It's all been Easy

Made the front page of Google!

2011-10-28T10:11:00.002-04:00

If you go to and in the bottom left click change your background picture. The following picture made it into the top 50! its maybe 10 rows down on the right. W00t!

Strong like bull

2011-03-02T22:34:00.002-05:00

Not quite like climbing outside, but the need to get strong is palpable.

Morning Ride

2011-03-01T11:47:00.000-05:00

A little chilly but the new house affords amazing new biking opportunities.

I am a rock

2011-03-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

Title for my sister sarah to complete the paul simon trifecta. Just saw this with some reasonable light.

old friends

2011-02-28T08:49:00.001-05:00

For sunday. First ride of the year. Time to get back in shape.

Still crazy after all these years

2011-02-28T08:48:00.001-05:00

for saturday.

Fork en fuego

2011-02-25T15:22:00.001-05:00

Aluminium fork. Oxy acetylene. Power out.at work fun times

Three

2011-02-24T19:21:00.001-05:00

She is so good at being little

Nyc sunset

2011-02-23T16:49:00.001-05:00

Busy day. Pretty sunset

Winters not over

2011-02-22T17:26:00.001-05:00

Brrrr

jumping across the country in a single bound

2011-02-21T11:39:00.001-05:00

Bidding la goodbye, cant wait to go home.

Sandstone mtn

2011-02-20T20:17:00.001-05:00

Just a nice sunset in socal. Mountains, pacific ocean, rocks, not too shabby.

torsk

2011-02-16T14:48:00.001-05:00

Scanning the torsk and constellation in sparrows point

Week 31 San Jacinto Peak

2010-01-31T19:59:00.006-05:00

Out of order I know. Ill feel in the preceding weeks soon.

Also to compliment the story here is a link to a KML file which can be opened in Google Earth if you have it. San Jacinto

I have something of a love affair with California. In this case, affair is likely the operative word. My desire to reside there is muted by the traffic, bustle of the cities, smog, fake people driving expensive cars etc. However my work has taken me here rather frequently lately, and provided some of my best adventures to date.
There is something about the stunning mountains and my usual lack of time that makes adventuring come easy.

In many adventures I have talked about pushing my limits, finding the edge and finding a way to exist there at the edge. In climbing this is paramount. If you make a serious enough mistake there are grave consequences, so knowing yourself and being honest with yourself critically important. But what happens when you find yourself in a situation where you go beyond the limit and encounter a situation where you face the tough choice of failing upward, or as difficult of a descent?

Typically I am planning this trip at the last minute. A whirlwind week, busy at work, fly to GA to administer some training, and then all of a sudden I am on a plane to LAX landing at 10 pm PST with a weekend to kill and nothing planned. Luckily my boss Michael found a free Airtran wifi coupon and I was on my way.

With a little reasearch I found my match. San Jacinto Peak. Only 2.5 hours from LAX, it some of the largest topographical prominence in the US, and best, it has a trail that gains 10,000 ft of elevation in less than 10 miles. This is a huge gain, normally 4000 is pretty large. Luckily there is salvation, as a day with 20 miles and 20000 feet of change would eat your soul... there is a tram at around 8500 feet which provides an easy descent back down to Palm Springs.

Getting off an airplane, by yourself, in a strange city, with no one to meet for two days is a liberating experience. I hate to be a bit Randian here but I can almost feel myself going along on a set of rails greased by my own ability. The future is mine for the taking. The plan is to drive to the base, find a place to catch a few Zs for a few hours then get an early start and do the hike on Saturday.

Even at midnight as I drive in the mountain looms large. An amazing thing here is that Palm Springs is basically at sea level (300 ft above sea level) so there is no assistance here. No climbing a 14er in Colorado by starting at 11,000 and strolling to the top. Here you must climb every inch of the mountain. The struggle and the reward are all yours.

I pull into the parking lot on Ramon road, the No Camping sign shines bright in my headlights before I turn the car off. The problem is that the neighborhood is much ritzier than expected. A little info on guerrilla car camping, you dont want the extremes. Place in a shambles? I worry about my safety. Place to nice? I worry about an overactive, under-utlized law enforcement officers wanting a chance to display their power. Within a minute of my arrival an officer drives by slowly and shines his light on me. Apparently I dont meet his stereotype for a wrong-doer as he says nothing and pulls away. My cover however is clearly blown, and lacking anyplace else to go, I start packing to start hiking. I take my light sleeping bag, 8 snickers bars, 1 gallon of water, and a pair of gloves. As I leave the car the clock reads 1am, I woke up 23 hours ago in a little hotel outside of Ft. Gordon GA.

Energy for the hike ahead

The bright moon allows for nigh-time hiking sans headlamp and the trail to my delight is relatively easy to follow. 1.5 miles of fairly steep hiking leads to the Skyline trail. Several signs describe the seriousness of the route, lack of water, elevation gain etc.

Looking up the horizon looms ever higher. And every time I gain what is the apparent high point another one takes its place... then another, and another. The trail is steep, not too bad, but if there is one word it is relentless. Around 5 am I start to encounter some snow and the trail gets harder to follow. Way up high I can see the bright light of the tram shining bright. I decide to crash for a little while and wait for light. As I curl up in my sleeping bag, right on the trail, I keep wondering how big of a cat would it take to make the footprints I just saw in the snow.

Its gotten quite cold, I must have gained a lot of elevation... I am awake and on the move at first light. Palm Springs looks like I am in airplane, I must have gained 5000 feet last night.

Knowing I have a long day ahead

The snow is getting deeper but it is relatively consolidated, I can walk on top without breaking through the upper crust. Still things are getting slower, and despite getting started halfway up the route, at 6am I wonder if ill have to just get to the tram.

