Should Waylon Attempt ‘Colorado’s Craziest Hike’?
There are those who consider Manitou Incline to be Colorado's craziest hike. Looking at this aerial footage, it certainly looks steep, but not too bad. Should I give it a try?
It's entirely possible I'll be in Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs in the near future. As you know, I love to hike (even though I've slacked off lately). Would it be worth the effort to give this hike a try?
A recent Facebook post by The Gazette brought about several opinions by those more familiar with the trail than I am.
Judging by the videos, it seems the Manitou Incline is well maintained. It doesn't look particularly crowded to me, either. According to the video, the trail climbs 2,090 feet in just 9/10 of a mile. In comparison, the trail up Mt. Garfield climbs 2,000 over a distance of 2 miles. It's hard to imagine a trail twice as steep as Mt. Garfield. A climb, yes. A trail, not so much.
Looking at that video, it seems like this trail is very user-friendly. It is hard to picture 1,000 people a day using it. There's a little traffic, but no worse than a typical Western Colorado trail on a good day.
I can tell you one thing for sure - there is no way in this world I will make the climb in 17 minutes and 45 seconds. It's unlikely I could make it to the top in an hour.
Well, I may be heading that way. Would it be worth my time to visit this trail? It's hard to tell if this even remotely qualifies as a "bucket list" item. What should I do?