Old Stage burn hike

We went on a guided hike around the Old Stage burn area today. Click pic to see more.

CMC Adventure #2

So, we decided to join the CMC (Colorado Mountain Club) back in November, but for whatever reason, we haven't done many trips. We found one for today that looked like a lot of fun in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The alarm went off at 5:30 (yuck!) so we could meet the group up in the park at 7:00. Though we were a bit late to the designated meeting site, we were able to meet up with the group at the trail head at Bear Lake. In the parking lot the wind was howling so we dressed for a cold day, even though the forecast was for sun and 40-degree temps.


Our group of eight began snowshoeing around Bear Lake and then westward towards Flattop Mountain. When we were in the trees for the first half of the hike, the wind was blocked and we were very comfortable. There were awesome views of Longs Peak and many other mountains above 12,000ft. The group members took turns breaking trail, or should I say bushwhacking, because we were about 600 feet higher than the trail. Some of the snow was two or three feet deep so it was slow going for quite a while.

When we broke out of the trees, our goal was to gain the ridge and then follow it to the summit. Without our trees to offer some relief from the wind, the gusts were blowing full force down the ridge. There was a fairly steady 10-20mph wind with gusts up to about 30. When we gained the summit of 12,300ft around noon, the winds were annoying but not debilitating. Therefore, we continued on the route originally planned for the day. We turned a bit north to head for Ptarmigan Lake. We last about 20 minutes as the winds picked up strength and were blowing at a steady 40mph. At times I was blown off balance.

Picking up the trail, we headed back down to the tree line for a sheltered spot for lunch. On the way back down we saw a few pure white ptarmigans (cool alpine birds that are gray in the summer) and then finally stopped for lunch at 2:00. We made it back to the trail head a bit after 3:30 after nine miles and 3000 feet elevation gained. See our trek in Google Earth or Maps.

This was a first true winter summit. Our first CMC trip failed to summit Mt. St. Vrain and we've done mountains in town, but those are just over 8,000ft. It was a fun, yet windy day, and the folks we snowshoed with were just wonderful. I should mention, though, that we were the youngest people there by over 40 years. I hope when I'm in my seventies I can still do trips like this!

Moo

This cow was as big as our car! At least it seemed that way as we drove by.

Laurel says we hiked at least 12 miles today at the Heil Ranch. We saw lots of wildlife and other neat stuff -- aside from the horses and cows on the ranch, we saw an Abert's Squirrel, some Downy Woodpeckers, bones, mountain bikers, ruins, a rusted car and truck, and a rabbit. (see album)

We had lunch at this overlook:


Later along the trail Laurel found a jawbone, probably from a mountain lion kill:



This is a great trail, we'll come back sometime with our bikes.

Today

It was 70 degrees today.

Der Zerkle!

We climbed Der Zerkle today!



From the summit we had great views of the approach to Mallory cave. We hung out up top for half an hour since it was sunny, then rappelled down. Click pic for full album.

Lefthand Reservoir and Brainard Lake

Last weekend was too cold and windy for snowshoeing but today was awesome. We went back to the Brainard Lake area. Laurel skied and I snowshoed up to Lefthand Reservoir:


From there we went off trail and skied/shoed through the backcountry to Brainard Lake. The snow was very deep and it was tough getting through the trees in places. We got to Brainard Lake and found the CMC cabin. It was nice to stop in for some tea and coffee. After talking to the cabin host for a bit we headed out the South St. Vrain trail and picked up the Sourdough trail back to our car. (pics map)

Warmth

It was warm and sunny today. We biked to the rock gym, climbed for a few hours, then decided to go for a longer ride since it was so nice. After stopping at home to ditch our climbing gear and get water and better biking clothes, we headed out.

A few hundred feet later, my brake broke! I biked (slowly) to Community Cycles and replaced the broken brake lever. 90 minutes later we were ready to ride.

