Mount Neva

Laurel and I wanted to do some kind of mountain run... we got that and more! We were considering South Arapaho but since we had hiked it before and there were other trails in that area to explore, we thought they could be fun. Before we left I discovered there was a 4th class scramble up Mount Neva's north ridge -- that became our objective.

From the 4th of July trailhead we ran up to Arapaho Pass, took a look at Lake Dorothy, then headed off trail to Neva's north ridge. From there the scrambling began -- mostly easy but a few tricky spots where you really needed some rock climbing moves. There were a few downclimbs along the way...

... and some fun places to horse around like the diving-board rock.

We got to a point where it seemed forward progress was blocked. To the left was a sheer vertical face. Ahead was chunkier but it seemed like it would get steeper the higher you'd go, plus it seemed like if we got to the top we'd have to then descend the other side. To the right were a few pillars and even further right was a drop-off. It seemed like we would be able to follow a ramp up and left for a ways, then cut right to go around or behind the pillar to a weakness in the rock that we hoped would take us to more passable terrain.

For the most part our plan worked. On the other side of this hump of rock there was a gentle rock gully. Just a few sketchy traverse moves and we were at the bottom of the gully, which took us up to the ridgeline. From there we could see the way to the summit.

The ridge continued a bit to a large flat rocky place. The sky was a bit hazy but to the southwest we could vaguely see the Winter Park basin and even see some of the ski slopes. To the northeast along the divide was Navaho and Apache, with Dickers Peck in between.

From the flat area we hiked up a gentle alpine slope to the summit of Neva, stopped for food and photos, then continued south to the saddle between Neva and Jasper Peak (which would have been a fun continuation if we had the time). From the saddle we headed east down a scree slope towards a few unnamed lakes.

The scree turned to larger talus with some intriguing colors, textures, and shapes -- white, black, pink, swirled, speckled.

After the talus field we came to a meadow that was swampish in some areas but we tried to find the high ground back to the trail. This took surprisingly longer than expected even though for the most part we avoided the willows. Finally we traversed and hiked up a steep bank to the trail.

The clouds were getting dark but we were OK for the run back down the trail to our car, and only arrived 10-15 minutes later than expected.

In the parking lot we met a girl named Yulia who had flown in from New York for the weekend to hike and camp up at Lake Dorothy. She had taken a bus from the airport to Nederland on Friday, then walked 8 or 9 miles to the trailhead to start her hike!! We gave her a ride back to Boulder so she could catch the red eye and be back at work the next day.

And then we got home in time for Donna and JJ to come over for the football game.

Scrambling around Seal Rock

We were going to hike up Fern Canyon to Bear Peak but got sidetracked by hiking up to the Harmon Cave area and exploring a bit. There were some climbers starting up Seal Rock. We headed off to the right to see what we could find -- perhaps a way up to the Fern Canyon trail.

Seal Rock's north face

We hiked to the south end of Poot Ridge (or Gnome Rock?) and scrambled up for a view before continuing up and southward.

The west side of Seal Rock was impressive. We continued past and ended up stuck somewhere around the East Ridge of the Nebel Horn. There may have been a way around but we were running out of time so we turned around and headed back.

west side of Seal Rock

Dinosaur Mountain

Laurel and I parked at NCAR and started towards the Mallory Cave trail, as we did 10 days ago. At that time the goal was to reach the Square and Babyhorn rocks -- an easy 2-mile round trip; today we continued past our previous turn around point up the steepening trail. Following the guidance of Gerry Roach's Flatirons Classics, our objective was to worm our way through the tiers of rock scattered on Dinosaur Mountain to its summit.

Not far into the hike a huge snake crossed the path between us. Either I unknowingly stepped right over it or it hadn't yet entered the path when I crossed. Laurel cried "S-S-S-NAKE!!!" and made a mighty leap back 20' off the trail. We let it slither through the grass before continuing on.

Shortly after hiking around behind Der Zerkle we left the main Mallory Cave trail and started up the even steeper climbers' access trail. It brought us to a junction where the trail broke left and right. We arbitrarily chose the right branch which led under the summit of another rock. The trail faded but there looked to be good scrambling around the northeast side of this rock.

