Alright, now that it's mid-October I can write about mid-July here...
Me voy a Tejas (Wedding #2)
The weekend after Ryan and I got rained out as described in the previous post, I flew to Austin to be in my second wedding of the summer. It was great to be back in Austin, and believe it or not the 104 degree heat didn't get to me that much. In a break from the wedding festivities, I got to see a few friends from a previous job and have wonderful Tex-Mex... not to mention beer with lime in it that wasn't Corona. What a fabulous idea that is.
But back to the wedding... I got to see my sister and new brother-in-law's home during a post-rehearsal open house. It was great seeing family and meeting new faces on the other side of the wedding. For some reason it felt like I hadn't spent that much time with the fam in this kind of setting in a long time, even though a lot of us had spent Christmas together and we had a wedding the previous May. Ahh well... it was good. Real good. We had the rehearsal dinner at Texas Land & Cattle, of course. It was a traditional Cowboy/Western wear themed party, but I showed up in a guayabera shirt, more of a gaucho than a cowboy. (I had tried to pick up some chaps on craigslist but nothing really fell into place.)
I called out a few relatives that I heard had spent a meal at Quizno's or Subway or something unallowable like that. My sister (the bride) thought I was wasted, but my announcement to the whole party to consult me for culinary advice was sincere and sober. Let thee be warned; the food in Austin is way too damned good to bore your taste buds! Don't give in to the national chain!
Wedding day was very hot - 104 - and the wedding was outside in the afternoon. The stage:
I would have preferred it were October, but there was a nice Central Texas breeze blowing in from the Longhorn ranch on the other side of the fence cooling us off. It was what it was, and we had fun. Amazingly enough, despite me being the only remaining single sibling, there was no onslaught of "so when are you getting married?" jeers. Gracias.
It all went way too fast, and I found myself needing to spend the next few weekends doing little of note.
On the Sharp End in Boulder Canyon
On a Sunday afternoon in mid-August Brian and I went up to Boulder Falls to climb Buried Alive, a 3 pitch sport climb on Tonnere Tower. I decided to put up or shut up, and had a fine learning experience in the process. This was only my second lead, and the first multi-pitch lead attempt. I felt confident in putting my skills to the test, and was psyched to have a partner to follow me up. There was a couple starting our intended climb just as we got there, so we decided to start on something else to warm up with. (Feel free to grin and laugh now if you know where this is going.) We chose the route that looked pretty straightforward about 20 feet to the right of the main event. Once I was 30 feet up I realized that the next 30 feet were beyond 5.9, and had a date with an "almost epic..." After backing off the crux of a 5.11 pitch that I couldn't finish (not to mention lead), making use of a nearby tree, downclimbing to try the 10a next door, not realizing I left a draw in the 3rd-to-last bolt on the 11 (that bolt is 2nd from top here, with my tree in the background), and generally doing my best to ignore the sensation of the shriveling of my testicles, I found myself standing on a ledge to anchor in to the top of the 11 but with too much friction in the system to actually pull the rope into the anchors. Brian had loads of slack in the line, but I literally was pulling with all my strength and no budging. The rope is fine and wasn't stuck on anything but it was not happy being clipped into 2 routes at the same time. Too much friction. Lesson learned. I was glad nobody else was watching, or at least I couldn't hear them laughing from the parking lot. Anyways, then Brian gave it a shot and did very well up to the point that he had decided was far enough. Afterward we hit up the main event since our neighbors were coming down p1 of Buried Treasure. I then discovered the enormous and wonderfully pleasant difference between 5.9ish and 5.11ish. I got to the top of p1 and Brian cleaned up after me. We then realized our brains and arms were jello so it was time to rap 95' back to safety.
I would really like to try to finish Buried Treasure, and would also like to try The Twilight Kid again but only as long as somebody can lead it or toprope it for me... ahh well. All in all I was thrilled to have the knowledge and ability to get myself out of a bad situation, then lead at least one pitch, belay my 2nd-er and get us back to the deck via rapping safely. My new rope and draws did their job, so I was happy. At least now I know for sure where my limits lie and can work within them and hope to push beyond them safely in the future.
