Summer Fun

Last summer Amanda and I went to the Eastern Sierras to climb and explore.  This summer I wanted to check out Wyoming.  Fortunately, our friends Trevor and Emily were getting married while we were going to be up there so we were able to celebrate their wedding with them in Ten Sleep.  We had planned on checking out Lander and the Wind River Range after the wedding but the climbing was so good we stuck around Ten Sleep for an extra day.

Walking out of a cool crag called Section 6.

Amanda loving on a cloud.

After our fill of sport climbing we decided to skip Lander and the Winds because of the heat and bugs.  Instead, we headed east to Devils tower.  I had climbed it once before in 2002 with John but had always wanted to return to climb el Matador.  10' up the classic stem box I was already apologizing to Amanda.  I was able to stem and knew that she wouldn't be able to, which would make the pitch much harder for her.

el Matador's stem box.

Amanda crushing.

Summit!

We then drove to Estes Park to visit the Brandewies.  Brad, Owen and I climbed at Combat Rock.  I told Brad I had a trad rack packed and discovered at the base of the cliff that I only had 3 cams.  Luckily we found a few bolts and made it work.  Oh and Owen did his first rappel which was 230' long!  The next day Amanda, Brad and I got up early and headed into RMNP to climb Zowie and Wham.  The climbing was good, the weather was great, and the company was even better.

Zowie

Amanda rappelling off of Zowie.

Amanda and I have been wanting to rent big down hill mountain bikes, ride chair lifts and rip down hill for a long time.  We finally made it happen at Winter Park.  Super fun day!  After 5 hours of biking we drove to Rifle for the night.  The next morning we only lasted 3 routes before we decided we were too tired to continue and headed home.

10th Anniversary!

Amanda and I recently celebrated our 10th Anniversary by revisiting the Monarch Crest Trail, where I proposed to her near Salida, CO.  Usually it would have been too early for biking the Crest Trail but we had so little snow last winter that everything was dry except for 2 small patches of snow.

Nice to see some snow at 12,000'!

The one and only... Mandy Pants!

Ridgeway Biking

Amanda and I were able to get away last Saturday to visit Thadd, Marie and Mazzy in Ouray.  We got a nap, a bike ride, a soak at Orvis, and some great time visiting good friends!

High Country Ride

We knew we were going to get wet when we left the trailhead at Coalbank Pass, so everyone had rain gear and a little extra clothing.

Barb, Jody, and Amanda riding up the Pass Trail.

Taking a break with Engineer in the background.

Seth, with Engineer behind. 

It started to rain then the rain turned into hail, then the temperature dropped twenty degrees. There are three people with every stitch of clothing they brought under those two space blankets.  I jumped in the huddle right after taking this photo. When the hail and rain finally stopped we decided it was time to turn around.  We didn't complete our objective but it was a great ride with fun friends.

Telluride

As of June 16th Amanda and I have been married 5 years!  Our schedules kept us from celebrating for a few weeks but we finally made it out to Telluride for a couple of days.  We ended up spending a lot of time at the pool and hot tub but managed to go for a couple of rides, and check out some boulders.  I look forward to the next 5, 10, 50 years!

Pool time!

You've got to love the gondola!

Resting the legs between laps at the bike park.

Dawn 'til Dusk

Amanda, Ryan, Zach and I drove to Gallop, NM on Friday afternoon to participate in a 12 hour mountain bike race as a team.  The race was on Saturday from 8am to 8pm.  It was a relay so one person from our team was out riding the whole 12 hours.  It was a great time or fun trails!  We were lucky enough to come in second!

Amanda getting ready for her first lap.

Ryan eating breakfast after his first lap.

Chillin' while Zach is out on the trail working hard.

The transition.

Last lap of the day.

Team Handle Barz!

Phil's World!

Amanda, Barb and I went mountain biking at Phil's World by Cortez on Monday.  The weather was great as were the trails.  Little patches of snow here and there but 99% dry.

Amanda, Barb and I.

A great day at Phil's World!