July Round Up...

We did some fun climbing and hanging out with friends. however, the hightlight of e end of the month was a fun visit to Keystone to see Uncle Chubby, Aunt Rita, and Kelly's family. We did our first 14tr with Chubby and biked down the Vail Pass the next day. It was very fun visting with them! They all say they will come back to visit us in Boulder and I hope they do very soon.

July Happenings

Chris started off the month by building a wall in the corner of our back yard to plant a new tree. We finally decided on a Granny Smith Apple tree. It has some apples on it, but we had to take them off since the tree is still rather small. We put some of Oakley's ashes in the ground when we planted it, so it is Oakley's tree.

On the Fourth, we threw a party themed North v. South. It was a really fun time. There was so much food and really funny costumes! On the Fifth, I took Ms. Slaughter to Red Rocks to see Top Gun.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

We were suprised when we stopped by Telluride on Monday to find that all the camping spots were taken. However, we lucked up and found an area that actually made a pretty good spot. There was several friends from Boulder in town and Josh and Amber came on Thursday. The music was great. The weather started off hot and sunny, but it started to get chilly. We left early Sunday since we were ready for a hot shower and wanted to beat the traffic on Monday. I am glad we did since there was rain and snow that afternoon and all night! We stopped at the Wine Country Inn in Palisades.

Black Canyon & Ouray

We just got back from a 10 day trip to Southwestern Colorado. We spent the first few days on the North Rim of the Black Canyon outside of Crawford, CO. We did a very short, but challenging direct approach hike to the bottom of the canyon. The walls are about 1800' tall, so it was very impressive. I hope to come back one day and be able to climb the canyon walls!

We then headed over to Telluride to set up our tent for the Bluegrass Festival then headed over to Ouray for a couple of days. Ouray is a great town and I think one of the most scenic in Colorado. We drove a four wheel trail to Animas Forks, which is a old mining ghost town. It was really cool.

Graduation Climb - The First Flatiron

I had my graduation climb this past Sunday. We climbed a route on the First Flatiron and did six pitches. It was a long day (12 hours after driving), but a great day! I really enjoyed being in the mountains like this and had an awesome time. We went along a harder route than we meant to on some parts, but I did fine. I can't wait to go climbing again soon!

Mother Extravaganza

Last weekend, I had my third field trip for climbing and then headed down to Colorado Springs to visit The Broadmoor. Chris and his mother were already there and had been touring around. The room was very nice and we had a great brunch to celebrate Mother's Day. My mother came into this week and it was snowing when we left the airport! We decided to take a road trip to Southeast Coloraod, which was a very fun time. We headed down 285S to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park then drove up to Pueblo for the night. On Sunday, we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge and headed back to Boulder, It was fun, but it was a little chilly with rain and even snow!

Ready for Warm Weather

Chris has been out of town a lot lately for work, but is here all week! It has been rather chilly this April, but I think a warm up in on the horizon. It seems if it is warm then it has been very windy.

I think this is going to be a summer of climbing. Chris is starting to lead climb and I am about to be finished with my class. I'm learning the basics, so we will be ready venture out on our own if needed!