I wanted to climb Pikes Peak before the end of the year, so I could knock off one more 14er and finish the Front Range. Pikes never really held much excitement for me, so I thought I'd take a non-standard route and climb more during the off-season. My original plan was to wait until December, but I had a free weekend in the middle of November and the weather forecast looked good. My next free weekend wasn't until the middle of December so I decided to take advantage of the good weather. I was to find out that November on a 14er was still November, regardless of the weather forecast...

I had a late night Saturday getting my gear together, and thus had a late start in the morning. The weather Saturday had been excellent, and I wondered when winter would really begin in the mountains. The forecast had changed to include some snow Sunday afternoon, but I figured I'd be off the summit and heading down by then, and it would probably just make the drive home more interesting. I reached the Crags Campground, paid my $4 parking fee and started hiking up the good trail at 08:45.

I had read that the trail was difficult to find, and that one should watch out for three tubes of different diameters along the trail then watch for a trail that forked off to the right. Sure enough, those tubes appeared to my left soon after I started my hike - I'm not sure what they are but they stick up out of the ground vertically, and you can't miss them. One was the size of a fire ring, another looked like a covered ash can. And shortly after that, the trail forked obviously off to the right and crossed the creek. The two trails were marked with signs indicating the trail numbers. I took the right fork and continued on my way.

This trail went through a pleasant forest and climbed up to near treeline, when at 11,200' another trail split off to the right - I took this trail. It's marked with a cairn but keep your eyes open so you don't miss it. I switchbacked up a steeper section then continued up a basin, and eventually reached a saddle near Devil's Playground. Devil's Playground is named for the way lightning dances around the rocks during electrical storms. I found an old spur road, and walked on that past some interesting rock outcroppings. I could see the Pikes Peak Toll Road to the east, and yes, there were vehicles travelling on it. My spur road joined the toll road at around 12,700'. I was to follow the general course of the road to the summit from here.

It is illegal to hike on the Pikes Peak Toll Road - one must keep at least 50' off the shoulder. I crossed the road and found a trail that roughly paralleled the road. There were one or two spots where the trail cut around a small bump in the landscape and shortcutted the road. There were quite a few vehicles on the road for November; not the most scenic way to climb Pikes but definitely the shortest.

Snow started coming down in flurries somewhere between 13,000' and 13,500'. I brought ample clothing for inclement weather, but I didn't bother putting on my shell pants over my fleece because I didn't want to stop. At around 13,500' I reached the final summit pitch, and left the road to climb up a talus slope. The snow had increased in intensity and it was slippery climbing the rocks. By the time I reached the road again snow was sticking to my pants and hat, and visibility was cut way down, maybe 100 yards. I became a little concerned, but knew at least I could warm up and regroup once I reached the summit house.

I saw a building ahead and cut through its parking lot, but this was not the summit house - it was a research station. I saw the summit house and about 10 vehicles in the parking lot and headed over there. I could see the summit house was full of people as I entered the outside set of doors at about 13:15 and took off my pack. I removed my snowy layers and rearranged my gear and had some water between the doors. Then I decided to immerse myself in Pikes Peak summit strangeness and entered the building. I removed my pack and kept my hand over the spike of my ice axe to avoid poking some child's eye out. It was indeed surreal to wander around the tourists, and I left after one circuit of the building. Several people were waiting for the cog train to arrive and take them back down to civilization. Most people were woefully ill-equipped for the weather that afternoon.

I returned to my buffer zone between the weather and the crowd inside, and starting layering up for the cold, snowy descent. I had a polypro t-shirt, thermal shirt, fleece jacket, down vest, and goretex shell jacket on my upper body. I had my goretex shell pants over my fleece pants. A polypro hat with a fleece balaklava on my head, and goretex mittens with liners on my hands. Finally I was ready.

I stepped outside and headed into the wind. This time I was going to hike along the road until I reached Devil's Playground, it was too dangerous to hike down those rocks with the lack of visibility. Shortly after starting down the road an older Suburban approached heading up the hill. I moved off the shoulder and the driver flipped on his flashing lights and pulled over to me. A ranger - oh no! I thought he might chew me out for hiking the road but instead he rolled down his window and asked how I was doing. Fine, I replied, I'm warm enough. He asked if I hiked from the Crags trail, I told him I had. Then he asked if I wanted a ride down to Devil's Playground. Absolutely, I said, and put my gear in the back side and climbed in front.

He headed up the hill to the parking lot, took a quick count of the vehicles and reported the number down to the station at the bottom of the road. He told them they should close the summit house soon to give people time to drive back down before it gets really bad. Then we headed back down the road and chatted along the way. He told me stories of hikers climbing the Barr Trail with nothing but their street clothes, and one guy had to bivouac on the summit. He saw me unzip my three outer layers and turned the heat down for me. He was a really nice guy and I really appreciated the lift, as it cut short the boring part of the hike and gave me a jump on beating nightfall.

The ranger dropped me off at Devil's Playground at 14:00 and I headed down the spur road. I found a cairn and left the road to reach the saddle, but I couldn't find the other cairn that marked the trail. I took out my compass and found I was turned around 180 degrees. That really confused me, I still can't figure out how that happened, but I guess my memory of the route on the ascent was flawed. I reversed my steps, crossed the road again, and found the trail. By this time it was still snowing slightly but the visibility was much better and I could see my route down the hill. There was a set of tracks on the way down, probably the two hikers I saw ahead of me on the way up.

Gradually the snow stopped and the trail looked familiar. My left Achilles tendon and right knee bothered me, remnants of my Columbia/Oxford/Belford climb a month before. By the time I reached the parking lot at 15:45, I was in a lot of pain and was very glad to see the Jeep. The drive back out was partly rainy, partly snowy, and I made it back home at around 18:00 after visiting my friend Mitch in Colorado Springs.

This climb marked my completion of the Front Range and was my 20th 14er of the year. I'd still like to climb a 14er in December, just because I've never climbed one during the winter months, but if I don't make it this year I won't be too upset. My 14er fever for 2001 is over, I think - I need to work on my knees so I'm not in such pain on my next hike. Maybe I'll climb Bierstadt once a month during the winter, so I can get a taste of winter climbing without such an investment in time and wear on the legs.