Someone Had a Birthday (Weekend)

This past weekend was our only and final full weekend in Colorado.  Being that it was also Brian’s birthday weekend, we were sure to celebrate in the most Boulder way we could.  Having spent nearly every evening hiking the previous week, we started the weekend with less walking and more climbing.  The majority of Saturday was spent in Georgetown, where chilly morning temperatures were perfect for climbing.  Before long, the sun was doing its job and we were very warm, so once we had our fill of warm – weather climbing, we headed back to Boulder for margaritas and Mexican food.  We finished off the evening with a trip to The Outback, a local bar that can best be described like this: weird.  It’s a little like a cult favorite in that we all enjoy going, especially with our friend Peter, who loves it, but we cannot explain what about it makes The Outback worth visiting. 


On Sunday, we headed to Chautauqua Park and hiked to the Third Flatiron, one of the iconic rock formations that loom over Boulder.   Our group of five consisted of people who all were originally from or once lived in Wisconsin.  Two of us were newbies when it came to soloing (climbing without a rope) the Third (though we’d both been up the Second a number of times), but we all made our way to the top with big smiles on our faces; it was an absolute blast.  In order to reach the trail again, one has to rappel off the top of the climb.  It had been a while since I had rappelled, so I wasn’t entirely gung-ho, but I reminded myself that it was Brian’s birthday weekend and went for it, walking myself over the edge of the rock and into the open air below. It, like the climb, offered some spectacular views and was loads of fun.   

making our way up, up, up 
 
Team WISCO
Dave, Peter, Sean, Brian, and me 

after our rappel off The Third 


Since we got an early start to beat (some of) the heat, we had the whole afternoon to fill with birthday weekend fun.  Hoping to keep cool, we went to the theatre to see the newly released film, Meru, about the expedition to the Himalayan Mountain of the same name.  It was excellent and highly recommended.  The birthday boy then closed out his weekend with dinner and a drink with our friends Kynan and Ashley.   As post – dinner entertainment, we tested out hands at a few arcade games and then made a mandatory stop for the man of the weekend, a stop to get a dip cone.  We took advantage of the fact that Boulder cools down nicely in the evenings and went for a short walk on one of the many trails in town.  By the time 9pm rolled around, we were both exhausted, which I took to mean that celebrating Brian’s birthday with friends, fresh air, and mountains was a success. 

Happy birthday, Buddy.   I hope you had a fantastic weekend.



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