Summer, Going going gone!

Summer is almost over, and while I'm ready for fall weather it has been a good one. The highlight being Bit and I's trip to the great state of Colorado. We couldn't have planned it more perfect. the 10 days we were gone it was over 100 degrees everyday and really humid. In Colorado not so humid or hot. So we took complete advantage of it and had an action packed time.

We first stopped in Conifer to visit Aaron and Becky. They have a great house bordering National Forest with views of nothing but pine covered peaks, and perfect weather being situated at just under 9,000 ft. First day Aaron and I set the alarm for 4 am and made a dash to Eldorado canyon to do one of my favorite routes in the world, Rewritten. Aaron had never been to Eldo and has only done one multipitch route, so needless to say it blew his mind. By the time we got to the exposed knife edge ridge pitch he had brain tissue dripping from every orifice in his head. Next day, the 4 of us went down for a full day rafting trip through the royal gorge. The Rapids were pumping and we all had an excellent time.

Saturday morning we said goodbye to our gracious hosts and took the longest, yet most scenic route possible to Ridgway where we were sharing a VRBO with the Burns, Dory, and Hauber families for 1 week. We had a great house with ample space and kitchen. Each night a different couple was in charge of cooking a community meal, and we ate like kings and queens all week. We were about 20 minutes from Ouray so there was tons of activities to do. It went a little something like this. Day 1, biking and swimming at ridgway state park, followed by a epic hike that Bit and I got slightly lost on. Day 2 rock climbing at the rotary park in Ouray followed by the box canyon falls then being tourists in town. Day 3 we drove to Telluride where the ladies went on a hike with the kiddos and the boys did an mountain bike ride through the very steep trails surrounding town. Day 4 the ladies did an excellent hike to blue lakes sans children. it looked incredible. Then the lot of us went on a mine tour, very cool but a total rip off at the same time.

Here is Bit posing in front of the equally gorgeous lower blue lake

Day 5 Bit and I went on an early morning bike ride then I met up with my pal Ryan Bradley and sampled some of the trails around Ouray on our bikes. After having our fair share of dirt we picked up Bit and Kelly and hit Orvis Hot Springs to soak the legs and soul. Day 6 Ryan, Sean and I arose at 4 am rallied the toyota Yaris up a steep dirt road and summited Mt. Sneffels a local 14er. from the top we could see the blue lakes pictured above. Got back to the rental by 11 am and headed straight to Ridgway state park for stand up paddleboarding. We all took a crack at it on the lake and did well, not sure if any of us would be ready to run some whitewater on one of those things. Day 7 Bit and I hit the road by 5 am and drove straight back to KC and into the heat. We had an awesome time, but certainly needed a vacation to recover from our vacation.