Farewell Boulder! Hello opportunity!

Since leaving the bubble that is Boulder I have been to, drum roll please, Estes Park, Colorado Springs, Canon City, Cheyenne WY, and Laramie WY. All in one short week.

Yes, yes, I know this is my vacation and it's supposed to be relaxing, but anyone who knows me knows I am not the kind of person to sit still and watch life pass me by.

You may be asking yourself, now how did it come to be that in 7 short days Heidi managed to visit all these different places. Well, let me tell you. It all began in Estes Park....

I arrived mid afternoon last Thursday and set about exploring the town. Eventually I found my self at The Wheel Bar where I got suckered into a shuffle board game, which is surprisingly competitive considering it is a game dominated by the retired community. It was there that I met up with a wedding party, part of which happened to be rafting guides. We got to talking about rafting and one thing led to another, and before you know it I was invited down to Colorado Springs. After a nice hike-swim-climb on Friday I made the drive south.

The actual river, the famed Arkansas, is down in Canon City, along with Royal Gorge Rafting headquarters. I spent the next three days rafting, logging over 70 miles on the river and meeting a bunch of incredible people. I am convinced that rafting, like rock climbing, is one of those communities that only allows really cool people in. It's like a secret organization, that in order to pass initiation you must demonstrate a certain level of bad-assness.

The Royal Gorge is an awesome section of river. With six Class IV rapids like Sunshine Falls and Boat Eater, the gorge is one of the most rafted sections of river in America. It also happens to be located in the deepest gorge in America, so its got that going for it.

There are a group of RGR rafting guides who call themselves the Wyoming Boys. It was with these gentlemen that I found myself bound for Cheyenne. Cheyenne Wyoming is home to the largest rodeo, or as they say "the mother of 'em all". Bulls, wranglers, half pound burgers, cowboys hats, pancakes, beer, and broncs were all part of the experience. Not to mention getting to see Darius Rucker in concert. This name might sound familiar because before entering the country music scene, Darius was better known as Hootie, as in Hootie and the Blowfish. He put on amazing show, complete with a couple of covers and old Hootie songs.

All in all, it's been an amazing week. And my adventure isn't even over yet! Gradie and I will be on the road for another two weeks give or take, so you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be more blog posts to come! Until then, YEEEE HAWWWWW and grab life by the horns! ...but please don't grab the bull's horns unless you are professional.

Spider Style!

Bouldering,top rope, sport, trad, soloing, and now buildering. Every time I think I have tried every possible type of climbing I learn of another exciting venture. Today we were suppose to climb the chimney route of the first Flat Iron, celebrating our summit by smoking a fine cigar. However, mother nature had other plans for us. She lifted her skirt and let the rain come down.
Discouraged, we ventured into Whole Foods for a quick pick me up in the form of ice cream, the solve all of man kind. With our newly found energy and determination, we set our sights on the campus Colorado University.
Now, a college campus might seem like an unlikely climbing destination, however CU is listed on Mountain Project to have at least 28 climbs.

Buildering.
The climbing of buildings, which in turn, makes you feel like Spiderman minus the spandex outfit, unless of course, you happen to be climbing in spankies.

Many of the campus buildings are covered in sheet rock, offering a wide variety of very sustained, crimpy traverses and problems. The engineer building is covered in the unmistakable white of chalk and houses one of the most pumpy traverses I have ever attempted. Even the mannly, muscly men were forced to succumb to its power.

The moral of this story is that regardless of bad weather, there is ALWAYS, and I do mean always, some where to climb!

I know, I know. It's been way too long since I have taken up my pen, ahem, I mean keyboard. I apologize from the depths of my heart dear readers.
Now to the good stuff...

Every where you look in Boulder there is climbing, well, climbing and coffee. I started my adventure here by going to an indoor gym called The Spot which I heard about in Utah. There I meet a bunch of people who have since become my climbing partners. So far I have been to the Satellite boulders, Flagstaff Mountain, Boulder Canyon, Eldorado Canyon, and the Flatirons. All these areas are within 15 minutes of Boulder, so needless to say I am in heaven. Even Gradie has been enjoying the climbing!