A view near where I spent the night

It is also heating up. Despite being January I am in Southern California and it warms at least to the upper 40s. The snow is getting softer, and as i break through the crust it is going from 6 inches to a foot or more. I wearing approach shoes (low top sneakers with sticky rubber) but the miracle of wool keeps my feet wet but warm.

The small wrong turns that are inevitably made go from being 30 second diversions to 5 minutes or more. The trail that was once so easy to follow is gone but the route is obvious... follow the ridge past mini-peaks towards the tram station now clearly visible up ahead.

Conditions have gotten quite hard and during a particularly grueling section of more than 30 minutes where I find myself on all fours trying to disperse my weight and gain some flotation on the soft snow which is now in the 2 foot range. I must have gained 250 feet of elevation in that time.

My last photo on the mountain as I got too tired to take any more

I find a rock, and lay down to let the sun warm met. Its maybe noon. I eat a couple snickers bars, and call Eliza let her know I am alive and get a pep talk. The tram is clearly now my goal and I can see it less than 1000 feet above. I know the tram runs till 9pm. Even at my slowed pace I should be able to make tram.

The snow has gotten really poor. Every step I sink in to my waist. I spend 20 minutes trying to fashion some snowshoes from a bunch of evergreen boughs and my shoelaces, they are useless and quickly get cast aside. I plunge on. Giving everything I have and getting very very little. The ground coverage is small bushy undergrowth, and like a spruce trap it holds the snow but not my weight so the apparent snow depth gets even deeper. I feel like I am expending an entire snickers bar worth of energy for every step. I lose a shoe trying to lift up out of the snow. I had not retied my shoes properly after the snowshoes fiasco. At some point I look back, my rocks are barely 50 feet of elevation back down, and I have spent an hour and countless calories struggling.

My limits. Often I have pushed them, sometimes learned my limits are greater than I expected. Technical climbing it is relatively and safe to back off. A mountain is not the same. And the tram being so close had convinced me that a safe and easy descent was so close. Did I have the drive to finish upwards? What are the failure options? Down: spend another night on the mtn, certainly lower, and perhaps out of the snow or down... 7500 ft of descent over 8 miles. Up: A night on the mtn at 8000 ft in waist deep snow, with no pad, just a sleeping bag, and no guarantee of improving conditions higher up.... if i make it a quick descent.

Certainly the allure of going up was strong. My pride, that i could SEE the tram, the quick descent and an end to the painful progress. But in the end I knew that it was the failure options that would determine my path. Going up and failing was certainly more dangerous, high reward, high risk. This may be splitting hairs as here i was 7500 ft up a huge mtn, but we all have our lines. Going down meant pain... and lot of it, but if anything I have proven to myself is that pain tolerance is something i can handle.

I had found the edge, and walked off, now it was time to return.
Failure can be success as well.

Going down lives up to its promise. I am even more spent than I thought, almost stumbling/wading through the snow. This almost skiing motion with my feet gives ample opportunity for the sharp thin crust of the snow to cut into my shins. Even now days later my ankle to my calf is swollen and bruised from the beating. I lose my shoes two more times before stopping and properly retying them. But progress is being made. 3 hours later I regain the spot where i slept last night. I know now I will be ok, the remaining 5 miles will teach me a little about pain management, but if necessary another night could be spent without consequence.

The miles dredge on, and it is dark as I reach the car. It takes nearly every once of energy I have left to stumble to the car. I am drooling because it feels funny as the last of my water slips past my lips. I try to take a picture, wanting to document my state, but the camera, usually so natural to me has become complicated and twisted, not bending to my will. The dark and out of focus frames can attest.

I eat consume copious amounts of calories at the nearby Mexican joint. Manage to drive 20 miles and crash at a rest area. Sleeping, half reclined in a rental Hyundia Sonata, you would think I was sleeping on a tempurpedic.

A great view of the whole mountain

The next day I cruise around Joshua tree (anyone out there remember Spring of 2001 in Jtree??) stopping by some old place to dredge up a memory or two. Remember what times past had brought, and how they have influenced my present course of action. I get a huge omelet in an idyllic Cali town halfway back to LA. A triple amputee meets a friend for lunch across the aisle and his intrinsic happiness makes me cry and crushes my humble accomplishments. I go and see some art. Some I helped to create, some I will contribute to in future. It is a day where traffic does not matter. I finally crash at the hotel before resuming normal proceedings.

Week 25 The Rubics Cube Dec 19th

2009-12-30T22:52:00.002-05:00

Ah alcohol the most proletariat of drugs.

What else can make a bunch of engineering students/photographers/dancers dress up in a bunch of old clothes then seemingly at random swap those said clothes all night long.

It is really just a party trick gone full scale.... show up in a bunch of clothes that you dont care about too much. And slowly over the course of the nite, you swap with whomever trying to become all one color.... get it? Like a Rubics Cube. Am I back in college??

Truly only photos can attest.

Most of the group... here shown pre-swap and with an abnormally large amount of fake facial hair.

And getting close to our single colors

Ann showing perhaps the most monochrome point in the evening

I cant believe i still fit into my 70s suit!

I vowed not to post anything too embarrassing.... but of course I have to conclude the night with a run around the house.

All in all a lovely time. Ended up crashing at Gregs house (duh) and having a most exciting drive back as the pre Christmas blizzard had just started.

Week 24 Old Rag in the Rain Dec 12

2009-12-26T12:17:00.003-05:00

The snow of last weekend has subsided and a cold rain has taken its place. Nate Eliza and I have plans to hike up Old Rag and maybe do some climbing as well. The forecast is calling for 33 and raining at the town near the base of Old Rag, and looking outside our bedroom it is absolutely pouring.

