The Road trip Mindset:

The Road trip Mindset:

“When are we going to California?” This question has been coming at an almost constant stream from my daughter Yvie. The response each time is “We are going to California right now sweetie.” This answer is true; it’s just that we are getting there via the Sand Dunes, Penitente, Durango and now Chaco Canyon. We are constantly going to California, just not via a very direct route much to the chagrin of our four year old that can’t wait to see her cousins and play on the beach.

            In our everyday life we are constantly deluged by deadlines.

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

Rock And Brews Tour 2014 Stop One

Stop 1: Vedauwoo and New Belgium Brewing

            Okay, so maybe it’s a stretch calling New Belgium Vedauwoo’s local brewery as it is over an hour’s drive to the south and in another state. But, we did go there after cragging up in the ‘Voo so we will count it as the inaugural stop on the 2014 Rock and Brews Tour.

Alpinists send new route near RMNP

The team poses for their summit shot
on top of Unnamed Suburban Hill (9,260 ft)

Breaking News: Two young alpinists from Lafayette, CO made a possible first ascent of the Northwest Face of Unnamed Suburban Hill in Estes Park just outside Rocky Mountain National Park over President's Day weekend, 2014.
       Yvie Parker and Sam Bryan sent the route, now named Can We Have Hot Chocolate Now? in a single push from their backyard snow fort, summiting just before nap time on Saturday. Temps were in the high 40s and there was wind blowing from the West reported their support team.
       The team made the ascent in alpine style

A new day. A new year.

           There’s a certain energy to the New Year.  The beginning of 2014 seems full of possibilities; a chance for rebirth, to shape yourself into the person that you want to be. Maybe it’s a vow to lose a few pounds, read more books, learn a new skill, travel somewhere you've been dreaming about, ask that girl out who you have been secretly admiring, spend more time in the outdoors or with your family, finally send that route you've been projecting.

Whatever your goal is, for at least a brief time as the calendar flips over from December 31 to January 1, you know that they are within your grasp. That this will be the year you achieve, accomplish and overcome whatever fear or disability has been holding you back. 

This is the year.

What if you could hold that certainty all year long? What if you could hold that certainty of limitless possibility and potential throughout 2014? Imagine what you could achieve if every day you woke up and thought.

Today is the day.

More after the break

Some Days You Can Do It All

           

   

           “Let’s play with my new toys Mommy!” These are the last words I hear as the door shuts behind me. In the driveway, the truck looms in the blackness, leaking vapor like the engine from the Hogwarts train in the Harry Potter movies. My skis are packed in the camper cap, I’ve just finished an early Christmas morning opening presents with my family and I’m racing to catch my friends to carpool up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a day of backcountry skiing. It is 6:52 AM.

             Raising children, working a full time teaching job and trying to live an outdoor-oriented lifestyle is hard; mainly because of scheduling. When you try to juggle cooking breakfast, preparing lunch, teaching all day, food shopping, cleaning up the toys from underfoot, cooking dinner, doing dishes, putting your child to bed, grading papers, planning lessons and finding time to play imaginary zoo on the living room floor, you end up being limited either by your own endurance, or the pesky fact that there is only 24 hours in a day.

I had many conversations with my friends over Thanksgiving that focused on solving the problem of creating the time to both be a good father and carve out time for climbing, hiking and skiing.  Don’t forget not getting fired, which comes a close third on that priority list. We talked about carving out scheduled chunks of time to squeeze in a workout or a few laps on the project. Ultimately, it seemed like none of us were totally satisfied with how often we got out, but that we could feel good about getting after it sometimes and focusing on being a good father; at least most days.

Last weekend though, with an impending surgery rapidly approaching, I was given the equivalent of a weekend pass. Two days to play. 48 hours to fill with whatever fills my proverbial bucket. During those two days I managed to:

Take my daughter to the toy store for the first time.

Shop for my wife’s Christmas present.

Get totally worked at the Boulder Rock Club climbing with two beautiful women.

Spend an evening drinking homebrew with friends and family.

Open presents with my daughter and wife after a surprise early visit from Santa.

Go backcountry skiing, spending time and swapping tales with two of my best friends.

Go bowling and hang out with my family at a staff Christmas party.

Get eight good and well-deserved hours of rest.

Some days, it seems, you really can do it all.