the manitou incline

i woke up relatively early today and there wasnt much going on upstairs, so i sat in the basement and read my book for awhile. then i went upstairs and read my book. around 11:am i started to leave but was caught. just as i closed my truck door frances yelled out the window and made me come back in. she didnt make me, but i tried to leave quietly and woke her, so then we chatted for about two hours, mostly about torture.

around 1 i was ready to leave again, frances had some work to do and i had more exploring to do around the city. on my first day tour, frances and travis took me to a number of places, but we got a quick tour and some i wanted to go back to. i went to the garden of the gods yesterday and today i went back towards manitou springs.

we went to the arcade there previously, but frances had pointed out to me an incline in the forest, there all the trees were removed and a brown strip remained. she assured me that it was an old railroad, the steel had been removed but the ties remained and people regularly walked up them to the crest of the mountain.

i saw it as i was coming into manitou and remembered, and quickly decided that i would find that place and go up that trail, regardless of how hard it would be. and, when i finally got there, it didnt look that hard. it looked like it would be a workout, but nothing that i couldnt handle. and that isnt giving myself too much credit, just my knowledge of what my body can handle.

the manitou incline

i didnt know it when i started, but i was about to hike up 2000 vertical feet, the manitou incline. at one point the trail has a 50° incline. again, these are things i learned after the fact. from the bottom it didnt look overly intimidating and i took to the incline as i would any small hill, with reckless abandon.

i was running and jumping, asserting my male prowess (there wasnt anyone else around) and enjoying the hell out if it. then i started to get tired and looked back to see i had only gotten about 50 steps into it. at that point i had a conference with myself and decided to be smarter about it. i would walk at a steady pace and set clear goals for myself to get to and then rest until my heart was beating at a normal rate again. thats the practical me talking to the daring me.

and i did that. it was slow going, after a couple hundred steps i was past the easy part. from there it started to have more of an incline and the ties and trail were more deteriorated from washouts and other factors. but i kept on. i was drinking my water with an eye to conserve it until i got to the tougher parts. and i could see these tougher parts now with my eyes. i was starting to realize what i had gotten into.

hike hike hike. i keep going, at one point i am only going about five railroad ties and then stopping to catch my heart. and my breath. and now there were people passing me, just a few people, maybe ten or so. but i had to start convincing myself that i was not competing with them. regardless of what they looked like, i was not in a race and i was not trying to prove to them that i could do it. i was merely having a good time and letting myself know i could do it.

a little more than an hour into it i could see the top. i was overjoyed! becasue right before that is the 50° incline and that was hell on my body. by now i had also to convince myself not to turn around a couple of times. i was almost there and i could do this, there was no reason to turn around. i sat for a long minute pumping myself up to get to the top and drank the rest of my water. then i jumped up and with renewed energy assaulted the summit.

the top down

and then my world shattered. the summit i had been seeing was false. once i got to it (and not a moment before i got to it) i saw stretched out in front of me about half as much trail as i had already done and this was all at a steep incline. i was completely helpless. i sat down for about ten minutes building myself up for the letdown of turning around and walking to the bottom. trying to tell myself that i had just hadnt prepared enough, didnt bring enough fluid, was hiking at the height of the day, etc.

and then a friendly hiker passed me and i told him of my dismay. he related to me about his first time up the incline and how he was similarly shattered at this new stretch in front of him. with that, i got more energy and set off. this was more slow going and at every stop i had to convince myself to keep going up. i was so close and down was so far, it would have to carry the defeat the entire way.

so i persevered and an hour later i found myself at the top. as soon as i got there i know it was the hardest physical thing i had ever done, harder than riding my bike through bike sur or hiking in the grand canyon, and i felt happy for the accomplishment. i saw a nice tree that had been cut at the top, i climbed it and sat up there for a long minute ruminating on my accomplishment.

my tree

then a storm was rolling in fast and i decided to high tail it back down. instead of going down the incline, i opted for the trail. i didnt even think about how much longer it would be, but i was done with the incline. i felt like i raced down the trail, but with all the switchbacks it took me another hour to get down. by that time it was raining and lighting was in the distance. i hightailed it to the nearest water source becasue i was parched! i drank about a quart of water in three bigs gulps and then headed for my truck.

on the way back to manitou i saw a castle. miramont castle. i decided to stop. i mean, why is there a castle in colorado, and maybe i can sneak in to see it. it turned out to be a free self guided tour, but i didnt find that out right away. first i slyly sneaked past the front desk lady while she was engaged with other patrons and i found myself in the middle of a miniature museum. the museum wasnt small, but it was for miniatures.

that means diaramas and dolls. scenes recreating colorado and manitou springs from the past. various artifacts from personal collections and very intricate details of the shops and homes that would have been around then. it was interesting.

then i went back to the front desk area and the lady was pointing something out to the same people and i darted up the stairs. thats when i realized it was a free museum and my tension eased i started reading the plaques and enjoying the experience. in the 1890's a frenchman moved to the springs with his mother and commissioned the castle to be built in various french styles. he and his mother lived there until about 1900 when the defected back to france and donated the castle as a sanitarium.

a castle must-have

it passed hands until the 1970's when the historical society snatched it up and refurbished it for display. they had all the rooms done out in period decor and furnishings, with a multitude of plaques detailing the scenes and life in the castle, it was interesting. at one point i came to a room with an ancient record player, i dont even know what they are called, but they are so beautiful, they play like tin sheets with holes punched in them. i took a video of it playing.

then i continued through and was having a great time. i enjoy quirky museums and history so i had a blast. then i decided that my tired body deserved a break and here i am breaking it at a bar and getting my daily words in. daily pictures.