Winter is so much more tolerable here than back east -- it was warm enough that I took my windbreaker off halfway through the ride.

Wind

As we've been experiencing our first Colorado winter, a few things are worth pointing out. First of all, compared to Boston winters are rather temperate (so far, anyway). There has been one really cold weekend--when Rob and Lisa came to visit, of course--but otherwise it has been anywhere from the 30s to the 60s. Yes, that's right 60s in January! Secondly, it's really quite sunny in the winter. Though we've seen more cloudy days this season than fall and summer combined, I think the count of days without sun is only up to 14. (Yes, I really have been counting days without sun). We've been here over 6 months now and to have merely two weeks without seeing the sun isn't bad. Next, the snow is not so bad. Sure, locals tell us the snowiest months are February and March, but what we've had so far ain't bad. It sticks around for a couple of days and then it's gone. We have been riding bikes all winter because the streets and bike paths have been relatively or totally clear.

This brings me to the topic of today's blog. It gets really freaking windy in the foothills in winter. According to our local paper, January is the windiest month. So far this January we've had gusts of up to 73mph, but a few years ago they saw gusts up to 100mph. This wind isn't so bad when you're inside, sure you hear things rattling outside, but it's almost scary outside. We were riding bikes to the rock gym on Wednesday and we literally got blown off the bikes. I had to stop for a minute because I just couldn't pedal anymore. Yesterday we were hiking the southern part of the Meas Trail and we were both being blown over while we were hiking back to the car.

On Wednesday night things did get scary. A power line was downed in one of the North Boulder neighborhoods and started a fire in the foothills. The fire spread very quickly and Wednesday night many (I would guess a couple of dozen) of my students had to be evacuated from their homes. I know this because they all came into school Thursday and it was the first words out of their mouths. Including one little boy who told me his father was fighting the fire and came home with ashes in hes ears. Fortunately, the fire was put out by Thursday and only 2 homes and a couple of barns were engulfed by the flames. Thousands of acres were burnt and it was really something actually seeing a fire that big--previously I had only seen fires like that on the news. We drove by the effected area yesterday and it was obviously totally black.

The wind in the mountains yesterday prevented us from skiing and snowshoeing. We drove up to Brainard Lake and after dressing and hopping on the trail for two minutes, we promptly decided to turn around and go back to the car. We guessed there were gusts up to 40mph and that coupled with 20 degree temps did not make for fun conditions. So, we stopped for lunch at the Blue Moon Bakery in Nederland and then hiked in the afternoon back in Boulder.

I hope today it's not as windy!

Why is Las Vegas vile?

I wrote:

Las Vegas is by far the most disgusting place I have been.

Brian commented:

You are going to have to be more descriptive if you want me to believe that Las Vegas was more disgusting than the Great Salt Lake!

And another friend wrote in an email (with heavy sarcasm I assume):

I can't believe you guys didn't like Las Vegas, you must have missed the
$.99 all you can eat buffet.

It's a tough call whether the Great Salt Lake or Las Vegas gets the prize for most disgusting place ever. I will describe Las Vegas and let you decide.

