Created by Paul Signorelli, W0RW on 2023-03-30

This Trail Day adventure started by boarding the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway at Manitou Springs, Colorado. The ‘Cog’ is a train that can go up a very steep incline because it drives itself up on a third rail which has big cog teeth on it.

You can see the Cog train route pictures at http://www.cograilway.com/alongroute.htm

There are exciting times on the rails too, one uphill train engineer threw an old oil rag out on the tracks to warn the downhill train engineer of a broken rail. Not too bad going up but you better take it slow going downhill, He said. Of course, they have 2 big springs at the bottom of the tracks to stop runaway cars, Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.

Hiking down Pikes Peak from the top or from Barr Camp sounds easy but it can find the weakest part of your body and blow it out. Knees, ankles and Hiking shoes can become instruments of torture and blistering is guaranteed. More hiking information is at: https://www.pikes-peak.com/hiking-pikes-peak-mountain/

To start this downhill hike (Which I called Trail Day because it coincided with Field Day) I rode the COG train up to the ‘Mountain View’ siding. It was only $10 for a one-way ticket (expect to pay more now). When you jump off the train in the middle of an extremely remote place like this, with your backpack on, you will see a lot of envious tourists on the train who wish they could be going along with you. I hiked across the face of Pike’s Peak over to Barr Camp, I made several contacts on the trail before Field Day started.

Barr Camp is a wilderness cabin midway on the Barr Trail which goes from Manitou Springs to the top of Pike’s Peak. Barr Camp cooks up Breakfast and Dinners, sells candy and supplies, and has a bunk house for hikers.

It is like a mountain oasis, there are picnic tables and a bench swing that is set by the stream to comfort the tired hikers.

READ THE FULL ARTICAL ON EHAMs: More Photos too
https://www.eham.net/article/48830