Labor Day climbing (but mostly just hiking)

Monday was supposed to be our "epic climb" as Bryce kept calling it. After deciding I didn't want to do the long hike to The Petit Grepon, we settled on our still exciting backup climb up Kor's Flake at Lumpy Ridge on the Sundance Buttress. We got up at 6am, drove an hour to the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park and started hiking the 3 miles to the base of the climb. The altitude shouldn't have been a problem for me since it was just about the same as a Brighton hike, but for some reason it was and I quickly started showing the signs of mild altitude sickness. Bryce was a great big brother and by the end of the hike he was carry all the gear including the rope. I made it to the base of the rock to climb but all I really wanted to do was lay on the ground and sleep but my heart wouldn't stop racing. I never felt so week or confused but I really wanted to do the climb, especially after already doing the hike in. When I started to get sick to my stomach we decided it was better to turn back now then have something worse happen 1000ft off the ground. It was really disappointing but probably the best decision. Besides, it's not going anywhere so I can always come back and climb it later.

Me at the base of the climb with a view of Estes Park below. This was as far as we got which is at the top of the tree line in the picture below. I managed to force a week smile for this picture after deciding to give up.

This is Bryce on the trail to the Sundance Buttress, the big granite dome in the distance... our intended climb.

Bryce with a view the other direction

After we got back to the car and had a sandwich I was feeling normal again so we turned to our second backup plan and headed down to The Monastery for some really great sport climbing. It's a terrible mile hike to get there but the formations were really cool, the rock is weird, and all the climbs are super high with great views. Too bad we didn't go strait there since there's enough routes to spend a few days climbing on. We got in 3 really good ones before the rain came in and we had to leave. Not quite the epic adventure we were hoping for but still really fun climbing and almost 8 miles of hiking to boot. Now I have some new goals for next year and a reason to get into better hiking shape.

Me climbing up La Maudite

Bryce on The Steeple. You can almost see the entire soles of his shoes!

Looking down at Bryce from the top of Pandora's Pebble Pinching Party Palace. It was almost as fun to climb it as it was to say it. Each of these climbs ran out our whole rope.

View from the top, Rocky Mountain National Park...and some rain clouds. Looks like it's time to go home.

Hiking back through some of the weird rock formations. There were routes going up the insides of these slots.

On our way out we saw this group climbing up this one called Tabula Rasa and it made for some cool pictures.

We also saw some big horn sheep on our hike back! Two of them stood there and watched us for a long time but it was hard to hold the camera still enough for a clear shot. I'd never seen any before and I thought they were way more exciting than all the elk the day before.

Rocky Mountain National Park

On Sunday, in Colorado, we all headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park for the afternoon. We drove up the Old Fall River Road stopping at a few of the cool sites along the way, walked around the visitor center at the top while it rained, saw a bunch of elk and even a rainbow before heading down to have a picnic dinner at the old Hidden Valley Ski area and walk around Bear Lake. It was a great way to spend a Sunday.

Mark at the Alluvial Fan. Me and Mark at Chasm Falls.

Tori at Bear Lake with Long's Peak reflecting in the background.

Hallett Peak and the first signs of autumn reflecting in Bear Lake. Ted didn't want to be in any of my cool scenic shots so I had to settle for this picture of his back.

Climbing the 1st Flatiron with Bryce

I spent Labor Day weekend out in Colorado rock climbing with my brother Bryce. I arrived Friday and we spent the afternoon doing some top-roping on little roof routes on Duncan's Ridge. It was really fun, but I think Saturday was our funnest day. With all the thousands of cool places to climb out in Colorado I managed finally pick one and we headed out to climb The Flatirons in Boulder. We climbed the 1st Flatiron one which is the big one on the right in the picture below. It was fun, easy, semi long, and high (about 1400) and now I want to go back and climb all the other ones, especially the third one...and The Matron...and some others...

Bryce at the base of the climb. They had great trails and signs for everything.Still near the bottom but on our way up... Both these picture are about halfway up with a view of Boulder in the background.

You reach what seems like the top but then have to go along the upper ridge past about 4 false summits before finally reaching the top. This is Bryce going up the first one.

Still not the top...Bryce on the second false summit.

Behind Bryce you can see the 3rd Flatiron along with a bunch of the smaller ones behind it.

Below, Bryce on the third false summit looking back at me getting ready to come over from the second one. Not a lot of strait up climbing right here but there were just enough little moves and steep sides you still used the rope.

Me on the top of the third and last false summit about to lead for my first time to the top.

