Rock and Brews Tour 2014 Stop Three

Stop 3: Turtle Lake bouldering and Durango breweries.

            I suck at bouldering. I don’t know if it’s the lack of fitness, the ADD, the whole hitting the ground every time you fall or what but I have never had the drive to be a boulderer. However, it is an excellent way to involve the whole family while climbing and let one parent get a good pump on while the other plays with Yvie. So I asked my friend Jay to be my bouldering mentor and feed me areas and routes to try out. As we drove south, Jay fired off that we should check out Turtle Lake as we passed through Durango (Also a big craft beer town!). So of course we must go!

            The Rock: After spending the night in the National Forest, I drove the On The Loose-mobile over to Turtle Lake. We were greeted by the Roadside Boulder which had a wonderful straight up V1 to warm up on. The rock here seems to be a close relative to the volcanic tuff we found around Penitente with rounded holds interspersed with crisp edges and interesting cracks. We spent a splendid morning trying out the problems on the boulders close to the road and exploring the area. We even encountered a mystery. Written on a small rock at the base of one of the boulders was an invitation to find a treasure map written somewhere on top of the rock formation! We scrambled to the top and spent some time looking but did not find the map. Maybe you will have better luck unlocking the mystery of Turtle Lake!

            The Brews: Jay was not wrong in calling Durango a craft beer town. We discovered four breweries in town and managed to visit two: Brew Pub and Kitchen and Ska Brewing! We had an excellent dinner at Brew Pub and Kitchen the first night. Friendly staff and an excellent porter! After refueling and restocking our supplies we hit the Ska Brewery on our way out of town. I’ve long been a fanboy of this excellent brewery and it was exciting to be on site and taste some of their beers.

From Durango, we now point south. We will be heading into the desert to visit the ancients at Chaco Canyon NP! See you out there!