Family Ties

In a fortunate coincidence, my dad happened to have a work conference in Golden last week. Since we were still in the Denver area – and looking to take a short break from climbing given John’s recent head injury – the timing worked out perfectly.

We still haven’t found any convenient free camping near Golden, so we brought our ‘bed’ into my dad’s hotel room and crashed on the floor – hastily stowing the bed components in the closet during the day. We spent our time checking out some great restaurants (our favorite being an Ethiopian restaurant in Colorado Springs) and doing a slew of hikes with beautiful views – something that Colorado clearly has no shortage of. These included Lookout Mountain in Golden, Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, and Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons in Boulder. It was nice to slow down a little while John healed; plus, getting to spend time with my dad was a wonderful change of pace.

My dad and me on Lookout Mountain

John’s feeling a lot better!

Of course, although we may have ‘slowed down a little’, I don’t think we are capable of a complete stop. While the description of crumbly rock edges that are ‘known to fail without warning’ was a enough to keep us from climbing at the Garden of the Gods the first time around, apparently it couldn’t keep us away forever. John broke his eleven day climbing fast by leading a few routes with high first bolts, questionable fixed gear, and crumbly rock that lived up to the descriptions we had read. The climbs ended up requiring some really fun, technical moves, and probably would have made it onto a list of some of my favorite climbs if the rock quality weren’t so terrible.

I tried leading a climb at Garden of the Gods, but I was not a fan of the crumbly rock and questionable permanent gear.

John belaying me from the top of a climb at the Garden of the Gods

We drew crowds of spectators while climbing at the Garden of the Gods.

We said goodbye to my dad today and we are preparing to pick up the pace again. Colorado has been amazing, but we have been here for a while and we are itching to get back on the road soon.