Hooray for Ouray!

On my drive back to Denver after a long weekend away, I was once again struck with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my life. Even our six hour trek (nearly 7.5 on the way there, at night) was fun, packed into a pick up truck full to the brim with 5 people and gear. We took the 'scenic' route of 285 instead of I-70, although really, any drive in western Colorado is a scenic one.

We were coming back from a weekend birthday celebration in Ouray. Eleven of us trekked to the southwestern corner of the state from Denver, Ft Collins and Steamboat to celebrate the 29th birthday of our friend Jess VanderKwaak. For her birthday, she wanted to go ice climbing, for which Ouray is internationally known. Our pick up truck full of 5 people arrived at 12:30 Friday night and we were up with the sun (some of us begrudgingly) on Saturday am.

Our early rise was somewhat thwarted when the rental shop didn't open til 9, so Jess and Morgan made good use of our extra time by doing an impromptu photo shoot in the street.


But then we got our gear and headed to Box Canyon. We first stopped to put on our helmets and crampons, so we could hike about a mile to our site.

I really hope I don't tear my ski pants!

After a short walk down the canyon, holding onto a guide rope, we were ready to climb!

We couldn't have asked for better weather and soon we were all up on the ice. The first climb was pretty easy, starting out with a 45 degree angle before becoming vertical.


The third climb was a bit more vertical:
And here's Katie, also a birthday girl, on our last climb of the day, a solid 180 foot climb!


Since I didn't want to walk out the way we had walked into the canyon, I topped out on this last climb, with shaking calves and tired arms.

Still full of smiles!

The next day we were back at the rental place, picking up cross country skis.

All the cool kids accidentally own the same socks

After some debate, we headed 25 miles up and over a pass to the town of Silverton. Coincidentally, Silverton was having their annual Skijoring competition. Essentially, skijoring is a sport where skiers are pulled by either dogs or horses, kind of like a winter rodeo. They hold on for dear life and go over jumps and around object, collecting rings along the way. The goal is to have the fastest time and not die in the process.

We watched a few riders and then headed out on our skis.

The trick to mastering cross-country skiing is to not fall down.

After skiing a bit in Silverton, we packed up into our cars again and headed back towards Ouray, stopping in Ironton for a bit more skiing. Ironton is a ghost town that used to be a staging area for Ouray, but has since gone the way of all flesh, save but a few buildings.

Morgan and Susie hanging out in an old Ironton building.

After another night at home, making a group dinner and playing games, we slept in til 8 on Sunday, had a delightful breakfast, and began our six hour drive home. Before heading out of town, we stopped at Moose Tracks, the local chocolate store, and indulged in a few sweet treats. While I didn't buy any, my favorite were the chocolate ice climbers - talk about knowing your audience!!