STORY AND PHOTO GALLERY: Hikers venture into wilderness paradise on South Slope
Solitude isn’t hard to find on the South Slope. Silence whispers from the pine-covered hills and the sweet, thick scent of ponderosa pine, fir and spruce hangs softly in the air.The lush slope spreads out like a secret garden beneath Pikes Peak’s barren summit.
The 45,000-acre watershed owned by Colorado Springs Utilities has been a forbidden fruit for mountain lovers for more than a century. After much public pressure though, Utilities released a plan for recreational use in the area in January and in April the Colorado Springs City Council voted to allow public access there.
On Sunday, a group of 20 hikers ventured past the rusted No Trespassing sign to become some of the area’s first public visitors. They were part of a guided hike sponsored by the Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department, the Trails and Open Space Coalition and Friends of the Peak, three of the main organizations that pushed for public access to the area.
Now that parts of the slope will be open to public use, with trail building scheduled to begin in August, the hikes are the first step in an effort to strike a balance between recreational use and environmental preservation of the area’s sensitive ecosystem.
In allowing people to experience the South Slope and educating them about the ecology and wildlife in the area, organizers hope to inspire appreciation and respect for the land that will extend to future visitors, said Sarah Bryarly, manager of the Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks program.
“It’s a beautiful area and it’s worth appreciating,” said Mary Burger, a founding member of Friends of the Peak. “I think we can leave no trace and be respectful stewards of the land.” If not, Utilities will close off the watershed again, she said.
Sunday’s hike followed a Utilities service road between McReynolds and Mason reservoirs before heading up a wide valley toward Boehmer Reservoir. Under the current plan, shoreline fishing and hand-launched boating will be allowed in some of the reservoirs. Greenback cutthroat trout are one of the species in Mason Reservoir, Bryarly said.
Beyond the reservoirs, groves of bright green aspen and windswept tundra slopes rose up from the wetlands of the valley. The tundra is prime lambing area for a heard of about 100 bighorn sheep that migrate between the South Slope and Dome Rock State Wildlife Area. After a December study concluded that human contact can have detrimental effects on the animals, Utilities has put a moratorium on trail building in the lambing area, Burger said.
Instead, one of the two planned trails will stay below treeline, looping from Mason Reservoir, around the wetlands and up to Boehmer Reservoir. The other will wind halfway around McReynolds Reservoir.
When the trails do open, one of the biggest risks to the area will be overuse, Burger said.
Some in the group worried about the same thing as they gazed up at the cars of the Cog Railway crawling slowly up the south face of Pikes Peak. Fred Hiltbrand remembered hiking up near the railway and seeing trash strewn across the tracks. His concern for the fate of the South Slope was clear.
“I don’t know that this area will be this way 10 or 15 years from now,” he said, looking up the valley. “Hopefully it will, but you never know.”
Contact the writer at 636-0187.
A no trespassing sign hangs on the fence at the utility gate near the South Slope of Pikes Peak. The area, owned by Colorado Springs Utilities, has been closed to the public since 1913 when CSU locked the gates to protect it from fires. In April the City Council voted to allow public access for recreational use. Photo by ANTHONY SOUFFLE, THE GAZETTE
A group of hikers make their way down a dirt road Sunday, June 27, near the South Slope of Pikes Peak on the first guided hike of the area which the City Council voted in April to open it for recreational use. Colorado Springs Utilities closed the slope t Photo by ANTHONY SOUFFLE, THE GAZETTE
Sarah Bryarly, interim manager for the Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks program looks at storm clouds looming in the distance Sunday, June 27, as she led a group of hikers up the South Slope of Pikes Peak. The area, owned by Colorado Springs Photo by ANTHONY SOUFFLE, THE GAZETTE