...: SHELF ROAD!!!!!!!

On Monday and Tuesday of last week, I went to hang out with my brother for the last few days of his trip in Colorado. I met up with him, his girlfriend Hannah, and her roommate Brenna at this beautiful campsite and climbing area, Shelf Road. The drive there was pretty fantastic as I kept getting farther and farther from the city--I saw at least 30 old-school ranches with horses and rickety fences everywhere. It was like going back in time to a simpler time... ahh, just what I needed!

I got to the campsite around 5pm on Monday and we all hung out for a bit and then decided to hike to a rock face called the Dark Side to CLIMB. I was super excited--this was the first sport climbing I would do in Colorado. As we were about to head down to the site, we met this guy Ben who ended up hanging out and climbing with us the rest of the trip.

This is the Dark Side. Our campsite is at the top of the cliff--in the middle-ish.

Getting set up for the first climb of the afternoon.

[[Sorry in advance for the climbing jargon]] We climbed two routes on the Dark Side. The Lumina (5.8) was the first route and was a bit frustrating because it seemed harder than its grade and was really crack intensive. Not so much my style but fun none the less. The second climb was the better of the two because it was a short and sweet face climb. The second route was called Porkus Procurement and was 5.10d!! I was really excited because I came very close to on-sighting the second route after getting worked on the 5.8.

It was getting dark as we finished the second route, so we went back to the campsite and started preparing the evening meal. It was absolutely delish--burritos with all kinds of crazy vegetables, beans, chicken, tuna and wow. They were delightful.

Mike and Hannah in preparation.

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Relaxin around the fire after dinner.

Night shot.

The next day we woke up bright and early to climb. We got our stuff ready and hiked around 20 minutes to the cliff-site opposite the Dark Side called Cactus Cliff. Tuesday was an exciting day because I completed my first lead climb which is SOO much more scary and different than toprope.

Cactus Cliff is on the left of the winding road.

Getting ready.

My first lead climb was called Alexi's Climb and was graded 5.5 and although it was the easiest climbing imaginable, the lead aspect was nerve-wrecking. After that, we climbed a 5.10c called Red Eclipse that was pretty challenging but another route that was totally my style.

On Alexi's Climb.