Today in Boulder, it was 70 degrees. I'm not one to take one piece of anecdotal evidence and blow it out of proportion (yes I am) but it seems hard to dispute that something is happening with our climate that isn't totally normal. I did, however, take advantage of the warm air and headed down to Clear Creek with my buddies Brian and Erin for another go at Sonic Youth. Spoiler alert: I didn't send.
Along with Kate and our buddy Dave, the three of us had spent Saturday down at Shelf Road. It was one of those glorious late fall days where the sun is beating down on the golden walls of the Cactus Cliff, washing the valley in warm light all the way down to Little Bear and Blanca Peak. Count on Shelf to attract a fair share of idiots, though. Some group of butt-nutts from Fort Collins (figures) were talking about how excited they were to drink until they shit blood that night. We ran into another guy who had recently assaulted one of our Boulder buddies at a cliff back on the Front Range. But perhaps the most troubling realization of the trip to Shelf was that one of my toenails is going to fall off, and it hurts like hell to toe in really hard with my left foot.
Thank the sweet god of Mexican food that La Casita welcomed us with open arms, cold margaritas, and really good tortillas after all the madness. We weren't sure if we were going to find that particular restaurant in Colorado Springs, but Brian "eagle-eye" Lichtenheld spotted the sign from the highway and had us pulling a u-turn at the next exit. We started to consider a Chipotle substitute, and I'm a serious Chipotle fan, but I'll say with great confidence that we came out ahead thanks to Brian's sniper vision.
With bellies full of Tex-Mex, Kate and I got in some serious sleep on Saturday night. We woke up Sunday and decided to do our own thing for the day, with her hanging with a friend and me making my way south the the project. I met up with Brian and Erin along the highway after they came down from another cliff, and we headed up to Primo wall to warm up and so that Erin could try a route she's been working on. After we survived some substantial rockfall set off by a herd (pack? pride? gaggle?) of bighorn sheep, the three of us took off down the canyon and tried to beat the setting sun for one quick burn on Sonic. I fell just below the first roof, which was frustrating given that I felt pretty good. I pulled back on and then climbed through the next couple of difficult sections, only to fall again just below the anchor. On one hand, I feel really good that I've got the route down to two hangs. That's usually a good sign that it will come together soon. On the other hand, it's almost sad to see hard projects come to a close.
I feel like this is probably going to be the last route I get serious about this season, and it has me coming to terms with the reality that winter is setting in and we'll be skiing soon. Of course, given the recent heat wave, maybe not. Rifle might be coming back into shape, for all I know.
1 comment:
Hi, my name is Alex Johnson and I am an old friend of Brian's. We lost touch after graduation from CU, so I don't have his contact information. I have some news to share with him and was hoping to find him online, but this is the closest I've come to any hope! If you feel comfortable passing on his info, some way for me to say hello, I would greatly appreciate it. And your climbing adventures are vividly passed on--you write well. :)
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