We found an exposed traverse to the east face of the rock and attained a sub-summit perhaps 20' below the true summit. Those last 20' looked like a bad idea in sneakers with no rope so we were content to look out over Boulder from this perch.

summit of The Box

From the pictures and description in the Roach book we discovered we were sitting on a rock called The Box. To the west were Fi, Fo, Fum, and Dum, forming the third tier of north-south ridges of rock. Knowing our exact position helped, since the book described a scramble over the third tier just west of The Box.

Fi and Fo

Fum

Before attempting that scramble, however, we checked out the west-side sub-summit of The Box, where I knocked my noggin pretty hard on an overhanging rock blocked by my hat's visor. The scramble up this hunk of rock was described as class 3. Perhaps if I had rock shoes on I could agree with that assessment!

The scramble through the third tier was straightforward; it brought us to a steep hunk of rock that we suspected was the summit we were looking for, but we decided to explore around its backside to be sure. Around back we discovered it wasn't the summit; we also found a neat tabletop rock perched on two others, forming a tunnel. Then through the tunnel...

Dum's tunnel

... and atop the rock, which was a gigantic surface, perfect for laying in the sun. This rock was the summit block of Dum. Lunch.

Dinosaur Mountain's summit was just another few hundred feet west, and a pretty simple scramble. From the ground we couldn't tell which rock was the actual summit. Laurel found it first while I scrambled up a northern sub-summit.

Double-exposure of Laurel summiting Dinosaur Mountain

Dan summiting Dino Mtn

Incredible exposure to the west -- the summit looked down into the huge bowl below South Green Mountain that drains into Skunk Canyon.

After a short break in the shade we hiked down the Bowling Alley to a break in Dinosaur Mountain's summit ridge. Scrambling down the west side of the ridge brought us to a steep meadow that we followed all the way down to the Bear Creek trail. Along the way we found a few antlers and a praying mantis crawled around Laurel's pants.

We got back to NCAR 4.5 hours later, completing our 4.7 mile hike. Elevation gain was around 1700'.

The Dome

Tim and I tried some climbing in Boulder Canyon today. He wanted to check out the Dome and Elephant Buttresses right outside of town, so I came along as his belayer. We carefully navigated the poison ivy along the access trails and made our way up to the left side of the Dome. Here, Tim led a 5.6/5.7 route---perhaps part of it was the classic "East Slab Route"---but it's always hard to tell whether one is exactly on route when it comes to trad climbing. We topped out in two pitches, managing to stay in the shade for the majority of the route.

I found the Dome Boulder while looking for a "lady's room," so we climbed around on that for a while. Some fun little routes and a good traverse problem.

Then we went over to the Elephant Buttresses (lots more poison ivy that I adeptly avoided!). Unfortunately, Tim wasn't up for more leading, but it was cool to check out the very accessible area. I think Dan and I could go back in a few months and check out some of the 5.6s over there.

Rather than calling the day super early, we scrambled a bit on Rock Island and then climbed some stuff back at the gym.

Jurassic Park

Tim and I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park today to check out the Jurassic Park climbing area. We got to Lily Lake at 7:00 and by 8:00 we had navigated the climbers' trails to the base of the rocks and were ready to climb.

We started at Lefthand Rock and I led a very easy 5.2 sport route called Byron's Ladder. Though super easy, it was good to get a feel for the granite and general sense of the area. Then we moved slightly right and I led two more bolted climbs---T-Rect (5.7+) and Triceratops (5.8-). As the morning wore on, more and more people showed up. There was a group from Long Island, a camp that was toproping and practicing Tyrolean Traverses, and what looked like a family reunion.

We moved up to Dinosaur's Foot and attempted a 5.8+ lead on one of the "toes." The seventh bolt was definitely the crux, and neither of us could manage the delicate moves need to clip. After practicing some rescue techniques (on the ground) we went up to Estes Park for some yummy lunch. A great day!

First Flatiron wandering

While Laurel was hiking a 14er I wandered around the 1st Flatiron, scrambled up around the backside of it to look out at town, then scrambled up a bit of the Sunset Flatironette to look out at the Indian Peaks and the smoke from the Ft. Collins wildfire, then over to the 2nd Flatiron where I scrambled to the summit of the South Block and enjoyed the views for a while.