1. As we approached Las Vegas from the south, the traffic reminded me of Los Angeles. It couldn't have actually been that bad, but that's what I thought of.
2. From the highway at night you could see a 200 square mile blanket of ugly yellow streetlights covering the valley.
3. There are virtually no hotels, only casinos with rooms.
4. We stopped at a casino on the outskirts of town to get a room. Lots of ugly flashing neon. Laurel went in, had to walk a mile through a room of one-armed bandits to get to hotel registration to find out there was no vacancy. She came back to the car stinking of cigarettes.
5. (OK, so most of the "one-armed bandits" are actually no-armed bandits. And they don't take quarters.)
6. Stopped at another casino on the outskirts of town. The only rooms they had left were "Apollo" rooms. Apollo was a god, so maybe that's a good thing? No. That means you pay $109 for a room with no bed, just a pull-out sofa. On a "smoking-optional" floor.
7. (Good thing #1: hotel security guards patrol the parking garage on bicycle. Given the excessive nature of Las Vegas I was surprised they didn't each drive a Hummer. With whale-skin hubcaps.)
8. We each had to take two showers that night: one because we stank from camping in the desert for 2 nights, then another because we stank from hanging out in a casino until midnight.
9. Our only prior casino experience was Foxwoods in CT and Harrah's in New Orleans. We assumed there would be some variety of live music or some kind of entertainment. Nope, just one cover band that didn't start until later in the evening.
10. (Good thing #2: the Mexican restaurant gave us lots of nachos with good salsas, moles, etc. to dip them in. Pitcher of margaritas was pretty good too.)
11. Drinks were expensive at the bar.
12. People at the bar were busy punching lit-up buttons built right into the bar -- obviously you don't want to take time away from gambling to drink.
13. We would have been the youngest people at the casino if a few families hadn't dragged their kids (5 to 10 years old) along with them for the night. What fun.
14. In the morning a handful of people were still punching buttons and sucking on cigs.
15. "Penny-slots".
16. Greaziest breakfast ever for only $2.49.
17. (Good thing #3: the Hoover Dam is nearby, go see it if you dare to visit Vegas. Better yet, drive through Arizona to see it and park on the AZ side, where parking is free.)
18. After visiting the Hoover Dam we wanted to see "the strip". Just wanted to drive by, didn't feel the need to stop in any of the casinos after all the fun we had already. Lots of traffic.
19. The brown cloud hanging over the city was as high as the surrounding mountains. Disgusting.
20. Lots of litter.
21. You know those "take one" newspaper boxes you see by bus stops that have free real-estate magazines or free want-ads? Well in Vegas they have free whore-ads in those boxes.
22. Everything in excess.
23. More traffic. We could have walked the strip faster than traffic was moving.

The Great Salt Lake is disgusting, but it is natural. Las Vegas is pollution of every kind. It has been made that way. That's what I find so vile about it.

Winter hike to Green Mountain summit

August, 2008:

January, 2009:

It was cold and cloudy but we went for a hike up Green Mountain anyway. Visibility was a bit different than when we did the hike in August.

At higher elevations the trees were covered in rime. We would have been too if we stood still long enough! It was like hiking in a cloud -- lots of moisture in the air.



We made it down before needing our headlamps, but just barely. Round-trip was about 7 miles.

Winter vacation wrap-up

We wanted to hike around Colorado National Monument this morning but we scratched that idea once we discovered it was 15 degrees in Fruita and 60 in Boulder.

The Grand Canyon was by far the highlight of our trip. See our treks in Google Earth.

See our Joshua Tree hiking route too.

Las Vegas is by far the most disgusting place I have been.

Overall we put 2440 miles on the Echo, which still gets 38 MPG.

Happy New Year from Sin City!

Wow. Nevada is something else. So we're driving through the Mojave Desert for hours. You come across a town on the map and there is literally one building or an intersection leading to another building 20 miles away. The views go on forever and there's mountains off in the distance in many directions. Then, lo and behold, we cross the state line to Nevada and it's like Times Square. There are hotels/casinos on both sides of the highway lit up like the sun will never shine again. One boasts an outlet mall and the other has $7.99 prime rib dinner. We drive through in a matter of minutes and we're back in the desert. 15 miles later, it's the same thing. Then, we drive up over a hill and before us spreads an entire valley of lights. Las Vegas is huge and sits in a bowl in the desert (the next morning we also got a glimpse of the smog that sits over the valley as well).

We finally stopped in Henderson (just south of the city) and got a room in a hotel/casino. After showering and resting a bit, we headed downstairs for slots, live music, dinner, and a pitcher of margaritas. It was a fun night people watching.

