Robin's Bouldering Page: Colorado Roadtrip 2011

A couple weeks ago, having finally made the adjustment back to East Coast time, I hopped in my car and pointed it west. My eventual destination was Colorado, though if destination were the only concern I'd have simply flown there and saved myself two long days of driving, running on bad gas station coffee and inane talk radio. And to a certain extent, I'd have been missing the point.

Let me rewind a few years and say that I often didn't understand my dad while he was alive. Once described as the King of the Road Trip and Sovereign Presider over the backcountry roads of America, at the time I could never really figure out why he preferred to spend the majority of his vacation time driving... why he drove at least three times to visit my siblings in Colorado, but only stayed there long enough for a single meal before turning around and spending the next week driving home. Almost every day he would send long winding emails about his travels, several of which I'm sad to say I never even read until years later. But as with many things, late is better than never. Reading through them now, there's one passage that strikes me in particular...

For some reason, as I was driving today, I started thinking about how beautiful everything was, and how we often do not take time to look at things. In general, while I am taking a long drive like my drives to/from Colorado, I leave the sound system (radio, tape, CD) turned off most of the time and attempt to feel and enjoy the sounds of the air flowing over the car, and the beauty of the grass and other plants, and the clouds. The most spectacular clouds I have seen have been while driving in Iowa. You never know when you will never have another chance to hear the wind sounds, or enjoy the shapes of the clouds in the sky.

And so I drove, albeit on an interstate rather than the small country roads... and eating fast food, but only from places we don't have at home.

And I saw clouds, but not the fluffy white ones I'd imagined from my dad's emails. Rather, I found myself headed toward a massive storm system in western Kansas, first hypnotized by the rays of light pouring through, then bathed in the golden light of sunset as it cut through the rain and created a perfect rainbow visible even through the storm, and eventually enjoying a brief respite from the rain before entering the terrifying blackness looming ahead.

Emerging slightly shaken from the behemoth, I pushed through the final stretch of the plains, and was soon enjoying a few hours of sleep before joining my family for the busy week ahead.

Although we had rented a cabin in Estes Park, Emily's flight wasn't coming in until late that evening, so hanging around Boulder for the day sounded like the perfect plan. My mom had flown in the day before, and my sister Sara had taken a break from hang gliding and paddleboarding her way across the Pacific Northwest to drive down with her partner in crime Seth Warren (follow more of their adventures on the Kavu Pulse). After meeting up for some delicious food at the Mountain Sun Brewery, we took a little walk along Boulder Creek before heading up for a bit of bouldering on Flagstaff.

Grabbing a cheesesteak at Half Fast for dinner, I picked Emily up from the airport and we cruised up the dark canyon to Estes, soon seeing a welcome light peeking out the window of the small cabin. The next morning, we woke to a beautiful mountain panorama, still gleaming with winter's snow. Stomachs full from our favorite breakfast spot, we set off on the first of several hikes through Rocky Mountain National Park, though it would have taken many more weeks to fit all of our favorites in. In fact, as much as I love climbing there, I don't think I could ever think of the park as a climbing destination when there are so many hikes I still want to do. Maybe it's just how fast the scenery changes with each step. The exhilaration of seeing what's around the next corner. Even the most familiar places still have hidden surprises with the changing of the seasons. Whether walking through flower filled glacial valleys, numbing rivers cascading through dense pine, hillsides regrowing from devastating fire, aspen groves gently fluttering, or the comforting isolation of alpine tundra, nothing ever quite compares.

Photo: Sara Close

Photo: Emily Close

For me at least, one of the best parts about hiking is the overwhelming sense of life all around.. the knowledge that I'm just a single being among countless others, leaving my own world to share theirs for a few all too brief hours.

Photo: Sara Close

Photo: Emily Close

Photo: Pennie Close

Still, it was Colorado, so obviously we did some climbing too. Early in the trip we walked up to Jurassic Park, home to the striking arete Edge of Time that we climbed last summer. While we didn't get a chance to climb it again this year, we did find our way up a fun diagonal crack as slackliners passed high overhead.

Photo: Emily Close

Photo: Pennie Close

A few days later, leaving early to beat the afternoon storms, my mom climbed the classic Pear Buttress on Lumpy Ridge, expertly guided by Mike Alkaitis of the Colorado Mountain School.