Rock And Brews Tour 2014 Stop Two

Stop 2: Penitente Canyon and Three Barrel

Awesome history to this climbing area.

            Somehow we’ve managed to live and climb in Colorado for eight years now and had yet to visit Penitente Canyon down in the San Luis Valley. Maybe the rumors about the laziness of Front Range Climbers is true. (We do have Eldorado Canyon in our back yard as well as a half dozen other world-class destinations within an hour or two.) At any rate, we finally got down to this amazing place; and they have a local craft brewery too! Three Barrel Brewing Company in Del Norte, CO. Bonus!

            The Rock: Penitente Canyon is an excellent cragging destination for beginners and experts alike. The volcanic tuff that makes up the rock here provides great friction and the weathering (or possibly other geologic processes, maybe gas bubbles?) has created interesting pockets both of which make for excellent climbing.  Although rattlesnake warnings abound both in guidebooks and at the trail heads, we did not have any rattler sightings and found the canyon to be very family friendly with short approaches, short climbs
(mostly) and short walks back to the campsite if you need to take a tired wee one (or big one) back to take a nap. We only got a morning to check out Penitente and left wanting  more. This is definitely a place we will bring the crew back to enjoy together!           

Bren and Yvie modeling our parent/child dual climbing system.

            The Brews: A short drive south puts you in the town of Del Norte, home to Three Barrel Brewing Company. With the proliferation of breweries these days, I honestly did not expect much from this tiny brewery in a tiny town. Thankfully this establishment and their excellent brewer more than met our expectations! Three Barrel is a block off of the main drag and serves up well attenuated, delicious beers and wood-fired pizza, calzones and lasagna. Personal favorites of mine were their Pemba Sherpa Saison, Goofy Foot ESB, and a seasonal Ginger Kolsch. I’ve been really interested in ginger in beer lately and this had a nice, balanced flavor with a hint of sweetness and lemon to balance out the ginger bitterness. Very nice!!

See you out there!