Vestal Basin

The last four days I was able to leave the 5th wheel behind and venture into the wilderness. On 6/30, an instructor, a student and I hiked the 11/12miles from Molas Lake into Vestal Basin in the Weiminuche Wilderness within the San Juan National Forest. The trip started with a 3,000ft descent to the Animas River and then another 3,000ft back up to Vestal. It was a tough, long day, but we made it in good time and met the rest of the 30-day crew.

The next day, the group decided to rest while some instructors scouted the Wham Ridge. Meanwhile, another instructor walked me through snow school. This was the first time I've self-arrested. We went through the whole progression from kicking snow steps to self-arresting to glissading. I self-arrested on my back, on my belly, headfirst, with a pack. It was pretty fun and good develop for me. Afternoon showers put a damper on any afternoon climbing plans. A few days ago I picked up some fishing line and flies from a shop. In the afternoon, I headed over to super cold Vestal Lake to try my hand. After only a few casts, bam!, a rainbow trout was on my line. I quickly took up the line with my hands and got the fish out of the water. THEN, the wish wriggled off the hook and back into the water. FAIL. I was super disappointed. I could taste that pan-seared trout already.

The plan was to climb Arrow and Wham the next two days. We awoke at 3:45am to cloudy skies and rain, so Wham was cancelled. A couple of hours later, though, the sky was stable enough for us to head up Arrow. Three instructors, myself, and the 7/8 students headed up. The ascent route was mostly talus and low angle slab with some lower 5th class moves. It took two fixed lines in techy places. This was my first summit! The peak offered beautiful views of peaks for miles. The rain and hail came quickly and made those slabs very sketchy. Those two fixes turned into seven fixes.

I was really happy with the climb. The instructors were great! They made an intentional effort to incorporate me into the climb. I helped spot students, manage ropes, clean fixes, and even helped build anchors. It gave me a good picture of being an OB instructor.

After a stormy night of thinking my tent was gonna blow away, I awoke, packed and headed back to civilization. Right before leaving, the mountain goats came into camp, which rounded out my wildlife sightings of pikas and ptarmigans. Seeing the San Juans was incredible and the development I got out of the trip was priceless. This course is so unique and has given me a very broad experience within OB. I love it! Now I prepare for the final resupply which requires going over a 4x4 pass. I'll definitely report back on that.

Enjoying Creation

Two days ago, I experienced the most incredible hike of my life. Heading out from Little Molas Lake on Hwy 550, I took the well-packed Colorado Trail up a series of switchbacks. Very quickly, the trail was moving up the naturally terraced, rock lined hill side above treeline. After only about ten minutes, I decided to turn the run into a hike in order to more fully take in my surroundings. It was during the next few minutes that I fell in love with God and his creation again. Like the psalmist, I felt incapable of withholding praise. The mountains, the hills, the sky - they all are a testament of the power, beauty and creativity of God. Furthermore, as his creation, I naturally feel most satisfied and complete when encompassed by his glory that is nature. This summer is almost surreal to me. I have the privilege of hanging around beautiful Colorado, hiking, camping and interacting with incredibly interesting people. In the moment, I can perceive that this is a pivotal point in my life. God is teaching and developing me everyday, and I am grateful. Even my future path is starting to become less murky. I don't know what the future holds but I am not worried, knowing that he will guide my ways and work everything for the better.

In other news, I've spent a couple days in Durango this week. A friend and I went up to XRock off Hwy 550 and I led Left X, a full trad route. Although only rated a 5.7, it was stiff. The additional mental stress of playing your own gear is amazing. It is completely different from sport climbing. I love it. Yesterday, we went on the Alpine Loop in a friend's jeep. This 4x4 path of old mining roads winds through some beautiful parts of the San Juans. It was a fun drive. We eventually went to Velocity Basin, a cirque-like area surrounded by peaks. The accumulating snow was melting off to leave astoundingly blue water. I've never seen such color in water before. In some spots, the water over the top of snow, leaving the snow dimpled and pitted - a neat look.

Climbing Bonanza

Today was an awesome day!  I had the morning off so I went climbing out at Cecille Ville N of Leadville.  When I came back to work, we were all given the afternoon off, so we went down to Buena Vista to climb at Turtle Rock!  YES!

Cecille Ville is a small granite outcropping on the side of Hwy 91.  It had 6-8 sport climbs on it.  My fellow intern and I headed out this morning, greeted by one of our first beautiful sunny and rain-free days.  Without a guidebook, we simply picked a line and hit it.  I led it first and then he led it.  It was probably around a 5.7 and was not too bad.  The rock was frigid though.  This place is definitely an afternoon climbing destination.  We then set up a TR from above on a harder route - ~5.8/5.9.  It was a more balancey face climb using small hands and feet.  They were fun and we had a great time.

In the p.m. a group of 4 of us headed out to Turtle Rock in Buena Vista.  We did some anchor training here last week.  Again, I scouted a route and hopped on it.  It was kind of an arete, face, dihedral mix.  The ~70-80ft route only had like 4 bolts, so I placed some protection in the middle section - 2 nuts and a cam.  The granite there had big ol' crystals.  I was weary of one popping off but they were my only source of holds really so I took advantage.  This lead was probably 5.8+, maybe 5.9.  The runout nature and the delicate holds made for a very heady lead.  I felt very accomplished at the top!  After that, I hopped on this rad crack that a friend led.  The bottom was a face with delicate feet and some flakes for hands.  The big move is only about 15 ft up - a little dual hand crimp with little to no evident feet.  Off that crimp, one has to get high feet, extend upward to an overhead flake - stick a fist in for a bomber handjam.  After that, you just work the flake/crack up the rest of the way.

All in all, it was an awesome day!  My next goal is to climb some multipitch at Monitor Rock on Independence Pass.  "The Nose" route is 5.7 trad and about 5 pitches.  Maybe tomorrow. :)

ROCK ON!