The next morning we headed to the Hoover Dam (most impressive) and then sat in traffic on the strip (an adult Disney World?). That was enough for us so we got back on the road and headed north through a corner of Arizona and then all of Utah. We stopped in Salina for dinner at Mom's Dinner and had a chocolate marshmallow pie (yum). We ended the night in Fruita, Colorado!

A Few Days in the Desert

After leaving the booming metropolis of Kingman, AZ, we headed southwest for Joshua Tree. On the way we stopped at a little gas station on historic Route 66 and the attendant told us what we had been looking at for an hour or so. The black hill off in the distance was Amboy Crater -- formerly a volcano that had blown its top. He informed us you could hike to the top and then inside the crater. So, a mile down the road we parked the car and made off on this short hike. The volcanic rock that littered the trail was very hard to step on, but made the desert floor much more interesting. It was fun hiking around inside and then enjoying different views from the rim of this 250 foot hill.

We arrived in Joshua Tree about an hour and a half later. There we picked up some supplies and headed into the park to stake out a campsite for the night. We weren’t able to get into the first couple of sites that have climbing routes actually in the sites so we were forced down the road to the Jumbo Rocks area. We found a sunny, south-facing site and set up camp. Our neighbors were very nice and we shared a fire with a handyman from Orange County named John.

Monday night we froze as the desert temperatures dropped to below freezing and the wind ripped through the tent. My feet never warmed up and Dan was in his sleeping bag with jeans and a sweater on (usually he sweats in the bag). However, we survived and staked the fly down the next morning.

On Tuesday we did a climb on the side of the Jumbo Rocks corridor. The rappel was off a boulder on top and we couldn’t pull the rope. Eventually Dan jumared back up and was able to pull it. Afterward we scrambled on rock for a long while and then took a short hike before dinner.

Tuesday night was cooler (but our tent was much warmer) and we both slept a lot better, although neither of us was excited about camping out again. So we packed up the site after a pre-breakfast hike, and hit the road. On the way out of the park we hiked Mount Ryan (5,000-something feet) and checked out rock around the Real Hidden Valley. Unfortunately, the climbs we wanted to do were all in the shade where it was considerably colder. We did leave the park and tried to find lodging in town. Being that it was New Year’s Eve we had no luck and decided to head north towards Las Vegas.

Grand Canyon, Day 4

By 5:00am, we were both up. We weren't moving, we weren't looking forward to the task of getting dressed in the freezing cold. The sleeping bags were warm and outside was not. At 6:00am we both bragged to one another how we were able to change out some clothes while still in the sleeping bag. This skill takes much practice! After an hour and half breaking down camp in the dark (and with only one headlamp which Dan got to keep in the tent) we were on our way.

The first part of the hike was the River Trail, aptly named as it followed the cliffs along the Colorado. It was very moderate and a good way to start the day. We could see the sun hitting the upper layers of rock like a spot light thousands of feet above.

After a quick stop for bagels, we followed the trail up along another creek. The riparian landscapes were very pretty. Around 10am we started seeing some people on their way down. They couldn't believe how much warmer it was getting, as they started their days at zero degrees. We didn't notice how much colder it was getting until we got halfway up the trail to the Indian Garden Campground. At this point we were hoping for a sunny spot for lunch, but the ranger said we wouldn't see sun again until we got to the rim. He was right. The shady high canyon walls were cold and we kept stopping to put more layers on and minutes later stopping to take them off because it got steep and we were working hard.

The last 4 miles of the trail (9.7 overall) were very steep and full of icy switchbacks. Our microspikes were awesome and we didn't even slip. 6 hours and 40 minutes after we set off on our adventure we topped out at the South Rim. It was very sunny and relatively warm. After a good stretch and some munchies, we hit the road. We made it as far as Kingman, AZ (right on the CA/NV/AZ border) and called it a night after long showers and steak dinners.

Grand Canyon, Day 3

Saturday was our "play day" in the canyon. Too stupid to take a day to rest, we decided to hike up to Ribbon Falls. The trail was described as "not steep, but tedious" or something like that. 12 or 13 mile round trip.