He has perfected the art of sleeping while I climb. The little kleptomaniac has also gotten quite good at stealing my friend Ben's water bottle.

One of my favorite climbs thus far is the First Flatiron. A gorgeous slab of rock that juts out of the mountainside just above Boulder, the first Flatiron is one of five, which are all about 500 feet tall. While climbing you can look over your shoulder at the scenic landscape that is Boulder and its surroundings.

In each of the areas that I mentioned before there is SO much climbing. Literally the rock just keeps going. Every time I have gone out, which has been almost every single day, I have climbed some where new and yet I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg! One of my favorite things about this area, besides its endless nature, is the variety of climbing within a close vicinity. Bouldering, sport, soloing, and trad. Below is me cleaning a trad climb in Boulder canyon. Notice my ripply arm muscles. Yea, I'm a climber ;)

Gradie goes on all my adventures with me and the lil bugger does great! He is such a champ. Sometimes when the terrain is too rough for his stubby legs he gets a free ride in my pack. I'm thinking about sending this picture into Black Diamond because not only are they my favorite climbing gear company, but also because I think Gradie would make a great mascot.

In Boulder Canyon some of the climbing is on the other side of the creek. Because this winter has been long and intense there is still a ton of snow pack in the mountains, which means that the rivers are wicked high. To get across climbers have set up a series of Tyroleans, which allow climbers to embrace their inner Indian Jones. I got really into it, especially since I had the added challenge of getting Gradie across. This is the solution I came up with:

I still don't like coffee despite the many attempts made by my new friends. I have, however, fallen madly in love with Boulder. Maybe there's something in the water, or maybe it's the friendly people, crazy amounts of climbing, and gorgeous scenery, but either way, Boulder has definitely captured part of my heart and I plan on living here someday.

Don't Drink and Ride

Boulder. What a unique place. I've been here less than 24 hours and I've already learned so much! For example, it is illegal to ride a horse within the state of Colorado while under the influence. It is an actual law. Look it up.

I was not supposed to be in Colorado yet. Not until the end of May, but waking up to 6 inches of snow yesterday threw the best laid plans in the can. The tent was sagging under the weight of the fresh powder, so we packed up camp and headed east. It was a gorgeous drive. The Colorado and White rivers accompanied the road as it wound through spectacular canyons. There was snow through Vail pass, but the resorts all looked deserted. Guess no one expects it to dump in May!

It is probably a good thing that this weather struck when it did. After two weeks in Joe's, my hands were finally starting to show wear, despite the exfoliating nature of the rock.

Despite my torn up hands I managed to send a super fun V3 in New Joe's called Snake Mouth. However, almost immediately post send the rain came. We retreated to camp, but not until after I gave Self-Service, an ultra-classic climb, a pretty good go. I felt like sending but the weather said otherwise. I definitely have some projects left undone in Joe's and cannot wait to return! That place is dopeeeeeee! (extra e's for emphasis of its dopeness) Farwell Utah, you were good to me.

HELLO COLORADO!

Who knows what adventures await me here?! The one thing that I do know is I am stoked to be here and hope this damn rain stops soon!

P.S.
In case you didn't happen to see my obnoxious facebook post, I sent my project Gatorade! It's the first V5 I've ever done. Hopefully it won't be my last : )

Peace cbyerspace.

172657. The number of miles that my odometer read to me as I was leaving the city limits of Davis. Over 1,000 miles later in the heart of Utah I am living life to the fullest every day. As Hallmark as that sounds it's true. I've spent the last week climbing and hiking around one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Scenes like this make me think God must be an artist. How else do you explain the shear beauty? I feel so blessed to able to spend time here. Falling asleep to a night sky speckled with billions of stars and waking up to the sun light gently streaming through pine boughs. My days are spent scrambling up rocks and dipping my toes in the river.

This is Gatorade, my V5 project. If I send this it will be my first V5. I've spent two days working it and made some pretty good progress. Keep your fingers crossed for me and maybe drink some extra Gatorade over the next few days (can't hurt, right?).

Rain, Rain Go Away, Don't Come Back Til I've Left Utah.

