Manitou Springs
Legalized After Long Climb!
Last night the Manitou Springs city council voted 6-0 for the resolution allowing recreational use of the Manitou Incline. Now there’s only a couple days left for normally law abiding citizens to break the law by trespassing on the Incline. The Manitou Incline will be legal for hiking starting Friday, February 1st at dawn.
The Incline Friends are planing a celebratory hike of the Incline Friday morning at 7 AM. Meet at the bottom of the Incline to join them. An official celebration is being planned in March.
Many thousands of hikers and fitness enthusiasts have passed by the no trespassing sign on the Manitou Incline. This first no trespassing sign was put on the Incline in the summer of 1999. The first sign was right in the middle of the tracks and kept being pulled out.
The following summer the metal sign that is familiar to so many people was installed and was more to the side instead of right in the middle. Whether it was because the sign was to the side or it was installed better, that sign has withstood over a decade of trespassers.
There were a few years when the metal sign had a red and white sign bolted over it. It eventually disappeared and it was back to the bare metal no trespassing sign.
The sign belongs to the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and is to be donated to The Pioneer Museum. There was a rumor that the no trespassing sign that has stood for so many years didn’t quite survive to the opening of the Incline and disappeared over the weekend. Fortunately the rumor seems to be false and there are plans to remove it before it does disappear.
Incline Friends Karma Hour
Last week President Obama signed the law clearing up the railway right-of-way issue with the Manitou Incline. The Colorado Springs council also passed the needed resolution for legalizing the Incline for hiking. The only step remaining to legalizing the Incline is a resolution by the Manitou Springs city council. Manitou Springs council is expected to vote on January 29th.
There are now many loose ties on the Incline. Stabilizing some sections need to be done soon or more work will be needed. The Incline Friends are tasked with raising money to repair and maintain the Incline.
Total cost to implement the Incline Management Plan will run about $1 million, and the Incline Friends need $200,000 of that by the first week of March to meet a critical grant deadline. They expect much of it to come from private donors, but not all of it.
There are a few ways to help the Incline Friends raise money. Tomorrow night there’s a fun one. The Incline Friends Karma Hour will be at Bristol Brewery (1647 S. Tejon) from 5 to 9 PM Tuesday, Jan. 15. Bristol will donate $1 to the Incline Friends for every pint sold. Click here for more on the Incline Friends Karma Hour.
Other ways to help the Incline Friends is to join them, donate using the donate link on their website or putting money into the tube at the bottom of the Incline.
Incline Expected to be Legal February 1, 2013
After 4 years and much hard work by many people the Manitou Incline is expected to be legal for hiking the beginning of next month. The U.S. Senate late Sunday approved a bill clearing up the railway right of way issue for the Incline. Sen. Michael Bennet pushed the bill in the Senate and Rep. Doug Lamborn led the effort in the House where the bill passed back in July.
The Manitou Incline management plan identified 13 key steps to complete before the Incline could be made legal. Now that all of those steps have been taken, the only things remaining are for Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs to pass resolutions making hiking it legal. The Colorado Springs City Council is expected to vote on the resolution at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Manitou Springs has indicated it will vote on resolution during a Special Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
“As we look at closing this chapter of the process with a vote to legalize the Incline from the City of Colorado Springs and the City of Manitou Springs’ City Councils, we can begin the next chapter in our process – improving the Incline,” said Sarah Bryarly, Landscaping Architect and Project Manager for the City of Colorado Springs.
The Incline Friends is the non-profit tasked with fundraising for improving the Incline and have been a big part of legalizing the Incline. Incline Friends will need your help in a major fundraising push. Total cost to implement the plan will run about $1 million and they need $200,000 of that by the first week of March to meet a critical grant deadline. They expect much of this to come from private donors but not all of it.
They’ll start with the Incline Friends Karma Hour, 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15 at Bristol Brewery (1647 S. Tejon). Bristol will donate $1 to the Incline Friends for every pint sold.
In the meantime, we’d like to encourage you to join Incline Friends and/or make an online contribution (find the PayPal “Donate” link on the main page of the Incline Friends website.) There’s also a donation tube at the bottom of the Incline that you can throw in a buck or more when you hike the Incline.
