The Big Thompson canyon has rock formations all along the way to Estes Park. Many are difficult to get to, unexplored and unpublished. After having fun tradding like mad the last few weekends, but getting tired of the crowds down south, we decided to check out a local favorite in the BTC: Combat Rock. There are a few more pics from the day in the gallery.

The southern exposure, short hike, and fine granite of the rock make it a great destination for a quick afternoon out in NoCo. But Mark and I found some great looking, very long and exposed, multi-pitch trad routes that are definitely worth going back for. On our Saturday at the rock, we were the second pair of climbers to arrive, and only saw four other people all day. Just the kind of quiet, quality tradding we were looking for.

Rambo Santa (5.7) – We had to start with the easiest but one of the longest single pitches on the rock. It got tricky in some places, interesting in others, and was lots of fun for the whole 140ft. At the anchors, Mark was cold, and I started taking pictures like mad. The scariest part, for me, was the long rap down using our new 8mm tag line. That little purple rope is thin and it wasn’t taking knots very well to begin with. We got it tied in and got down without any problems. I guess it’s just something else for my over-active imagination to obsess about.

Wonderin’ Where the Lions Are (5.9+) – We moved to the climb up and left of where we were for the next one. Mark was nervous on the very thin, but relatively well protected slab moves. I loved every minute of the climb. The thin ledges, crimps and scallops felt great, especially while climbing in near-freezing temps (ok, so, my fingers went really numb). Mark loved the first climb, I loved this second one.

Tree Ledge (5.8) – Mark ran up the easy bottom section of this climb and then checked out the big 5ft wide roof for a while. He sewed it up with gear, placing four pieces besides clipping the manky bolt under the roof. He triumphantly pulled the roof, strapped some gear to the chains around the tree and then came down. When I got up to the roof, I think I was too high on the wall. I actually couldn’t reach the edge! I fiddled around for a while in the muck seeping out of the roof before coming down. Mark climbed it again on TR and cleaned it. The climb seemed fun, but the slime flowing from bottom of the tree ledge made it really gross on Saturday.

It was a fun day out, and I’m looking forward to heading out that direction again. Just as soon as it stops snowing.

Mark and I have agreed since the day we arrived that Colorado is one of the best places on Earth to live. There are so many reasons to love living in this state, I could not list them all here. But while living in Colorado Springs and visiting my brother living in Denver, I have had a chance to see what some of the more urban areas of Colorado are like. And they are nice. Colorado Springs has a lot of character, and certainly a lot more stuff than the Fort (like real malls, excellent Mexican food, tourist destinations galore, and people of different ethnicities).

But I did discover that I prefer Fort Collins. I prefer it to Boulder, Denver or the Springs. This town is really special, and a lot of that has to do with the rural feel that they have managed to keep, despite the exponential growth seen by all Front Range towns. In Fort Collins, you can find quiet natural areas all over the town. I can walk 15 minutes down the hill and be up to my knees in the cold, clear, rushing water of the Poudre river. We have an occasional bear in Old Town. At night, Mark and I fall asleep to the sounds of coyotes. And Liv has chased everything from prairie dogs to 8-point mule deer bucks in this town. In the summer, you can pass people on their horses riding into town in the evening. Gardens, farms, ranches, lakes, creeks, woods, and wildlife make up the backdrop of life here. It is a special place, and I am happier than ever to be home.

In the last two days, I have started to spend some time working on ways to align my life with the ecological evangelizing I performed while teaching my class on Climate Change. I’ve done some research into E85 conversion kits for the yellow car. I’m starting to make arrangements for our local farm food this summer. And I’m putting together a commuting bike I would like to use this summer.

Which is why I was so tickled when this New Belgium video showed up on another blog today. Look, that’s Fort Collins! Look, he’s riding a bike! Look, he’s being chased by Sean’s dogs! I love living in this town.

I’ve written my thesis, I’ve defended my master’s, and now I’ve finished teaching my class at Colorado College. I’m home, I’m done and I’m taking a small vacation. The day after I got home was my birthday, and in celebration of my first day off in more than four months, Liv and I went for a little hike. There are a few pictures (mostly of the very cute doggie) up in the gallery.

