Small Accomplishment - S. W. Krull Imaging

Ever since I read of the Intemann Trail last spring I have been wanting to complete the entire stretch of that trail between Manitou Springs and Cheyenne Canyon.  The journey began last August when I used the part of the trail to get from Red Rock Canyon to downtown Manitou in order to pick up my press pass for the Pikes Peak Ascent. That took care of the segment of trail from Red Rock to Crystal Blvd. From there I walked down the road to the race expo downtown.

Later in August and September I began to explore the remainder of the trail with a friend from Manitou and we managed to get in the sections between Crystal Blvd and Ruxton near the Cog Railway. Which left only one piece of trail unexplored. My friend and I decided to attempt that from Red Rock late one morning but the route proved to be more difficult and lengthy that we were prepared for in the heat of that morning and afternoon and the trail didn’t match the map I had stored in my head and I wasn’t even sure if we were on it. So the attempt was aborted and we cut across Section 16 and took the Lion Trail back to the bottom. Yet another outing with the Pikes Peak Adventures meetup group filled in the Section 16 link to Cheyenne Canyon and a sighting of the southern Intemann Trailhead along the way.

My hiking friend had to move away from Manitou for a job opportunity, and the year ended with the Red Rock to southern trailhead unexplored. Yesterday when I checked the weather first thing, I discovered that it was over ten degrees warmer in Manitou than in Woodland and less snow from the recent storm had piled up down there so I decided to go down there for my hike. As I headed up the Mesa Trail it occurred to me that in my pack was enough liquid and snacks to finish exploring the Intemann Trail. As I made my way along the trail I encountered the bike trail to the east that we took to traverse Section 16, so it turns out we were on the right trail after all. I made note of the time and continued on. Only eight more minutes passed and I found myself at the southern trailhead. I chuckled as I realized we were probably less than a quarter of a mile from our destination when we gave up. I walked a ways past there to make sure it was the same trailhead we encountered with the meetup group and a familiar rock formation soon confirmed it.

March 5th of last year I began a new life with the passing of my wife Tricia, and even though I didn’t complete the trail within my goal of the calendar year 2015, I did manage to explore the entire trail within one year of the start of my new life as a single person. Yesterday’s eight minutes of trail was a small accomplishment, but it did piece together what seemed like a major goal for last year. Feeling more complete today 🙂