Shipwrecked (Mixed masters ultimate) qualified for nationals and we ended up getting 10th in tournament and 2nd overall in spirit, but since the tournament was hosted just outside of Denver we had to book some extra time out there. After the tournament we stayed in Gunbarrel and did some hikes thru the Flatirons, Nederland, and to Boulder Canyon Falls.
When the rest of the ultimate team had to depart, I met up with Ben in Boulder. We managed to get in a handful of rounds of disc golf at Coal Creek, Harlow Platts, Birds Nest, and Valmont. These were all city courses and the day we intended to get up into the mountains for a round, we called an audible and ended up having a super solid day soloing the second flatiron then hiking up to Blue Lake.
Heading up to the base of the second I still had some pretty good nerves going, but as we switched into climbing shoes another couple casually walked up chatting and just started up the wall in their tennis shoes. Any angst I still had at that point was immediately gone. The first 100' or so is the most vertical, and we moved pretty slow and comfortably to start, but the climbing was very easy, straight forward, and route finding is not really an issue with the number of people above you on the wall.
It's a powerful feeling leaving the ground without a rope, feeling like we are moving slow, but seeing how quickly we breeze passed roped up climbers. The movement felt incredibly intuitive and natural, and then we reached the Diving Board. There is not a natural feeling that comes with jumping from a section of the wall to another when not roped up (or even when roped up). Again, it turned out much less significant than I thought it would be, but memorable nonetheless.
After the second, we crashed for a couple hours on a high note, but then drove up to Lake Brainard to hike to Mitchell and Blue Lakes. I thought I was pretty content just after the climb, but this hike opened up to some gorgeous views as well as some sassy wildlife.
Dori (Ben's dog) also gave us the best opportunity for getting a photo of the moose just off the trail near the water. Another dog was barking because of Dori's presence (and lack of being handled well by its owner), and in doing so caught the attention of the moose. Otherwise we would not have had a chance to see those ears perked up.
After the week in Boulder it was time to connect with the high school cross country team where Brian booked a place in Scottsdale, AZ. Rather than go home between trips, it made way more sense to save on travel and go straight there from Boulder. Touting itself as the "Nashville of the Southwest" we came to know we were definitely in bachelorette country (at least on the weekends). We got situated in the AirBnB, Vrbo, or whatever the kids call it these days then went off to the Phoenix Mountain Reserve.
We intended to stick a certain trail that was about a 5k with a few people running it, rather than being a psycho in the desert heat I brought the camera, took it easy on a smaller loop, and just snapped some shots of the area.
The Echo Canyon trail up Camelback Mountain piqued our interest being able to see the "mountain" from the roof of the AirBnB, so Ben (in the one rental car) shuttled the 10 of us that way. With ample time to take a look at the trail and speculate about its difficulty rating while waiting for the rest of the group, we decided an "Extremely Difficult" rating is probably not realistic. After all, it's 1.5 miles. It turns out we probably should have looked a little more closely at the elevation gain in that 1.5 miles, but the trail and summit was fantastic regardless.
At points it felt more like scrambling up loose rocks than actually hiking, but being able to see peregrine falcons in the wild made up for any extra effort that had to be expended.
That elevation gain knocked the group out for the most part, so naturally we had to just party on the pool floats and take it easy. Nelson ordered a couple fantastic items, particularly "Gertrude" and the "Funboy" which kept us entertained for way too long. Sara managed to design and fully test a slide out of most of the floats. A few iterations were less than perfect, but by the end perfection was achieved.
For a lazier day post the Echo Canyon hike, Brian had booked a kayaking tour in Tonto National Park on the Lower Salt River. This was a chill event, but with a much cooler backdrop than I had originally anticipated. It also turns out that wild horses roam free, and there are approximately 600 of them in the area. We coasted until 1 section of some tame class 1 rapids, and took out at the Foxtail exit. This was again, much cooler than I thought it would be, but as of writing this I'm pretty sure my shoulder (post surgery shoulder) is still sore....
