Birthday Incline

My birthday started at 5:30 am with a little hike up The Incline. 

If you aren't familiar with the Manitou Springs Incline, it's basically a solid mile of straight-up steppin'. Literally, straight up. And once you conquer The Incline, you are rewarded with a nice little 4-mile jog down Bar Trail back to the parking lot. You can see some great pictures of it here. 

Here we are at the bottom...

...and at the top. I hiked it in 53 minutes. Not my best time, but not my worst time either. 
Shannon (pictured here on the far left) hiked the thing in 37 minutes. Sheesh. Three cheers for Shannon.