Day 10

We slept in until about 10am recovering from yesterday's over 1,000 mile journey across the Great Plains. We made breakfast and blogged (we have to do it sometime) for the remainder of the morning. Mike unfortunately had to work, but he left us keys to his Colorado Springs condo so we were free to explore for the afternoon.

Mike's, a the second floor, roomy condo that served as our home-baseA view of the mountains from Mikey's. He is in the heart of this rugged terrain.

Mike suggested Red Rock Canyon with an impressive collection of sandstone cliffs and formations of the hue their name suggests. We hiked a bit to get our bearings around the park and finally found a good warm-up sport climb that Alex and I were excited about.

A crimpy 5-bolt 5.9 sport climb at Sayer Cliff, Red Rock Canyon, CO

We unpacked our gear and roped-up, but before we could clip the first bolt, the clouds gathered on the high peaks burst with lightning. We had to make the decision of go for it or playing it safe.
We realized our defeat and packed up to beat the storm to the car. We decided to make the most of the day by going to Wal-Mart and purchasing all the fixings for a proper American cookout at Mike's as a thank-you for letting us stay at his place. Buns, burgers, bratwursts, and beers abound and we enjoyed the company of Mike's roommate, Sean from California and Dave, a co-worker and fellow Penn State student.