March 25, 2015 VOLU M E 5 4 | I S S UE 1 2 | 7 5 ¢
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Braving the winter on Pikes Peak
Barr Camp caretakers required to be well prepared
By Kaitlyn Pratt
Contributing writer
The hike to the top of Pikes Peak is a feat to begin with, but winter weather turns it into a whole new beast. For the Barr Camp caretakers who live at the midway point year round, these challenges are just a part of the daily norm. Barr Camp is a 6.5 mile hike up the Barr Trail, at a 10,200 foot elevation. Renee Labor and Anthony Duricy have been the caretakers since Sept. 2013. “It is not for the faint of heart.” Renee Labor said. Hosting at the Barr Camp requires being well prepared. While most hikers tackle the climb in the summer months, there are still a few hardy hikers that venture the journey to Pikes Peak’s summit in the dead of winter. Labor and Duricy are both a part of the El Paso Search and Rescue team, which means that they are the first responders if anyone is in trouble two miles above or below the camp. The biggest dangers in hiking a 14er in the winter are hypothermia and frostbite. Most of these problems come from a lack of preparation. “People think that it can be an easy day hike, but it is the hike with the longest mileage and the greatest elevation gain of any of the 14ers,” Renee Labor said, then added as
a bit of advice, “definitely check the weather before coming and know that the weather can change drastically between the trailhead and the summit.” There a several ways in which an emergency on the trail can be dealt with. If the hiker can still walk, they are often taken to the Cog Railway’s Mountain View stop, which is about a mile away from Barr Camp. If not, then a search and rescue team is called in. Labor and Duricy have not had to send anybody out in a flight for life helicopter yet, but there are two landing zones close to the camp, in case of such an eventuality. Luckily, most hikers who dare to tackle it in the winter are more experienced, and come well prepared with the right gear. While the hike can be done in one day in the summer, hikers almost always break it up and stay a night at Barr Camp in the winter. The camp often reaches its max of 45 guests in the summer, but Labor and Duricy still host overnight visitors three or four times a week this time of year. Hosting hikers on Pikes Peak requires other preparations as well. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the Barr Trail, which means that it is a six and a half mile hike any time the caretakers need to make a trip back into civilization. Supplies are brought to the Mountain View stop by the Cog railway, for Labor and Duricy to take back to camp. The camp is made up of two cabins with hostel-like lodging and a campground. The
Cozy Barr Camp, inside the cabin. Photos courtesy of Renee Labor and Anthony Duricy main cabin has a wood burning stove, but temperatures are usually in the 30’s at night after the fire dies out, so hikers are advised to bring warm sleeping bags. Water is piped to the cabin from a nearby creek through a gravity flow system, but in the winter the system is emptied to prevent freezing, so
water has to be hauled in from the creek by the bucket load daily. While winter on Pikes Peak can bring in its fair share of deep snow and fierce weather, Renee Labor said that the trail is almost always hike-able to the camp for those who want a winter adventure.
POSTAL ADDRESS
WP traffic circulation a tale of two highways
U.S. 24, Colo. 67 create choke points, traffic snarles through city By Norma Engelberg Contributing writer
PIKES PEAK COURIER (USPS 654-460)
OFFICE: 1200 E. Highway 24 Woodland Park, CO 80863 PHONE: 719-687-3006 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Teller County, Colorado, the Pikes Peak Courier is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. GE T SOCI AL WITH US
P LE A S E R ECYC L E T H I S C O PY
When Woodland Park citizens were asked to show where the city’s worst traffic is located, their answer usually depends on where they live and which highway they most often travel, U.S. 24 or Colo. 67. This questions and others were asked at a March 18 public meeting at the Ute Pass Cultural Center launching the Woodland Park Traffic Circulation Study, which is sponsored and funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the city. City consultant Ed Hocker of AECom (formerly USB) led the discussion with help from Lisa Bachman and Monica Ramey of Bachman PR and city Public Works Director William Alspach. After an introduction that covered goals, the history of Woodland Park’s road development, constraints and solutions types, the nearly 100 participants seated at 10 tables worked together to answer four questions. Q. Please list three to five general traffic issues that your group thinks negatively impact Woodland Park. A. Answers varied but almost every table mentioned speed and the high volume of traffic on U.S. 24 and too many drivers trying to avoid highway traffic by taking side streets. Downtown sidewalks are too narrow and too close to traffic, streets and sidewalks are not aligned. Businesses are difficult to access. Q. Where are the top three traffic choke points? Number them in order. What are the main contributors to the problem at each site? A. Nearly everyone agreed that the Paradise Circle/Aspen Garden Way/U.S. 24 intersection is the worst chokepoint in the city because of misaligned signals, blind spots caused by the intersection’s grade, speed. Almost every intersection on either highway was listed by one table or another because of traffic congestion
Woodland Park Economic Development Director Brian Fleer, standing at right, works with other local citizens to find solutions to the city’s traffic circulation problems at a public meeting on March 16 n the Ute Pass Cultural Center. Photo by Norma Engelberg when parents are picking up school children and people are traveling to and from work. Q. If you had to pick two alternative routes to provide better mobility within and through Woodland Park, where would you place them? Why? A. Some tables suggested Baldwin at U.S. 24 to either Lake Avenue or Kelley’s Road to Colo. 67. Others suggested Chester Avenue, Henrietta Avenue and County Roads to the south of the city from Trout Creek to Crystola. One table said there are no safe alternative routes and one group said any route that didn’t add traffic to their residential street was OK with them. Q. How would you provide better access to businesses along U.S. 24 downtown without putting more cars on the highway? A. Almost everyone suggested synchronizing traffic signals and improving signage to parking lots but some also suggested removing sign clutter. One common answer was to remove
the medians on U.S. 24 through the downtown. One table suggested focusing local traffic on a business loop that included Henrietta to the north of downtown and Saddle Club Way to the south. One suggested reviving the city’s bypass plans and another suggested constructing an elevated highway over the city. Hocker said the city needs a long list of possible solutions because it will need projects to fit whatever funding becomes available. Some solutions would be easy and relatively cheap, Alspach said later, including improving signage and traffic signals. Others would likely be completely out of reach, such as removing the medians that cost the city and CDOT millions of dollars to install and the construction of an elevated highway or a major bypass. All of the answers and other information gathered over the next several months will be compiled and posted on the city website, citywoodlandpark.org.