Solitary Confinement

In the throes of a work emergency, John felt compelled to head back to Austin on a moment’s notice, leaving me to fend for myself for 3 days. After spending nearly every second together, one would think that I would welcome getting some time to myself. Instead, I immediately felt lonely and the van felt less like home.

Prior to John’s disappearing act, our friend Andrew visited for a few days. The three of us hit up Rifle Mountain Park, Lumpy Ridge, and Clear Creek Canyon for some hard climbing that left us exhausted, our hands destroyed, our arms sore, and our legs scraped up.

I suffered a nasty rope burn on my leg after taking a lead fall at Clear Creek Canyon

After 6 straight days of climbing, John was understandably exhausted

Beyond great climbing, it was great to have a friend to hang out with, prompting us to be social for once. However, this maybe made it even harder to adjust; I had gotten used to not just one – but two – travel companions, when the rug was suddenly yanked out from under me.

Initially I felt lost, and it was my own fault. I never bothered to learn how to run the fan, charge the external battery, or switch the power source on the fridge. I hadn’t driven the van since we blocked the side and back windows with shelving. And I can’t climb without a climbing partner. Without John in the car with me, I found that it’s harder to feel relaxed while chilling in a parking lot or on some street. And driving out to a free campsite in the middle of nowhere feels less comfortable when I am alone.

However, I wasn’t about to mope around for days, and quickly reclaimed my independence. Over the course of a few days, I became familiar with downtown Boulder, wandering Pearl St, watching street performances, eating amazing food, checking out the farmer’s market, and going for runs. For once, I didn’t feel the push to constantly be going somewhere new and reveled in the opportunity to truly relax by spending my evenings eating cookies, watching movies, and reading.

A street acrobat/comedian in Boulder

See… I can make friends!

I made some new friends at a climbing wall and met up with one of them – Andrea – for some multi-pitch climbing at Ra. The wall contains multi-pitch sport climbs, with only one ‘moderate’ (the rest were 11+). I was completely intimidated. In retrospect, it turns out that I should have been more worried about the approach. On the way up the steep scree, the rocks slipped out from under my feet, leaving me sprawled on my back and just thankful that I hadn’t gone tumbling down even further. We completed a fun three pitch 11b before a thunderstorm blew in, forcing us to make the treacherous hike out on wet stones.

To get an idea of how far up we had to climb, take a look at our two cars parked in the lower right-hand corner of the picture… then imagine tumbling backwards down that rocky approach.

Then today, I managed to find some pick-up sand volleyball and played for the first time in months. And got invited out to play more tomorrow!

It’s not until nighttime – when I try to go to sleep in an empty van – that the loneliness sets in. This experience has made me realize that while I am capable of doing a trip like this on my own, I greatly prefer doing it with John at my side. Come back, John!