yum!

this dish was really good and simple.

boulder's happy

in fact, it's the happiest.

flatirons

i've been obsessed with boulder's flatirons recently. this is due to a variety of factors: 1.) les lent me some gear for free climbing, which erica has been supplementing with anniversary gifts (and coming christmas presents); 2.) some coworkers want to hike in the flatirons every so often; and 3.) i'm not as excited by hikes alone these days, sadly.

anyway, a couple weeks ago, some coworkers and i went on a post work jaunt to the royal arch, a hike which erica and i loath due to the "stairs"...strategically placed boulders that thrash your knees. we did this in the middle of the day when we first arrived in boulder last august. ick. climbing is a much more fun way to gain elevation, so i decided to scramble up the arch on this most recent jaunt, which then got me hooked on the idea of other scrambles in the area.

that weekend, erica and i decided to climb the second flatiron via a route called freeway, which many people free solo (climb without ropes or aid), but we figured we should put our gear to use. here's erica on a pitch halfway up.
 
there's a special spot on freeway that some call "the diving board" because you have to jump from one flake down to the slab beneath you. it looks rather intimidating. i spent a minute or two lingering on the diving board before making the jump, but erica wasn't having it. i rappelled back down and set up a little sling ladder for her. i giggled and she nearly cried all the way down to the lower slab. aw.

later last week, i went back and soloed it, but chose a slightly different route. i didn't quite make it to the desired route, which left me on rotten, lichen-covered rock for a fair amount of time. next time i'll find the other route i hope.

so this weekend, erica and i visited the regency, which we hoped to link to a few other scrambles, but we ran out of time. we'd had a really big day - erica had delivered her oral argument first thing in the morning (good job!), we'd made it to the rei garage sale (intense!), and had some time with our little fool before negotiating the chaos of the hill (boulder's undergrad area which was celebrating homecoming with boozing in the middle of the streets, bass, and general debauchery) to reach the relative seclusion of the regency.
 

erica was really roughing it as we hoofed it off trail. i got really excited about the ease of access...just an hour from home to the climb.
 

erica, on the other hand, was a little less than excited about the bushwhacking, which might have caused some grumpiness. she recovered soon enough.
 

the regency. also lichen-covered. not much rotten rock though.
 

i think erica might have been behaving a little passive-aggressively, because she later told me that she failed to belay me up and was totally not holding the rope. good thing she uses a grigri!
 

getting ready to go, looking much happier.
 

i didn't think we were going to make it around that big block on the left too easily, so i was quite surprised that erica's great suggestion to "just look left" presented some very handy ramps.
 

as you may know, erica and i were considering moving to nederland, but i think the views, ease of access, and extreme variety of places like the flatirons and the lower canyons make me happy to not be up there, getting socked in with snow. we'll see how long my love affair lasts though...snow's due in boulder in just three days!
 

climbing in ouray & eri's first 14er

erica and i went climbing in ouray with her folks at a place called "the alcove" which is across the street from the main hot springs. our first route had some big blocks that sounded hollow behind the main route, which caused les to think of the block he was climbing (which was the size of my car) separating from the wall with him on it. he sat out the rest of the time.

 

alfie was very attentive.
 

his aunt ellie was sleepy. alf also settled down right before we left. aw.
 
 

erica led for the second time. which was awesome.
 
 
 

the next day we climbed mt sneffels, starting from the blue lakes trailhead at the east fork of dallas creek. this is another less traveled route, but is way safer than taking the standard route with all the summer tourists screaming "rock" every few moments.

i packed our clothes, which left erica without a jacket and some fabulous pants. she borrowed her mom's bright yellow jacket, which made for a great outfit. we left around 4am, which erica hated. i just drank a lot of coffee and got giggly. especially when we had to squat in the woods together before we got to the trailhead. coffee.



 
 

erica looks happy here, but that changed. actually, she set the pace really well!
 
 
 
 

we got to blue lakes before the sun hit 'em. they didn't look too blue to me.
 

but they were nice and still, full of fish,
 
 

and surrounded by wildflowers,
 
 

dead bees,

 

and unusual terrain.
 
 
 
 

erica was not very excited about scrambling, but was a good sport.
 
 
 
 
 

but then she began to despair.
 
 
 
 
 

she could only think of getting down...no such luck!
 

cause we were going to the summit! to get photobombed....
 
 
 

coming down was interesting. erica was really scared and had some difficulty with a particular movement.
 
 

 

she also had some difficulty navigating the scree, which made her grumpy, but made me laugh and mutter bizarre things to myself.


but she made it.
 
 
 

and got to look at more pretty flowers,
 

traverse big switchbacks all over again,
 

look at bees,
 

and look down on the now very blue blue lake,
 

which made everybody smile.
 
 

even the grumpy sap tree.
 

our route.


when we got back to montrose, we went out to eat. erica had to call in for attire assistance from julie, who brought her some jeans. but i think she really fit right in and would have been fine at the restaurant.
 

just look to the left of her forehead. see?
 

that's right. walmart.
 

so, it was a fun day and overall a really great weekend. alfie also had a big weekend
 

with his aunt ellie,
 

which tuckered him big time.