So, just a week after my climbing at the Eldo Canyon, I decided to head back there this Sunday with Roy from CMS.
Barring an incident when I almost climbed over a stray boulder that would have fallen on my left foot sending me sprawling down a few hundred feet to the rocks and the river, it was a great climb. I climbed the Bulge for a pitch (again, this time differently), Whale’s Tail (once again, differently this time), The Bomb (multi-pitch climb, lots of fun) and Calipso (top-roped this one because I was beat to do trad).
We were afraid that it was going to snow on the day of the climb, but fortunately it did not. It had snowed the night before, and the foothills seemed to be covered in snow. However, we waited a little while, and the snow melted and the day was simply gorgeous.
The Canyon was totally beautiful, with parts that had snow and parts that did not.
For the warm-up, we decided to start on Whale’s Tail, using a couple of different routes.
From the Whale’s Tail, we headed to the Bulge (probably 5′7 – 5′8) and did some practice rounds. I climbed the Bulge twice, back to back, and it was a lot of fun working with the gear-placements on sandstone.
We rested for about ten minutes and ate our energy bars while we prepared for our next climb – and here are some pictures of the canyon around us.
From that point on, we headed to the Bomb, which was a very challenging multi-pitch climb. It wasn’t rated particularly high, however the presence of (melting) snow, strong winds and loose rocks (not to mention boulders out there to get me killed) made it a little harder. I mean, it is called the Bomb, you know? 
After all that, I was bruised, had cracked nails and was hurt. But although we had to leave, it was a great day. However, we did climb the Calipso and the Bomb from two different faces!
And here is a parting shot of Roy and I on the bridge.
After all this, Cordell (who had gone for a nice hike) and I went to an Indian/Tibetan/Nepali restaurant called The Himalaya at Boulder and had some fantastic, spicy food.
So that was how I spent my Diwali weekend! Much fun.
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