Travels and Vagabonds
Zmoda travel agencies brought forth a fun weekend in Tahoe. The trip seemed to mesh easily and proceeded well; given all the people we would be meeting, riding, and hanging out. We landed in Reno, after a relatively short flight (the drive would have taken a taxing 17 hrs) on a Continental Flight flown by US Airways, but operated by United. Yea it was that simple checking in too. After landing Reno, we were greeted by our friend Kelly and many many slot machines.
The weekend Ben finally got his “new” 4runner, he invited me up to do some climbing in boulder and look as his car. Let me go on a little bit about Ben’s car. This car fits him perfectly. This car can now finally handle his driving style, and lifestyle. Continue reading “Climbing the 3rd Flat Iron.”
On the second morning, we decided that we weren’t going to do the full 4 pass loop, but we still wanted to see the next basin over the 2nd pass. So we were off early in the morning to see Trail Rider Pass. Without our 40lbs (which we left at base camp) we made very good time and speed.
Over Labor Day weekend, I tagged along with Ben to go on a camping trip. The trip was initially set to hike the 4 pass loop in the Maroon Bells/Snowmass area. The total trip was to be a 28-29 mile slog, but do to some injuries along the way we decide to just to an out and back to the Snowmass Lake only 24 miles.
The trip started from the Maroon Bells View area (9,580 feet). This was a heavily touristed area, and allowed the visitors to Aspen a chance to see some of \the true ruggedness of the range. The first couple miles of the trail took us to crater lake. This trail was frequented by the very prolific species that is the the”Aspen Cougar”. Walking up the trail, you felt the constant glare of the predatory species. Amanda (Ben’s Girlfriend) received numerous compliments from the Cougars for hiking with “3 young men.”
A passed Sunday, Z had a hunger for some cliff jumping. After using his extensive Interweb skillz he found one of the most legit areas for cliff jumping in
Colorado.
The cliff was nestled deep in the Mountains of Colorado, pass the roaming elk ranges, and the granite boulder fields. The hike was relatively short and through a nicely formed gorge. The path was well formed, but you could tell the this area was almost completely known to locals only.
The entire area was giant play ground for outdoors lovers. Steep Cliffs, waterfall, lush vegetation was abound in this area. The area was a giant bowel of water that had been carved out by the waterfall. The formations of the rock allowed people to jump from many different heights (ranging from 20-80ft).
Continue reading “Hidden Cliffs and Gorges of Cripple Creek”
So its been over 1 month since my last update, and this is due to the horrible month that is August. As my mom pointed out to me, lots of bad things tend to happen to our family in the month of August and this year it was no different. However, to make the best of the month and cheer me up, the group of us went to pueblo reservoir. The entire trip was put together by Derek and Sean much props to them.
Jimmy, Z, and I got there late in the afternoon after sneaking out of work early. Well actually, I worked in the car on the drive down and Z practice his stick driving skillz. Derek and Sean had rented a boat from the Military outpost for the weekend, so we now had a way to get around the lake. The BASSHUNTER was a formidable vessel. Complete with live well, tackle compartment and swiveling bass chairs, this thing was made to slay fish. The boat was super fun to drive to drive both on water and off.
As soon we got to the lake, we all jumped on the boat and head out for some Friday evening cruising. The lake was pretty quiet and we just motor boated around. The goal was to scope out some cliffs for the next day, but we found one that we all had to do right then and now. We made harbor behind the rock in a cove and had some fun.
The next day we spent alot of time on the water. We headed directly for another cliff that we saw earlier yesterday. Sean and Derek made there way to the top, while Jimmy, Z and I monkey’d around the bottom looking for some deep water soloing routes. This cliff, which I dub “HUGE ASS SPIDER CRACK ROCK”(due to the spiders which were about the size of mouse) was lots of fun. We found some routes up and it was really deep to jump.
Afterwards, we went to chill in a cove and fish for a bit. While fishing in the middle of this cove, we got inspected by the boating police. Apparently we were over capacity for the BASSHUNTER. # of people we had on the boat = 7 ; BASSHUNTER’s capacity was = 4. After talking to them for awhile, they let us go with a warning, and that we get the extra people off the boat asap. So we made are we to the shore, but along the way we met a sweet dude name Mike was a bitch’in boat. Mike had a MOOMBA boat that was in the gravity games for wake boarding. The tower had a awesome sound system and PA. He blasted metal and rock. They just cruising for the day and we happy for us to join, we brought beer which made them even more happier. We tied up and hung out with them for most of the day. Definitely a cool group of people.
