So I'm going to Woodland Park CO for altitude training and thought- why not hike Pikes Peak? I'm from Florida and have never hiked in my life so I'm want to take Crags Trail as it's much shorter than Barr. I'll probably begin hiking alone at 6 or 7am and take the shuttle bus down if I'm not feeling like going down. Any advice? Is going solo on Crags with no hiking experience what so ever a suicide mission? Will this kill my Achilles or hinder my training?
How serious a runner are you? I'd ride a gondola up the mountain if you don't want to mess up your training. Very different muscles from running. You'd probably be fine but do you want to risk it?
Yo man,
I've done Pikes dozens of times as I live down in the Springs and the Thon last year. Anyhow, don't underestimate going up to 14k feet from Sea level, that has a lot of potential to F you up. That being said, some people can pull it off and be okay coming from sea level, just be aware you can get nasty crap happening to you like bad tunnel vision/lightheadedness. I would recommend you bring plenty of water as you dehydrate big time with how dry it is up there, once at the top you can get plenty of water for your hike back down. Crags is the Pu$$y route by the way, so i think you should be okay , its a lot easier than going up via barr though its steeper in spots and more "stairstep" like in certain points of the Cragg route. You need to be extremely aware on what time of day you go up as afternoon showers can be really dangerous up there if you get caught in a lightning storm. I recommend if you want to do the trip that you head up first thing in the morning.
Lastly, if you're in Woodland I highly recommend you go up to Rampart Reservoir to get runs in, its a great place to train, you can take Rampart range road all the way from the rez down to Garden of the gods.
Enjoy.
Did pikes peak a couple weeks ago and considered via Crags but opted in the end for Barr as it was a beautiful day.
Crags seems pretty easy except the last mile or two from Devils playground to the summit, some tricky rocks but easily negotiated if you take your time.
Deffo take a loop or two around Garden of the Gods early morning or late evening. Stick to the trials and be careful of the rattlers.
enjoy.
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