Manitou Incline

On Sunday Brandon and I decided to go to Colorado Springs and check out a few places we had heard awesome things about.  We wanted to go to "Garden of the Gods" and see all the beautiful red rocks and we wanted to go to Manitou Springs and check out "the stairs" and the springs all over town.  We planned on it being a pretty laid back day and didn't even leave Sterling until about 8:45 or so.  It was about 3 hours to get there but we didn't think anything of it cause we were in no rush, just excited to get out of Sterling and do something we had been wanting to do for awhile.

We got to Garden of the Gods and it was breathtaking! It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.  Nothing like the lush green trees, bright red rocks and beautiful blue skies! We drove through the park but we didn't stop and take pictures cause we figured we would do it on the way back, it was really busy at the time we drove through.  I am bummed we didn't get pictures but we'll go back and get some, maybe with Bash! :) 

We continued on to Manitou Springs and had lunch at Hell's Kitchen Pizza.  It was delicious! Then we walked through the little downtown area and found a couple of the "springs".  Its so cool there are 11 springs throughout the town and you can just fill up your water bottle.  They all taste a little different.  Its naturally carbonated water, not the best tasting but hey I had to try it, Brandon was NOT a fan! haha :)

Then we decided "lets go find these stairs everyone talks about" We went to this parking lot where there were tons of people, we saw a trail and we just figured that trail must go to the base of the stairs.  As we started on the trail I asked Brandon "are these the stairs" and he goes "these are the stairs to the stairs".  (You could see the stairs from anywhere in town, they go straight up the mountain and you CAN'T miss them) So we just figured we would take this trail and it would connect us to the bottom of the stairs.  We walked for about 20 minutes or so and didn't see the stairs in sight but we thought they had to be just around the corner.  An hour went by and we still hadn't seen the stairs but we were still walking.  By this point everyone that passed us coming down the trail or going up said "Oh wow you are pregnant" "Oh now I feel like a whimp, look at you doing this pregnant" "You are my hero" and my favorite…" trying to induce huh" haha oh man we HAD to of looked like a bunch of outcasts.  We were the only ones in street clothes and FLIP FLOPS! But we carried on because now we thought, ok we are an hour into this we HAVE to be close! Another half hour went by and finally I asked someone if this trail led to the stairs and she said "oh yeah about 15 more minutes and you'll be there" SWEET, we felt so relieved, 15 minutes away, at least it wouldn't all be for nothing!!  A couple passed us and goes "theres a huge storm coming in, be careful!"  Then it started to storm, like crazy! Thunder as loud as you can imagine and lightening in the mountains all around us.  Brandon started to get nervous because he was worried about my core body temperature dropping.  I told him I was actually really hot and would enjoy the rain to cool me off.  We came across the FIRST sign on the whole trail that said the TOP of the stairs were 1/2 mile away.  haha oh my gosh all we were looking for were the bottom of the stairs the whole time and now we were a 1/2 mile from the top! Well 30 minutes later (probably would have been 15 minutes for a non pregnant lady) we found the top of the stairs!!!   The view from the top was breathtaking!!

My Handsome Hubby! You could see this exact spot from the stairs!! 

34 Weeks 3 days!! 

We were level with this mountain peak! 

The top!! With the rain all around us :) 

So happy to see the top of the stairs!! That trail as far as you can see down is the stairs!!

We had to make the decision to go back down the trail we came up (which took us 2 hours) or go down the stairs that went STRAIGHT down the mountain.  We decided to do the stairs because at least we could see how far we had left to go, where as on the trail we had no clue.  It was pouring rain which made the stairs even more slick but we just took it one stair at a time and went very slowly.  Brandon kept saying "be careful, take your time, plant your foot every time" and I was saying the same to him! "You can't get hurt!!!" It was so crazy, there was rusted culverts, rebar and mangled up stuff all over the trail.  We took it super slow and made it down in about an hour! It was so awesome to see so many people coming UP the stairs despite of the rain.  It was by far one of the funnest hikes I have ever done! I would love to do it not pregnant, and in hiking shoes, not flip flops but oh well nothing we could do about it at the time.

crazy hiking trail!! 

Soaking Wet! 

When we got to the bottom of the stairs there was a sign that said "Caution this is an EXTREME hike, consult your physician before starting this hike" Yeah I am sure my physician would have said "noway!".  Now I would have never signed up for this knowing how huge of a hike it was but now that I have done it I have to say I am pretty darn proud of myself.  I am almost 35 weeks pregnant, I have gained 27 pounds, weighing the most I have ever weighed in my life.  I hiked 5+ miles on a grade as steep as 68% in some places and an elevation change of over 2,000 feet! My calf muscles are sore today and my shins feel like I started track training again but it feels good to be sore.  I am excited to get back into a healthy lifestyle once Bashlyn is here and create these memories as a family! I can't wait to go back with her someday!! I haven't had any contractions or Braxton Hicks contractions so no need to worry, Bashlyn is moving around a lot and still getting the hiccups like crazy several times a day so everything is good here! :)

"Caution this is an EXTREME Hike"

We made it!!