Muzzurrah Hilltoppin' in the Sawatch
A few weekends later Phish rode into town and tore Red Rocks to pieces, but I didn't have tickets for any of the 4 nights. The best alternative was to get the heck outta dodge and pretend I wasn't missing one of the best weekends they ever put on and hike a 14er. [Seriously, if you haven't heard these shows, get them! In hindsight, I should have ponied up $250 to a scalper to see 7/30. It is a terrific show, a fun cerebral listen, and gives hope that Phish is back to a far superior era than some of the more recent ones. It probably sounds dumb, but it was sooo uplifting to hear them reaching their full potential again. Welcome back boys, I'll see you soon!]
On the last day of July Ryan, Allison, Trey and I headed up Missouri Gulch towards our old friend Winfield and camped on a cold night. On August 1st we summitted Missouri Mountain. I was worried about trip reports mentioning the climb from the trailhead to treeline being a memorable nightmare of switchbacks. To my surprise and satisfaction (and definitely due to the fact that I had begun running/training for an upcoming 10k) I had little problem with this section. I actually could not believe how well I did; the difference was more than enough for my hiking partners to notice. I am usually terrible at ascending steep hills, but was very comfortable all the way up. Once at treeline we noticed there was fresh snow on Belford, a neighboring 14er. [Snow in July! This has been quite a cool and wet summer, to say the least.]
Once in the basin above treeline, the valley opens up and the hike is trivial until you reach the beginning of Missouri proper. Beyond that, there is a fairly serious incline gaining the final ridge, but once you're on the ridge you're home free. The weather was perfect for us, and we probably could have stayed on top for hours if we cared to. I was overwhelmingly satisfied that my lungs were getting in shape, and to see Huron, the first 14er I summited two years prior, from another angle. The central Sawatch aren't the most challenging mountains in the state, but they offer great views and a great excuse to get outside! Here is the obligatory evidence:
Wedding #3
The next weekend I borrowed a coworker's condo in Frisco and found myself back in the mountains. This was the third wedding of the summer for me, Tony and Shelly's, atop Keystone. This was yet another wonderful weekend in the hills, spent relaxing and enjoying the company of college friends. Before the wedding Ryan and I took his kayaks out on Dillon and had a nice time on the water. After that it was off to Keystone to ride the gondola to 11,000', sunglasses mandatory, with Quandary as the backdrop to the bride and groom's big day.
This comment is in no way an attempt to take away from any of the other weddings I have attended, but seeing Tony and Shelly together was very moving. They truly were the most excited couple I had ever seen walk down the aisle. Tony cried and Shelly glowed... that was pretty much the only way I could describe it. Maybe I shouldn't say any more. It was just really moving. I hope one day to have that same experience.
You gotta run like an Antelope, outta control!
I spent the better part of August and September gradually increasing my running distance to over 6 miles at a 10 minute mile pace to run a 10k section of the Boulder Marathon. Again, historically my cardio has been terrible, so agreeing to run a leg of a marathon was not something I necessarily jumped at when the opportunity presented itself. I did look at it as a way to improve my health (mental and physical) and to prove to myself that I actually could run that distance, regardless of the pace. Averaging a 10-minute mile is hardly worth getting CNN on speaker phone for, but it was what my body would consent to, so I was happy to take what it would give. I finished my 6 miles in about an hour, as expected, and wasn't too sore afterwards, so I can't really complain, but to be perfectly honest I was disappointed with my time. I had trained at a faster pace and hoped for the race to be my best pace yet. This was likely due to the fact that I started running unprepared and with a full bladder, forcing me to stop to use a porta-pot before starting my 5th mile. That was a mistake, to say the least. I guess I'll have to run the Bolder Boulder next Memorial Day and improve :) All in all, it was a goal accomplished and a pat on the back for my lungs to have allowed me to run at all, so I was thankful for the opportunity and look forward to the next one. Handing off the ankle RFID to my teammate to finish the race I thought back to when I first moved to Boulder and how I probably couldn't have run 2 miles without being completely winded. I suppose it's true that sometimes you need to look behind you to see where you've been and appreciate how far you've come...
Now that the race is over, I'll probably try to improve my time over shorter distances (maybe starting with 3 miles, for example), but either way I've been keeping up the running. It's funny what wanting to be in good shape for ski season will make you do... and speaking of, it's currently snowing right now, so ski season isn't too far away! Snow, baby, snow. I am seriously driven to not let my lungs keep me from ascending a 14er couloir and skiing down it, so hopefully I'll continue to improve until I really need it in the spring.