I am currently posted up in the Orangeville Library, as the weather refuses to cooperate. It is a modest little building but has a decent selection of books considering half the town can barely spell their own name. But on a rainy day it makes a good spot to stay warm and dry, while contemplating what to climb when the sun shows its face again. Plus, the rain gives me that extra little shove I needed to update the old blogeroni.

After leaving Elko, NV we hoped on the 80 and pounded pavement all the way to Salt Lake City, UT. There I might up with a lady I had found on Craig's List and purchased a nearly complete rack. As a good friend of mine told me when I mentioned my purchase, I am moving up in the world :) This latest purchase coupled with the crash pad I bought in Joshua Tree a few weeks earlier, and I am beginning to feel, and perhaps look, like less of a gumbi. For those non-climbers reading, gumbi is a term coined by experienced climbers for those who are either new to the sport, or an ever dreaded poser.

From Salt Lake our little caravan continued on to the small, but welcoming town of Orangeville which is a mere ten minutes from Joe's Valley. Now, I had never been to Joe's before and prior to this trip I had been warned of its highly addictive nature. Originally I had shrugged off the warning, after all, climbing in of itself is addictive. What could make this place so special? Well, let me tell you. The rock here is sandstone which equates to fine grain sandpaper. Super good for your skin. "Feel good climbing" if you will. Plus there is a ton of it. Everywhere you look there is another boulder begging you to come climb it. The rock is broken up into three main realms, the Left Fork, the Right Fork, and New Joes. These are subdivided into areas, which are further broken down by specific boulder. So far I've done some climbing in each of the three, but not enough to pick a favorite. However, I'm sure I will be willing to play favoritism by the end of the month!

Day one of climbing was spent primarily at Boysize Area which is not far from camp. This spot has a wide variety of difficulties, ranging from the easiest warm up climbs to those that Chris Sharma might warm up on. It was there that I discovered my first project, a V6 called Eurosize. I have never conquered a V5 before, much less a V6, so this is a tall order. But after giving it some good tries it feels like it might go. Eventually.

The next day was a bit toasty so we immediately set course to the Riverside boulders. The main boulder there is half in the cool blue water of the river (thus the ever creative name of Riverside). It was here, on the slabby face of the K-Town boulder that I realized the true splendor of sandstone. Suddenly the tiniest of ripples in the rock was a sturdy foot. Every time I grabbed a hold, except for the occasional skin-awakening crimp, it was like my skin was getting exfoliated at the finest of day spas. Even after a solid three days of climbing my skin looked magnificent, a big feat for any climber! I wish I could strap one of the boulders to Shark's roof rack and drive it back to Cali with me!

When we made our trip into town to pick up dinner supplies at the Food Ranch, we made an exciting discovery. Next to the parking lot sat a cooler full of food with a big sign saying FREE. To a hungry climber the only thing better than free food is climbing, so needless to sat we jumped on this opportunity. A note inside the cooler read "Enjoy this food and when you're done pass it on. Climb hard and send!". Also in the cooler, amidst the Mac N' Cheese and cans of tuna was a little bag of ganja. All I have to say is, climbers are an amazing community of people!

In order to bring this blog to a timely close, I will conclude it with a list of sent problems. Made the list from memory so I probably left out a few, but my favorites are definitely all here.
Obsolete V2
Regular V2
Warm Me Up Scotty V1
Powerade V3
Shit V4
K-Town V4
B-Town v3
Chexmix V3
Toy Truck V0
Tonka V0
Tweakers V2

P.S.
Sorry I don't have any pictures to post yet. I promise that eventually I will remember to take my camera out of my backpack.

ELKO!

First day on the road! Wish I could say it was glorious, but it primarily consisted of the bland landscape that plagues Nevada. Despite the monotone nature of the sights, the feeling of being out on the open road, with the hot wind whipping through my hair was amazing.

After a fairly late start we plowed through Cali and across the Nevada state line. On the far side of the border sign there were casinos lining each side of the road, but once past Reno the landscape flattened out.

The day's driving ended in a town I had never heard of before, the beautiful, the wonderful, the almost out of hotels, Elko. Tomorrow we are Salt Lake City bound, which holds the promise of more exciting landscape and hopefully something more interesting to "blog" about :)