The climb and some training

Our climb of South and North Arapahoe Peaks went very well. Tim, Ryan and I left Colorado Springs on Sunday at about 8pm. We arrived at the trailhead at about 11ish and quickly got in some joint mobility and went to sleep.

We woke at about 3:45am, geared up and hit the trail. The sun started to rise as we broke out of the trees and it lit up the surrounding peaks with a truly golden elegance. We spied South Araphoe Peak and began the ascent to its summit (13,397ft).

After some easy scrambling we arrived on the top. The views were immaculate as they always are in the Indian peaks. We signed the summit register, snapped a few pics and began the travers over to North Araphoe Peak.

The ridge over was fun. You could choose your difficulty and exposure levels...not many ridges I've been on offer choices like that. After snapping some kick ass shots on the ridge (one including me doing a pistol on an exposed ledge) we scrambled/climbed our way to North Arapahoe's Summit (13,502ft).

We arrived at its large summit and relaxed for a while. The non-imposing weather allowed us to hang out for 10-15 minutes. We snapped more shots and enjoyed the views and DEAD silence. I must say, I have been on the summit of 20+ high peaks in Colorado and have never heard that kind of silence. It was honestly almost deafening. We signed the summit register and peaced out.

The ridge back was fun again and before I knew it I was back on South Arapahoe. I saw a few other climbers on the summit, said my hello and continued down. After getting down to the trail I spied a snow patch that I dropped my knees into for some well deserved icing. Tim and Ryan made their way to me and that same snow and enjoyed the inflammation-reducing effects of the alpine snow as well.

The descent hike out was tedious and we finally arrived at the truck where I quickly devoured a can of sardines and some Gatorade. Ryan caught up and let off a tirade of curse words at his feet. You gotta love new mountaineering boots. We threw our gear in the truck and hit the road.

All in all it was an excellent trip: no unexpected occurances, great weather and a beautiful environment. We got out in time to miss the thunderheads that rolled in behind us. They seemed quite menacing in our rear view mirror. We are glad to have missed them and I hope the climbers we saw going up on our way down did as well.

Again, a great way to spend one's 30th birthday.

Specs: 8.3 miles round trip, 3600ft of elevation gain, two 13,000+ foot summits.


7/23 Training (Keira):
Z-NWU 1
10 ftw sq @ 12kg
5min alt tgu @ 8kg

5/5 1h kb sw on the min for 5 min @ 12kg (50 reps total)

3x10/10sec side planks

7/23 Training (SJM):
Z-NWU 1
10 ftw sq @ 32kg
5min alt tgu @ 32kg

3/3 1h kb sn on the min for 10 min @ 32kg (60 reps total)

2x30sec double kb rack hold @ two 32kg's
3x10/10sec side planks

Notes: Today is Keira's first day back training in a while so we took it 'easy'.

I am taking Mr. Salazar's approach to working up to my desired snatch numbers with the 32kg. He made a great point saying it (USSST numbers) is something he'd like to be able to consistently do instead of making it a rush-to-be-a-one-time-PR. We are in it for the long haul and isnt that what its all about? Longevity!