08/09/2024
Today we conquered the mountain!
Yesterday, after being denied access to what I worked for, my brain still wanted to conquer this mountain. So I decided to go through the back door of the mountain.
Plan B!
Barr Trail!
There’s an expert-rated mountain bike and hiking trail that goes up the front of the mountain. 11.5 miles with a max grade of 46%. Gaining just over 7,000 feet in elevation along the way. Reading through the reviews, most mountain bikers said it was impossible to completely climb and you need to hike most of it. That it’s better to get a ride to the top of the mountain and then ride the trail down the mountain. But this was my only option. So with approval from my awesome family to help me, I decided to hike/ride up this trail and then back down as my alternative route.
Starting at 7 am, I began the climb up the trail. I had no supply support from my family for the entire climb. A 15 lb pack, plus my 15 lb unicycle. Also very little training offroad on my unicycle, because this summer I’ve been focusing on pavement riding. Odds were not in my favor.
The hike was awesome. But brutally hard. Sometimes scaling 4 ft tall boulders. I quickly realized that this was going to mostly be a hike. Also there was a hiking event up Pikes Peak on that trail. So I enjoyed encouraging people and talking with people. Telling how much further we need to go. Saying they could make it. But most excitedly, I found another Mountain Unicyclist. She showed me how to find a group that frequently climbs the same climb I was on and then rides back down. She gave me some tips about the climb. And some heads up on what to expect on the way down. I greatly appreciated the info she gave. Hopefully next year I will be able to join the group on a ride. As I got closer and closer to the top, it became abundantly clear I shouldn’t ride back down this trail today. There were too many hikers on the trail. And I couldn’t safely descend with all of them up there. Very tight quarters and lots of boulders to jump over. Also I had very little training for this climb and descent. I decided to just make it to the top. After 6 hours and 30 minutes. I made the 11.68 mile climb. Finally conquering Pikes Peak the only way I can for now