North Table Mountain, take 2!

Laurel and I went back to North Table Mountain today for some climbing. Tim, Adam, and Natalie were all busy instructing and taking the CMC's Basic Mountaineering School (BMS) so we were on our own.

We didn't bring a guide book, since the ones we have aren't very useful, but we were able to get on one of the climbs we were familiar with. I led up Sloping Forehead, which was a more difficult lead than I had imagined it would have been after toproping it last weekend. We both climbed it on toprope a few times, and also climbed Ivory Tower again since it shares the same anchors.

Then we moved over into unknown territory. We found a wall that looked somewhat reasonable and had an easy chimney to the side that I could ascend if the face was too difficult to lead. And that's exactly what I did. I set up an anchor at the top, belayed Laurel up, lowered her, lowered myself, and then we were set for some toproping fun. We both took a few turns on climbs called In Between The Lines and Offline. Supposedly they're 5.9- and 5.8. I guess maybe that's about right, but I don't think I'm ready to lead them, even though I'm leading 2 grades higher in the gym.

Very exciting that we've done so much climbing outside so far this year!

North Table Mountain

Adam invited us to climb at North Table with him and Natalie. I led a route called Wholly Holey, Adam led Ivory Tower, and then we all toproped the climbs a few times. At the end I toproped a climb to the side called Sloping Forehead. All of the climbs were rated 5.7 or 5.8 but this crag is horribly sandbagged. Or we don't have a clue how to climb this kind of rock! Or both. It was a fun day, but cut short when the wind started to whip sand into our eyes.

Climbing in Eldorado Canyon

We went to Eldorado Canyon State Park (aka Eldo) for our first time to climb! Our friend Tim had been there before so he was able to show us a few routes. We climbed Boulder Direct and Breezy, each in two pitches, with Tim and I swapping leads. It was just the right temperature for climbing and we had a really good time. Adam and Natalie were there also and climbed a few routes over from us.

February stuff

Wow we are behind on the blog! We're still climbing in the gym three days a week, sometimes with our friend Tim. I ran about 40-50 miles this month, not too bad for Winter.

On the 4th we snowshoed from Chautauqua up and over the First Flatiron to the Saddle Rock trail, then back to Chautauqua.

On the 11th we skied at Copper with our neighbor Rachel -- fun day!

January stuff

Haven't posted much lately... we have been climbing a lot at the gym. Lots of 5.10's and sometimes we can struggle up a 5.11a or 5.11b. Some biking here and there when the weather is nice. Some running, whether or not the weather is nice.

Laurel got out to Brainard Lake a couple times to cross country ski.

Jan 14th -- we went on an hour+ long bike ride around town, including a bunch of tough hills. Something like 17-20 miles. It was almost warm enough that we could have climbed outside!

Jan 15th -- we hiked around Mt. Galbraith park (and summited the mountain itself). Just a short 4.5 mile hike down by Golden.

Jan 21st and 22nd -- Donna and JJ invited us to stay at their awesome SkiHaus for the weekend. We had 2 great days skiing Winter Park and Mary Jane. There was 5" of fresh snow overnight Saturday, so we had even moar powder to ski on Sunday.

Laurel's down in Colorado Springs for a few days this week at a music teachers' conference.

Winter triathlon day

It was soooo nice today! This morning we biked to the gym and climbed for an hour and a half. When we left the gym, it was so warm we didn't need hat or gloves. The roads and bike paths are still kinda a mess, but they're melting. We meandered over to Sanitas. It was t-shirt weather in the sun! I ran a lap on the Dakota Ridge trail and SVT and Laurel did some hiking, then we biked home for lunch.

Run! Climb! Snowshoe!

Laurel and I got up early today to try to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse, but by the time we were up and running the moon had set. Oh well, we had a nice run and got to see the sun come up.

After our run we headed to the climbing gym. Climbed a bunch of overhanging 5.9s and a 5.10a. We've just started climbing again this week, after a few months off, so this was a pretty good start!