We saw the most amazing waterfall. The water comes shooting off a cliff and splashes down on a giant moss-covered rock. You can hike up around behind the falls and also to another elevated viewpoint called The Alcove.

We got back to camp exhausted but determined to stay up late enough to hang out at the Phantom Ranch canteen for a little while (it didn't open until 8 PM). We had a good time talking with a few people but headed back to camp a bit after 9. It was a very starry night -- no clouds, a new moon, and no light pollution.

Our plan for the morning was to be packed up and on the trail by sunrise, since we didn't know how long to expect the trip out to take. There's only 10 hours of daylight this time of year and we thought there was a chance we'd need all of it.

P.S. That "giant rock" is actually a stalagmite!!

Grand Canyon, Day 2

We got up early, geared up, made a final go/no-go decision, and hopped on the 8AM bus. The ranger suggested we take the Kaibab trail down. There is no parking by that trailhead but there are shuttles at 8AM and 9AM.

We were the only hikers on the bus.

The previous day's weather had caused huge snow drifts. A hundred feet down trail we found two men shoveling the path -- odd since few tourists hike this trail. In many places we would sink into the snow knee-deep and in a few spots we were post-holing up to our hips. We had crampons but no snowshoes, so it was slow hard work. As we descended further into the canyon and lost elevation there was less snow and we picked up pace.

The sky was partly cloudy and the views were amazing. As the day went on the clouds cleared almost entirely. Click a pic to see the whole album.

It took us 5.5 hours to hike the 7 mile trail -- all downhill for a 4800' drop. Even if I wasn't carrying a 45 lbs pack I would have considered it the hardest hike I've ever done. It was a relief to find a campsite and get the packs off our shoulders. We set up camp, made dinner, and were so exhausted we went to sleep at 7:30 PM. Sunrise wasn't until 7:30 AM.

Despite the difficulty of the hike, it was entirely worth it for the views and the solitude.

There is an easier way to see the bottom of the canyon than hiking and camping. You can ride a mule down, stay in a room at the Phantom Ranch (located less than a mile from our campground), and ride back up a day or more later. I think it's a great idea if you're not up for the hike.

Grand Canyon, Day 1

"Should we bring the snowshoes?"

I had to think for a minute since we were planning a climbing trip to Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert.

"Oh. You mean for the Grand Canyon. Nah, how much can it snow in Arizona?"

The original plan was a week in JTree. Then Laurel started talking about visiting the Grand Canyon on the way there or back. As winter break neared we checked the forecast again and saw that JTree would be cold or rainy around Christmas, so I suggested we spend a little more time at the Grand Canyon.

Two days before Christmas I stayed up late reading about the area, the trails, the campgrounds, and the permit process for back-country camping. The next morning (Christmas eve) we packed the car and left. Snowshoes were left behind.

Typically campsites are reserved months in advance but a few spots are held for last-minute next-day walk-ins. That was our plan -- show up at the park Christmas afternoon and hope for a reservation on the 26th. The NPS website said the Bright Angel Campground was already 100% full for the 27th and 29th.

We got lucky. The ranger said we could camp the 26th and 27th. He also warned us of the latest weather forecast: snow Christmas night on the rim, low of 15 F at the bottom of the canyon. Our sleeping bags are "20 degree" bags and we have a 3-season tent. Last time we used them it got below freezing and we survived (with margin) so we thought we could cope.

That night we stayed in a little cabin room at the Bright Angel Lodge and had a good Christmas dinner. It was cold, windy, and sleeting but we walked along the rim trail and checked out one of the ranger programs too before heading to bed.

As you can see in the picture, visibility sucked. We hoped it would be better the next few days.

Skiing the 14ers

Had a good time fixing up kids' bikes today at the Velodrome, plan to do some more tomorrow.

