Making the Pikes Peak Barr Trail a better trail with the help of some friends

By Matt Carpenter
www.skyrunner.com

(I wrote this for Springs Magazine and then it was reprinted in the 2001 Friends of the Peak fall newsletter while I was serving on their board.)

Some paths are more traveled than others. Barr Trail is just such a path. AdAmAn hike it in the winter to set off fireworks to bring in the New Year. Tourists hike it to say they scaled a 14er. Runners challenge it to see just how fast they can cover its distance.

Originally built by Fred Barr and finished in 1918, it has undergone many changes and upgrades. Various groups working under the umbrella of Friends of the Peak have adopted sections of the trail to help with maintenance and upkeep.

The top mile has been adopted by the Incline Club, (a group of runners). Mile two from the top is worked on by a group of Canadians out of NORAD and the Pikes Peak Marathon committee takes care of the third mile down. Further down the mountain many individuals have adopted sections of the trail including; Stephanie Dennison, Bob Hostetler, Marti Cooksey, Chuch Mensing, Donna Paderenski, Dick and Ruby Hamilton, Ben Velazquez, Brennan Wells, Carolyn Dickerson, Vicki Butchko, Susan Guynn, Julia Lawrence. Overseeing all of the groups and individuals is Gail Allen. In all, thousands of hours of work are put into these sections and by any measure the trail is looking better than ever.

Until recently however. there was one section of the trail in bad need of some attention. The approximately two-mile section from the Bottomless Pit Trail to the A-frame is often neglected simply because it is so hard to access with the needed tools. Further it is right at the edge of tree line meaning that instead of being mostly dirt or mostly rock it is a complex mix of both often resulting in rocks randomly appearing in the middle of an otherwise smooth trail.

In August, using proceeds from the Barr Trail Mountain Race, donations from runners competing in the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon and the donation tube at the trailhead, this section has been the target of a major overhaul. In all, well over $5,000 was spent on the first mile of the section. Using outside contractors rather than volunteers allowed for the use of the proper tools and expertise to focus on the more difficult areas of the trail. The long-term stability of this section was upgraded as well by the installation of proper drainage and run-offs (using natural means) where erosion had all but destroyed the trail. As a result the section will be far easier to maintain by volunteers in the future much like the rest of the Barr Trail.

Now to be fair there were a few people who complained about the trail work being done. They stated, in effect, that they don't feel it is natural to have such a smooth trail or that they liked the trail the way it was. I ran into one such individual at Barr Camp one afternoon who was rather upset about how "easy" the trail was becoming. While I can see his point it is important to remember that the aim of this project was to bring a neglected section of trail up to the standards of the remaining 11 miles or so.

One half of the section was completed this year and from the several times I have been through there it is quite an improvement. Importantly however is that for the most part unless you know what you are looking for you will not notice that any work was done. For those of you more familiar with the trail however you will now be able to concentrate more on your goal of getting up the mountain instead of negotiating through a series of "misplaced" rocks and rock steps. In fact on one of my last trips through the section I noticed how beautiful the area was more than most times because I was not having to watch where I step nearly as often. The goal next year will be to finish the section so that the path most taken is also a great path to take.