After that we picked up Donna and headed to Wild Basin for some snowshoeing. We were able to drive down to the winter closure gate and from there hiked up to Calypso Cascades. It was sunny, but we were in the shadows of the trees most of the way. A bit cold but not windy. It took us just over 2 hours to get to the cascades, which unfortunately were completely covered in snow. Round trip for the day was 4 hours, 6.8 miles, and nearly 800' gain.

Skiing, Climbing and Green Mountain

Saturday it snowed a lot, so I skied out the garage onto the Cottonwood Trail. It was beautiful. Dan ran the trail in the snow. That afternoon we decided to go climbing and get a winter membership to the gym. Climbing was a lot of fun, but hard work! It's been way too long since we've done any difficult routes.

Sunday we hiked up Green Mountain in all the new snow. The trails were broken and mostly beaten down so we didn't need snowshoes. My new Asolo boots were awesome and kept my feet toasty warm. Just past the summit of Green we ran into Fred Ecks on his Sunday Church Run. It's always fun to run into people we know out on the trail! It's too bad Dan forgot the camera, because it was unbelievably beautiful with all the new snow.

First Flatiron

On Sunday we climbed the Fandango route on the First Flatiron. It was really, really hot on the face. Dan led 4 or 5 pitches until we got to the North Arete. There was a beautiful, gusty wind until the summit. Dan led another 4 or so pitches and then we hung out at the summit. It was difficult to set up the rappel ropes because the wind was blowing so hard. We shared a rope with another climbing party after they were on the ground, but when I rappelled the ropes were still swinging so much that I had to keep pulling them from the side.

Some fun scrambling

Look, you can see our house! (almost)

Queen Anne's Head Climb

So, since we cut our backpacking trip short, we decided to do some climbing on Tuesday since Dan still had the day off. Dan picked out a great route he wanted to try on the First Flatiron. We were psyched to be able to give it a shot on a weekday where there would be fewer people.

On our way out the door, we thought to check the weather. We seem to be in a bit of a wet pattern and the forecasters were predicting rain and thunderstorms at noon and then all afternoon. Great. Dan's plan of 4 pitches plus another 300ft wasn't really going to work. On the way to Chautauqua we discussed alternative climbs and decided on the 4-pitch route up Queen Anne's Head, a pinnacle next to the Third Flatiron.

After quite a bit of bushwhacking off the Royal Arch Trail, we finally found the bottom of the climb. We set off at 10:00 with blue skies. Pitch one was great and even included a tricky traverse move without handholds. Dan found a great, flat(!) belay spot and then went on up. The second pitch was also a lot of fun and ended in yet another flat(!!) belay spot. We were both loving the climb. Then, as Dan was heading up pitch three I asked him if he felt the rain drops. Nope. As he built the anchor and I climbed up, I asked if he heard the thunder. Nope. When I met him at the third belay there was a big crash which he then recognized as an oncoming storm. It started to rain a little more. And the thunder sounded closer.

Well, we were 80 feet from the summit and going down was really not an option. Dan led the pitch very quickly and started to set up the rappel as I was climbing up. The rain was still dropping intermittently and the thunder was getting closer. He was incredibly chivalrous and let me rappel down into the 1911 gully first. I found a safe spot and quickly got off the rope. He rapped down and we were both safe on a few boulders.

However, the adventure did not end there. The book described a few options for the descent. One included rapping down to where we were and then climbing up the last few pitches of the Third Flatiron. Dan went to check it out. It was not going to be easy and the rock was getting wetter and wetter. The other option was to walk and rappel down the gully. Based on the conditions, we decided that was our best option.

Dan slung a boulder for our first rappel which got us into a field of ferns. Well, ferns and gigantic poison ivy plants. They were waist-high and soaking wet. It was also hard to see what we were stepping on--dirt, rock, or oblivion. We made it to a big tree with a rope--evidence that someone else had rappelled from the spot. We backed up the rope and set up another rappel. There was one steep rock, but then the rest of the descent was like going through a jungle of brush. We reached one more big tree with another rope and set up our final rappel. It was about 40 feet and on regular-old-rock. It was nice to be on the ground again. Throughout the entire descent the thunder stopped and the rain really didn't come down hard. We were actually able to follow a climber's trail back to the Royal Arch Trail.

Indeed.