This was a really full weekend and ever since I left work on Friday it’s been non-stop! Jamie and I were both off a little early from work so we blasted out to Clear Creek to do a little sport climbing. There are two really nice 8′s there that Jamie has been working on and Friday she rocked them both! They both have really tricky starts and she made them look good, far better than I did actually.
2009-08-30 Torrey’s via Kelso Ridge
We did Torrey’s via Kelso ridge today, it was a nice jaunt and the ridge was a good scramble. The path is really well marked and there was only one section that requred immense focus. It’s a short “knife-edge” bit that was only a few moves and then you were through and on to the other side.
After topping out on Torrey’s we figured we really aught to tag Gray’s as well and moseyed over there. On the way down from the summit we found ourselves in a little bit of rain which quickly turned to snow! I guess summer here is over.
It is a nice change from the “standard” route and definitely much more fun.
Time 5hrs exactly, 3488ft elevation (1063m), and 8 mi round trip.
No pictures from this one as my camera battery was dead, sorry!
2009-08-23 Bierstadt and Sawtooth
Jamie and I took her Uncle Chris and his friend Ted up and over the Sawtooth on Saturday. It was a fun day with some trail bits at the start, some scrambly bits in the middle and some fighty willow bits at the end. We hadn’t been out since the vacation to Banff/Jasper so even though this isn’t one of my favourite trips it was still nice to just get out. I’ll put up some pictures later on today.
Saturday: Sleeping in and Sport climbing
Had an excellent sleep-in this morning. Both Jamie and I seem to have fallen off of our intense climbing schedule since we got back from the vacation in Canada, but we’re slowly picking back up. Today we spent a few hours out at Clear Creek Canyon doing a few sport climbs. There are a few nice 5.8s that end up in the shade around mid-afternoon and we camped out on those. I haven’t been on the pointy end of a rope in a while so it was a great refresher for me. The real story of the day though was Jamie, she hasn’t been climbing very long and the last time we were at CCC her performance was… less than admirable. Today though she was on fire! On the first route she had absolutely no trouble getting up it the first time and went on to do a second lap later in the day. The second route that we tried was a 5.8+ and has a really gnarly arms-heavy start. You have to get a good solid grip on a crack and work your feet up before lunging for a hold above the bolt and then working your feet into a new position. The last time we were there I gave her a boost to get over that part and today it was looking like she might need it again. After a few false starts she grabbed hold of the rock and worked her way up it like it was nothing! Amazing! Job well done (c:
Tomorrow we’re going to go play on the Sawtooth ridge so hopefully the weather will stay nice and sunny and I can bring back lots of good pictures!
San Fran – Day 4: Golden Gate Bridge
I hopped on the bus again and went out to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice (c: here are the pictures.
San Fran – Day 3
Today was another day of “MBA” classes with a focus on financial stuff. Again, it was really interesting and if nothing else certainly opened my eyes to a lot of the financial goings-on in the world around me. I did have one flash-back to my University Econ class when we started talking about “Net Present Value” but it passed quickly and fortunately we weren’t being tested on it! The fire-alarm system however was being testing and it made for a very long day.
For my tourist-ing adventure tonight I figured I’d head out to the Pacific Ocean proper and see if I could get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unlike yesterday though it was surprisingly cold (~60F, 15C) but it was a “wet” cold, with all of the fog. I hopped on the 38 bus and travelled up Geary toward the ocean. In a Jon Classic™ move I got off the bus a little early when I saw some park area north of the bus and figured I could walk from there (c: I couldn’t… it was a lot further, so I stretched my legs a little and then got back on the bus (c:
Land’s End was as expected, rocky with ocean slamming into it. It was pretty sweet 
Land’s End
San Fran – Day 2
Day 2 started quite well. The blinking message light on my phone was a solid indication that United’s blinking baggage service came through for me and delivered my “delayed luggage” to the hotel. (c:
The first day of my “5 Day MBA” was really interesting, we dissected the tip of the financial iceberg and discussed all sorts of things that were new to me. Stocks, Stock Options, debits, credits, and doing things with money that you or I couldn’t legal do!
After sitting all day it felt really good to be out walking and I aimed for Fisherman’s Wharf. I worked my way up Market St and then tracked along the waterfront until I hit Fisherman’s. As expected, it was a zoo! Definitely a tourist place, with touristy shops and touristy attractions, and touristy people! I checked in on the boat to Alcatraz but the soonest they had was 3 weeks from now! I’m thinking that they could probably invest in a few more boats and still make a killing.
Sail boats in the harbour
San Fran – Day 1
I landed in San Francisco tonight, I’m here for a 5 day course and get a little near-vacation time on the side (c: I spent the evening walking around the area of the hotel. Market St and Yerba Square were fun and I managed to net get myself lost too badly either!The Museum of Modern Art is right down the street from me and I snuck in 20min before they closed. There really wasn’t anything earth-shatteringly exciting but it was neat to see none the less.
Hopefully there are some fun people in the course who are up for some touristing after the course is done. I’d like to get out to the Legion of Honor and get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.
