June 16, 2024
It's Father's Day! I asked Hazel what she wanted to do today and she said she wanted to go rock climbing! Looking at a few guidebooks, Laura and I picked out a climb in Elevenmile Canyon where the weather would be a bit cooler and we could swim and fish after climbing.
Turret Dome rises about 500' above the river and holds a lot of moderate rock climbs. We chose the right side cracks, just to the left of the gulley. Getting to the base of the climb, Hazel was super excited and ready to go. Hazel and I put on our harnesses and geared up while Laura flaked the twin 70 meter ropes that had been gifted to Hazel by her friend Roland.
Hazel would be on red, Mom on blue. I tied into both and headed up the 5.0 -5.2 slabs and cracks to a belay about 60 meters up the dome. I set a belay with cams and and yelled down to Laura that they were okay to climb. Hazel started off first while Laura followed behind. She climbed amazing and worked her way up the slabs and cracks without any help at all. I belayed them independently on separate ropes, so Laura followed behind or off to the side, taking pictures and cheering her on. Making it to the belay in about 20 minutes, we high fived and tied her and Laura into the anchor.
Hazel was having a great time, smiling, singing and telling stories. The height, now about 200' off the ground, didn't bother her at all. She asked questions about why I had to climb while they waited and belayed me and Laura explained while they watched me climb up higher.
We climbed up a total of 4 pitches, 3 of which were 50 meters or so long, ending nearly 500' above the river below. The last pitch lead us to the descent gulley where we un roped, ate some candy and celebrated Hazel's awesome accomplishment.
We're super proud and are happy Hazel enjoyed the climbing and being on a rock climb with her Mom and Dad. Now we will start looking for more!
After climbing, we descended the gulley back to the river and had a short lunch before blowing up tubes. Hazel and I did laps floating down the river while Laura watched and took pictures.
We finished off the day fishing and grilling dinner at the picnic tables by the river.
Once we headed for home, Hazel lasted about 5 minutes before falling asleep, content and happy with a huge day!
We're so proud of this girl and how awesome she is at everything she does. Her laugh is contagious and smile can't be beat.
Love you, Sweet Pea!
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