One more Colorado post before we move on to the Coolest Road Trip and visit four towns over the next two weeks. There's a lot to look forward to, but I'm still having a great time reflecting on my rock climbing experience. The more I learn about the sport, the more amazed I become.

Coors Brewery tempted by pumping the smell of hops into the air on my final day in Colorado - walking through the town of Golden we could clearly smell it - but the drinks would come later. Before my last day of rookie climbing, I headed over to the American Mountaineering Museum for a glimpse at what rock climbing looks like at the most elite level.

And I'll tell you: It looks pretty outrageous.

Every time I'm at a museum a part of me feels like I'm doing myself a disservice by cooping myself up inside - it's a little bit of the restlessness in me - yet without fail I always end up learning something new, a process that reminds me to set aside some time to be inspired by what others have done before me. Not guided, manipulated, or awed into feelings of inferiority, only encouraged to encounter the situations myself.

Another admission: Colorado has cut me down to size. I thought I was in shape, then got kicked around climbing to the top of a 14,000ft mountain. I was comfortable on a bike until I dodged drunks in the Circle of Death. And before I learned about the portaledge, I considered myself adventurous and fearless.

The portaledge is a device/tent that climbers use to sleep during multiday climbs. While lots of people are concerned about their kids rolling out of a bunk bed, advanced climbers are sleeping suspended in the air - sometimes thousands of feet above the ground.

Here are a few photos courtesy of LIFamilies.com. The first one is obviously a joke, but the others are pretty impressive. I have nowhere near the skill and experience this sort of feat takes, but it certainly brings a smile to my face to know that humans can find a way to accommodate almost any situation, no matter how much logic tells us it's not feasible.

It wasn't a bottle of white wine, although in hindsight it's obvious that cold vino would have been the way to go.

Anyone who has read The Sun Also Rises will understand what I mean when I say I "went Hemingway" on the creek, wedging my water bottle between two rocks, allowing the cold water to do its thing. It was early afternoon and quite hot in the sun - approaching 90 degrees - and as the adrenaline from the morning climb wore off I began to feel my tired muscles. Having learned my lesson hiking to 14,000 feet earlier in the week, I passed on an afternoon cocktail for a healthy serving of hydration.

Looking back that decision seems foolish now, given the calming scenery and how good the sips of wine would have tasted in the heat of the day. As if sitting on the side of the creek and hearing the water flow wasn't enough, the canyon walls, pine trees, blue sky, and cascading waterfall wrapped everyone up in an afternoon comfort. People gathered at the base of the falls, sitting and walking with their ankles in the water, the dogs jumping into the deeper pools. Some had brought picnics, others hammocks and chairs.

That morning I had climbed about 1000 ft to the top of the first flatiron, and needless to say my toes were a bit rough from the journey, from being stuffed into the purposely cozy climbing shoes (reason being a big shoe wouldn't fit in a small hole in the rockface). When I held my feet in the running water and spread my toes, the force of the current performing a makeshift massage, I felt like rehabilitation - both in mind and body - had begun. One man took it a step further, as you'll see from the photos below.

Boulder Falls is located about 12 miles from the cabins of Chautauqua Park (trail open May 1 - October 31), a beautiful drive along the winding road into the Rockies. It's less than a five-minute walk from the road, making it the perfect outdoor sanctuary for people who want to feel good about doing absolutely nothing. My advice would be to bring some friends, and wash down the afternoon with a cold drink.

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