Goodbye Colorado, into the land of the Broncos

 Campsite at Hartman rocks, in my new dress!

It's been almost three weeks! So we went to Gunnison to rock climb at Hartman Rocks. We had a great time there. Hartman rocks is just a beautiful open area with fun dirt roads to explore, dispersed camping and really fun slabby climbing. The first climbing day we took it easy and did some climbs at the beginner wall. We met an older lady and her twin son and daughter. They were really nice and told us about another wall that looked fun.

Only photos from that day are from watching motorcycle trials that were happening at Hartman rocks. Very cool to see how skilled some of the riders are. 

The next day we climbed at the wall they told us about. While there we met a couple climbing on the wall and ended up climbing together for the rest of the day. I think we did about 7 or 8 climbs that day. To include top roping on a 5.10a (hard) at the beginning of the day. It was a blast.

Only photo from that day. Simulclimb! The couple we met had a friend join us later in the day, so I was able to get this photo

Our last day climbing here Marissa came to visit with the pups! It was the first time in over a year of traveling that someone came out to visit us, and do what we do on a daily basis. We had a great time showing her the climbs and challenging her. We were too sore to challenge ourselves. She told us we had the BEST view of anyone she knows :-) So you should come visit us.

 Happy climbers!

Missed her immediately after she left.

From there my memory is a little fuzzy. I know we went to Telluride and just wandered to check it out. We liked it more than Aspen, but still a very expensive place. On our way there we stopped by Black canyon national park, did a short drive to look at views, then kept going.

Black canyon national park, the Empire State building stands at about half the height of this canyon wall

We also stopped in Ouray due to an event we could tell was going on. It happened to be the FJ summit. We enjoyed walking around and seeing the different set ups.

at the FJ summit in Ouray

We then camped... somewhere north of Silverton, then did the Black Bear pass, an off road drive, back to Telluride. This was a last minute choice, we were told it was an amazing drive, weren't sure where it was but happened to camp off a dirt road that was the start of the drive. It was a phenomenal ride, with amazing views and some very tricky spots. I had to get out of the truck about 4-5x to spot Matthew. Mainly to keep the truck from tilting too much and flipping on the side. It was great.

 at the pass

 a little before the pass

 view on the way down

 Telluride in the distance

 checking out a tricky spot

So we were in Telluride again, stayed briefly to take a break before riding back around to Silverton. We stopped in Silverton to pick up some packages we mailed general delivery. Then, we drove along the northern section of the Alpine loop, to Lake City. A while back we did the southern section when there was a lot of snow still, we were unable to complete the loop due to avalanches on the northern part. So we returned to finish and it was great to see the views clear of snow.

 Engineer pass, the first one you take.. I think the only one on that side.

Lake City was a very sleepy town, we didn't stay long. We did a short hike that was supposed to be a run but it was very steep so we hiked up and ran down. We had extra motivation to run down as it started to rain when we got to the top. We then drove back to Hartman rocks! It was on the way to our next destination and a good midpoint to camp for the night. The next day we were in Salida. We walked the town and planned to hike Mt Shavano and Tabaguache (14ers) the next day. I was unwise and ill prepared. I didn't hydrate well for the hike and really struggled. That being said I still was passing people the whole way up. It was also much colder on top of Mt Shavano than I expected. By the time we got there I decided to head back down. Matthew wanted to do the other peak which was 0.8 miles away and primarily scambling over rocks. If I wasn't so cold I would have gone with him. Instead I ran the whole way down. Matthew said he would do the other peak then 'catch up' to me. Not only was I cold but that comment hurt my ego so I kept up a good pace on the run down so he would not be able to catch up.

 Almost to the peak of Mt Shavano

On Mt Shavano with Tabaguache in the background

We then went on to Canon City to do some climbing at Shelf road. We weren't there long but will go back. There are hundreds of climbs in this area but I think we were a little worn out. We only did two climbs, it was also very hot so we only climbed early in the day. By this time we were starting to feel like it was time to head out of Colorado. We'd spent 2 months already exploring the state. I think we have more thoroughly explored Colorado than any other state.

 Matthew on top of the second climb

What it looked like when I turned around

From there we went on to Colorado Springs, spent most of the day wandering around Garden of the Gods. In the evening we met up with some friends (well friends of friends I'd only met once), Josh and Tanya. They have lived in 'the Springs' for 16 years. And it was neat to hear what it used to be like in Colorado. They are also just super fun human beings and we loved them. In the morning we were off again heading north to make our way out of Colorado and to Wyoming.

We contacted Ashley (Matthews friend in Boulder) since we were going to be passing through to see if she was free to hang before we left. We had a day to spend in boulder before she could meet up so we spent it at museums. Our favorite was the Dougherty Museum a little north of the city. It is a collection of very old cars, farm equipment and instruments, all from one farmers collection. Here are a few photos..

 That's Nancy, a sweet volunteer that showed us all the instruments

We met Ashley the next morning and ended up hanging out all day. First we wandered the Farmers market, then went on a walk, she then tempted us with bouldering at a climbing gym, followed by a get together/birthday party for a friend of hers. It was so much fun! We met a bunch more awesome people, played groundies (I'd never heard of it and if you haven't we should play), and talked late into the evening.

The next day we finally made it to Wyoming! We drove into Cheyenne, did a tour of the governors mansion, then camped out by the Vedauwoo climbing area. We took an 'off day' because we were pretty sore from hanging out with Ashley. We spent the day hanging out at camp and did a hike to locate the climbing area so the next day it would be easy to get to. This ended up being a little bit of an adventure as the gps coordinates on mountain project were incorrect. We found a different wall than what we were looking for and climbed there the next day.

Most of the climbs in this area are Trad, which we have not done in a long time. So, Matthew did the first climb which was supposed to be a 5.6. I guess it was but it had a tricky off width start and I didn't find it very fun. Next we did a 5.5 trad, he lead, and I did it on top rope while practicing placements. I'm not as experienced with this as he is so I don't feel as confident. By this time it was mid-afternoon and a storm was just starting so we called it a day.

And now we are up to date! Today we found Matthew a new 'town' shirt since all of his have gotten stained or torn, then explored the University of Wyoming geological museum and now are 'interneting'. I can't believe it's August already, and my birthday is one week away.