down towards the parking lot at the base of Barr Trail. I had a friend's baby shower to catch that afternoon and the girls had to make it off the mountain in time to catch the Green Bay game on later. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Pikes Peak with an overnight in A-frame

Started from Barr Trail trailhead. I had seen another report stating that bathrooms were locked at trailhead but they were not when I went to use them at 4:30am. Parking lot was about half full already but I think most of the vehicles belonged to campers at Barr Camp. Started trail at 4:35 am with my dog, headlamp, and backpack loaded down with necessities for an overnight outing. Made it to where the trail meets with top of incline in an hour. Full moon was bright and beautiful with the early morning clear skies. This was the setting of the harvest moon. As I watched the moon descend it appeared as if it was going to land right at the Summit House on the peak from my perspective along the trail. Made it to Barr Camp before 7:30 and enjoyed a quick power bar while chatting with some of the campers before heading back up the trail 20 minutes later. Played leap frog on the trail with another hiker for a bit but lost him after the Bottomless Pit turn off. I thought he had kicked it up a gear and left me in the dust but just as I was entering the part of the trail where the Aspen trees thin out he came up behind me. He had proceeded onto Bottomless Pit trail without realizing it. We stayed close until the treeline shelter where I turned off and he proceeded up towards the summit. My watch showed just past 9:30 - good timing by my perspective. I had hiked to the summit twice before without ever stopping at the a-frame so this was my first time going down the small trail to it. There were two young guys preparing to head for the summit after a long cold night in the shelter according to them. After chatting for a bit as they finished breakfast and waiting for their water iodine tablets to purify their water bottles the two left the camp with intentions to catch a ride with someone from the summit. With the guys cleared out I did a quick recon of what I had to work with in the shelter and surrounding area. Fire pit with the remainder of unsuccessful fire attempt, full size spade shovel with broken handle, a throw blanket folded up in corner of shelter along with a carpenter's hand saw, small cooking pot, a two man basic tent, and a decent size bottle of Makers Mark whiskey. All of this appeared to have been left intentionally by previous campers. Between all of that, the small stream just 15 yards from the shelter, and the amazing views every direction I looked I felt like I had it made for the rest of the day. I gathered some firewood made a small fire in the fire pit and made a tinfoil dinner with a potato I had brought with me. After eating I crawled into the shelter unpacked the sleeping bag and passed out for a while. I woke up some time around 2pm just before two other hikers strolled up to the shelter. Two gals from Minnesota were looking for shelter from wind that would come about at night. They set up a two person tent inside the a-frame and there was still room for the dog and I on half the floor. The gals passed out pretty quickly so I decided to head towards the summit instead of tiptoeing around camp for the rest of the afternoon. Purified some water, grabbed a jacket, put the dog on a leash and headed up the trail around 3:30pm. Made it to summit, grabbed some food at the top, ignored the "no pets" sign at the summit house and took the dog inside and sat down to eat. Made it back down to the shelter by 6:30pm to find the girls still passed out. I decided to call it a night myself, after all, I had hiked the entire Barr Trail and then the few miles back down from the summit to the tree line! Had a hard time sleeping after the sun went down due to the wind speed picking up. The two tarps we had pulled to close the opening of the a-frame kept rustling loudly. Sometime around 1:30 am Sunday morning I opened my eyes and saw that one of the tarps had blown open to reveal a surreal view of the twinkling lights of Colorado Springs. After the taking in the sight for a minute or so I pulled the tarp shut again and was able to eventually pass back out, but not before reaching for a pair of thermal underwear I had packed - with the girls sleeping when I had gotten back to camp I didn't have the chance to rummage through my bag to find my beanie for my head but I did find the longjohns easily and proceeded to wrap them around my head. I must have looked like a fool, but I was warm! At 4:30 an alarm went off in the tent next to me signaling the girls' plans to get an early start towards the summit. The alarm cut off quickly, but there was serious hesitation from either of them to want to move as both vocally declared how cold they were. I felt plenty warm in my sleeping bag but I had also slept with my Columbia omni heat shell on as well as my improvised head garment. The girls told me that after I had left for the summit the afternoon before they were able to get a call into one of their mothers and successfully pleaded with them to purchase them cog rail tickets down and they felt the rest of the hike to the summit would exhaust them. By 5am we had all managed to gather the will to exit the shelter and begin packing. After taking some photos of the city lights against the dark background of the pre-dawn sky we all parted ways - the girls up towards the summit and the dog and I down towards the parking lot at the base of Barr Trail. I had a friend's baby shower to catch that afternoon and the girls had to make it off the mountain in time to catch the Green Bay game on later.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Missouri Flatlander	Twinkling Lights 10/1/2016 7:36pm I've stayed in the A-Frame shelter a few times on my winter visits to Colorado. I finally took a good camera a couple years ago to get that awesome shot of the early morning lights of Colorado Springs. It hangs in my office and people always ask about it. Nice trip report, and beautiful dog.
Fishert2	Response 10/1/2016 7:43pm Thanks. I expected the view would be good, but didn't know it would be great! The dog chewed the shutter button off my Nikon CoolPix L120 camera so these photos were snapped with my iPhone. Meeka, my husky, has made the Pikes Peak climb 3 times now, not bad for a nearly 8 year old dog!

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