South Ill

Hi All,
I hope this post finds everyone doing well.

My trip for the summer is almost over. I am in Southern Illinois at Janice's house trying to stay cooled off. It has been so hot and humid here. Maybe 100 degrees today and for the next few days, with 90%+ humidity. Not as bad as the 104 and 105 degree heat in MO my first few days there, but close.

I spent part of last week visiting Todd and Angie in Columbia. Hanging out with good friends and getting to know new friends better. I got to see Todd play in a benefit concert to rasie money for a free school for young kids. It was blazing hot but inbetween the rain and sun the four groups we saw put on a good show. I spent a good portion of that evening talking with Abby, a freind I met and got to know last winter. It truns out her dad lives about two miles from my good friends John and Marcia in Lafeyette, CO. It is a small world.

Yesterday Janice and I went on a hike into a place called the Little Grand Canyon. I had been there a long time ago when down this way visiting Todd. I remembered a lot of it, but not all. It is certainly not the Grand Canyon but very beautiful.

This is the trail going down a little side canyon. This leads into the main canyon.



Pico having a grand time, if you can't tell. :) This is near the main canyon.



It is so wet around here from the humidity the moss and ferns grow right on the rock.



This is one of the many walls in the main canyon. Many of the walls were over 100 feet tall.



This is one of the many spider webs we came across while hiking.This one is about two feet across and about ten feet in the air. It is funny how they like to put thier webs right at face level across the trail. I wonder if they are thinking, "one of these days I will catch one of those big things coming along the trail and be set for life."



This is part of the trail out of the main canyon.



I will be heading back to MI on Sunday. But not before being able to hang out with Janice for a few more days. We will see each other a couple of times the next couple of weeks but then not for awhile. :( :(

We are heading out climbing tomarrow at Giant City State park and then to Jackson Falls on Saturday. I will get some photos out when I can.

Peace and Love,
Geoff

Heading East

Hi All,
I am sitting at John and Marcia's in Lafeyette, CO almost ready to head back east. They just headed out to kick their own ass on a mountain bike ride and I have a few more things to do and I head out. I don't really want to leave but I have had a wonderful trip, full of adventure, new freinds and wonderful discoveries. Thank you all who have been a part of my great experience this summer. It would not have been the same without you. I can't complain too much about leaving because I still have a couple of weeks off and I get to hang out with two great friends Todd and Angie and then with Janice for a week. :) :) I can not wait to see them all. Watch out here I come!!

Speaking of kicking your own ass, I happened to do that with the help of Aaron from Traverse City, MI. He and his girlfriend Ally came out and Aaron and I went and climbed the Twin Owls at Lumpy Ridge, which is inside of Rocky Mountain National Park.



On the left of the Owls in the top picture you can see the main climb we did. Click on the piture and you can see the detached pillar. Here is a better picture of it.





This climb was only rated a 5.8 but it seriously kicked my ass. I was just plain scared most of the time and took my first trad lead fall ever on it. I loved it and can't wait to do it again next year. The climb started out in a fist crack and then switched back and forth from that to an off-with. Then it moved into a squeeze chimney.

This is me about 80 feet up, finally into the chimney.



This is Aaron into the chimney following me up.



Once we got to the top we wanted to get on top of both the Owls. This is Aaron trying to get to the top of the west Owl.



This is me on top of the west Owl with Mt. Meeker and Long's Peak in the backgound. These are two 14,000+ feet peaks right next to each other.



It was a great time and was wonderful to get on a climb that beat my ass on my last day in CO. Thanks a lot Aaron for going up with me.

I will leave you with a sun set seen from John and Marcia's back porch a few nights ago.



Peace and Love,
Geoff

Eldo climbing, a 10k and Triathlon

Hi All,
So, I am back in Lafeyette, CO near Boulder staying at John and Marcia VanEden's as I slowly make my way back east. It has been a crazy busy time so far and lots of fun. I met up with a young man named John who I have known from the Traverse City area. He has been living around in CO for a couple of years now and has been doing a lot of climbing. John was kind enough to take me into Eldorado Canyon to do some climbing. Eldo is a premier climbing area in CO. People come from all over to climb some of the best multi-pitch trad climbs(You have to place your own protection) in CO.

This is me leading a route called Washington EIrving, a warm up 5.6.



John and I then took turns leading a route called Long Lohn, a 5.8 five pitch climb. From the top you can see other great climbs. There are a couple of climbs in this picture but there is one called Yellow Spur, a hard core 5.10 I want to do someday. The hardest part of the climb is the knife edge near the top of the picture in the center.



John and I are planning on getting together next week to climb a little more.

A couple of days later John and Marcia VanEden and I went to Eldora ski resort to run a 10k and Marcia did the Triathlon. The Tri was a 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike and then a 5k run. The water in the lake they swam was about 60 degrees. Did I mention the races took place at about 9000 feet.

This is all the swimmers taking off.



This is Marcia at the end of the bike race leg.



Marcia did well and took about 2hrs and 38min to finish the race. WOW!
Before the Tri John and I ran in a 10k. John ran the 6.2 miles in a little over 49 min and took 3rd in his class and 18th overall. My goal was to run the whole thing without stopping, which I did. :) And ran it in 1hr 6min and 20sec. I took 127th out of 194 runners. It was cool. I would like to do something like it again sometime. I need to say that the women who won the Tri also won the 10k just before the Tri. Can you say holy shit.

Not having enough of beating ourselves up yesterday running over six miles John and I decided to go climbing today. We went to Eldo, which is only a ten min drive form the VanEden's, and since there were two groups waiting to climb the climb we wanted to do we went back to Long John. This time I got to lead all the pitches.

This is John on top of the fourth pitch, waiting for me to take off.



This is John coming up the last pitch. I am belaying in a little key hole, if you can tell from the picture.



This is me repelling down the the second of three repells you have to do to get back on the ground.



This is John and I safely back on the ground. We forgot to take a summit picture.



I hope to be climbing in rocky Mountain National Park this next week. So, maybe more pictures to come.

I hope this note finds everyone well.

Peace and Love,
Geoff