Tonight Laurel and I went to Neptune for a slideshow on skiing the 14ers. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew Lou Dawson wrote a book on Colorado's 14ers and has done both summer and winter ascents of all of them. This show was by Chris Davenport and I wasn't sure what the angle would be.

The show was gripping! Even though I was up early today and the show ran late, I knew I wouldn't be able to fall right asleep tonight after a show like that! His goal was to ski from the summit of every 14,000+ foot mountain in Colorado -- all 54 of them -- in a year. That's insane. Even skiing the easiest one of these mountains is insane. There was one month period where he bagged 22 descents. That's about how many working days there are in a month, and some of these days started at 3am and were 16 hours long.

These pictures show the route he and his partners pioneered on Capitol Peak (click pic for his website). See in the first picture how that red line goes down from the summit then cuts sharp to the left and around the arete? You have to go that way to avoid the 500' sheer cliffs of doom. He described it as a "no-fall zone". The second pic shows a scary perspective of those cliffs from around the corner.

I'd like to do some back-country skiing someday, but geez, not this.

Community Cycles

For the past few months I have been volunteering at Community Cycles. Mostly doing mechanic work and helping people out but a few days I got to help out with the kids programs. Boulder's "Out there guy" Ryan Van Duzer put up video from a day we took the kids to a dirt park for some off-road mountain biking. Then another day we were back in the shop fixing up bikes -- check out the guy at 1:45.

The next few days CC volunteers will be wrenching on around 300 kids bikes to get them ready for the holiday give-away this weekend. I can't imagine how that many bikes are going to get fixed up in time, but hopefully Thursday or Friday night I'll find out (and help out!).

Weekend with Rob and Lisa

Rob and Lisa visited this weekend. It was a lot of fun to see them. Friday afternoon we explored Pearl St. That night we took them to the Gold Hill Inn -- great food and a great table by the fireplace. Saturday we skied the slopes of Eldora. Sunday was very very very cold so we only spent a little time outside. There was fresh snow so we had to try a little sledding at Chautauqua. Football, pizza and beer in the evening.

Knot Tying School

Monday night we braved the snowy roads to drive down to Golden for the first day of a CMC course in knot tying. The class was very good -- we learned a few things and met a lot of knowledgeable people. Towards the end of the class Laurel and I got to chat with local legend Gerry Roach for a bit. Looking forward to the second half next Monday.

Arestua Hut!

Last time we tried snowshoeing on the Jenny Creek Trail, we didn't get on the right trail, there wasn't enough snow, and we couldn't find the CMC hut at the top of Guinn Mountain.

Sunday was redemptive! Lots of snow (although it was melting at temps in the 50s). Better signage directing us to the trail. And... at the end of it was the Arestua hut.

Looking forward to staying an overnight sometime soon. Check out the pics.

Our first CMC trip

Today we went on our first CMC trip, led by Ricardo Peña. There were 8 people in our group total. We enjoyed hiking and talking with them.

The trip started at the St. Vrain Mountain Trailhead south of Allenspark and headed up the valley between Meadow and St. Vrain Mountains. Our aim was to summit St. Vrain for a 10-mile round-trip.

There was only a few inches of snow at the trailhead so we started off hiking. After a couple of miles we reached a point where there was enough snow to snowshoe. We geared up and headed off-trail. Parts were rocky and steep but we soon got to nice deep snow (with an occasional rocky section).


View Larger Map

We 'shoed on- and off-trail for a while to a saddle above the treeline, where we stashed our snowshoes and headed for the summit. Without the protection of the trees we were exposed to high winds -- some gusts were strong enough to knock us off balance. The pelting snow didn't feel too good against our faces. Of course the more Laurel and I tried to cover up the more our sunglasses fogged, so at times we were just following the blurry shapes in front of us. We definitely need better headgear!