Me on the Summit after my first lead. It was really short, I only had to put in one piece of protection before climbing up the last little bit but it was still really exciting.

ROPE!

An easy but fun rappel off the back, a steep hike down the trail to pick up the stuff we left at the base, and we were done.

After, we stopped in Boulder for something to eat at KT's BBQ and then at Neptune's Mountaineering Shop to look at all the cool gear and see the museum. They have the boots from the first accent up Everest signed by Hillary and a ton of other really neat old climbing and mountaineering stuff. For some reason I didn't take a picture of any of it...just this one of Bryce wearing a giant haul bag.

Thanks Andy

I got new spare glasses for hiking and climbing. They worked great Andy thanks! I wore them everyday and never had a problem. No more worrying about my glasses slipping off my face or getting knocked off when the rope hits me in the face (but I think they're crooked. I think all my glasses are always crooked. Maybe my face is crooked)

Outdoor seating

I have a new bench in my back yard. It went from this fallen tree next to the cabin to this lovely outdoor seat where I eat my breakfast in the morning and watch the Canadian geese and talk to the horses and where I eat hand fulls of candy at night and look at the stars. My dad cut it in half with his new chainsaw from Bryce. Kris and Andy helped me put it in the car and then by some miraculous feat of strength and stubbornness I got it out of my car and into my backyard all by myself.

New Climbing Skills

I went out climbing last Saturday and learned a few new skills and put some of the skills I've been practicing to use. I climbed in a group of 3 so I got to learn all the hassle that goes along with that including reclipping gear, tailing up a rope behind me, some new knots, etc...

We climbed two routes I'd already done before but were both really fun. We actually meant to go up one but got off route. We were sad to have not climbed the planned one since the end is really fun...so we rappelled back down a little and climbed back up the fun part.

Then on the way back to the car the other two decided to try this short little trad route called Touch of Teflon. Bobby led it, Eric cleaned it, and somehow they talked me into top roping it even though it's rated 5.10 and I've never climbed anything that hard outside of the gym. Even in the gym I've only done it a handful of times. I'd been perfectly happy taking pictures for them (one of the only good things about climbing in a group of 3) but I got on the rope and miraculously I made it to the top...with a lot of coaching from the bottom, and one fall, but I did it! Yeah for me! My first 5.10!

Cheese

Some people have hobbies, some collect things, some have an illness, a guilty pleasure, or an addiction...mine just all happen to be the same thing. If it wasn't for candy I would probably just live on cheese. My "problem" has been somewhat under control lately but the last time my sister was here she bought some Wensleydale with cranberries and that got me in the mood for trying more new cheeses. Then I stopped by Dan's and there was a sale on Tillamock which broke down my defenses and by the time I passed by their well stocked cheese section it was hopeless. Plus the tomatoes are ripe and nothing goes better with tomatoes in my mind than fresh Mozzarella or a little crumbled Gorgonzola. I hesitate to even mention the fact that a couple months ago I actually ordered cheese from the factory in Holland I'd visited. They make one of my favorites and I couldn't help it. Mmmm... Sheeps Milk Gouda. I'm thinking the next time I get a new cat or dog I'll name it Gouda. Some cheeses bring back such good memories too. Like the time I was living in Monterey for school and a few of the girls and I got big hunks of Havarti with dill and big loaves of fresh bread and sat on Carmel's white sand beach eating it and watching the sunset. What could be better?

I'm not the only one with a love for cheese. Have you ever heard of the annual Gloucester cheese rolling in England? Maybe someday I'll go...then again maybe not.

Here is the current state of the cheese shelf in my fridge. That's right, I have a whole shelf dedicated to just cheese and sometimes it overflows. (and here it is about a year ago) How many can you name? Next time you're over ask to try a few...or a dozen...or 20...

Lake Mary - My Happy Place

It seems life has been giving me the short end of the stick lately so I thought a hike to one of my favorite places would help cheer me up. Stew here seems to be getting an even shorter stick than me these days on top of which I found out he's never ever been in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Never - Even - Been - There! Seriously, a more tragic circumstance in life can not be found. I invited him to come along so at least this one thing could be remedied in his life. As our bad luck would have it we were rained on from the minute we set foot on the trail. Being the troopers in life that we both are, we kept going, even when it turned to hail. To me Lake Mary is worth it. We ate cookies, climbed the fence, crossed the damn, and managed to get a few pictures. Even in the freezing evening rain it was calming and peaceful and felt like home. I feel better already.