apAdventures

[We’ve been having technical difficulties here at apAdventures. Everything should be working now. I hope! Sorry for the delay in the summer road trip posts.]

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Next stop on our 2016 summer roadtrip: alpine bouldering on Mt. Evans, Colorado. This was more of a test mission than a sending mission for us. Having last been here 8 years ago (pre-kids), we wanted to see if the little guys were ready for the 3 mile approach to these boulders sitting above 11,000 feet elevation. Psychologically and logistically prepped for a heinously long and grueling day, where the potential of kid-carrying on shoulders was extremely high, we were almost a little disappointed in this turning out to be quite an uneventful day. We left the Echo Lake campground around 7am (adding an additional mile to the approach by not driving over to the trailhead), hiked up to the boulders, climbed all day and hiked back. Back at camp that night around dinner bowls of warm chili the kids were their wild and energetic selves, getting scolded for too much goofing off around the dinner table, not phased a bit about the 8 mountain miles they had just hiked. Just another day out bouldering! Haha.

Echo Lake, Mt. Evans, Colorado – the evening before the big hiking/bouldering day

Site #2 at Echo Lake Campground

Hitting the trail at an alpine boulderer’s start of 7am, haha

Still hiking…

Ivan stops to pick a seeded dandelion so he can make a wish

…many steps later he’s still trying to decide what to wish for. “It needs to be a good one!”

Crossing the log bridges was definitely the highlight of the day for the little guys. We let them cross completely on their own…because, well, they can probably do it without falling in, and also honestly, how’s a person actually supposed to help a kid across a precarious log bridge without the both of you falling in anyway?

Finally at the boulders. Me on The Ladder, v2.

Me about to flail on a v1. Ahhh, granite.

Paul going for a repeat of The Dali, v8

Paul sending Downtrail Face, v6 on the Gateway Boulder

posted by arr

“What’s the furthest you’ve ever hiked for bouldering?”

My father asked me this question last week. And last week I responded with a reference to a heinous approach in Joshua Tree, California to an area called The Underground. If my memory serves me correctly, I think I remember this approach taking about an hour, with about 1000 feet of elevation gain, and quite a bit of scrambling. Last week, this was my answer.

This week however, I have a new answer. Mt. Evans baby. A new record has been set for Paul and I. THIS is the furthest we’ve ever hiked for bouldering. Our heinous approach record (for bouldering) has been re-established not only by distance, but more importantly: oxygen-deprived elevation. We visited both Area A and Area D of Mt. Evans, and sheesh….my legs are still sore!

Area A took us about 1.5 hours to hike into, around 3-4 miles I think, topping out somewhere around 11,000 feet. The boulders were, as promised, amazing and beautiful and remote. The Dali Wall is probably the sweetest 45 we’ve ever laid our tips on. Area D on the other hand, is waaaay the heck up there. Instead of hiking up to the boulders, like Area A, you set off from a trailhead at 13,100 feet and hike down to the boulders at 11,750 feet. The trail isn’t all that long, just steep! And dang, it sure makes a difference having to hike up at the end of a climbing day, versus getting rewarded with a hike down. Area D holds the ultimate MEGA classic The Nothing v8.

I would guess (or secretly hope, actually) that most boulderers would write these areas off as “too far”, “too much work”, or “too tiring.” I say the word ‘guess’, because it has been our experience that most boulderers are lazy, haha. Yeah, I’m talkin’ to YOU. I say the word ‘hope’ though, because I’d love for these remote boulders to remain just that, remote….quiet…..peaceful. While we were up there, we saw just one other climber. Quite a special treat for these two anti-social climbers.

Mt. Evans marks the end of this Colorado portion of the trip for Paul and I. Having spent the majority of our time up in RMNP, we only had a couple of days at Evans. I’m tempted to say we regret not spending more time at Evans because it turned out to be soooo soooo good. But I can’t say we regret anything at all. RMNP was awesome. And, Evans is awesome too. And, well….pretty much all Colorado rock in general is awesome. And for this reason, as we trek across the state of Kansas towards Pittsburgh, Sportsmobile humming along, Paul and I entertain the thought of making a quick stop at Evans, later on in this 6 month adventure, after our muscles have been honed in Rocklands, South Africa. Ooooo, the daydreams…..of blasting out that 1.5 hour hike, lacing up our rock shoes under the Dali Wall, and climbing that Colorado granite face to its top.

Mt. Evans, Colorado, Area A

Paul on the problem The Dali v9 on the Dali Wall, Area A

Paul on No More Greener Grass v12, The Dali Wall

Paul at the top of Mt. Evans

Goats at the top of Mt. Evans

Area D

Unknown name/rating, Area D

Unknown name/rating, Area D

The Nothing v8, Area D

Area D

Morgan

posted by arr from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Here is a little tease. Mt. Evans bouldering is awesome!

Paul: unknown name/rating

Holly sending a super fun climb: unknown name/rating

Paul sending The Dali v9

posted by pjv