Eliza decides to bag the day and work, and the whole ride down Nate and I are down-sizing our planned adventure. And yet upon arrival at the parking lot, in a veritable downpour, we decide to bring our climbing gear anyway. I mean how often do you get to hike up a mountain with gear that you cant possibly use?

We has hoped that if the weather was forecast to be 33 at the base maybe we things would change to snow higher up on the mountain. No such luck. Instead we encounter that most Mid-Atlantic of weather patterns... ice. The air is warm enough to keep the actual precipitation liquid, but as we get up higher everything freezes to the rocks.

Old Rag is not really a dangerous mountain. It is just the closest we have in the Mid Atlantic. But with icy conditions over rocky ground, it is pretty exciting.

We get up to the 2nd of 3 false summits, and head down into the woods to find Nates offwidth project. 15 minutes of sliding down wet snow, we get under the roof.

For rock climbers who climb cracks, offwidths are the scariest of the scary. Crack climbing is basically filling the void of space between two rock faces. Thus size is the most critical factor in determining difficulty as well as technique. There are hand cracks (the easiest) down to fingers, or even finger tips. On the bigger sides things go through fists to chimney where you put your whole body in the crack. Between fist and a squeeze chimney is the offwidth... and few climbers venture near its dangerous grounds.

Upward progress is made via such moves as arm bars, chicken wings, or the mystical Leavittation. All of them are grueling full body affairs. Your ankles get torn to shreds, you need a new pair of jeans for every climb, and your hands turn to hamburger. But as with everything hard... there is an enticement to the difficult. Bernt Arnold, the brilliant east German climber and solo-ist at 65 has said he loves to make even the difficult things easy. I cant put it better.

Nates project though offers no easy solutions. Given the weather, we cant try and climb today, but just visualizing the moves is hard enough. 20 feet out a roof via a 6 inch crack, then the apparent crux turning the lip to gain the wider squeeze chimney. A shout out to all the strong people who want to come try this... Definitely worthy.

Nate and I move further down and away from the trail down to the Wall that Dreams are made Of. Last time i was here it was bloody hot, and i was without water... after climbing I had a harrowing descent until it rained and i finally got some water. This time the weather couldnt be more different. Nate gets started aiding and the sun miraculously breaks through. It becomes downright pleasant. Still we have pushed the boat out rather far, and relish the quick opportunity to dry our wet things. Surviving in this weather for days on end would take quite the diligence to maintain dry and capable equipment.

We finish our climb and take a peak at nearby tempting rock snacks, but the sun is already descending and its time to head down. We have descended further down the side of the mountain than i remember and it takes 45 minutes to gain the ridge, and the trail down. It is maybe 30 minutes from dark, and its really time to head down.

However the strange weather has left us with one of the most brilliant moments I have ever experienced in the hills. What is left of the rain and clouds have sunk down to the ground. Settling in the valleys and between the hills like molasses. And just as think. The tops of the clouds appear opaque. From our viewpoint above all this only a few tops of mountains peak out above the clouds. We cant help but take a few minutes and relish the view as it really is breathtaking.

It gets dark, and my head lamp as usual sits nicely on my office desk. I know the mountain too well though and even in the dark with no moon, its no problem. I even take a minutes to do my scramble that I usually use to pass the crowds at the chimney portion.

Having reserves at the end of day like this feels like maybe I am in better shape than I would appear.

Week 23 Bull Run Conservancy Dec 5th

2009-12-26T10:54:00.003-05:00

We dont get a ton of snow in Baltimore, so when we get an early December dusting, Eliza and I took advantage of the situation and went for a hike. Though we had originally planned to do Old Rag we decided to check out something new and quite a bit closer.

On my way out I66 dozens of times I have noticed what looks like a cliff band in my rear view mirror as you pass through a gap just 20 miles out of DC. I figured it was on private land being so close to DC so didnt give it much thought. But today as we drove to the base of the gap we noticed that it is actually a wildlife preserve complete with miles of trails. Perfect!

Signage indicates that climbing is not allowed, which in my mind is a good thing, that means there must be rocks up there somewhere.

A couple neat ruins are near the beginning of the hike, including an old mill that made grain for US troops in every way from the American Revolution to WWII.

Looking back at the train tracks at the start of the hike.

Ruins of the old mill

Eliza by an old shack

A happy pairing

We never did find the rocks. There was quite a bit of snow up on the ridge, and we were momentarily distracted by a large group of hikers dressed up in probably 2500 dollars worth of outdoor gear apiece.

On the way back down Eliza and I entered an interesting discussion upon finding a cairn. Given my engineering background it is always fun to apply some of these principles to the natural world.

A cairn is a stack of rocks usually at a junction indicating that you are following the right path. These can be tremendously useful, not necessarily for an easy hike in the woods on a wide path, but many climbs are approached using these unobtrusive helpers. The reason they work is because they are an ordered system, rocks very rarely organize themselves into piles.

This is a classic example of entropy the main component in the second law of thermodynamics. This law basically states that the disorder in any system, and indeed the universe is always increasing. Perhaps the most famous example is that you often see a glass falling off a table and crashing into a million pieces (a more disordered state) but i doubt if any one has seen these same pieces suddenly jump back onto the table and reassemble themselves.

This makes sense, but what about the glass in the first place? Well we humans expended a huge amount of energy in making that glass. In melting the sand, in forming into a shape, in obtaining the knowledge of the process.

