Anxiety and Euphoria: Canyoneering in Ouray

"Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks..."

1 Kings 18:5

In the last post Portia wrote about our trip to Colorado, but she left the canyoneering part for me.

I hadn't been canyoneering in Ouray for two years. If you know me well, you'll know that I love to canyoneer. Ouray canyons are a ton of fun. They're not as narrow as the Utah canyons, but in Ouray there is tons of water. I love canyoneering in Ouray!

In some ways, I feel like I'm still new to class C (moving water) canyons, so I thought we'd start with something familiar: Bear Creek and the Quartzite Corridor. The weekend we were there was the weekend of the Ouray Canyoneering Rendezvous, so dad put out a list at to see if anyone attending wanted to tag along with us.

At the trailhead.

We got one taker, Jill. When we met up with her the night before, she talked us into doing Weehawken Creek instead of Bear Creek. This stressed me out big time.

I used to take off down new canyons like a kid at the city park on a new slide. Then I got married.  Then I spent last summer guiding canyons. Then Portia and I had a baby.

Now I'm so darned cautious that I almost have anxiety before tackling a brand new canyon, especially a class C. This is a terrible thing, because I love to canyoneer, and I have been looking forward to Weehawken for a long time.

The morning came, we met up with Jill, and we started hiking. Jill is an aerospace engineer from Boulder, CO. She is chock full of character, and was a ton of fun to have on the trip.

We spent an hour or two winding our way up the long, pine forested switchbacks. As the sun slowly cast it's rays across my favorite mountains, and as the burning sensation slowly spread across my calves, the anxiety slowly melted away.

Miner's Gate

By the time we dropped into the canyon, I was feeling right at home.

Weehawken Creek is beautiful. The technical side of the canyon didn't disappoint, and neither did the scenery.

It was great to be in a Ouray canyon with Dad again. It was great to get my confidence back.

Thank you Dad for staying calm and confident so that I could too.  Thank you Portia for supporting me and giving me time to do the things I love.

The first real rap in the canyon.  Dad took it first, very brave of him.

Back to the cars,  all in one piece!