Other times we took groups of 4 out for some more jumping. Derek Sean, Z and I decided to assault “the nipple”. This was a jagged outcropping in the middle of the lake. This was the highest jump of the day (40-50 ft), as well as my most epic Deep water Solo Route. Everyone found different ways to go up, but I wanted claim the face of the Nipple. The Climb started out with 1 juggy hold and a crimp, it then move to a weird but sweet turndown, and then just handjams the rest of the way. Free climbing above water is such a weird feeling, you feel worried that you going to fall until you start falling, after that while you falling you feel super calm because you know you be ok. In the end I got the nipple twice, but was completely exhausted. I believe I can state that I have the first ascent, onsite and redpoint of this route.
Pueblo was a fun time here are some more shots from the trip.
After Brewfest(around 8PM), we decided to camp for the night. So Dave led the drive into the Mountains to find somewhere to camp. We setup shop at the top of the cell-tower road overlooking the town of Ft. Collins. We hike several yards down into the woods and found a sweet spot. We immediately went to camp ‘readiness mode’. Dave setup the tents, the girls went about gathering a huge amount of firewood, and I “the master of fire” made of huge fire ring out of all the near by boulders. Within 15 Min’s camp was setup, a roaring fire was flickering about, and food was being cooked. We feasted, watched stars and passed out on a nice cool evening.
The next morning, we went to Vern’s Place for breakfast. Vern’s was an awesome restaurant. First of all, its first come first serve. There is no hostess to seat you. You have to rush and claim a table before someone else does. Secondly is the huge amount of stuffed dead animals on the wall. This look is exactly how I want my house to look like in the future. Third is the Vern’s Huge Famous Cinnamon rolls. These were the most delicious and ridiculous cinnamon rolls that I have ever eaten (sorry Dad, yours were semi-close). Each one was the size of a dinner plate. Vern’s Place looks like a hole in the wall from the 1930’s because it is and that’s what makes it awesome. It was built to support the workers constructing the nearby Horsetooth Reservoir.
After our pleasant breakfast, we took off to RMNP (Rocky Mountain Nation Park) because Dave and Katie, have never been. I suggested we do the quick driving tour of the park since it was Sunday and we eventually need to get back to COS. RMNP on the weekends is definably a tourist trap. Everyone is out to enjoy nature from the the comforts of their cars. Basically, RMNP allows people to see animals and majestic view with great ease.
On some of the pull overs, Dave and I came to the realization that it is great fun make other people’s mothers nervous. We did our best to be adventurous/bad influences to little kids that could only standby and watched us hop safety barriers, climbing on rock cliffs, and other sorts of tumultuous activities. It was great fun to hear the whispers of mothers saying to their kids, “now, don’t you ever, ever, ever do that.” But I think the kids saw how much more fun we were having and break their mothers wishes.
I also decided the traffic was becoming a problem on ridge road. So I built a snowman traffic cop in the center of the road to stop all the driving infractions. People seemed to not heed the snowman attempts at civil order, and instead decided to start taking picture with it. That snowman was terrible enforcing order.
RMNP is a great place to go if you want to check out what the Rocky Mtns are about, but only have a day to do so. Below are some more pictures from the trip.
So on Wednesdays (every now and then) , I’m going to try and give a little story about a past adventure. For the first installment, I thought I’d talked about one of my first climbs on a 14er (14,000ft mt.) in Colorado.
Now my memories is a bit fuzzy on the detail of the trip, as it occurred back in the summer of 2007, during my initial internship out in Colorado. I met up with my friend Ben from, Boulder, Co, and couple of his buddies. We head to southern Colorado, to a mountain called “Mt. Blanca”. Mt Blanca is located just south of the Sand-Dunes in Colorado and is surrounded by several other 14er neighbors, “Little Bear”, “Ellingwood Point” and “Mt. Lindsey”.
At the start of the trip, we slept at the foot of the trail and mountain. Early in morning(around 4-5AM) we took off to trek a extreme 4×4 trail to the next base camp. The trail was very rugged and tretrous at parts. Narrow drop offs, epic views, and abandon cabins littered the trail as you continue to climb higher and higher into the air.
We setup base camp at around 11,800 feet, after starting out at 8,000ft and traveling about 7 miles. Base camp was great. It had such majestic views and tranquil surroundings. The part that I enjoyed the most, was wandering around and exploring old cabins and abandon gold mines. After camp was setup, we decided to continue along and try to ascend the rest of Mt. Blanca in one day (tough feat, about 10 miles one way).