So back to the question of our humble cairn. Clearly someone spent some energy piling the the rocks so that we may know the way. Hence in a purely thermodynamic sense, more energy was put into piling the rocks, than the rocks lying in disarray on the side of the trail.

However when you include the human intelligence element things get a bit more muddy. Lets say going the wrong way on this trail adds on average an extra mile to the hike, and 1000 people a year could take this detour. I highly doubt that these 1000 miles of walking saved are of less value than the 30 seconds it took to create the cairn.

But I suppose the whole hike is arbitrary anyway. Certainly walking around in a giant circle only to end up back at the same place has not somehow increased the order in the universe. But then the question of why certainly rears its ugly head.

Some hobbies have direct benefit. My mother knitting for example provides warmth to many people. A cook or furniture builder do much the same. But my pursuits, hiking, and climbing, do nothing for anyone. Perhaps I gain a bit of physical strength, so that my adventures can increase in scope, but most importantly what I gain from these is a peace of mind, a confidence in my abilities, the act of pushing my limits.

I guess that's a lot to intuit from a pile of rocks on the side of a trail, but I suppose what I take away is that the rules that govern the physical world certainly apply to us as humans. However we can not discount the unique perspective that being self aware gives us.

In any case Ill leave this with an appropriate picture.

Week 22: Red Rocks Part 2: Nov 28

2009-12-25T16:20:00.005-05:00

Day by day our party increases, from our initial 2 all the way up to 11 at one point. We have quite the tent ghetto occupying one site. Luckily given the fullness of the campsite we are not hassled too much by the camp staff.

We do an enormous amount of climbing. The daily routine is to wake up at dawn, split into parties determined the night before, and climb till dark. We rarely see the camp in the daytime.

Enumerating such an outpouring of climbing would be only slightly more interesting than watching grass grow. So ill uncharacteristically stick to one story. Suffice to say the other climbing, both done by myself and by the others of the group was spectacular.

After my initial day on Solar Slab, the doubt i thought I had banished still nagged my mind. Aided by a bought with some sickness early in the trip, my foot still injured from the hike with Nate, and the running dialogue in my head, I had climbed quite well, but not led much.

Towards the end of the trip we had decided to do a day at Black Velvet Canyon, home to some of the best climbing but dark, shady and cold. It was also home to my favorite climb of that trip Triassic Sands. With a 10c crux down low and then endless 8 handcrack up high it is a climb to dream about. The only thing I had regretted last time was that I had not led the climb besides the easy first pitch.

Having not led anything harder than 5.6 and that almost a week ago, leading 10c seems ill-advised at best. Its the first climb of the day, and it is not warm. The crux comes as soon as you leave the belay. Tricky finger locks though 3 small roofs. I place 5 pieces in 15 feet of climbing, and just over the crux I get a decent jam to shake out. My arms are tired and with the cold I can not get the blood to leave my arms. I switch arms for 15 minutes trying to shake out.

Pulling over the roof at the crux

Things arent improving so I take a look at the gear i still have to finish off the pitch. To my horror it looks like I have 1 piece left that will fit the crack which is almost identical in size for the next 120 feet.

This puts me in quite the predicament, as leaving that piece behind after say 30 feet will mean that I would take a 180 foot fall which is clearly unacceptable. With few options I decide to use a technique that only works when the crack remains the same size. After climbing up 5 feet, and the piece is at my feet, I reach down and slide the piece farther up the crack. This works pretty well, but wears on the mind.

Nearing the belay as I take out the piece and replace it, I am for a brief instance exposed to a very very long fall, the threat of which goes away as soon as I replace the gear. With my forearms still tired from the climbing down low, being honest with my abilities becomes paramount. It is exactly these situations which provide the crucible through which I extract the mental benefit of climbing.

The last 25 feet are too wide to protect with my last cam, so I bid it farewell and climb the last bit to the anchor. The wind blows, i cant feel my hands due to cold and overuse, but it is impossible for me to fall off, and i soon clip the chains. Even the long belay in the cold does nothing to deter my mood.

Ok thats all contemplative stuff. The rest are just a few of the better pictures from the trip.

Sometimes photos are more than they appear, and other times they actually do an amazing scene justice.

Road Texture at Pine Creek

My favorite picture at the trip. Jeff boiling water at daybreak.

Thanks to Katie from our Phoenix contingent we celebrated Turkey day in style... some of the real pies

She both is both an explorer and a destroyer. Dora shows off her love of purple.

And I just cant resist the tick list at least of the big stuff

-Solar Slab
-Cat in the Hat
-Geronimo
-Armatron
-Birdland
-Triassic Sands
-Scaeffers Delight
-The Fox

Week 21: Red Rocks Part 1 Nov 21

2009-12-24T18:10:00.005-05:00

With some apprehension I begin my yearly long climbing trip. In this case our collective has chosen that most accessible and frequently unscathed by the winter weather: Red Rocks.

Located just outside of Las Vegas, with its drug and addiction addled neon haze a blight on the desert, Red Rocks manages to preserve a modicum of wildness. The transformation is at once startling and immediate. Traveling west from the loop highway you pass strip mall after strip mall, Walmarts, Barnes and Nobles, Potter Pier and Barrel, countless others all competing for that valuable purchase on your retinas, and suddenly... nothing.

Cliche as it may be, there seems to be a line in the sand. The road narrows from 3 lanes to one, the lights stop, the building subsides not slowly, but immediately as if the ground 1 foot further along is completely uninhabitable.

It is in fact this transition that illuminates the whole town. All the land was like this once, wrestled into submission by the human presence. A corrupt alchemy turns sand into asphalt, the prickly pear into a 30 story neon theme park ride.

