Joanna On The Trail

From Yoga Mat to Mountain Air…

These last two weeks have not been how I envisioned them when I put my training plan together. Instead, they were an exercise in restraint to make sure my feet were in good shape for the Colorado Trail. My blister was on the mend but still not fully healed, which meant I was still barefoot most of the week. I’d been wanting to reignite my yoga practice, and this was the perfect excuse.

On the hunt for challenging yoga classes to keep me as in shape as possible, I found my match: new-ish Peloton instructor Zacharias Niedzwiecki. His classes are no joke — strength and conditioning disguised as yoga, the kind where your heart rate climbs and your muscles are sore the next day. I’ve been doing his 45 and 60 minute classes on repeat these two weeks, along with some yin yoga.

By Tuesday I was feeling antsy to test the waters with shoes back on, so I tried a 30-minute Peloton climb ride — the closest thing to hiking uphill I could manage indoors, and a great workout for the quads and hamstrings — followed by yin yoga. When that went well and the blister stayed quiet, I pushed a little further Wednesday with a Power 60 strength class.

Then on Thursday, we flew to Denver and did the smart thing on arrival at altitude — stopped for a hike on the way to Erin’s and Elden’s, rather than collapsing on the couch. Not wanting to push it too much, since this was also my first time back in hiking boots, we chose a picturesque route with a moderate amount of elevation gain.

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Thursday, June 18 — Easy
Lake Gulch, Dam, Creek Bottom, Rimrock & Inner Canyon Loop, Castlewood Canyon State Park (AllTrails)
6.38 mi / 715 ft elevation gain

The trail follows a creek past the ruins of an old dam (it famously broke in 1933, sending a 15-foot wall of water into downtown Denver), then climbs to the top of Castlewood Canyon’s east rim. It tracks along the canyon rim for just over a mile before dropping back down to the creek bed and returning to the trailhead.

I feel so lucky to get to hike in the California redwoods every day, but it was wonderful to be in such different scenery, with the rocky canyon walls and views of the Front Range. I was a bit winded on the climbs, feeling the effects of the elevation, but overall it wasn’t too tough. Best of all: no harm done to my nearly-healed blister, and no new ones either. The La Sportivas passed their first real test.

Friday, June 19 — Vertical
The Manitou Incline (AllTrails)
3.88 mi / 2,011 ft elevation gain

I was feeling a bit apprehensive about this considering we’d only been at elevation for 24 hours, but Erin assured us the view would be so worth it. The Incline starts at 6,600 feet and climbs 2,011 feet in 0.88 mile (average grade of 45%), up nearly 2,800 very uneven steps that used to be a cog railroad until it was washed out by a landslide in 1990. The descent follows the Barr Trail back down at a much more civilized grade over 3 miles.

Erin, Lee, and I started just before 3pm with the sun beating down on us, following Erin’s lead taking the steps very slowly with lots of breaks. The first few hundred steps are deceptive — a challenging but somewhat moderate incline and a false summit in view that’s actually only ¾ of the way up. And then you learn it’s not the average 45% grade that gets you, it’s the up to 68% grade of the middle two quarters. There are three bailouts along the way, at around steps 400, 1300, and 1800, but we were determined not to take them. Around step 2000 the real summit comes into view and there’s no turning back.

The climb is an exercise in communal misery, with people of all ages and varying fitness levels struggling but encouraging each other. We were buoyed along by a family of 8 that we ended up chatting with most of the way, with 6 kids ranging from 4 years old to teens. The 4 year old boy, in an attempt to heed his parents’ advice to rest frequently, would count out 5 steps and then say “and… break!”, plop down on his butt, immediately bounce back up, and do it all over again. With the older kids, we dreamed about getting Slurpees at the top (spoiler alert: there is no 7-Eleven at the summit).

When we finally climbed the last step, we basked in the euphoria of success (or was it lightheadedness from elevation and exhaustion?), took some photos, and then started our way down via the connector to the Barr Trail. Following some other folks, we found ourselves navigating a challenging descent down a wash, and eventually realized we were off-trail. With the help of AllTrails, we managed to get ourselves and ~20 others reconnected with the switchbacks of Barr Trail, and then enjoyed a pleasant 2.5 mile descent, chatting the whole way.

Elden and Parker (Erin’s 15 year old nephew) picked us up at the bottom and took us to Amanda’s Cantina and Fonda for delicious Mexican food and margaritas. 🌮🍹

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What’s New on the Site

A few things have gone up since my last post that you might have missed:

• The Colorado Trail page is live, with the full route, daily breakdown, and details on the guided trek
• My Colorado Trail Packing List is up — a good look at what 5 days of supported hiking actually ”requires” (more than I’d like to admit)
• The Daily Journal page is ready for when I post about each day on the trail

Hiking starts Monday. I’ll be largely off-grid, recording journal entries the old-fashioned way and posting when I’m back in California. Thanks for following along — more soon!