Day 6: The Kind (Boulder, Problem, Coffee)
On a 29 degree afternoon back in October of last year April, myself and Joe set out on a journey to find the Emerald lake boulders. The freezing temperatures didn’t phase us at first. We eagerly had our gear packed and were heading up up up on the trail. The trail leaves the Bear Lake parking lot at an elevation of 9475ft and eventually reaches Emerald Lake at around 10,080ft. For the fact that the overall elevation gain is 605ft you better be psyched from the beginning because this area is not for the roadside bouldering fans. This area is for the climber who seeks adventure, wants to experience the endless beauty of RMNP, and who is in search of hidden super classic boulders.
Having said that, the hike is actually the best form of warming up and getting the blood flowing. By the time we found the main boulder, called The Kind boulder, we were ready to go. Well…at least for the first 5 minutes. Joe checked his watch (which included a thermometer) and said, “The temperature is dropping. I’m reading 32….(a half hour later)…uh…now it’s 29.”
Our “warm up” consisted of one climb called The Girlfriend Problem. We quickly moved to the ultra classic The Kind v5. After one go we all felt the effects of the frigid cold. We were quickly loosing the feeling in our fingers and toes but still had some positive energy to keep trying The Kind. Now that I think about it I probably sucked all that positive energy from Joe and April because I was the only one who sent. I raved about how the climb was one of the best v5s I had ever done. “Better than Dragonfly at Hueco!” They looked at me somewhat pissed and said, “dude, if it was just a little bit warmer and we could feel our fingers we would definitely send.” I agreed! They were both so close.
Well, now for revenge. Today April and I headed back to The Kind boulder and in between a couple quick rain showers April topped out and said, “Yep, that climb is one of the best v5s ever.
Better than Hueco’s Dragonfly? That’s a pretty darn strong statement. I knew Dragonfly was April’s ultimate favorite. But, she agreed. The Kind is super classic.
April on The Kind v5 at Emerald Lake, RMNP
posted by pjv from The Kind Coffee shop in Estes Park, CO
This entry (Permalink) was posted
on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Bouldering, RMNP-Colorado.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0
feed.
You can leave a response
, or trackback
from your own site.
Leave a Reply