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.