Even without foggy glasses visibility was very poor. For a number of reasons we turned back about 500 vertical feet from the summit. The trip was a lot of fun despite the weather. (See our trek in Google Earth)

Thanksgiving Vacation Part 2

On Thanksgiving Day it was overcast in Boulder. We were hoping to wake up to some snow, but no luck here in town. So, we decided to try our luck and hopefully our snowshoes in the mountains. I picked out a trail west of Nederland and a village called Eldora. We started at the Hessie trailhead and hiked the Devil's Thumb Bypass Trail. Parts were very pretty and went along a creek. However, the trail was very, very icy. There was only a little bit of snow, so we didn't break out the snowshoes and we kept wishing we had YakTracks. We stopped for lunch and a couple totally flew by us unaffected by the snow because they had the rubber contraptions on their feet. It was getting late and we were moving slowly, so we turned around before hitting Devil's Lake and made a loop with the Devil's Thumb trail. The picturesque Hessie Falls were totally frozen and covered with snow. We'll have to go back sometime to see them in their glory. The whole hike was only about 6 miles. We then headed home for some good 'ole Thanksgiving hot dogs and mac & cheese. Yum!

Friday was supposed to be a rest day. So, we had a leisurely morning and hung around the house reading and stuff. Around lunchtime we headed out on our bikes to do some errands. We rode about 5 miles down to Neptune's to pick up some things (we got cool MicroSpikes--better than YakTracks!) Then Dan wanted Arby's for lunch (yuck). When we finally got home it was getting cold and we both made chocolate chip cookies.

We did wake up to a little snow on Saturday morning--just a dusting. It was very pretty, so I decided to go for a little run in our neighborhood. A little later in the morning we went out to Betasso and hiked the 3 mile loop in an hour. After running a few more errands we came home for lunch and then I promptly fell asleep for two hours. After Dan woke me up we hit the rock gym for a while. Dan's reading a book about training for climbing so we each did four laps on a 5.9 for a stamina test.

Sunday is our big CMC hike/snowshoe day. The trip Dan picked is supposed to be 10 miles with 3500 feet elevation gain--two summits (Mt. St. Vrain and Meadow). This should be interesting...

Thanksgiving Vacation

In Boulder the schools get the whole week surrounding Thanksgiving off. It's definitely a nice feature. So, I was trying to get Dan to take off work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so we could go somewhere south of here to climb. Our hopes were set on Moab, Utah where we could bike, hike, and climb. However, he had to work Monday and Tuesday so come Tuesday night when we checked to weather to pack for our trip, we learned that it was just not in the stars for us this week. There is a huge low pressure system moving through the southwestern part of the country. Many areas are getting snow and rain--everywhere from here to Moab to Joshua Tree, CA. Hopefully the weather will be better at Christmastime...

Monday I just hung around town, did some swimming and yoga, and went into school for a little while. Monday night we joined the rock gym for the winter. It took us a whole 10 minutes to walk there Monday night (it's only two blocks away!) and now we can go anytime we want. Disappointingly, the grades are sandbagged. After 8 months of working on 5.2-5.6 rock we were able to get successfully on 5.9s (or should I say 5.8s). It was still fun, though.

Tuesday I drove down to Colorado Springs to visit my friend Melanie and her 8-month-old, Josh (who is very cute). It was really fun to visit them.

Wednesday Dan didn't have to work so we had a fun vacation day in Boulder. For breakfast we went to Moe's, a bagel shop. Then I dragged Dan to do groceries with me and we spent twice as much as usual (lots of goodies for the week)! At lunchtime we decided to go for a short hike on Sanitas. It was beautiful and warm out--60s I'd say. Then we hit the rock gym and some 5.10 and 5.11 routes before I went for a run and Dan went for a bike ride. The day ended with a viewing of "Tremors." I'd never seen it.

Oh yeah, we also joined the Colorado Mountain Club. They offer a lot of local (and not so local) trips, outdoor schools, and social events. We signed up for a snowshoe trip on Sunday. It's supposed to be 10 miles with 3500 ft elevation gain. Hopefully we can keep up!

