Archive for August, 2010

Mountaineering – Mt. Meeker (Attempt)

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Clare Experiencing a Mountain High
Wake Up Time: 3:50am
Meet Up Time: 5am
Start Hiking: 5:15am
Turn Around Time: 9:45am
Finish Time: 1pm
Total Distance: About 8 Miles (See Topo below!)
Mt Meeker Topo and Profile
CMC Group met at the Longs Peak Ranger Station. Leader crossed names off a list, and we waited for one gal who was about 10 minutes late. When she arrived, we took off hiking.

Not knowing about the team capabilities (except mine & Linda’s) prior to our hike made me a little nervous. I had to trust the leader Steve had a rough idea. This trip was completely the opposite of the prior CMC trip I had attended, which was executed with a militaristic degree of efficiency and planning. Steve’s leadership is a laid back and all-inclusive style.

Our group was a hodge podge assortment of personalities. Quotes from my fellow climbers later that day:
“I’ll make it to the top even if I have to crawl on all fours!”
“Oh, don’t mind him, he’s an engineer…I’ve been out with him before and he’s always like this.” (referring to above quote!).
“What am I going to tell the guys when they find out we didn’t summit?”
“I don’t understand why we have to start this early. When I did Quandary, we didn’t start hiking until 10am and we had a wonderful day!”
And, my favorite…
“I haven’t been running for a month. I threw my back out playing with my daughter.”

Pictures as follows: (more…)

Rock Climbing – Third Flatiron, East Face (5.6)

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Climbergirl & Lauren Using VFF for the Hike Back
Lauren & I climbed the East Face of the Third Flatiron with her 70 meter rope. We did the route in 4 very long pitches, with way more gear than we should have taken. Extra weight is good for training, right? We had enough stuff for a 120 meter rope (if they make such a thing!).

Wake Up Time: 4:45am
Meet Up Time: 5:10am
Chautauqua Parking Lot: 5:50am
Hiking: 6am
Climbing: 7:15am
Summit of Third Flatiron: 10:45am
Finish Rappelling: 12pm
Back to Packs: 1pm
Lunch at South Side Walnut Cafe where I had the artichoke heart & swiss omelette & french toast. Totally YUMMY!!!

Temps got up to the mid 90s, and again, it was a scorcher. At times, both Lauren & I were uncomfortable as the heat radiated off the rock. Good thing we were fast and started early! Pictures below, (more…)

Graduated Wilderness First Aid Course

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

I joined Kat for an all day practicum with the Colorado Mountain Club. This final day was the most insightful and useful class! Dennis had also signed up for the class (3 lectures and the practicum), but he bugged out on the last day, in favor of playing Ultimate.

The practicum took place at a park in Golden. They split the class into groups of 4 and had us travel from one scenario to another. The scenarios were representative of common emergent situations in wilderness. There was everything from person who had a serious fall from a rock into a creek, to a person with AMS. (more…)

Rock Climbing – First Flatiron, Bakerdango (5.6)

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Lauren & Clare First Flatiron Summit
Wake Up Time: 4:45am
Meet Up Time: 5:15am
Chatauqua Parking Lot: 6:15am
Discovery of Clare’s Missing Harness/Belay Device: 6:20am
Ad Hoc Solution Via Swami Belt using Lauren’s Long Sling: 6:40am
Begin Hiking: 6:50am
Start Climbing: 7:45am
Summit First Flatiron: 1:20pm
Painful Swami Belt Lowering: 1:30pm
Chatauqua Parking Lot: 2:30pm
Lunch at Brasserie Ten-Ten: 3:00pm (Got Nicoisse Salad-YUM!!!)
Home: 6pm

Day time temps were in the mid 90s, which was scorching on the rock!

I’m glad we had a 70 meter rope, but it still wasn’t quite long enough to combine pitches 3 & 4 without simul-climbing. In future, I would do it with a 60 meter rope, and just know that I’d have to simul-climb.

Wearing the swami belt was uncomfortable and painful. It made me feel grateful for the generations before; it is their pain & suffering which has promoted the shift in design and innovation for safer, lighter, and stronger equipment!

Thank you, Lauren for the extra sling & belay device. Without your extra gear, we wouldn’t have been able to do the climb! More pictures below…
(more…)

Hiking – Cimarron Canyon State Park, NM

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Lauren & I went to Cimarron Canyon State Park under the auspices of checking out some climbing areas. In her Taos Rock Climbing guidebook, it lists a couple of crags in the park as having some moderate climbs. We hiked up to the Maverick area, and scoped it out.

I AM NOT POSTING ANY OF THE PICTURES I TOOK BECAUSE THIS WALL IS CLOSED. In fact the entire SP has been closed to climbing. From reading the following forum, posted on Mountain Project, I did not get any happy vibes that this issue would resolve anytime soon. So, saddly, we didn’t climb there. Even though, it looks like tons of fun!