6000 Foot Drop

Manitou Springs CO: 2013 Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon -- A Hearty 7815 Foot Drop

Zebulon Pike never made it to the top of his eponymous Pikes Peak, the easternmost 14.000 foot mountain in America and a navigation beacon to the heartland still today. 

But thousands of runners just as hearty as Zebulon made it to the top over the past two days in the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon -- and in under 10 hours, albeit in shoes Zeb might not have fancied.

"Hearty" is the feeling in authentically quaint Manitou Springs, perched at an elevation of 6300 feet into the canyons at the base of Pikes Peak -- 7815 vertical feet below the summit of the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon.  The Manitou Springers are real Coloradans living a real Colorado life.  For example, sometimes it rains.

Plus, gravity affects people living at the base of a gigantic mountain. 

One of the tourist attractions in hearty Manitou Springs is the Incline Trail, which, at a 2000 foot drop, is too big for Amsterdam's Museum of Torture.

Good thing the mineral water is free.  There are over a dozen pure, drinkable mineral springs all throughout Manitou Springs, built into attractions where people can fill and re-fill their water bottles gratis.

The rainbows are also free.

As we reported in our last post from Pikes Peak, its 14,115 foot summit is accessible without crampons.  One way up is the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog railway, which is a simple, albeit narrated, route to the top.

The finish line of the Pikes Peak Ascent is the finish line of the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

The Pikes Peak Tollroad is a paved road to the top for $12 per person.  We experimented on the road with a rental Toyota Tot which survived the drive and also a rental Nissan Vestibule which did not.

Or you can get there on foot -- uphill all the way.

Over 2500 hearty runners -- not a fat slob in sight -- qualified for coveted spots in Saturday's Pikes Peak Ascent, a half marathon from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak, and Sunday's Pikes Peak Marathon, which is the same course as the Ascent but where runners turn around at the summit and plunge back down into Manitou Springs. The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon are "America's Ultimate Challenge" (assuming this weekend's Leadville 100 is too preposterous to count....) Here is the happy scene at the start of the Ascent.

The Ascent and Marathon course follow the famous Barr Trail, busted into the pink Pikes Peak granite 100 years ago by hearty Fred Barr.  

The Ascent rises an astonishing 7815 vertical feet in 13.32 miles, with its apex at the summit of Pikes Peak at a breathtaking 14,115 feet.  At 14,115 feet, oxygen is scarce and no one can hear you scream. 

Spectators are warned not to spend too long at the summit, and Ascent competitors are whisked off the summit in shuttle vans and down to 12,000 feet to gather their thoughts.

The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon are impressively well organized and managed events.  Seattle Seahawks american football coach Pete Carroll lookalike Ron Ilgen is the race director. Mr. Ilgen and his entire staff are to be commended for the amazing job of coordinating and comforting runners all along the steep and roadless Barr Trail.

Competitors win a medal and a unique pullover shirt and some even win a bit of money. But the joy is in the accomplishment and being one with the mountain. They are part of Manitou now.

Pikes Peak -- it's more than a 6000 foot drop!

See you in Denver for Labor Day Phish at Dicks!

 

 

Grant County WA: Phish 8/6/11 at The Gorge -- Almost as Hot as 1998

Box Seats at The Gorge for the massively talented Vermont jazz-rockers Phish were a bargain Saturday at less than $100.  Not certain, however, that the like-priced camping at the official Gorge Camping and Cesspool and Raping Pit delivered such a bargain.  Why aren't more of the streetwise phisheads camping and exploring the $11/day Quincy Lakes Wildlife Area, just upriver from The Gorge?

Wearing colorful clothing repels insects, snakes, and hunters, but with 20,000 phisheads less than five miles away, we still feel invisible in the ancient landscape with thousands of acres to ourselves.

Millions of years have passed to get us here, or is it just precisely one year from the renown 8/6/10 Phish show at the Berkeley Greek Theater?   Thirteen years have passed since the triple-digit temperatures of the 1998 Gorge shows, but the powerfully hypnotized Phish foursome can still bring the heat.   Saturday's 8/6 show was a tour de force of outdoor rock.  Even in a plaid shirt?

Even with a school-boy haircut?

I: Possum -- Plenty of these in Grant County.

Moma Dance -- 8/6 dance party!

Sample in a Jar -- Our Texas guest gets her name-call.

Limb by Limb -- Our Berkeley guest gets her neighbor's favorite wake-up call.

Ocelot -- drippy.

Poor Heart -- Swing dancing is Grant County de rigeur.

On Your Way Down -- Page worked this one out in soundcheck making it Vida Blue-ier.

Wolfman's Brother -- At the Gorge if you listen carefully, you hear the high pitched cavitation of propellers from afar.

Maze -- Patchwork perfect.

Wilson -- Phish can do every genre, including rock.

Fluffhead -- "It's all in your head...."  Triumphant.

SET TWO:

Chalk Dust Torture -- Mr. Anastasio likes this song.

Tweezer -- If Moma Dance is funk, what is this?

Prince Caspian -- Phish remembering their demographics again.

Sand -- If Tweezer is funk, what is this?

Tweezer -- Mr. Anastasio knows he would be a first round draft pick.

Birds Of A Feather --  Limb by Limb's cousin.  Plenty of shredded boas.

Waste -- What is the melting point of a Gumby?

Golden Age -- Rich and complex like a nice Bordeaux.

Reba -- Silly and beautiful and whistling!

Run Like An Antelope -- Explorational like an out of control hiker tumbling toward an ancient lake.

ENCORE

Suzy Greenberg -- There is one Suzy Greenberg in the Grant County phonebook.

Sanity -- "They're trying to sound like this, right?"

Tweezer Reprise --  Phish is the greatest American band. 

See you in Golden Gate Park for Outside Lands!