Now all cities make their mark on the landscape, and lest i seem a Luddite, let me clarify. New York, or Baltimore for example have by no means left their environments unsullied. Far from it in fact, but there seems a purposefulness to building a port for trading goods. Or locating next to a river or lake or at the base of a mountain. It is more the arbitrary nature of a city in the middle of the desert that riles me more than its environmental impact. Although surely the desert being one of the more delicate of environments particularly displays the harsh hand of human development.

Red Rocks, located not ten miles from the city may seem an escape, but the constant glow of the city, and the steady march towards the canyon make clear that the wildness preserved here is only temporary.

Sunset of the Red Rocks massif from Pine Creek Canyon

The apprehension I felt arriving stems from two sources. Predominantly city bound for the last few months I feel trapped, away from the lonely mountains where I can usually find some peace. And having been away for so long, particularly technical climbing, do I still have the technical skills to be safe and enjoy myself.

Because if I climb scared, the joy, and revitalization I normally glean from a trip like this is lost. Climbing with little confidence, always thinking about going down, not committing is the antecedent of why I am here.

I have arrived second, just barely. Gil Moss, the younger brother of my good college friend Jeff, has driven maniacally across the country from NY beating me to the airport by about 5 minutes. On the way to camp we devise a simple plan that should frame my mind nicely for the beginning of the trip.

Gil and I around camp some days later.

We wake around 4:30am, the days are short here in the winter, barely 10 hours of light, and with time restrictions around the access road, long routes hold significant threat of becoming night-time epics. Furthermore, we have a commitment to pick up Dora at the airport at 3:30.

So clearly we have chosen Solar Slab, a 2000 foot romp up easy terrain in the sun. We park outside the loop road so we can get an early start. This adds an extra mile or so to the hike, but the time gained clearly makes up for the extra distance.

There is a horrible scale about the desert and Red Rocks in particular. It is nearly impossible to get truly lost. The 2000 foot walls tower above you and the lack of foliage makes macro knowledge of your general position relatively easy to ascertain. But the small scale is quite elusive. Braided trails, terrain that lets you walk pretty much anywhere, gullies and washes that appear from nowhere, all conspire to make your route the most inefficient one.

And the whole time the scale of the place conspires against you. The boulder in the distance that seems maybe 200 yards away and 10 feet tall takes 20 minutes to reach and ends up being 50 feet tall. The mountains at once appear close enough to touch and yet the further you walk they don't get any closer.

We do manage to reach the bottom of our route just around daybreak. Given the length of the route and our time constraints we employ a technique called simul-climbing. Gil leads off just as normal with myself belaying him, prepared to catch his fall. When he has gone the full rope length (200 feet) instead of stopping and him bringing me to his position we begin climbing at the same time, keeping the rope taught between this. This allows the motion to continue upwards and can drastically reduce the time needed to climb a route. Clearly this is reserved for locations where a fall is most unlikely. The system however still works and a fall would not result in any injury.

Using this technique we climb the first 500 feet in under an hour linking together the 4 pitches into 2. This puts at the base of the main slab. The climbing is easy but enjoyable. The sun baked cliff lets us climb comfortably and confidently. The highlights of the upper slab include a variation corner the Gil leads, a bit harder than the rest but the best climbing, and a massive pitch at the end to finish off the climb. I linked the last 3 or 4 pitches, probably 500-600 feet of climbing into one long continuous piece of movement.

We reach the last rappel anchor and it is not even 11am yet. The climb goes up another 500 feet of scrambling... but the long descent from this finish can not be afforded given our schedule. The rappels go cleanly, the only hangup is the we drag our rope through a cactus halfway down, and suffer the consequences as my hands find every needle on the 200 foot cord.

Back at the car and driving to pick the next member of our team, Dora of QC fame, and the transition back to the city seems more bearable. I am less angry than thoughtful about what I see. It is truly amazing what confidently climbing a long moderate route can do for the psyche.

Week 20: A walk in the woods Nov 14th

2009-12-23T19:55:00.003-05:00

The adventures with Nate continue.

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures as our trip did not afford us the luxury of carrying a camera. Actually I think Nate has before and after pics that I wil have to find.

A month or two ago I mentioned my desire to hike all of the AT in MD in a day, and my subsequent disappointment that Eliza and I had postponed. Well I finally got my chance, and by chance not with Eliza but with Nate.

There is a little history here, as I have hiked significant portions of the AT in my youth accompanied (or more like accompanying) my step-father Tom. These were some of my earliest cognizant memories of really loving the outdoors. Among our exploits we hiked all of the AT in MD over a 3 day weekend.

With the lack of decent hiking in MD , sometimes we have to making the hiking indecent instead. This part of the trail is not particularly beautiful, or over interesting terrain. Instead it is an endless view of tight forest, over rocky ground, with only 3 or 4 hills in the entire 43 mile stretch.

43 miles?! As we are dropping off a car at one end, we notice how long it takes to drive 43 miles, let alone walk that distance. We get to the northern point at Penmar at about 2 am after leaving at midnight and doing some car shuffling. Nate and I have a penchant for these early (late?!) starts it seems. However the goal is to make it through the night and hopefully the sun wont go down on us till we are nearly done the next day.

Not only is is dark, but its raining lightly, rather chilly and the visibility is at about 10 feet. Not that the trail is that pretty anyway in the dark. So we start off, and perhaps 1 mile in, we make a wrong turn and are lost. Well lets rephrase that. We arent lost, but we arent on the trail either. Since the whole hike follows a ridge that is pierced a few times by roads that run through the gaps, we decide not to retrace our steps, as doing so this early in the hike could be too demoralizing. 6 miles later we finally find Raven Rock road and take this back up the trail.

