Is it really worth it?

I have been procrastinating writing this post. Im not sure why? All the others have seemed to flow out so easily. Maybe because I have been so tired lately with little time (because my 15 month old dropped her morning nap and runs in circles all day)? Anyway..I guess I'll just start from the beginning...
The purpose of the road trip was pretty clear. We were going to the Rockies to train for Brent's ACMG alpine exam (which he is away on now). The objectives were not outrageous ...but I new they would be long days in the mountains..."no worries" I said out aloud...knowing inside that I am certainly not the athlete I once was...my fitness regime involved riding the chariot to the park and dancing to "the wiggles"...not 20 hr days in the alpine.

We (or Brent rather) decided Mount Louis would be our first peak. A fine line of about 17 pitches...nothing harder than 5.8. It was a 2.5 hr hike to the base with all our gear. We started in the dark and the sunrise crept in as we arrived at the route. I was psyched for sure....Perfect weather ....no one else there..we were stoked. Then I climbed the first pitch and I new it was going to be a long day.

It's funny as Rockies climbing is so looked upon from the rest of the world as the best in Canada. Weird..as when you have been climbing Squamish granite..then climb on Rockies $%&*stone....I mean...limestone...you have to question how valid these perceptions are? Brent was rocking the leading and climbing with speed. While I was having a suffer-fest on second. The Gmoser route on Mt Louis was described as one of the best moderate alpine climbs in the region. To me it was a shooting gallery of bullets. Loose rock was par for the course and I was the target. About half way up we were simulclimbing an easy 5.5 pitch when I reached up and grabbed a boulder. The whole block came down on my shoulder and leg. A few scrapes. It was a closed call. The next cat life up in smoke was after a rappel down a gully. 3-4 baseball size rocks came down in my direction. Brent instantly tackled me to get me out of the way. A helmut would not have helped if those suckers had hit bullseye.
The rest of the route went smoothly and we were both stoked to reach the top. The rappel route went well and was straight forward with some fun air time.
I felt surprisingly fine after 15 hours of climbing and energized for the hike out (another couple of hours)...unfortunately we came across a growling bear on the way down (grizzly)...so we bee lined it to the truck pretty quick smart!
We cruised into town for a beer and burger....day 1 over...the next mission. Castle.

I guess I didn't really get to my title...I think I'll tackle that next post as that's where the full on melt down really occurred!