The guide picked the perfect mountain for them to climb. They have it pre-anchored, to save time. Still, he climbed the back of it in sandals and secured the ropes, and they were ready. He had created an easy course up the wall, then a more difficult one, then a difficult one. It is more about having the confidence to keep you weight on your feet, and becoming "one with the wall". Yeah, that's crap for "not caring if you die or not to get to the top" as far as I'm concerned.
Chloe wanted to go first, which worked out well for the other two. A few instructions on how to do it, and off she goes. From now on, I will call her Billy Mountain Goat! That girl is NOT afraid of heights, and just loved it.
She made it to the top, and had no trouble. Next up, Morgan. She got 2/3 of the way up, got cranky, lost her confidence and came down. That girl didn't take to the climbing so much, you have to hunt for places for your fingers and feet. However, she loved, LOVED the rappelling back down.
Last up, Angie. She was doing pretty good, until she slid her foot into a crack and "maybe" broke a toe. She then decided she had to have the correct size of shoes to continue. She traded her size 12's for the correct size.... 10's, and she was off again. They had an option of sizes to choose from, but only one set of size 10 women's, then there was a set of size 12's. After getting started again with the correct size that she got from Chloe, she was too pooped and her foot was hurting, so she quit. I was totally impressed with Angie. More than the girls. I am so proud of her.
Chloe went again, this time on a more difficult course. She slipped once, and fell against the wall, pulling her arms up over her face to protect her head. She got pretty scratched up. However, it was her very first fall, and of course the rope and our leader, kept her from falling more than 5 or 6 feet. The good thing about it, it gave her the confidence to trust the guide, and instilled in her a greater confidence. She said that when she started, she was only worried about three things. 1, That she's rappel down and hit her butt into a ledge she didn't see (?????), 2. she'd fall head first and hurt her head, or 3. I can't remember what it was, but she no longer worried about that.
Again, she reached the top. She loved it. I do believe we have finally found the closest thing to a "sport" that Chloe will do again. He did say that she did really well for her age, and especially for a girl that had never done it before. He also thought Morgan was capable of doing it, not afraid of heights, just needed to "want to do it". To me, it seemed as if Morgan only wanted to do the rappelling down. Morgan tried one more time, but got about 1/2 way up and again quit.
We had a little time left over, so Chloe tried the most difficult of the three walls. This time, she didn't make it to the top. She had, however, made it past the most difficult part. She was close enough to the top that the guide said she should count it as complete. He apologized, but he had a schedule to keep, as he was taking people out later that afternoon. Chloe was stoked! Angie too!
After that, we all headed the approximate 30 mile trip to Crested Butte; We ate lunch at the Brick Oven Pizzeria & Pub. Then, shopping. I bought a Vera Bradley Back Pack.... wow, are those things expensive. Then I bought some rum. It is actually distilled here. It's called Colorado Montany Rum. I got the 80 proof Oro. It is best stored in the freezer, and sipped. Remember that, girls.
That's the excitement for now. I'm in the car, waiting with Morgan, for Chloe and Angie to return from their shopping. Chloe was with me in the distillery and she saw that they serve "mocktails" for kids. She's there now sipping. Later....
Here it is Saturday morning. The weather yesterday was nice, no rain all morning or evening. Today is the day we go white water rafting. I will do this one. The man assured me that I'd be fine... bad knees, out of shape, and all. We'll see. Everyone is still asleep. I get up so much earlier, that's when I get most of my blogging done. Well, at least the uploading of pictures. Getting them from 3 different cameras is time consuming. Also, uploading them over the internet is better because everyone else her in the park is still asleep. Just finished the loading of this post's pictures, so I'll close. I'm enjoying my 2nd cup of coffee already. Later....
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