On Sunday, I went climbing with Margaret, with the expectation of meeting with Eckhard later in the day-he was nice enough to loan us his Clear Creek Guidebook. There were some complications, due to construction, and we ended up getting a little lost around downtown Denver. Margaret’s GPS came in handy, and soon we were back on track. But the extra putzing around cost us some time.
We ended up getting to the crag pretty late in the day (close to 10:30am!). There were hoards of people all around High Wire, and it was hot in the sun. I didn’t want to wait in line to climb, so I headed around the corner and found some nice semi-shaded climbs.
Margaret jumped on a pumpy looking 5.10, and in typical Margaret fashion, sailed right up. I was about to clean it, when Eckhard showed up. So, the two of us climbed it, and were quickly pumped.
Next, Margaret moved on to the climb to it’s left. It was a chossy looking 5.11+ climb. There was a moment of struggle up high, on a tricky traverse…so I was wondering if I was warmed up enough to confront this beast. I made the valiant attempt to clean it, but about 1/3-1/2 the way up, I decided that I would probably end up injuring myself, as every move was a strain. I ended the torture, and Margaret went up it once more.
About this time, a little rain came down…and it was time for a lunch/snack.
After this, we decided to head across the highway to Highlander. The hike felt longer than it probably is, and climbing the steep hillside was not much fun. I wondered if it was worth it (the rock quality was not that great, so far).
About 45 minutes later, we were at Highlander, and there were only 2 other parties. One of the guys pointed out a couple of 5.10s for us to get started on, and also a few harder ones (for Margaret). Margaret put up one of the 5.10s a very long one.
I believe this is Neo Quasi Bugaloo (12 draws). It is super fun, best climb of the day (IMO). The slabby part up high rattled my nerves a bit, but the holds are all there…they’re just teeny tiny.
A storm system had been building up all day, and it finally hit us, just as Margaret was doing Blue Sky Mining…at least that’s what I remember. Whatever climb it was, she got B-L-O-W-N all around, with the winds picking up and wreaking havoc with her send.
When she was done with the climb, we raised the white flag of surrender to the weather gods, and went home. Not a very productive day of climbing, but it was nice hanging around with Eckhard and Margaret.
I wondered about Dennis’ Ireland adventure, and how his day was going…
Tags: Clear Creek Canyon, Rock Climbing