climbergirl blog

On Friday, Holly & I packed our winter gear in the car and headed up to Boulder for some hiking around the Flatirons. It was a gorgeous day in Denver, but in Boulder it was a snowing and there was dense cloud cover. We parked the Subi, and headed down the Chautauqua Reservoir Road, and then onto trails of the Boulder Mountain Park.

Holly took almost all the pictures you see here-and most of the good pictures on our trip out to Denver. She really has an eye for art! (more…)

I promised Holly that if we got to Denver early, then we’d drive up to Estes Park. We did, so on Thursday, we drove up to Estes Park. We met Holly’s longtime friend Lorna who runs an Art Gallery. I really loved these clam shaped soup bowls made out of ceramic, and painted accordingly. They were so realistic and neat. I wanted to buy them, but since we are living out of boxes it was not good timing.

Lorna & Holly got all caught up, and then Lorna told us about the trailhead for the Lumpy’s-how it’s moved. After we got directions, and had finished chatting, we jumped in the car and headed over to the Lumpy’s. It was a very cold afternoon-the temps were around 30 and snow came down intermittently as we walked. The winter greyness did not obscure the beauty of the place. There is something special about the woods around Estes! (more…)

On Friday 13th, climbergirl drove up over Walker’s Pass and down into Weldon. A climbing partner was acquired, along with her subrack containing THE largest tri-cam I’ve ever seen! We cleared out of the wilting and withering heat, hoping to reach the Needles Lookout Parking area by sundown. (more…)

On June 3rd, Charles, Mary, Jay, Petar, Dennis, and myself hiked up to the summit of Mt. Gould. The day was gorgeous, great weather, and the trail was quite dry. Previously, I had been to the top of Kearsarge Pass, but I had not gone the last mile or so to the summit of Mt. Gould.

The hike from Kearsarge Pass to the summit of Mt. Gould wasn’t too challenging. There was a trail of sorts that followed along side the crest, but I chose to boulder up the ridgeline instead of doing the slog. The whole day was a challenge as the elevation kept giving me fits…but just keeping a steady pace was the key. Eventually, my body adjusted and I felt fine-but that took a couple hours. The rest of the group seemed to be doing just dandy, so the hike went fairly fast. At the end of they everybody dipped their feet in the creek at Onion Valley Parking area, and then we went out for Burgers at the Whitney Portal Restaurant. Yummy for my tummy!!!

Walter & I welcomed the first day of Winter by ascending Mt. Jenkins. We left the car (@~5400ft) around 9:30am and got to the summit (nearly 8,000ft) around noon. Not bad for a leisurely pace including a couple stops for snacks and shedding layers. (more…)