Colorado Front Range and Vedauwoo

Trail Ridge Boulder V4

After leaving Barb's we wanted to do a little bouldering in Rocky Mountain NP before heading to the front range. We first tried to go to Lumpy Ridge but after hiking for a mile or so, learned that the areas we wanted to go to were closed for raptor nesting. We then went back into the park where we found a nice roadside boulder that Matt found some good problems on.  After we were good and tired from bouldering, we headed to the front range to see more friends. Our first stop was Rachel's (a friend of mine from Colorado College). We had a great time catching up over dinner and hanging out with Rachel and Brett and meeting her twin boys. After that it was into Denver to meet up with Matt's friend Jessica and her husband James. They have done a lot of travelling themselves as part of their multimedia business. It was great to talk with them and share stories of their travels and adventures. Then it was up to Boulder to see our friend Mike. We stayed with Mike over the weekend and even though he is perpetually injured and was unable to climb, he still took us on a great hike up Estes Dome and climbing in boulder canyon.

Flatirons

Mike Paul and Matt atop Estes Dome in RMNP

We felt very fortunate to have so many great friends and family to see along they way. The week was our first break from the van and it was quite nice to take real showers, sleep in real beds, and cook food in a real kitchen. Most of all though it was great to sit down with friends and meet new friends, talk and tell stories. No matter what the setting was, it was seeing friends that made it a great time.

Vedauwoo - The Nautilis

After spending the weekend in Boulder, we headed north to Veedawoo Wyoming. Land of off-width cracks and very coarse granite. Our trad climbing resume is fairly short so we expected to get humbled and were not disappointed. Most of the climbs that looked really good were significantly harder than what we wanted to do, so Matt decided to stick to bouldering. The bouldering is reasonably good, though would be hard to compare to other areas as the granite is extremely coarse and has huge crystals in it. There are literally thousands of boulders, but due to the nature of the rock most are lacking in holds and are unclimbable. As John Gill (the father of bouldering in america) said "You can't see a hold anywhere so it's a matter of spending 30 minutes just trying to get off the ground, I've never been very much in love with the place". We would have to share his sentiment, but in recent years some decent boulders have been found.

Cassie bouldering

Captain's Chair V0 w/ kneebar :)

freakin huge crystals!

Cassie opted for a good crack climb that the book claimed was easy to protect and wasn't disappointed. The climb was able to be sewn up with gear and made for a very enjoyable crack climb. There is an impressive amount of rock around and with all the wildflowers in full bloom it's really quite a magical setting. Also, due to the erosion many potholes form in the rock and are full of water. One we found high up on a rock formation had tiny fairy shrimp in it. Quite amazing given its location and the brutal winters the eggs must endure.

Cassie rappelling on Kim 5.6 at Poland Hill

Granite Pothole

Mike, Linda, and Julius will arrive and climb with us through the weekend. Hopefully the weather will hold out. We keep getting rainstorms in the afternoon even though the weather gave a 0% chance. On Monday we will be leaving Vedauwoo to head north, check out an area called Fremont Canyon and possibly swing by Devil's Tower on the way to Ten Sleep Wyoming.

Mojo napping (as usual)

granite flowers