An entirely epic week:
Monday, 6/9/14: Sub hour, Green Mountain; up Amphitheater/Saddle, down Gregory (Strava)
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Saturday I was only a few minutes shy of going sub hour up and down Green Mountain. Perhaps par for the course for some, but the psychological barrier of going up and down Green Mountain in less than an hour was too tempting not to try, as soon as I was a bit rested. Besides, my run up Green on Saturday was after a dozen+ pitches of Flatiron scrambling. Tired legs, for sure.
Happy to come in under the mark, but certainly not as fast as I can go; felt sluggish on the up, although completely out of control going down.
Tuesday, 6/10/14: Boulder to Summit Lake, Mt Evans, back to Echo Lake, (Strava)
Rode the bike loaded up to Mt Evans, to do a bit of recon/training/whatever for the Mt, Evans Hill Ascent – something I signed up for, not really understanding why – I don’t like running on roads, I don’t even particularly want a road up a 14er, but what the heck. Considering I had a fast (for me) run on Mon, a 83 mile bike ride today, and what I had in store on Wed, it’s a wonder I was able to walk at all, come Saturday. Hoping for the summit for today, but it was 7:30pm, when I got to summit lake, and I needed to get some shuteye for the next day’s 1:00am wake up.
Wednesday, 6/11/14: Evans Egis (minus Rosalie) (Strava)
For whatever reason, the Evans Egis, “route” occupies my idle thoughts: 11? summits, two over 14,000 feet, a little over 25 miles. It’s a long day. Part of the allure is that the peaks you summit can all be seen from Denver on a clear day. Out on the trail at 1:45 am to severely windy conditions, but was expecting as much. Managed to do a pretty good job with summiting everything basically in sight, except missing out on Rosalie – just a route finding error on my part – the little peak I thought was Rosalie wasn’t – some of the sub peaks are a little odd. Made it back to the gate @ 9:01pm, late enough to miss getting any water from the Lodge, or any food. It was a weird night camping in the bushes. The next day (Thurs.) I rode back to Idaho Springs, to do some work (Strava)
Friday, 6/13/14: Clear Creek Canyon sport climbing
Out of character for myself, I met up with my Lady, who brought gear for the rest of my trip. I usually just carry everything, but there was literally too much gear to haul by bike – and I had a race the next day. Our plan was to actually do the 2nd Apron of Evans, but our moods and the weather did not make it seem like a likely goal. After some regroup, we decided to go down to Clear Creek Canyon to do some sport climbing, where my Lady excels and I am the one who is certainly the student.
We started with People’s Choice, 5.10d, 3 pitches, that she assured me was “only” seen as a 5.9+ by the local climbing community.
The overhanging dihedral, seen from below had me literally yelling out loud to her, for all to hear “I have no confidence that I can even attempt to follow this”. But she didn’t relent – and follow her: I certainly did. I even lead pitch 2 (5.5 – ha!), creating the anchor up top and belaying, actually being a first for me, on a multi-pitch route – I certainly am a beginner. Later, she confided that the position I had to be in (no ledge to sit/stand on, using a non-guide ATC to belay) was probably the most awkward way you can possibly belay. You see why I hang out with this one.
Somehow, I was again tricked into leading Ace in the Hole (5.10a), and Cracker Jack (5.9), until finally succumbing (whining) that I was too tired for anything else, I followed Deuces Wild (5.10a), which we did in one long pitch, and two raps.
Surprisingly, I stuck everything, and didn’t fall once. Whatever caused that, I have no idea (luck).
Saturday, 6/14/14 – Mt. Evans Ascent, Sawtooth to Bierstadt (Strava)
81st place or something! Woo! I wasn’t expecting much from this race – I already had a huge week on my feet and on the bike, and I’ve ran on a road, maybe once or twice this year, I just did this to do it. Got to about mile 12, before I succumbed to an asthma attack, and legs not really into running on hard pavement. Met up with my Lady at the summit and we hiked to Bierstadt via the Sawtooth, dodging a few storms along the way.
Sunday, 6/14/14 – Torreys via Keslo Ridge, Grays (Strava)
A wonderful camping outing at the summer trailhead, the night before and we were ready to do Keslo Ridge. Some interesting route finding lead us to some funny places, but we figured it out. It’s good to bring an actual climber with you, but they do seem to check every single solitary hold, grumbling at how many are exceptionally loose, which of course is the majority. Did a little impromptu “this is how you self-arrest with an ice axe, but please do not even get into that sort of problem” lesson, and we made the summit of Torreys – probably my 4th time doing Keslo.
Week total on my feet: 59.4 miles, 22,745 feet
Week total on the bike: 96.9 miles, 10,505 feet
Big week! A half marathon up a 14er, 6 14er summits in total, ~100 miles of fully loaded riding, and a nice sport climbing outing. Sitting here on Monday, I’m happy to report that I’m not totally crushed, but happy enough to take the day off.
