lover's leap, redux

On Sunday FH and I decided we couldn't waste what might be the last gorgeous day of the year and we went back to lover's leap to finish up two 5.9 routes that we didn't get to the last time we were there.

I packed a fleece even though it was in the mid-70s. By the time we got to Golden the sky had started to cloud over and the temperature was noticeably cooler. FH didn't have a sweat shirt but thought he'd be okay. We got to the climbing area right as two couples with their kids were leaving. One of the moms was like "I bet you're glad to see us go". Um, yeah. I don't like climbing around kids and badly behaved dogs off leash.

FH started up the first nine. By the time he was at the second bolt my hands were frozen even though I was wearing my fleece. I don't know how he did it but he finished the route only stopping twice to warm up his hands. When it was my turn to climb I had to stop every few minutes to try to get my hands warm. I have frostbite damage in my fingers to begin with and the rock was almost as cold as ice (there was still snow on the ground from Monday). The rock is granite with a lot of crimpy holds which are hard to grab when you can't feel your hands. I fell three times trying to get through a blank section that just had small holds because I couldn't move my hands.

After taking a 5 foot fall - FH almost got the fall because he was about to take my pic when it happened.

My ass. It looks like this crack is easy climbing but it wasn't deep. I had to do a lay back on it.

By the time we were done climbing neither of us could feel our hands or feet. The sky was cloudy and it was getting colder by the second (and I was regretting leaving the windows open at FH's house). But it was still a lot of fun and I'm glad we got a day out climbing before ski season starts.

Let it snow!