Josh and I have been visiting the local sport climbing crag more these days (meaning what exactly... I'm not sure). I got pretty tired of trad climbing all last spring and winter, so the sportness has made me happy. We even got to climb with a "climbing legend" for a while last weekend, and learned that even the pros get sketched out on the scary climbs. It definitely made me feel better about being scared, but still wish that I was a stronger climber. Ah, well... someday right?
AND... for everyone that doesn't already check my flickr pictures from time to time, I would encourage it. I tend to post a lot more pictures there and sometimes include more stories. The link is also in the menu bar.
It has really been awhile, I know. Where's Karl was amazing. I managed to get no more than 5 hours of sleep every night, blog 3 times a day, plan the crew stops for the next day, get read and make all of the crew stops, get Karl out of the door, go grocery shopping, dump and fill the RV, make breakfast and some dinners, skip lunch (no time!) and go for a hike everyday. I was busy, but I met tons of incredible people, and learned a lot about the AT. I've also made plans to hike it in 3 years... 2011, I'm taking some months off :)
Shortly after returning from Where's Karl, I left again for my birthday trip. We were originally thinking of backpacking around Moab, maybe the San Rafael Swell, but decided to go to Colorado instead. We backpacked 5 days on the Vallecito Trail, in the Weminuchi wilderness... it was amazing!
Josh had never adventured in the Rocky's before, so the huge mountains were a first. And I had never taken more than a weekend backpacking trip, and definitely nothing at such high altitudes. We had no idea how we would fare.
The first day we managed to hike out 10 miles, over the most varied and rocky part of the trail, ending the day with a river fording. The river was pretty fast, and as deep as my legs were long, so I had to strip down to my underwear. It was also a mountain stream, at 9500 feet, in September, so... Freezing!
The second day, we enjoyed a little less weight and hiked out 14 miles to a high little spot close to the stream. We stayed there for 2 nights went for a pack-free day hike on day 3. At the end of the day, as we were cooking dinner, we were visited by a curious little doe. She seemed very intrigued by Beau, and wouldn't be scared away. We also got a little bit of hail that night - but it wasn't much.
The 4th day (my birthday!) was kind of insane. We had planned on hiking back to the ford and then camping to leave a shorter day for the last one. However, the freezing water must have done our muscles some good, because we felt incredible afterwards! When we reached the planned camp spot, we definitely didn't feel like stopping, and decided to continue on. It was only another 6 miles to our car, and as soon as thoughts of driving home, taking a shower and sleeping in bed entered our heads, we knew that was what we had to do. The last few miles were pretty hellish, as we had to do our first real climbing of the day (after 20 miles!) and we were both pretty fatigued. I definitely felt like I was sleep walking at times, but I was able to pull it together, and finish up an insanely long 24 mile day. Happy Birthday to me :)
Shortly after returning from Where's Karl, I left again for my birthday trip. We were originally thinking of backpacking around Moab, maybe the San Rafael Swell, but decided to go to Colorado instead. We backpacked 5 days on the Vallecito Trail, in the Weminuchi wilderness... it was amazing!
Josh had never adventured in the Rocky's before, so the huge mountains were a first. And I had never taken more than a weekend backpacking trip, and definitely nothing at such high altitudes. We had no idea how we would fare.
The first day we managed to hike out 10 miles, over the most varied and rocky part of the trail, ending the day with a river fording. The river was pretty fast, and as deep as my legs were long, so I had to strip down to my underwear. It was also a mountain stream, at 9500 feet, in September, so... Freezing!
The second day, we enjoyed a little less weight and hiked out 14 miles to a high little spot close to the stream. We stayed there for 2 nights went for a pack-free day hike on day 3. At the end of the day, as we were cooking dinner, we were visited by a curious little doe. She seemed very intrigued by Beau, and wouldn't be scared away. We also got a little bit of hail that night - but it wasn't much.
The 4th day (my birthday!) was kind of insane. We had planned on hiking back to the ford and then camping to leave a shorter day for the last one. However, the freezing water must have done our muscles some good, because we felt incredible afterwards! When we reached the planned camp spot, we definitely didn't feel like stopping, and decided to continue on. It was only another 6 miles to our car, and as soon as thoughts of driving home, taking a shower and sleeping in bed entered our heads, we knew that was what we had to do. The last few miles were pretty hellish, as we had to do our first real climbing of the day (after 20 miles!) and we were both pretty fatigued. I definitely felt like I was sleep walking at times, but I was able to pull it together, and finish up an insanely long 24 mile day. Happy Birthday to me :)
