alfie had his third birthday last night. erica and i went on a walk with a very pregnant jen and chris followed by yummy happy hour at the kitchen next door (kale chips! dry dock pumpkin!), which then caused us to forget it was alf's bday! very sad. so today i'll celebrate by posting alf's most recent trip to stardom.
Wednesday, November 30
Monday, November 28
more flatirons fun
erica and i returned to the flatirons, hoping to work off some of our many thanksgiving plates. we decided to switch roles and she would carry the camera. as it turned out, i misjudged the route and we had to downclimb off the back rather than rap the top. erica was a good sport and scout as i cleaned the anchors and worked my way down. this led me to consider a flatirons adventure hike.
lots o potholes = easy, mellow climbing. didn't stop me from getting nervous when i removed all our gear from the tippety top!
big beard!
lots o potholes = easy, mellow climbing. didn't stop me from getting nervous when i removed all our gear from the tippety top!
big beard!
Saturday, November 19
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!
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!
Sunday, November 13
young and the rackless
erica and i went up the canyon early on friday afternoon to do some climbing. good thing it was early. we started up a four pitch sport route called "the young and the rackless". seemed like silly and simple fun... it's rated 5.9, but the party that developed the route rated it 5.10b. i think that might be accurate if you don't have as much span as i do - erica found it a little tough at the headwalls.
from the top of the first pitch.
erica so smiley before realizing that the start is a little funky :( she also started yelling a "huge spider" in front of her face. she later revealed that said "huge spider" was in fact a daddy longlegs before trying to convince me that they are 1.) poisonous (but their mouths aren't big enough to bite people) 2.) spiders, neither of which are true. fibber! gladly, she made it up the first pitch.
starting up the second pitch. crux for shorties.
we made it halfway up the climb before deciding it was going to get too dark (and i was already shivering quite a bit). it was erica's first rappel (and retreat), which was exciting all around.
from the top of the first pitch.
erica so smiley before realizing that the start is a little funky :( she also started yelling a "huge spider" in front of her face. she later revealed that said "huge spider" was in fact a daddy longlegs before trying to convince me that they are 1.) poisonous (but their mouths aren't big enough to bite people) 2.) spiders, neither of which are true. fibber! gladly, she made it up the first pitch.
starting up the second pitch. crux for shorties.
we made it halfway up the climb before deciding it was going to get too dark (and i was already shivering quite a bit). it was erica's first rappel (and retreat), which was exciting all around.
Friday, October 28
Wednesday, October 26
Sunday, October 23
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!
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!
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