Blindman and Dirtbag Split

It was time for the dynamic duo to split.  Blindman got sick of sleeping in van.  He needs more cush cush than a piece of foam covered with tapestry.  For those of you who haven't seen the Dirt-Mobile.  Here it is.

Blindman says he cant sleep on any form or bed.  When i mean he needs something more cush cush I mean he sleeps on the ground.  Blindman says its good for his back.  He would refuse to sleep in the van and instead grab a tapestry for a blanket and a t-shirt for a pillow and sleep outside with the animals.  In Utah I woke up and walked outside seeing Blindman cuddled with two foxes and a bobcat.

During this trip Ive learned a lot about Blindman that I never knew.  One thing I learned was that he was born in the wild and raised by wolves up in the mountains of Banff.  He has learned the ability to keep warm in winter by insulating his body with layers of fat tissue.

Blindman and I made it to Utah together but the heat was decreases Blindman's lipid layers and he decided to move on.  He also seemed sick of cooking on a stove and felt he had to eat more naturally and go forage for food in Idaho.  So Blindman has gone to Idaho.  Peace Blindman, its been fun!

Blindman and Dirtbag's Bogus Journey through Colorado

Colorado is Colorful...thought not as colorful as the east!  Sorry Colorado.  We hit Colorado at peak Fall season.  Its nice and the leaves are changing color though it is only one color...yellow.  It makes me miss the east and all the colors at this time of year.  Vermont during the Fall kills it!  They got reds, yellows, purples, oranges and sometimes even blues.  Its like being in Dr. Sues' backyard.  But one thing Colorado does have is HUGE mountains, never ending ridge lines and awesome alpine climbing!  Overall we like it here.  Blindman is thinking about moving here and I said go for it.

Though Blindman's eye sight has been diminishing in the higher altitude the rest of his senses have heightened.  I saw him about to step on a snake but then grabbed it by the tail and gave the snake a lesson on manners.  I could hear him yelling from down the trail, "You always move out of the way when elders walks by!"  

We spent some time in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) outside of Estes Park.  There we hiked into alpine territory to scope some cool rock climbing.  Though I did not get to climb in Estes I found some awesome rock that I half to get on.  Below is a picture of Blindman in front the 1000ft Hallet Peak, which contains tons and tons of climbing routes.  Bomb, I know!

One of our stops was in Pagosa Springs, CO where Blindman's cousin Marty Borges lives.  Pagosa Springs has got some sweet ice climbing and skiing in the winter and in the summer has two great rivers to raft down.  Not a bad spot to hang out, uh!

The Butterfield's and the Borges' meet up in Pagosa Springs to discuss life's complexities and adventures down nature's path. 

Our last stop in the "Colorful" state was Ouray and Telluride.  These two place are right next to each other but so far apart in reality.  Ouray is probably the best place to train for ice climbing in the US.  From downtown you can walk to the ice park and climb all day.  Below is a picture of the ice park I found online. Sweet stuff!

Complements of Marauder Mountain Photography.

Some local Muckle Crunchers climbing off road in Ouray.  Its hard to see but I'm in the red hat climbing as Murph belays and Emily rummages through the car.

WOW...look at that ICE!  Just stare at it and appreciate it for a moment!

SO sweet and so purdy, and it wants me to climb it!  Bridalvail Falls, Telluride!!!! YEA!  It is in walking distance from the town.  I want to move there and climb it period!

Overall Colorado was pretty rad.  We hiked some sweet peaks and scoped out some awesome climbing destinations.  We circled the square state and left our mark.  (Blindman peed on every corner of the state to warn the animals that this was now his territory.)  A saw some paragliders take off from atop a mountain in Telluride and let me drive their truck down the whole mountain.  I picked up Blindman on the way down cause he was too slow and tired to make it to the top.  The whole drive down the mountain Blindman was hooting and hollering at all the poonanies in the Gondola.

Side Notes:  Blindman is in love with Telluride but he refuses to move there because of all the poonannies.  If you didn't already know Telluride has the second home of the biggest poonanie of all time Tom Cruise!  Blindman and Tom Cruise met each other in the 90s at a party in LA.  Cruise was spun on something and ran around the party naked humping inanimate objects and howling like a horse.  To this day Blindman has never seen a Mission Impossible movie and refuses to call Scientology a legitimate religion.  

Blindman and Dirtbag Strikes Back

A lot has happened since White Castle and we all know White Castle can do that to you.   So instead of doing one long blog post we will take it step by step.  If you didn't already know Blindman was born a Mormon, more specifically the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints mormon.  Behind us is the main RLDS Temple in Independence, Ohio.  Inside is where Blindman had his first spiritual experience since the 70s.  

Blindman and I reconnecting with our Mormon heritage in front of the RLDS Mormon temple in Independence.  

It has been told that the Mormons actually discovered the Fibonacci Spiral 500 years before Fibonacci.  This infinitely large Sea Shell above is the spiral in the Independence Temple.  The mormons believe that through this spiral you can hear the sound of God, but all I heard was the ocean.

I lost Blindman for an hour and found him staring into the infinite sea shell.  I tapped him on the shoulder and he awoke from his daze.  "Whats up pops," I said.  Staring blankly at me he responded that he had just seen Joseph Smith and Jesus hanging out and eating nutmeg.  Blindman joined them and spent the next hour shooting the shit with them.  Blindman is now thinking of converting to Hinduism.  I guess Mr. Smith and Jesus were kinda boring.

Blindman and Dirtbag go to White Castle

The Blind man and the Dirtbag Look for Gold

Its about time the pops and I headed off on a trip together and now is the perfect time.  Garth, his Canadian given name, has recently become blind.  Both eyes went pop and now he sees fractals and colors.  Sounds like an acid trip, uh!  Which aint bad unless your living in Fairfield and no one wants to trip in Fairfield.  Being bored out of his mind in fractal-land Garth is looking to get out and explore.  Me on the other hand...well i always want to go out and explore plus I currently have no job, I live out of my car and all I want to do is climb rocks!  So we've decided to team up and crush some mountains together and if it comes down to it Ill carry the old man up some peaks.  First stop Baltimore to see the cousins, Myka and Jared.  Next stop Colorado!