Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) offers some of the best climbing in the country. Now that we live only an hour away from the park, most weekends are spent bouldering in these Colorado mountains. A few day’s ago we packed up our crash pad, made a few pb&j’s, and hit the road early. You have to arrive before 7 am to secure a parking spot in the popular areas of RMNP. Especially during the summer months. Now that our days are getting noticeably shorter and the temperature cooler I can officially say that summer is coming to an end. As a summer lover, this is hard for me to accept. But at least fall means bouldering season has begun!
When we arrived at the park, Noah, me, and one bulky crashpad hit the trail. It was pretty amusing when at least three people stopped to ask us “what are you carrying? Is it a couch of some sort?” Have any fellow climbers had that happen before?
Usually, one pad isn’t enough to safely climb with, but luckily we met up with some climbers in the area. They were at the same crag so we worked on a few boulder problems together. Noah sent a V7 called Mikaila, and I was able to get a few shots of him doing it.
Later on, we stumbled upon a casual climb that was more my style. I still don’t know the name of this one, but I loved the high mantle at the end. Noah took some photos while I was working on it. You can view more of his climbing photography on noahmobley.com.
Read my Adventure & Climbing Photography post.
We had a blast bouldering. Usually, we spend most of our time in the park hiking but I’m glad we got to mix things up. Also, thanks to self-timer Noah got this photo of us (see below). We hardly ever get pictures together, so on the rare occasion that we do, I treasure it. I think the photo represents this new phase of our life. Home is where the rocks are.
Read my Rocky Mountain National Park Hiking Guide.
The Comments
Annie
Home is where the rocks are! Love that! It does look like you two are getting rather cozy on that “couch of some sort.” Great pics of you climbing, Brooke. That looks awfully high up from your crash pad, however. How far were you from your crash pad would say on that climb?
sienaneal
AnnieHaha, you got me! It does double as a couch. Haha. I think the camera angle makes me look higher, I was only 10-15ft from the ground. But that’s plenty high enough to make me not want to fall.
Annie
That’s plenty high enough for me, too. Depending on the landing, that could hurt more than I would like. But, I do love to climb free, it gives me that little extra boost of adrenaline! Climb on Coloradians!