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After Climbing Mount Lindsey the week before in horrible conditions, I had expected to have a hard enough day taking on Pikes Peak. I could see from Denver going to work every morning that there wasn't very much snow on Pikes, but expected cold weather nonetheless. The Crag's Campground route involves roughly 12 miles of hiking roundtrip and 4100' elevation gain. I ended up doing the route in 5 hours roundtrip. This was probably the second easiest Fourteener I've done to date, illustrating the fact that distance sometimes doesn't contribute much to the diffficulty of a climb. I expected the drive out to Divide to be much shorter (taking about 2 hours from Thornton). In any case, I had more than enough time to bag the peak this day, having started my drive at 5:00 a.m.. On the right is a view of Pike's Peak from west of Colorado Springs.
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The trailhead was actually somewhat (I imagine) crowded for the time of year, although most people were there for camping. There were two parties ahead of me before I started which I subsequently passed (I try to make it a point to beat people to any summit). The Northwest Slopes trail is easy enough to find from the campground, being clearly marked as the only log bridge on the right close to the campground. The trail becomes a little steep after breaking treeline, but never really approaches Class 2. Once over the apex of this part of the trail at 12,700' (I hesitate to call it a ridge or saddle), a rewarding view of Pikes Peak and the basin becomes available, revealing the rest of the route. You can see the easy grade of the remainder of the hike on the left.
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The route eases up quite a bit upon reaching this crest. The trail is straight and entails little elevation gain all the way to Devil's Playground and for at least another mile after that. at this point, you can see all the vehicles making their way up the peak without a regard for the effort you are undertaking. The views are still worthwhile, however. Upon reaching Devil's Playground (a flat expanse named for the frequency of lightning strikes that occur there in late summer), there is a section of Pikes Peak Road that needs to be crossed. This very well may be the crux of the route. After crossing the road, there is a well defined trail that continues to the south - the logical direction towards Pikes Peak. Following this along for a while, I came upon the first of many sandy (road residue) areas to the left of the road (You can see some sand near the center of the picture on the right).
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After the sand comes the talus. This is really easy Class 2 hiking all the way to the summit. There are some opportunities to increase the exposure by climbing on the left of the Northwest Slope's Ridge (if preferred). It doesn't take long to see the huge edifices built on Pikes' summit. It can be confusing about when to change directions to the East once leveling out over the talus, however. I recommend it as soon as possible, as I went too far south, having to backtrack Northeast to the summit marker. There is an incredible amount of sand abroad on the summit (perhaps to ease the drive up?).
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