Well its a bit late, but here's my perspective on our trip to Colorado in July. More of a personal description rather than a chronological re-telling, Trent already covered that, thanks homie.
Let's start with the drive; of course there's pretty mountains and boulder things and yada-yada -- nice views, we all know its gorgeous. At least better than most of what Texas has to offer, although thats half the drive. But no I'll talk more about two tired friends sharing a Ford Focus for twelve hours through the night. Well I'm not sure how you guys like to stay awake on road trips but Trent and I will switch off driving and resting and in between we alternate music and comedy skits; our favorites being Louis C.K., Tom Segura, Hannibal Burress, Steve Ranazzisi, and Chad Daniels. At least I think that's all of them. I don't know about you guys but some good laughs will always keep me awake and driving, along with cruise control man that invention is awesome. Never had it in any of my old cars its a blessing.
We finally got to Durango, CO and that little town is so rad. I love that place. And people say we're cowboys in Texas, man I saw more ten gallon hats and cowboy boots than I think I've ever seen. Along with a good abundance of crazy looking youths and young adults; creativity and imagination is definitely alive in Durango. So many interesting looking people, and overall super friendly which is always nice when traveling. Never get that in big cities, flashy looks usually equate to inflated egos and no one likes a big head.
Then we got to the cabin and holy shit....well let me start by saying I've never stayed in a cabin in my life so this was a luxury I've never had while traveling, I usually sleep outside or in a vehicle. But man this cabin was phenomenal. Set up with three rooms, a perfectly decorated living space, a kitchen & shower, and a fireplace. We had everything we needed, I never wanted to leave. And set up right in La Plata Canyon surrounded by mountains and a small river...man talk about perfect. And to top that we came in on a rainy day with lots of fog, so the valley and mountaintops were bathed in a nice soft rolling mist....just mesmerizing. I took tons of photos (like 200 on the whole trip) with my old Canon film camera, but after returning to Dallas I lost all 6 rolls of film I had! I wish I had pictures to upload with this post, but none yet...maybe one of these days my film will turn up. Definitely need to get me a digital camera soon.
So after meeting Denis and Krista (friends of Trent's and now mine I think) we all got comfortable and ready for Colorado adventures. Day 1 was mostly light, we didn't want to go crazy after that drive so we climbed at the local gym and cooked dinner back at the cabin. I'm a vegetarian by the way, but I also love to cook so I made most of the food at the cabin. We didn't cook as much as I would have liked but its okay, I get to do it everyday back home so this was a nice break.
Day 2 was bouldering! Not sure if you guys know but I'm not the best climber, I'm decent at best (boulder v3's and 4's and 5.10ish on the ropes) but its okay cause its still loads of fun and thats all I care about. But man the grading up in Colorado was crazy hard. These Coloradans are some burly dudes and dudettes. I'm probably just wimpy and I'm cool with that. But still its always enjoyable to just sit back and watch the climbs and enjoy the weather and views, so no complaints from me. If anything it just means I gotta climb harder and get better for the next trip. After we got back to the cabin Trent and I took a little hike up the road to a dinky little waterfall. We followed the trail back a mile or so along the running water and found some peace in the wild. There's just something about little places like that. Invading the senses like an old friend coming to visit; the soft bellow of the water, the gentle frigid air, the songs of the birds. A sweet symphony, man I love that stuff.
Day 3 was supposed to be the nice, relaxing, Crater Lake hike. My kinda stuff. Scenic hikes are my favorite. That's not exactly what ended up happening. So we look up the hike information and its 11 miles roundtrip, longest hike I've been on yet. Trent swore it wasn't long when he went as a kid so we all decide yeah fuck it lets go. I can handle 11 miles so I'm for it, I hike slow and steady anyways and enjoy all the seconds. Psych, I forgot I'm hiking with some pretty able-bodied people right now so the pace was pretty quick. Overall the scenery was gorgeous and hike totally worth it. Mountains and greenery always put me in a good place, as they should anyone. Nature is the best anti-depressant, if you let it be so. My feet didn't like it so much, had a few lingering blisters until about last week from that hike.
Day 4 sport climbing! We were all still pretty beat from the hike so we took it easy on the climbing today. This was my first time actually climbing outdoors and I'd say it was the perfect first time. No issues, great routes, and superb rock. Scary stuff though, I'd definitely say that rocks are very unforgiving. It wouldn't take much to get seriously injured climbing outside, but I guess thats the thrill of it. Especially reaching the top of a climb, seeing the end and looking down to make sure everything's good down below, and realizing the peril of where you're at. Easily had the hairs on my neck standing tall and prickly. The relief and feeling of accomplishment on the way down make it worth it, overcoming fear (big or small) is a wonderful thing. That's the stuff that makes great humans out of regular people.
Most of the rest of the trip felt like a big unwinding and calming down. Ate some food, made conversation, met family, took showers, etc. But I have to say some of my favorite moments of the trip were when nothing was happening. Sitting in the cabin reading a book, taking a nap on the porch in the hammock, sitting around the fireplace talking about whatever...little junctures like that were the most serene. When everything is just smooth and easy, no worries and no doubts. When you can do whatever you feel like doing whenever and it just feels right, no preconceptions or trials or woes; just whatever you want. I think its safe to say that might be my favorite thing about adventure and travel, you're actually free.