Thursday
- Four of us met up after work, packed the car to the brim, and headed off to Colorado.
- Drove, uneventfully, through the night.
- Arrived at Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) around 7:00 AM.
- Checked in at the Back Country Ranger Station to get our permits.
- Drove around in town to get a bear canister
- Drove back into the park, parked at the Bear Lake parking lot, and headed down the Glacier Gorge trail.
- Arrived at Star Lake around 1:00 PM.
- Made our way to the base of the Cathedral Spires and Petit Grepon.
- Racked up and started climbing!
- Topped out after 6:00 PM and began the rappels.
- Darkness fell and it became difficult to find the rappel anchors.
- Arrived back at the base of the spire between 8:00 and 9:00 PM.
- Realized that the girls were gone and probably worried sick; decided that we had to get back to the car before midnight so that they wouldn't call SAR or the rangers.
- Slowly picked our way down the scree and boulders and finally found the trail (with one headlamp).
- Speed hiked/jogged back up the Glacier Gorge trail to the parking lot; arrived at 11:30 PM (but the girls had already called the rangers- we were deemed competent enough to spend the night outside, so no rescuers were sent).
- Crashed in someone else's campsite a little after midnight.
- Woke up fairly early and broke camp, trying not to make our neighbors too mad or get in trouble with any authorities.
- Drove back into Estes Park to return the bear can, ended up having breakfast and walking around a lame arts and crafts festival.
- Drove to the Longs Peak trail head, prepped our packs, and started up the trail.
- Had a long, scenic hike to the Boulder Field camp.
- Arrived at camp between 7:00 - 8:00 PM; set up the tents, ate dinner, and went to sleep.
- Woke up early (4:30 AM) and headed across the boulder field to the notch.
- Arrived at the notch shortly before the sun came up.
- Rappelled down to Broadway (got the rope stuck around a horn on one of the rappels and my partner had to solo to free the rope).
- Started up the Diamond's Casual Route around 9:00 AM (we mistakenly started on the 5.9 variation which freaked me out a little bit).
- Climbed all day long with fantastic exposure and good weather (it was slightly chilly in the shadows, but the sun was shining with no clouds and no rain!).
- Finished up the climb around 6:00 PM, and exited the ledge to the left for the trail up to the summit.
- Wasted lots of time, energy, and day light looking for the trail to the summit; took many false lines that became too dangerous or just impossible and had to down climb repeatedly.
- Finally found our way to the top and immediately started the descent via the hiker's trail in the dark (but with two headlamps this time!).
- Made fast time at the beginning but lost our way in scree/talus/boulders around the keyhole.
- Unknowingly descended on the wrong side of an important ridge, shortly separated from each other, my knee began to hurt.
- Looked at the map and decided to follow the topography to the river; found the river and drank the water straight, but it was the wrong river.
- Discovered our mistake, prayed, and started to make our way around the ridge in order to return to the boulder field camp.
- Stopped around 1:00 AM, too tired to continue safely, built a small windbreak on a stone slab and tried to sleep.
- Started raining shortly after we laid down; sought shelter under an overhanging rock, but discomfort and poor protection forced us out; finally found/made a better(?) spot under the original stone slab (there was no room between the bottom of the slab and the ground, very cramped).
- Woke up at 4:30 AM and started hiking again, traversing the side of the ridge.
- Finally arrived back in camp around 7:00 AM, the girls were worried and upset.
- Broke camp and hiked back to the car.
- Drove to my climbing partner's grandparent's where we showered and were fed the best ribs, salad, and warm cookies ever!
- Drove all day and through the night back to Texas!
- Arrived back home around 5:00 or 6:00 AM.
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