Around 4:45am, after swapping hour shifts of driving (or slightly more for Dave and less for Alex), we were finally at the Hefter's. After catching up for a bit, we headed to bed, while they headed to work for the day. Four hours later, we woke up, got some coffee in our systems, and headed out to Chautauqua Park in Boulder to climb the First Flatiron. The route on our radar was the 1000ft, 10 pitch, Direct Route.
Dave led all the pitches, in his typical style of carrying way too much gear. We climbed fairly straight above us the the "false summit", then traversed the "roller-coaster ridgeline" to the true summit and rappel station. After 6 hours on the rock, our hot, tired, and hungry bodies were again on the ground. We made our way gingerly down the descent trail, and back to the car, eager for food, drinks, and sleep.
