No big stories to tell lately but that doesn’t mean we have not been staying busy. Even if you only have a weekend day available, there is so much that Colorado has to offer. Here’s what’s been going on the last few months!
September 26th I went climbing on my annual 14er trip with Dr. Randy. We completed Snowmass Mountain via its spectacular S-Ridge route. This continues to be one of my favorite routes on any Colorado 14er. The weather was perfect and the leaves were beginning to show some great color. Get out there in the fall colors! It’s the best time of year in Colorado!
October 5
Nick and Brandi were headed to Rifle to take a look at an airplane and asked us to come along for a weekend away. Laura and I were thrilled to spend the weekend with two of our best friends! We hiked to Hanging Lake just outside of Glenwood Springs – my first time there. It was amazing and I would recommend the short hike to anyone willing to put in some effort to get to this magical place. After checking out the airplane, we headed over to Rifle Falls and explored the falls that are actually fed by large pipes connected to holding reservoirs. Don’t tell the tourists as they are really cool to see even after you hike above them and understand that they’re not fed by a stream any longer. We proceeded onto the fish hatchery for a tour and also drove through Rifle Mountain Park where we found a lost puppy and returned him to his owner!
Much of October I was focused on climbing a bit harder so I
spent a lot of afternoons with Bo at Garden of the Gods. We climbed routes like
Kor’s Corner, Rainbow Bridge, Borgoff’s Blunder and Pete & Bobs. Laura and
I invited our friends Joe and Mareshah to Phantom Canyon as we climbed with
Roland. I also joined Roland at Voyager for some climbing in the sun the
following weekend.
November saw colder temps and the snow began to fall. November 9th, Roland and I took a chance and headed to Eldorado Canyon with a plan to climb Touch n Go to Anthill. We arrived early but by the time we had reached the top of Touch n Go, there was a line forming on Anthill. We chose to rappel and headed for Yellow Spur. Roland was not into leading that day so I took the lead on all but one pitch and we had a very enjoyable day out. It was good to finally complete the entire route having been cut short on two different occasions in the past.
November 16th
Laura had suggested heading back to Eldo for some easier routes since she couldn’t climb any harder than about 5.8 for a while. I agreed and we chose to climb on Wind Tower for the day. 8 or so pitches later, we had climbed Calypso, Wind Ridge and Breezy to Reggae. Ending our day rappelling from Reggae, we ran into a friend we met while in the Winds in Wyoming this summer – Pete was up soloing some easy routes with a friend of his and we spent a few minutes catching up and passing stories about our time in Wyoming.
November 17th and the snow was still falling. Ike and I had planned to climb a mountain but avalanche conditions prevented us from many objectives we had discussed. We decided to head for Sheepsnose, a 5 pitch 5.9 in the South Platte. I had climbed the route in the past and invited Ike and his girlfriend Nicole, who is fairly new to climbing, to join me on the climb. The route is enjoyable and south facing so climbing in a tshirt in the winter is normal here. I lead all of the pitches and played guide for the day, teaching Nicole about multi pitch systems and helping Ike build confidence climbing outdoors again.
Only a few days before Laura and I leave for Spain but I took the opportunity to go skiing at Keystone on November 23rd. I cruised some groomers to get the dust off the skis and then headed to the back side of the resort. I lucked out and found several newly opened trails and skied the deeper and untracked snow for most of the day. I can’t remember the last time I skied in November! I recovered the following day by walking with Rick at Monument Valley Park. It's good to be getting out with Rick again as I really enjoy the conversation, friendship and insight he provides into a lot of the activities I do.
As always, I encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy our great outdoors. It’s too easy to sit inside and relax – Get out with friends, even if the trips aren’t anything to write about! Life’s too short not to do something you enjoy every chance you get!
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