In July of 2008, a group of Bart's family and friends gathered in Colorado to celebrate his life. On that weekend, we spread some of Bart's ashes in a few of his favorite spots in the mountains of CO. It was a beautiful weekend of recollecting the life of a very dearly missed friend and getting to know some of the people that were close to him. At one point, Bart's youngest brother, Mitch, presented me with a climbing chalkbag filled with Bart's ashes and asked me if I would take him up another climb with me. Since that day, I have put a lot of thought into what climb to choose, and I wanted to bring him somewhere that was incredibly meaningful to both of us. The more I thought about it, the more I felt I needed to take him up more than just one climb. I decided to bring Bart with me on two final climbs - one that I was never able to climb with him (but always wanted to), and another that I was able to do because of his encouragement.

I didn't start climbing until I moved to Colorado in 2000. Although I've climbed all over the country (and in Mexico) since then, Colorado does, and always will, hold a very special place in my heart. As a climber, one of the most awe-inspiring walls in Colorado is The Diamond - The East Face of Longs Peak, in Rocky Moutain National Park.

The base of The Diamond is at an elevation of 12,350 feet, and its summit is at 14,255 feet. The fact that it's at such a high altitude, on top of the 7 mile approach, makes it an extremely demanding and adventurous climb, regardless of which route you take up it. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to climb The Diamond with Bart, but we had talked about it often. I know that he climbed it a number of times, and loved that wall as much as I do. In 2005, I climbed The Diamond via The Casual Route (5.10a) with my friend, Matt, and took this amazing picture of the sun rising over the Eastern horizon...

This picture only partially portrays one of the main reasons that I love to climb. Being on that wall, in that setting, with such a unique vantage point, is one of the most amazing things I can imagine. I know that Bart would be happy to have his ashes spread from the top of The Diamond. So, on August 27, 2008, I had the opportunity to climb The Diamond again, via the route, Pervertical Sanctuary (5.10c), with my friend, Tony. As with my first experience on The Diamond, this was truly one of the most physically demanding days of my life. I carried the chalkbag that Mitch had given me up the climb that day, and when we reached Table Ledge, I scattered some of Bart's ashes off the wall, over Chasm Lake below...

 

That day on The Diamond, I only scattered half of the ashes in the chalkbag. The other half was being saved for another truly amazing spot that I know Bart would want to be - Eldorado Canyon, just outside of Boulder, CO. Eldorado Canyon is one of the most incredible climbing areas in the world, and I will always consider it the area that really taught me to appreciate rock climbing. Bart definitely shared my love for the magic of Eldo. Among all of the amazing climbing in Eldo, there is one climb that truly stands out as one of the most beautiful climbs I have ever done - The Naked Edge (5.11a/b).

The Naked Edge basically follows the line where the sun and the shade meet in the above photo. Since I started rock climbing, I had dreamed of climbing The Naked Edge, but was too intimidated to try it. The first time I climbed it was with Bart, on October 3, 2005. Leading up to the climb, I was still extremely intimidated, but I was confident at the same time because Bart KNEW that I could climb it...and I believed him. He had done all of the dirty work by finding out all of the exact gear we would need to get up the climb safely. I think he emailed 10 different people and visited a couple of different websites to get all of the information he could on the climb! Anyways, we had an amazing day of climbing that day. Honestly, one of the most amazing days of my life...it truly felt like a breakthrough day for me. Since then, I have climbed The Naked Edge four more times...and I would gladly do it a hundred more.

The Naked Edge is closed 6 months out of the year for seasonal raptor nesting. It's closed from February 1 - July 31 every year, so you need to have the combination of the right time of year, the right partner, and good weather to climb it. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the climb that I wanted to bring Bart's ashes up, but I wasn't able to find that combination until the very last day of the season, January 31, 2009. My girlfriend, Crystal, and I left the house at 7:00AM, and had another amazing day on The Naked Edge, with Bart's ashes along for the ride...

This next picture isn't us climbing, but it's a really nice view of the very exposed last pitch of the climb...

When we reached the top of The Redgarden Wall, I spread the last of Bart's ashes from atop The Naked Edge...

I miss you, Bart.
You were, and always will be, an inspiration.

John Bartlett (Bart) Calkins, Jr.
June 24, 1947 - October 8, 2007