winter
Colorado Springs at Night from Incline Summit
Ever wonder what the Manitou and Colorado Springs lights look like at night from the summit of the Incline? The photo above is from the top of the Incline on February 2, 2012 as light snow fell. The photo below is from December 11th, 2008 on a moonlit evening.
Unfortunately once the Manitou Incline becomes legal to hike, the management plan has a rule for it only to be open from dawn to dusk.
Top of Incline Still Icy
With barely any snow since before Christmas, most of the Manitou Incline is clear of snow except above the false summit. The photos are from last weekend on January 22nd, 2012 but conditions were similar on Thursday night.
There still is some ice below where the ties split around halfway but it isn’t too bad. Above the false summit is still very icy. The ties are melted off but slippery ice fills in between them.
With care the upper part can be climbed without traction devices but coming back down the top of the Incline is treacherous. The photo above shows an Incline regular running back down but she’s wearing Kahtoola MicroSpikes and is very experienced on hiking the Incline in winter.
The social trail from the top of the Incline down to Barr Trail is mostly clear of ice. Barr Trail is also mostly clear but icy patches still exist. Some of them are hidden under a thin layer of dirt but are still slippery. The dirt access road to the water intake above Upper Ruxton would be better for bobsledding than for hiking so avoid that and stay on Barr Trail.
Manitou Incline Trail Conditions Mid January 2012
The sunny, warm days have continued to melt the snow from before Christmas off the Incline. There are still some snowpacked and icy spots though.
Here are the Incline trail conditions on Thursday, January 12th 2012. Most of the lower part of the Incline was clear. The Incline was snowpacked halfway up where the tracks split where it doesn’t get much sun. Once above that section, it was mostly clear until the false summit. Above the false summit, it was snowpacked and icy.
The social trail to Barr trail only had a couple small icy spots. There were some icy spots on Barr Trail but it wasn’t too bad. The worst is some of the icy spots have a thin layer of dirt & gravel over top so it’s hard to tell that it’s icy. There were a couple big shoe slide marks on those so pay attention.
Currently experienced hikers should be able to hike the Manitou Incline without traction devices as long as caution is used on the icy sections. Coming down the top section of the Incline could be tricky though. Carrying Kahtoola MicroSpikes, YakTrax, or Stabilicers Lite would still be a good idea.
Winter Has Come to the Incline
With the dry fall and early winter, the Manitou Incline has been mostly free of snow and ice. That all changed with the 2 snow storms the week before Christmas.
Although the snow has melted off sections of the Incline and Barr Trail, there’s still plenty of ice. Often the ice from the melting and freezing is more slippery than when the snow first falls. It’s a pretty time of year on the Manitou Incline but use Kahtoola MicroSpikes, YakTrax, or Stabilicers Lite and be safe.
Here are some photos from December 23, 2011 and include the tree decorated at the the top of the Incline with Christmas decorations.
