lunch break in the flatirons

i was kind of stressed out at work this week and a little sad that i wouldn't get to do some climbing i'd been looking forward to, so i decided to take a quick lunch break in the flatirons and returned to freeway, which i actually followed instead of getting off route. it was nice to have solid rock the whole time.

flatirons! the second is dead center.
 

second again. the large outcropping at the top right is called the pullman car, which is the summit.
 

the route starts right off the trail.
 

a little closer...
 

the first pitch.
 

and the top of the first pitch. from here, i chatted with a couple of boulderers who were at the base. i had been kind of stuck in a thin-ish spot and had to traverse a bit. i was maybe a little embarrassed, but i guess they didn't notice when we met again as i biked to my office.
 

boulder.
 

bottom of the pullman on the left. there's a 5.6 route that sneaks into the gully left of the pullman, then you can hop up onto it. will get to that eventually.
 

pullman again. when i got off route last time i was here, i could have continued into the tunnel you see to the right of the base of the pullman. it looks kinda fun.
 

the jump / diving board. little tough to differentiate.
 

as you can see, it parallels the rock below it, but the huge flake extends from pretty far below/behind the tip, which makes it seem oh so far away. as i got up here, the wind suddenly picked up quite a bit. i hunkered down and made a call cancelling my lunch appointment
 
and took a moment to document the horn where i built a sling ladder for erica to lower herself "like a sobbing whale" as she later commented.
 

this angle is the reason for the sobbing...little tough to see what you're getting down on with the overhang.
 

and here's the tip of the diving board, with the landing spot dead ahead below those flakes that have pulled off. comforting!
 

really comforting.


i did the jump, scampered on up in an increasing breeze, ran off the top, biked back to my office, grabbed my bag, and went on to the office of my cancelled lunch appointment. unfortunately, i dropped my favorite sweater on the way and had to return to get it. en route to sweater retrieval, i snapped my brake and rode old school style, with skids and whatnot. it reminded me of why i don't do that so much these days...my poor knees!