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

Mallory Cave

Today we finally hiked to Mallory Cave. We have been meaning to for some time but kept getting sidetracked by other fun things to do.

The trail to the cave was a steep hike, especially at the end! Once we got back down we took this picture of two women scrambling up.

A Fun Hike

This morning we started at NCAR and headed to the Mesa Trail. After about 3 miles we headed towards South Boulder Peak on the Shadow Canyon Trail. We summited the 8,500 foot peak at lunch time. Though it was beautiful, warm, and sunny on the whole 5 miles to the top, it was very windy and chilly once we got there. After a quick bite, we traversed the ridge to Bear Peak at 8,400 feet.

My hope was to bag a third peak (Green Mountain) and rack up 15 miles on the day. However, it was getting late (now that the sun sets at 4:30) and we were getting tired. Once we completed the West Bear Ridge Trail (really neat route!) and the Bear Canyon Trail we were glad we didn't take the long way home. After nearly 7 and a half hours and almost 11 miles the car was a welcome sight!

Dan's last big ride of the year

There probably won't be many (any?) days like today for the rest of the year. It was almost 70 today, so I took off on a long bike ride. In 140 minutes I covered 27.8 miles -- almost 12 MPH average, which isn't too bad considering I went up the big hill to NCAR!


View Larger Map

A tale of the route that Laurel and Dan climbed today that might be Hubris and/or Atlanta but may not be

The weather was forecast to be warm today so our plan was to get to Chautauqua early and climb a Flatiron. We picked two shorter routes in case it got cold. The first was East-facing for the morning sun and the second was South-facing for the afternoon -- by 1 or 2pm the sun isn't hitting the East faces any more and by 2 or 3 it's behind the mountain.

Finding the first route, Hubris, was a challenge. The book describes how to get to the start of the climb: "Start at the same place as Atlanta..." For Atlanta it says: "Start 230 feet southwest from the start of Baker's Way..." Baker's Way is described as being "...several hundred feet from the top of the Witch's Cabin..." Measuring these distances is near impossible, since 1) the trail switches back so much that you may hike 200 feet along the trail but only gain 20 vertical feet and end up 40 feet away, and 2) there are trees and rocks in the way, so you can't always see where you were.

We eventually decided that we must be at the start of the climb, even though the rock didn't match up with the description. In any case it seemed that a few hundred feet up we would meet up with where the route was supposed to go, and the lower section looked like easy enough climbing. The route was supposed to climb a "well-formed dihedral" but there wasn't anything in sight that I would describe that way.

In the shade the rock was cool but once we reached sunlight it was quite warm, especially with a heavy long-sleeved black shirt! I led up the rock as I have on any Flatiron climb: disregard any beta found in a guidebook. Instead, look for cracks that will take pro and aim for them. Runout the easy sections a bit. Tackle some harder sections if there's good pro. Eventually we made it to a large Juniper tree; from that point on we were no longer climbing what we thought was Hubris and had moved over to what seems to be Atlanta.

Atlanta tops out on the North Arete route. Lots of traffic today -- more than 10 people passed me while I was belaying Laurel up to that point. From there it should have been one short pitch to the summit, but since there were many people around we made it two really short pitches. The air was calm for a while but eventually the wind picked up, probably around 50 MPH. Laurel had a tough time rappelling with the wind blowing the ropes all around.

It was a fun day climbing the First, and unlike last summer's ascent, this time there were no thunderstorms (and I got to sign the register!). We didn't have time for the second climb -- we were pretty beat too. Maybe if the weather holds up...

Bike ride, protest, hike

Saturday we went for a bike ride on the Cottonwood and Eagle trails, then pedaled down to Pearl Street for the Prop. 8 protest, then pedaled over to Chautauqua and hiked around the Woods Quarry area.

Breakfast

Look what Dan made me for breakfast! Moose cakes!