Without notice, my stomach churns, and I come pretty close to losing some precious calories, but i get settled and am not bothered by it again.

Similar to last week and aid climbing in the dark, its sort of a nice experience, when your senses close down to such immediate surroundings. Here the trail was the same, the mist closed in tight around me, and you are just alone with your movement.

The idea that these are great times for introspection are false, at least in my case. I am so focused on my movement, and the small happenings of my tiny space that I am not off thinking about my job, or pressing things at home, or how i need to clean the basement. But i suppose it is just that, the stripping away of all the mental clutter. It is almost like preparing the field, tilled, and waiting for seed. That is the usefulness of an adventure like this.

And strip away we did. Mile after mile after mile. A slight decrease in the rocks underfoot became big news. The slight glow of daybreak became inspiring. We knew we didnt come out here for the enjoyment of the act, but perhaps to know our limits a bit more.

At 9am we pass Annapolis Rocks and get down to the shelter near the crossing of I70. We take a quick nap, the quickest 20 minutes of my life. Though not quite halfway, mentally I feel just about halfway though. With our car about 19 miles away in one direction and 25 in the other, we really have no options but to continue.

On top of Lambs Knoll about 30 miles in I give Eliza a call (my sweet lamb) and within a mile afterwards finally develop the blister I have been worrying about for the past 5 hours. Luckily I have my Waldies which I brought just for this purpose. Maybe 10 miles to go. On the last ridge with maybe 5 miles to go it finally starts to get dark and we are so so done. The ridge doesnt want to end, and the lack of chit chat exposes our weakness.

We basically fall down Weverton and to our car. With our remaining adrenaline we drive up to Frederick (45 minutes) and have a brilliant meal of central american food. Another 30 minutes and we are back our second car at Penmar. With no discussion we push back driving back and promptly pass out for an hour. We finally get back around midnight. Another 24 hours. Pushed the envelope a little further, and I think ill be paying for this one for a while.

Week 19: A little practice for a big thing Nov 7th

2009-12-23T18:40:00.005-05:00

I have briefly mentioned my new acquaintance Nate. We had a fairly adventurous day doing some practice aid climbing up near Frederick. Nothing too crazy but a great day out. However I saw in his eyes that day a twinkling of craziness, and if I were to guess I would bet that keeping his friendship would likely involve going on some interesting trips.

I was right.

Nate really wants to do a big wall. And I am not sure if you have been to the mid-Atlantic region but 3000 foot bullet granite walls are not its forte. We do have some big stuff down in NC and up in NY and QC but these are 12 hours away and not really feasible for a weekend trip. However the venerable Seneca Rocks in WV while only 400 feet tall or so, has an air of commitment, and almost alpine feel at times. So for our practice big wall we decided to head into the WV hills.

So what is big wall climbing. To me this generally indicates three things:

-the climb is long enough that you must live on it. This means all the daily chores of eating, sleeping, umm.... relieving yourself. All this must be accomplished in a vertical environment

-The climbing is hard enough to force you to aid climb. This means that you make upward progress not by using your hands and feet and muscles... but you hang on a piece of gear, walk up in a ladder and place another piece to hang on. This three foot at a time process can be exceedingly slow.

-Lastly because you are living up there and you have brought food, water, sleeping gear, camp stove, a ton of climbing gear AND the kitchen sink, it becomes literally impossible to carry this with you on your back. So you are forced to put it in a very large, and very heavy bag, and using various mechanical devices haul this monstrosity up the wall with you. The bag is affectionately called The Pig.

So that bring up the second important question about big wall climbing. Why on earth would anyone want to do something so asinine?

This is a good question. The work required to ascend an equivalent height by free climbing is likely ten-fold. Aid climbing can be mentally draining. You move at a snails pace. However... the usual answer is that big wall climbing allows you to go where you otherwise could not. This is quite true. Lets take a look at my one of my favorite.

El Cap (3200 feet of perfect granite in Yosemite)

El Cap is perhaps the most beautiful piece of stone in the world, and I will never be able to climb it without these tactics. Only good climbers get up at all and only the best of the best can do it in a day, thus negating the need for all this extra hoopla.

However viewing this style as a necessary evil I think is detrimental. As recently related, climbing should be about the experience, and if the actual act of moving upwards by the mechanism chosen is unpleasant, then just being on El Cap is not enough. However in the right mindset, this utterly slow painful process can become quite beautiful in its own right. The manufacturing engineer side of me I suppose helps, but there is a rhythm and efficiency in managing all these complex systems that is quite fulfilling. Doing the same small movements over and over again, and each time doing them a millisecond faster, or using 1 less calorie. Or thinking about the juxtaposition of my 230 pounds sitting on a tiny piece of gear about the size of my fingernail... and somehow this tiny blob of metal is going to help me scale something of such immense proportions. Its the joy of being so tired at the end of the day that the idea of sleeping 2500 feet off the ground means more about the SLEEPING part and less about the 2500 feet of exposure part.

Ok its not the perfect melding of mind and body that I love about pushing myself free climbing, but its close.

Ok sorry to take so long to set the stage. Back to the trip.

We get out later than expected, we had set up the porta-ledge (our means to sleep on the side of a cliff) and probably didnt leave Baltimore till 10pm Friday night. Within 10 minutes of leaving, we are pulled over driving through west Baltimore, apparently a Subaru full of climbing gear and 3 guys in outdoor wear is enough to warrant a stop. The cop ends up talking to us for 15 minutes about climbing! How strange, and we proceed on our way.

