Finding Purpose

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

-John Muir

A lot has been going on in the last couple weeks. I came down with a sore throat on our way down to Denver from Ten Sleep that caused me to miss the last couple days of climbing before Charlie went back to real life and his job. At the same time my oil pressure was getting dangerously low and I knew something was wrong. I made a split decision to leave the fellas in Denver while I B-lined it to Missouri to have my engine machinist give it a once over. We spent a day replacing the bottom end bearings and oil pump and Bertha was set to keep rolling. During this “short” detour I made the decision that I will never drive I-70 through Kansas ever again for the rest of my life and took 400/50 back to Colorado.

Dan went home for the 4th of July so I spent the weekend cruising around the Rockies and spending time with BB. The night of the 4th was enjoyed at the Ogden theater in Denver where I danced all night to Dark Star Orchestra. I picked Dan up from the Airport on Sunday and decided that we were going to see DSO again because they were playing a free show in Dillon Colorado. I personally enjoyed the Sunday evening show much more than Fridays and Dan got his first taste of live dead even if it was only a cover band.

We scoured Mountain Project for some near-by climbing and stumbled upon a place called Mount Royal which is right on the skirts of Frisco Colorado. MP told us there was a 1500 foot sport pitch. We were instantly intrigued and had to find out what it was all about. Sure enough there is a couple 1500 foot sport pitches on Mount Royal but not quite exactly what I thought it would be. While the climbs are 1500 feet in elevation, it is not 1500 feet of straight vertical climbing; there would be a couple pitches then scrambling then some more pitches then some more scrambling. We decided to try out a new to us technique called simul-climbing where we both climb at the same time on either ends of the rope. The idea is that we can climb faster by both climbing at the same time and linking pitches together and if either of us falls, we will be caught by the pieces of protection between us. This worked out quite well and we finished the route in enough time to make it up to Casper Wyoming to meet a friend and camp for the night.

At 103 Degrees BB refuses to move anymore

Our next destination was Lander Wyoming for the International Climber’s Festival. The festival can only be described as fun, fun, and more fun with heaps of climbing slapped in there. We spent almost a week in Lander climbing in Wild Iris and hiking in Sinks Canyon. Everyone we met was amazing. Some of the highlights were finding a natural water slide, meeting Arno Ilgner and participating in his clinic, enjoying the full moon in a farmers backyard, jamming out at night, trying my first high-line and failing horribly, and pretty much everything in-between. Pictures and words can’t begin to describe this week.

“Finding our purpose in life seems to be a difficult process for most people. Perhaps it's a direction instead of an end goal: always straight ahead.”

-Arno Ilgner

Grand Teton is the peak to the left of center

This past Sunday night after the festival had come to a close, Dan and I were sitting out in the park planning our next move. Our new friend from Devil’s Tower/Ten Sleep, Flaco, randomly text us letting us know he was 2 hours outside the Teton National Park. Decision made: onto the Tetons! We arrive Monday afternoon and sit down for a late lunch and start to discuss what we wanted to do. Without much hesitation, we collectively decided to climb the Grand Teton the following day. The Grand is an extremely iconic peak and only 33 feet shorter than the tallest peak in Wyoming so that was the obvious decision. Dan and I have absolutely 0 experience with alpine mountaineering and Flaco soloed the Grand only once before with a friend who knows the route like the back of his hand. We had to decide if we wanted to rope up or “free solo” it without protection or ropes. If we wanted to rope up, we would have to spend a night up on the lower ridge before summiting on the second day; if we soloed it, we could climb it in one day, if everything goes according to plan. Taking the more adventurous and adrenaline pumping technique, we decided to free solo the Grand. We got a real alpine start of 3:30 AM and were on the trail at 4:30...

After 13 hours, 16.5 miles, and over 14000 feet in elevation change, we successfully soloed, car to car, the Grand Teton (13,775’ peak) via the Owen-Spalding (5.4) route. The Grand is definitely the highlight of my climbing “career” so far. Once again pictures and words cannot describe this experience except simply as breath-taking. I have hiked the Barr Trail to the top of Pikes Peak (14,110’ Peak) before but this was my first time incorporating technical climbing. The way up went fairly smooth besides almost sliding down the huge snow slopes. At about 10,000 feet elevation I started showing signs of altitude sickness and had to fight through spells of dizziness to reach our goal. We reached the peak about 7 hours into our adventure and were rewarded with an incredible sense of accomplishment and a world class view. Then the fun began: descending what we had just ascended. The down climb was not nearly as scary or difficult as we had imagined and everything went according to plan. My knees started to give out about 5 or 6 miles before the end of the trail and those last couple miles became some of the most miserable miles I have ever done; but it had to be done. The sense of accomplishment was worth more to me than any amount of pain I had to endure to complete this round trip adventure.

Today is obviously a rest day. What direction are we going next? Straight ahead.

Memories for a Lifetime

But It's Noon! Don't Worry That's Still An Alpine Start For Us

“The summit is for the ego, the journey is for the soul.”