A Visitor Goes Up the Incline

K's dad visited us Wednesday through Saturday this last week. We always look forward to family visiting and the kids were, once again, counting down the days until Papa came to stay. His one request while here was to do the Incline. Papa has worked really hard since last October to lose weight and hit his goal this Spring - about 80 pounds lost. Whoot whoot! To celebrate this loss and his new physical health (he walks for an hour at least once a day every day) he wanted to test his mettle on the Incline. Yesterday afternoon, we set out and headed over to Manitou Springs for our adventure. Unfortunately, we had to park about a 1/3 of a mile away from our usual starting point due to the parking lot being full. Papa did a fabulous job and powered through the difficult task known as 'The Incline'.

Here we are on the 'easy' part in the beginning. If you don't pace yourself here, you'll pay for it later. Do you see the top of the Incline way up there amongst the trees? That's NOT the summit, but the false summit. Papa re-labeled it 'the first summit'. Beyond that point, you still have another third of a mile to reach the actual summit.

Awww... father and son.

Here's where it starts to get a little more difficult. See how uneven some of the railroad ties are? Some ties are as high as your knee. Climb anyone?

This picture gives you an idea of how steep it starts to get. I'm just a few steps below and K is a few steps above. And this isn't the steepest part!

At the top! Papa made it and officially has bragging rights.

K and his dad at the top

All three of us just before heading down Barr Trail

I didn't take any pictures on the way down, but you have a 2 1/2 mile walk down Barr Trail that weaves back and forth. You certainly have to watch your footing with the many rocks that are along the path and there are times when you're scrambling down a bit or jumping off rocks. It's a workout! We are certainly proud of K's dad for accomplishing this.