4 hours later Nate has done a brilliant job of getting us to the Seneca parking lot, where we start to pack our bags. Now WV is known for its colorful local flavor but I have never quite experienced it like this.

Remember its 2am by now, and we are the only car in the parking lot. Let me re-phrase, were the only car around. A beat up old rav4 rambles up and stops not 5 feet from our car. I hold some mild alarm, but when the window rolls down out appears the most grotesque, inebriated, and decrepit human I have ever seen. Somewhere between the age of 30 and 6 feet under, with 4 teeth and fewer strands of hair.

It seems that we are a blessing from the heavens on this her birthday night celebration. Before our arrival she had harbored no hope of sating her innermost desires, content to drink away the night with her dearest girlfriends. But then as if the skies had opened up and Gabriel himself had deposited three strapping young lads right outside her door. Almost in arms reach... almost. We are careful to keep our distance, and as clearly her motor skills are quite addled it quickly becomes more comedic than scary.

Her advances very quickly move from slightly suggestive to racy, to downright lecherous in just a few minutes. And as we are stuck packing our gear we have no choice but to endure he verbal advances.

For the young readers, I will spare the juicy details, but suffice to say that despite several gallons of alcohol clearly swishing about in her veins she put together quite the elaborate fantasy.

We finally get packed up and bid the fearsome WV mountain cougar a good night as we should our packs and head towards the cliff.

Our packs... I had mentioned that The Pig can get quite heavy. And being the large guy in the group I got to carry the 80lb bag. Now I am not really known as a aerobic powerhouse so the 600 foot hike to the base of the east face could perhaps best be described as soul crushing.

The last 50 feet to Broadway ledge even require us to get out the haul system and haul The Pig up the last few exposed steps. Its about 3 or 330 am at this point and just sleeping on a piece of land I could have hiked to seems a bit lame. Time to do some climbing.

Being the "experienced" aid climber in the group I get the lead. The plan is to climb the first pitch of Pollox usually a wonderful 10a up to some bolts and sleep there before continuing up higher the following day.

Luckily the climb follows a crack so the gear is plentiful and straightforward. I leave the ground and with my sputtering 3 LED headlamp the world suddenly becomes very small. Nothing exists but a 4 foot ring of marginal light, my rope between my legs, and blessedly a perfect crack leading up and out of my field of vision. Perfect conditions to enjoy the things I mentioned earlier about aid climbing. Since there is nothing else to do, getting a good rhythm and working on the sequence become goals in themselves. Too quickly I reach the bolts and set up an anchor to bring up all our stuff.

The hauling goes quickly and amazingly we even get the ledge setup relatively quickly in the dark. I rap down to sleep on Broadway and let the two guys (who have never slept on a porta-ledge) enjoy the night out. As I get into my sleeping bag and begin falling asleep I notice twinge of dawn just starting to lighten the horizon. It has been a long long night.

Kyle waking up in style on the ledge

Enjoying some of Nates' homebrew. This is a notable big wall tradition, usually substitute Pabst for the exceptional home brew. I realize later that I carried and hauled that 6 pack up 800 feet to this point.

See I told you crazy eyes

The next day we practice some of the main tenets of big wall climbing. Namely spending as much time on the ledge eating and not going anywhere, and being as slow as possible doing anything. Our original plans to go up and over descend into a pleasant two pitch day of watching Nate aid up to the summit.

Kyle jugging up to the base of Alcoa Presents

At our blistering pace we have used up most of the day so we rap back down and do the heavy hike back to the car. Thankfully Nate drives and we get home at 9 pm less than 24 hours after we left. Good times.

Week 18: Annapolis Rock with Eliza Oct 31

2009-12-23T18:17:00.002-05:00

Just a quick climbing trip up to Annapolis Rock, which peculiarly is located west of Frederick and nowhere near Annapolis.

I was accompanied by the lovely Eliza, and our goal was to get off our butts, as we have been feeling particularly lazy these past few weeks.

We had quite a bit of company on the two mile hike in. Everything from dogs to a group of 60+ers doing a 10 mile hike, to a few snakes (we would see three total during the day)

Eliza checking out the view from the "summit"

Since we were feeling a bit out of shape we naturally proceeded to the most challenging line on the cliff, Black Crack. Reasonable holds but quite steep and quite a workout. Elizas struggled with this climb and I believe part of that was our mindset that day.

We had come up to get back in shape, to train, and generally feel good about ourselves. These are not explicitly, but certainly lean towards, goal-oriented behaviors. In reading one of my favorite mountaineering books recently Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight, he says that goal oriented behavior has as its antithesis failure. But in failing have you negated the good climbing you did up until the point of failure, the hard work required to reach that point, the beautiful fall day? Of course not.

And especially in the types of climbing we do the "summit" is so arbitrary. Usually we have just walked to the base from the top anyway! Perhaps this is self justifying as I do fail on many of the climbs and adventures I go on, but I prefer to at least try and enjoy the experience as much as the top.

Eliza goes for a ride on Black Crack

A couple easier climbs renews our disposition and we soon head down. Eliza spots another snake on the way down and declares the day done.

Week 17 Tedx October 29th

2009-12-14T23:04:00.002-05:00

At DDI human and particularly face scanning has always been a priority of ours. Accurate and believable face capture has maybe a bazillion applications... and I may be under-estimating.

At DDI we are generally hardware agnostic, and human capture has been along those lines. Capturing people the two most important characteristics you look for in a system are speed of capture, and color rendition. We have moved from a system that took 3 seconds to capture and captured .3MP of color. And now we can take a shot in literally the blink of a flash, with 24MP of color that let you zoom further that you could want to. The system was developed in Scotland by our good friends at Dimensional Imaging, and we call our implementation Shapeshot.