We started at the new trailhead behind the stadium just off of Drake road. From there, the trail winds through grassy open space until it begins to climb the steep side of the foothills. We hiked at a fairly good pace all the way up to Rotary park, to the top of the little summit just south of the parking lot for Rotary. From there, we hiked down to the reservoir for a drink and to stop and take some pictures in a brief spot of sun. After our break on the beach, we hiked back up to Rotary, and down to the car. About 4 miles of hiking and two hours later, Liv and I were back in the car and heading home. A nice way to spend a nice day off.

It was the weekend, so what else would Mark and I do? We headed south to Eldorado Canyon to try out some climbs we’ve been eye-ing for several weeks now. Unfortunately, it seemed like every climber in the northern Front Range had similar ideas. Also unfortunately, there are only a few faces in the canyon that are warm enough to climb on this time of year, so we all descended upon Wind Tower like fanboys at a Valve demo.

There are a few photos from the day in the gallery.

The tower was crawling with climbers when we got there, but we were late enough in the morning that a few groups were leaving. We were able to climb a couple classics despite the crowds and mass confusion.

The Bomb (5.4) – This climb starts on a ledge that we traversed out on to, and left us racking up in an already exposed position. We climbed to the new chain anchors, which ended up being almost exactly half of a rope length. The climb was not hard, but the pro was tricky and the exposure was very nice. With all of the people climbing around us, and the raging creek in the valley below, communication became difficult about 10ft after Mark left the ground. Another problem with climbing in Eldo on a busy day — the constant yells, screams and calls between climbers and belayers are confusing, and often the cause of accidents.

Recon (5.6) – While belaying Mark up the second climb of the day, I actually had a party throw their rope down on me. They tried to avoid rappelling on my head, but as they pulled their rope though the anchor it flew down and smacked me on the helmet. Then another group came down from the anchor, and again I got hit on the helmet by their rope as they pulled it through the anchor. By the time I was climbing, there were snowflakes floating down, people screaming on all sides, and I was not happy.

This climb was just as easy as the first climb, proving that grading in Eldo is nearly meaningless. Mark wanted to continue on to the top of the rock, but I convinced him to head down by pointing out the dark clouds that were beginning to blot out the sun, and the group of more than six climbers that were vying for position to use the next set of anchors to rap down. In order to traverse over to the rap anchors for our pitch, I had to cross over some poor guy’s lead line, and then jump infront of another pair that had just rapped down to our ledge. As we set up the rappel and came down, the other couple trying to get down traversed the ledge under, over and around three other pairs of climbers to get to another set of rap anchors.

I know Eldo is busy on the weekends, but this felt creepy and unsafe. I hope that it is because there are so few places for climbers in the warm weather, and that climbs will free up as the snow melts. Otherwise, these two pitches might be the last climbs we do in Eldo for the season.

Happy March Everybody!! It was a warm day before a cold front blasted through, and Mark and I decided to get back out on the rock. I think our recent climbing adventures are evidence that spring is not too far around the corner, and the wild weather this weekend agreed. We decided to use my apartment in Colorado Springs as a base camp for the weekend, so on Saturday we headed out Highway 24 to explore the southern part of the South Platte. Photos from the day are up in my gallery!

Mark and I chose Turkey Rocks as our target for the day, because of their perfect southern exposure and nice moderate cracks. As expected, the forest service road out to the rocks was slushy snow with some deep tire tracks, but the yellow car made it through to the trailhead just fine, and we had a fun time buzzing through the woods in 4wd. The hike up the hill behind the rocks, in a foot of snow, with no boots or gaiters, was less fun. But once we popped over the top of the ridge, we were on the south side of the hill and the sun had baked the snow and moisture off of everything. It felt like a perfect spring day.

I have to admit, I found the names of some of these climbs offensive. I’m not going to add them to my site, but if you’re really curious, you can check them out on MP.com by clicking on the link.

