Days 54 to 56: Back to the Shelf

The Contest Wall near Sand Gulch

On Saturday night I escaped the harsh alpine environment by retreating south, back to Shelf Road.  I evaded the snow, but certainly not the cold.  Luckily when I pulled in to the Sand Gulch camping area I noticed a fire keeping some people warm.  I strolled over and introduced myself.  They were three Colorado University students on a weekend climbing trip.  A few of their friends had bailed because of the cold, but Conner, Chase, and Charlie were willing to brave the elements for some good climbs.  We sat around the fire until late in the evening talking and planning the next day.  It was fortunate that they were three and they welcomed me to join them the next day. 

Charlie, Conner, Chase and Sam (dog)

It was still quite cold in the morning and after we packed up, we headed to the contest wall.  Conner's dad works for the climbing company Trango and had ticked a bunch of climbs for them to do, so we used that as an agenda for the day's climbing.  The Contest Wall had some great climbs but also one major drawback given the circumstances; it was mostly in the shade.  With temps barely reaching 50 in the sun, this made for numb finger climbing.  I paired up with Chase for most of the day as we chased sunny parts of the wall for the sake of our fingers.  First, the cold makes your fingers a little stiff as you start.  Then you warm up a bit and begin to notice how cold the shaded rock really is.  Shortly after, your fingers stop feeling cold, or anything for that matter.  I was still able to grip the rock, but the lack of feeling made holds eerily insecure.  Again, I went for 7 climbs on the day, mostly 5.10s with a couple 5.9s.  A few routes I volunteered to do, had gone in the shade by the time it was my turn so I climbed with reckless speed (really fun on some climbs) to warm my hands as soon as possible.  Among the top climbs on the day for me were Spiney Dan (5.10c), Castrator (the name comes from a stick that protrudes out of a crack that you must pass) (5.10b), and Suburbia (5.10b). 

When we finished climbing there was no way I was hanging around the campsite for 4 hours in the cold, by myself, before I went to bed so I decided to go back to Pizza Madness in Canon City for a hot meal, cold beer and football.  I chatted with the bartender and waitstaff until they closed and headed back to Shelf Road for another cold and cramped night in the car.

Monday was a day when I had to get some things done.  I went up to Colorado Springs to get my tires balanced and rotated and also to have my eyes examined to buy contact lenses (the fact that I needed an examination to buy contacts came as a shock to me since in Taiwan I am free to simply buy whatever contacts I want from anyone I want).  The tire maintenance was free but not the contacts.  From the lobby of Goodyear, I called about half a dozen optometrists getting prices ranging from $160 to $125 just for the eye exam and contact lens fitting.  Finally, I called one more place, Vision Works, and they said they could set me up with a trial pair of lenses for about $80, including exam and fitting.  I took my bike off the roof and rode across town through the gusty, brisk streets.  As it turned out, there was another Goodyear tire store right next to Vision Works, but the ride was fun and over due to be sure.  After riding my errands, I spent some time in the library before heading back to Shelf Road to meet up with Dave from my last trip there (Dave had spotted my car as he was leaving the Sand Gulch at 3am on Saturday night and that was why I was waiting at Shelf Road). 

That night, Dave and I gathered some wood and made a great fire.  I cooked up a big batch of hog jaw, veggie, quinoa that should last me a couple of days.  The night before I had, for the first time, felt a little clostraphobic sleeping in the car so I thought I'd try sleeping under the stars.  I had my liner in my 20 degree bag and was wearing my sock, pants, shirt, down jacket and hat.  Although the night was breezy, the cinched up mummy bag kept me warm all night.  Nevertheless, I failed to reach REM sleep and found myself tossing an turning most of the night. 

Getting in over my head

Great holds to pull the roof

The next morning was significantly warmer and sunnier than the previous few days.  After breakfast, we drove up to The Bank climbing area where we waited for the others to arrive.  Only Bill and Carl showed up again, but there were also a few newcomers to the group (meetup.com Climbers of Colorado Springs).  We wanted to explore a new crag so we headed to a wall called the Piggy Bank, which had a few newly bolted climbs.  I was feeling ambitious on my last day at Shelf Road, so when Carl pointed out a huge roof climb and later confirmed it was 5.11a, I said I'd go for it.  It was called #1 Superguy

Another proud climb I had that day was called Vomiting Hippies (something like that) (5.11a) and it was the first 5.11 I've ever onsighted (to onsight a climb means to walk up to it, and climb it cleanly on the first try).  I climbed two more climbs after that and was feeling great.  I made the 7 climbs mark again and we headed back to the cars.  We met up at Pizza Madness again and I said good bye to my Shelf Road friends and drove west down route 50 toward Moab, UT.  The roads looked and felt icy so I only drove about an hour before stopping at a recreation area next to the Arkansas River for the night. 

Thanks again to Charlie, Conner, Chase, Dave, Bill, Carl and all the others with the meet up group for another great session at Shelf Road.