The second leg was extremely beautiful. Alpine lakes, craggy rocks, and the tease of fog hiding our final destination. We had about 2,500ft left to go. Some of the views are just speechless….(see below)
less the trip was cut short when we were 100ft from the top. An extreme lightning storm swept and destroyed any hope of making it to the top that day. We decided that not being lit up was a better choice than claiming the ascent. So we went back the 3 miles to base camp and made some dinner and slept. I was hit with a bit altitude sickness, so I didn’t get to climb it again the next morning. But the others in my group got the chance.
I hope to make it back there some day and conquer Little Bear. It is said to be the hardest 14er there is.
“Let jump right into this”, these words are not only referring to my first real blogging experience, but to events that will occur later on in this post. Not many photo’s were taken to highlight the different aspects of the trip, but they do give a good sense of the wacky experience.
The day started out calmly enough in a typical erratic fashion. A 6AM wake, which turned into a 8AM rush to get to Fort Carson. We were making sure to use our buddy Derek’s connections to the Army. Fort Carson supplies discount adventure outings to military employees, but rarely get used. So we decided to exploit help employee these services, will continue to do so in the future.
So a bus full of hungover and rambunctious young-en’s headed to Canyon City. Canon City is known as the commercial white water capital of Colorado. By far it is the most rafted river in Colorado. Another factoid of Canyon City is that it is the Incarceration Capital of Colorado ( maybe the west?) including, several federal penitentiaries, country jails, and a super max prison. However, I’ll save this for another day.
The part of the river we were rafting was Big Horn Sheep Canyon, known for the incredible amount of promiscuous sheep that frequent the canyon. We put-in alongside a couple other groups of rafting hippies (otherwise know as river rats). We dawned our rafting apparel, played a game of Frisbee, and stood for the initial badass pose. The water being a balmy 50* degrees (fresh snow melt, yum) we decided to keep our wet suits on (except Sean, who want to show off his Hawaiian surfing calves).
Our rafting guide, Dave turned out to be a super cool dude, and by far we were the awesomest boat crew of the trip. Dave proceeded to tell us all sort of jokes, which became more racier and naughtier the further we drifted downstream. Blonde jokes , Irish jokes, and some “I dare not menton” jokes were had and maybe enjoyed.
So down the river we went, destroying class III rapids, nomming class IV. The river was no match for the prowess of the seasoned 8-man crew. Past dead dog tree (named because it had no “bark” , haha?), over the Sharks Tooth, and pounded by Fluffy Muffin (funny story there), the river was not ready for us. Then came the swimming portion. At this point, Dave said ,half-jokingly, that we could get out and enjoy some of the refreshing Rock Mtn water and rapids. Never before had he seen his entire crew completely desert the raft and launch into water of their own free will. Pushing, tackling, and diving ensued; leaving Dave to float downstream without a crew. After floating through some rapids and swimming with the fishes, everyone climbed back in and we said jokingly that it was practice, and that practice made perfect.
We took a break at a rock cliff and did some free form diving/cactus jumping. The jump was approximately 15-20 at its highest point, and about 10 at the lowest, we would not let anyone jump from the lowest spot, which would have resorted to some severe name calling. As is true with any extreme sport, style was key.
Numerous jumps and chilled bones later, we proceed downstream. Sean wanted to ride the bull ( sit on the front, of the boat through rapids) so he hopped up front and sat down. He took some pictures and readied for the ride. While he was waiting, everyone else silent agreed and nodded that he wasn’t going to be in the boat much longer. I then continued to body-check Sean out of the raft, and everyone watched/waved to him as he floated downstream. Looking for help and feeling betrayed he asked another boat for help. Their reply was “forward 2…” and proceed to paddle away leaving Sean a drift and cold. The one other causality on the trip was Paul, who fell out of the boat of his own free will, while we were spinning on a flat section of water, very very odd. After numerous punishment oars to the face we decided to pull him back in.
We landed at a beach and disrobed our wet gear, excited that we would be eating soon. However one thing remained, the manly picture of the day. The studliest group of rafters that that river has ever seen and probably ever will see posed in triumphant success.
The half day trip was over and we packed up the van. Satisfied that we had a new friend, Dave the Raft Master, we headed back to COS. We decided to saved the royal gorge for another day, which is were real extreme rafting beings. Next time…….