L H J (5.7/8) – We started the morning out on what our book (the big Rock Climbing Colorado guide) called a 5.7. Mark put up a good lead on this long, beautiful hand crack in a left facing corner. Though, he used a lot of gear, and it took him a while to figure out the crux move through the little roof at the top. I followed, and the crack felt really good. I actually hung out on the slab at the top for a while and took pictures of climbers around me until Mark yelled down that he was cold and I should get a move on. I did fall while trying to get over the roof, but I figured out the sequence quickly after that and the rest of the climb was a breeze.

Once I topped out though, the view before me was stunning. Mark had left all long slings, all cordelettes and all big cams on the ground or in the crack below him. He had built an anchor out of wrapping the rope around a few big boulders and then tied himself into this giant web of climbing rope. He had probably used 20 meters of the rope just for his anchor! Creative, yes. Funny to look at, definitely. Watching Mark swear at himself while I walked off and he had to clean up his mess, priceless.

H J A C (5.7) – I had wanted to lead this one, but as we got down from our first climb, the wind was picking up and it felt like clouds were moving in. Mark wanted to move quickly, so he buzzed up this climb and I followed suit. It was much easier than the first, and I know that I am more than capable of leading a climb like that one. I hope I get a chance to lead a bit sometime soon.

R M (5.8) – Ok, so it’s not an offensive name, but I’ve got a precedent now. We walked down from our second climb in a warm breeze and a late afternoon sun. We decided the weather was turning out fine, and we should push ourselves on what we thought was the first 5.8 of the day. (Looks like our first climb may have actually fit that description better). RM was wide at the bottom, and Mark and I both had a little bit of trouble in the dark, wet, slippery crack about 20 ft off the ground. Mark climbed through it, and I blew out a perfect heal-toe (it was wet!) and lost all of the skin on this inside of my left ankle. Again. It must be climbing season! I’ve got band-aides on my ankles!

The climb gets thin, and then arches to the left in a long, beautiful, nearly vertical hand crack. Then you scramble over a steep and featureless slab section to a roof. From there, the climb hooks left, and I found Mark sitting at the top having tied himself to a tree. And the quick and dirty (but quite effective) anchors continue! We both worked hard on that last climb, and both limped away happy with the day. I had worked so hard my shoulders, back and arms were already sore, and my legs were very unhappy after the 20 minute hike back to the car. But the sun stayed out for us all day, and we got to loose some skin to some great cracks. What more could you ask for?

As part of the Global Climate Change class I’ve been co-teaching at Colorado College, we’ve done a fair bit of work with ice core data and paleoclimate change. After finishing up the labs and projects, we took the class to the Ice Core Lab in the Federal Center at Denver. This is the storage and analysis facility for ice cores from all over the world, including the 2-mile long 400,000 year old ice in the Vostok core from Antarctica. There are more pictures from the day in the gallery.

We got to talk to a couple of guys who had just spent the summer in Antarctica drilling the first third of a new core in Western Antarctica. Their stories of difficulty in drilling were really incredible. This summer was a warm one in Antarctica, temperatures topped out near freezing some days! In order to keep the ice stable as they pull it out of the ground, 30ft at a time, they have to chill the building where the drilling is done to -30C! The core is about 5 inches in diameter, and the hole is filled with anti-freeze to keep it from freezing closed as they drill. It can take as much as an hour to lower the drill to the bottom of the hole and nearly two hours to pull the core out of the lower part of the hole.

The analysis rooms in the facility are kept at about -10C. Now, that is harsh working conditions for day-to-day science! The storage facility was much colder. We were all told to bring our coldest winter gear, and I was impressed at how well outfitted most of the students were for winter weather. I suppose that people in Colorado generally invest in full down suits and huge stocking caps as part of their skiing/snowboarding outfit. The temperatures of -30C to -40C in the storage room were cold enough to numb any exposed skin within a minute or two, but without any wind the rest of me was quite comfortable.

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. At least, I thought so. Places like this ice core lab really give a glimpse into how adventurous and exciting the earth science can be!

