Finding Gold in Colorado
It’s not in my nature to do things completely spontaneously,
and having some sort of plan is what helps me not stress over a trip,
especially financially. Except when you know someone that is staying in a place
you have never climbed, near local friends, with a free-government-paid place
to stay, it is nearly impossible to say no.
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| Yeah I invited myself. Thanks Kristie! (@wigirl4ever) |
This status led me to go on this spontaneous trip to Golden,
Colorado. I’ve heard of Golden before but never thought anything of it. I
assumed it was like a suburb of Denver since it was so close, but it couldn’t
be any more different than that.
It’s a really cool small town with a good mix of young and
old walking around, and plenty of local places to enjoy unique, local food and
drink. Then on top of the aura that the
town has, it also has climbing, mountain biking, and hiking right within a 20
minute drive.
Day 1: Thursday
Getting to Golden was a chore. I left work around 5:00pm and
had to go pick up a bike because Kristie didn’t have one. The drive is about 8
hours, making my ETA around 1am but because of traffic and bad planning I didn’t
get out of SLC until 6:00pm. I took the north route on 80 east and after
stopping to get gas I go to turn my car back on and nothing happens. NOTHING
happens. No sound. No clicking. No lights flickering.
My car was dead and I was literally in the middle of nowhere
Wyoming with absolutely no knowledge of how to fix a dead car. Luckily, I thought, I was at a gas station. Someone here surely can
help me. I walk into the gas station and talk to the closest cashier about my
situation and ask if she could help me jump my car.
“I don’t have a car because I didn’t drive here.” She says.
‘Wait, what?! We’re in the middle of nowhere…how’d you get
here?’ I think to myself.
“You should ask the other cashier, she has a car.” She
exclaims.
So I go on over to the other cashier, explain my situation
and she shoots back with:
“I’m sorry I can’t leave my post. It’s just her and I, and
we can’t leave.”
‘Dude. Seriously?! It’s 1am…there’s no one here?!’ I keep to
myself but I know my facial expression/body language said otherwise.
“CAN ANYONE HERE HELP ME JUMP MY CAR?!” I yell out.
This guy in the back says something that I couldn’t
completely understand. It was redneck gibberish and all I could understand was
that his name was Matt. Matt actually went into my hood and fixed whatever it
was that was wrong with it, to make sure it got jumped.
Thank god for Matt. 3 hours later and I finally make it to
Golden, Colorado at 4:00am.
Day 2: Friday
I wake up much earlier than expected but I had to go figure
out what was wrong with the car, otherwise I was stuck. After chatting with a
friend, I learned that my battery connectors are corroded and need to be
cleaned. Success, it freakin’ worked!
Now that that’s done, I just want to have fun. I had been
chatting with Whitney and Andrew from Outdoor Gear TV about going climbing in
Golden. We first hit up D'deli right in town for the famous sandwiches that they make there.
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| Not me, but the route line of Aretnophobia - 5.11a |
After we headed on over to the Canal Zone in Clear Creek
Canyon and jumped on some easier stuff to get acclimated to the rock. It was
sticky to the hands but pretty slick feet. The moves were always big, and
reachy too forcing you to do semi-dynamic moves.
Every route in that area was pretty fun, but what really got
me stoked was onsighting my first 5.11a! Aretnophobia - a route that runs on an
arête and finishes on a roof. I couldn’t believe how I felt on it. Every move
felt perfect and the route felt very fluid, almost easy to onsight it. What I
think happened though, was just a strong focus and got lucky picking the right
moves.
Kristie showed up later to climb and I wanted to make sure
it was worthwhile for her. So we climbed two more routes and on the last one,
first time cleaning a route, Kristie forgot my quickdraws on the anchors! 9
times out of 10, if you climb with me, I’m going to climb at night. So yeah, I
had to go back up and grab my gear. Kristie offered to buy me beer because of
it, so I GUESS we’re okay now.
After climbing, we met up with Heather and had some beers in Boulder. What else is there to say with that? Beer is good.
Day 3: Saturday
We had planned on meeting up with Heather and her friend
Craig to go mountain biking. This would be the 2nd time that I have
ever legitimately gone mountain biking. It was amazing, even though I am not
the most talented on two wheels. We rode a trail in Evergreen that was
considered to be a mellow trail. (but what Heather said is Colorado rated.
Pretty much like how climbing in Rumney has the “Rumney Ratings”)
I got through the trail, not flawlessly, but the end of the
trail was so beautiful.
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| Overlooking Evergreen |
Of course, the theory of “what goes up must come down”
applies in mountain biking. The entire ride to the car was completely downhill
and was soooo sick. I was definitely pushing my nerves through this section as
I white-knuckled the entire thing. When we got to a rest point, I took my hands
of the handlebars and I couldn’t open or close my left hand, at all. It was tight
for a good 30 seconds.
After we got some more beer and food at a biker bar right in
Evergreen; why does beer taste so good after doing things outdoors?
Day 4: Sunday
Last day in Golden; so sad.
Kristie and I met up with Whitney again to climb at Highwire Crag that we later would find out was stupid busy. Also, at 84 degrees and the sun blazing, the rock got really hot making us pretty unmotivated to climb.
I got a chance though to do one route on Wall of Justice an
overhanging wall that does not have a belay platform. You have to clip into a
fixed rope line and hang off the rock to belay your climber. Luckily, Whitney
was so willing to belay me that she was “dying” to get out on that ledge with
me.
It was an intense route that Whitney first claimed was a 10-something…to find out it was actually an 11c. I had gotten ready though, so I just said screw it, I’ll go.
The route runs a really stout roof with really big
committing moves. The holds are plenty big enough, but without an in-cut in the
rock you are moving up on platform slopers.
Not going to lie. I got freaked out a lot on this route because
of the big moves and the irrational thought of falling down the gulley 500 ft
to the river. Not until I lost that fear, that I ended up finishing it. I would love to get back there and do it again though, with a much more fluid
movement. Especially now that I know the moves that are needed to complete it.
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| Look ma, no hands! |
I always love visiting Colorado and I wonder why I don’t
live there, until I get back home to SLC and see how close I am to the
mountains. “There’s no place like home.”
Some more photos...
Meet the Author:
Some more photos...
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| Heather (@acoloradogal) and I. |
_________________________________________________________________________
Meet the Author:
Steve
W Weiss: Snowboarder, Climber, Beer drinker...oh and Blogger.
Cleveland-native who moved West to Utah to fulfill a life of mountain
fun. Keep up with me on my Twitter or Facebook! Have new posts sent to your email!
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5 comments
That climb looks intense. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun route, but would of been even better if I didn't hang on every bolt. Like I said above, I'll have to go back and do it again. I think I can red point it if I move really fast.
DeleteSorry about that whole "10 something" thing. You did a great job though! Come back anytime and I promise to have a guide book. :)
ReplyDeleteps, this one is suppose to be easier: http://mountainproject.com/v/hanging-judge/105752059
DeleteIt's okay, I wish I would of thought it was a 10 going into it until those guys surprised us. I would have felt more confident pulling through it.
DeleteThat route sounds easier but look at that exposure! Damn, looks like an arete to get that first clip.