The weekends are a welcome relief for me right now. I’ve been putting in 14 hour days here at the College, and it’s nice to be able to just go home and relax. But I didn’t want to spend the whole weekend napping! (Ok, I did, but I knew I’d regret it later) So, Sunday, Mark and I got a slow start and headed out to Golden, CO, in the hope of getting a little sport climbing done on the basalt crags of North Table Mountain. There are pictures from the day in the gallery.

When Mark and I finally got to the climbing area at around 10a, the lower parking lot was completely full, and the upper lot was rapidly filling as well. The sun was coming and going between high clouds, but that hadn’t stopped the huge crowd of people who had already shown up. We hiked up the hill, and saw the crowds filling the base of the crags. Rather than go left, Mark and I headed right to see what climbs might be off in less developed territory. We ended up on the upper tier of the Child-free zone.

Skin Deep? (5.9+) – I have no idea exactly which climbs we were on. The first one climbed up a sharp arrete to the left of a line of bolts. Once we got to an upper ledge, the climb forced us out on to the face, where we climbed a thin crack to the anchors. It felt like a regular NTM 5.9+. But we both worked hard on the climb. Mark came down with sore hands, and I had a pump so strong it was difficult to keep my hands closed over some of the upper holds.

Unknown (5.10-) – Mark led this one beautifully. He climbed to the high first bolt, then swung across a big fun flake like a trapeze artist, and climbed a thin overhanging crack to the ledge above. The face at the top of the climb was awesome, full of cool crimps and delicate edging that I love. But by the time I got there, my hands were so exhausted I could not keep them closed on the holds. I slowly worked my way up the face, doing one move and then resting and shaking out my hands until I reached the anchors.

By the time I had cleaned this climb, the sun had begun to wink in and out behind a deep, dark cloud bank over the mountains to our west. My hands were soo sore, and Mark was feeling embarrassingly pumped as well. It was 3p in the afternoon, and there was still a conga line of climbers hiking up to the crag. The parking lots were both jammed full, with people parking along the roads up and in the middle of the lot. We decided to pack up for the day and head out. We spent the afternoon with my little brother in Denver, and had a great BBQ dinner before Mark headed home to the Fort and I headed back south to the Springs.

I’m co-teaching a class in Colorado Springs right now. It’s a 100-level class on Climate Change at Colorado College, a nice little liberal arts college. The school is on the “block plan,” which means the students take only one class at a time for 3 and half weeks at a go. Which is why it works out nicely for me and the other CSU graduate students who have gone down to co-teach. You don’t have to spend a whole semester away from home. But, I have to say, three and half weeks is still a long time to be away.

While I’m staying in the Springs, the school has put me up in furnished apartments set aside for “Visiting Faculty”. I think it’s really cool that I’m actually considered faculty right now! As I have spent every day of my first week either in the apartment working on lesson plans or in class in the building 100ft away, I took some pictures of the apartment and put them up in the gallery.

I’m guessing the apartment building was built ca. 1930. There are radiators in every room that I am incapable of understanding. Either they are all the way on, all the way of, or making this horribly loud racket which sounds like ghouls banging on the pipes in my bedroom. There are beautiful wood floors, and this crazy tile pattern in the bathroom that seems to move in the evening after I’ve been staring at the computer screen for 14 hours.

I really like the diggs (as the kids say), they have a lot of character. Without my Tivo, though, I seem to be forced to leave the television on the Discovery Channel, which is playing A Haunting a lot these days. Little details in the apartment give me the shivers after watching shows about ghosts and demons all evening long. The brass plates on each door have an actual keyhole that you can look through! Lights flicker on and off occasionally for no good reason. And the hot water definitely seems to be possessed. It comes and goes, spits and coughs, and sometimes, as it’s running, I hear voices saying I should make very hard test questions to torture the students with!

The teaching is going very well, and I’m learning sooo much. I think the hardest part is over, and hopefully I’ll keep learning throughout the next 2.5 weeks. It’s been a great experience, and I’m so happy to be doing it. Now, does anybody know a priest I could call just in case things start getting weird in the apartment….