With hardware we feel great about we recently attended a technology meetup called TEDX MidAtlantic TEDX is like a Twitter version of a tech conference. Eclectic and knowledgeable speakers give mini-presentations all day long. The result is more a meeting of the minds than a sales conference.

Usually a national event they are starting to do regional versions, which given the intimate format makes a lot of sense.

So we went not to talk, but to showcase some of our scanning technology.. Showcase being the operative word. The crowd here was certainly savy, but savy in 3D scanning not so much. So education was the primary goal here... but not a one way education. Not only was this a great chance for us to educate the tech-intelligentsia on the wonders of 3D scanning, but for us as well to learn about the tech-centered passions of the people we met. These passions would be our next threads on which to apply our 3D scanning.

3D scanning is more of an enabling technology than an end in itself. Hence I know a little about architecture, naval engineering, aerospace, automotive, prosthetics, art enlargement, and historical preservation... to name a few. And this was a great opportunity to meet the people for whom 3D scanning provides the line from which to connect their respective dots.

Overall we scanned 200 people.

More info on the scanning technology and our Shapeshot concept in particular.

Also check out our post at the DDI blog.

Week 16 The other side of the World Part 2 Oct 17th

2009-11-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

The scanning marathon continues.

But as excited as enumerating our scanning procedures may be, i think ill pass on the technical details.

I had mentioned that South Korea was way more industrialized, clean, and generally more first world-ish than i expected. However that does not mean its a a carbon copy of our western world (ok there was a 7-11 out our front door and a McDonalds around the corner) Perhaps the biggest difference was the food.

First the bad... as it was what we noticed first. Octopus jerky, deep fried silkworm pupae, cheese-sticks with fish parts embedded, soup with ligaments knees, and of course Korean blood sausage. I say this with a caveat of course... I eat scrapple (once a year) and that is made from scraps of scraps of scraps.

And the good stuff. Bi bim bab, basically rice and veggies then you put on your own chili paste to suit you tastes... delicious. Dumplings,bbq,and strange but tasty pastries spun from sugar... i think they translated to 10000 strands.

We picked up a few words... not enough to get around, but the language seems more manageable than other asian languages. aneseyo:hello consumeneda:thanks yogi:here chogi:there
Also the written language is syllable based. there are only 25 characters rather than the 100s in chinese. For each syllable they stack up a set of 3 or 4 characters to make what looks complicated at first... but is really just a collection of more simple characters. These syllables then get used as the building blocks .
for larger construction.

We think of the North Korea / South Korea conflict as relatively benign. Sure there have been some greater rumblings from the North lately, and certainly there is a dangerous regime in place. But we almost view those as future threats from our American viewpoint. But for South Koreans, the war with the North didnt end in the 50s (in fact it never did end and the two sides are technically still at war) and there is a strong sense that war is here and now. Air raid sirens (the benign almost anachronistic relics here in the US) mean that everyone stops what they are doing and wait for instruction to proceed to shelters etc. There is a certain military feel on the streets.

I think this has given the South Koreans a sense of urgency and importance to their daily lives i find somewhat envious. I sometimes feel an American complacency in many spheres of life. Our place in the global mindset, our arrogance with our language, even how we work our business. It seems that the threat of the North has given the South Koreans a catalyst for their impressive growth these last few decades.

After two weeks, we finally finished all our intended work, but we has been run ragged. Due to the type of scanning equipment being used, we would have to concentrate for a few minutes and then sit around at wait for 10, and again and again. This yielded little true down time to unwind and at the same time killed our motivation. We watched a lot of green bars passing slowly across the screen, and copying many many gigabytes of data to all our backup drives. Next time i think we will ship a real server.

Harry tries to keep the troops in line. Pete is suitably dispassionate about the prospect of another day on the hamster wheel.

Week 15 The Other Side of the World Part1

2009-11-08T12:19:00.007-05:00

As if traveling to Southern California one week was not enough, work decided that maybe South Korea would be more appropriate. Have been missing my time with Eliza. Actually, despite the time away from home, I lobbied pretty hard to get put on this one. I mean if one of my goals is to see new things... it cant get much more new than South Korea.

My other overseas work experience was going to rural India. If you recall I was pretty amazed at the difference between the Indian culture and ours. Sure there were nice areas... but the poverty and squalor were particularly overwhelming. Naively I expected South Korea to be similar... I couldnt have been more wrong.

The 14 hour direct flight from JFK pushes the limits of the 747 only 800km short of its maximum range. Apparently every once in a while they have to land the flight in Anchorage Alaska to refuel. Luckily I had driven the whole way up to NYC so I was pretty tired and managed to sleep until over the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia (and i thought it only existed as a territory in RISK)

I hadnt realized it but time had been doing funny things. It already gotten dark when we took off... (7pm) and just never got light again. We landed at 4am in Seoul and it had never gotten light... longest night of my life! Our bodies think it is sometime mid afternoon but the skies tell a different story. In my mind I all of a sudden visualize the globe, and my place on it is nowhere near usual.

The airport is actually in Incheon a new city created on an island 30 minutes outside of Seoul. We drive into the city with the first pre-dawn light filtering down. And we drive, and drive and drive. At first on gleaming highways, and then forever through town. My ignorance is starting to show, and later will realize that the 10 million population (23 in the metro area) is much much larger than NYC.

My first sunrise over Seoul.

In the center of a town there is a pretty large hill with a TV tower / public attraction on top. Taking pictures at 6 am it catches my attention.

We have one day to adjust before we start work. Speaking of which... why am I even here along with some of the most talented people at work? A little history may be in order. Many people think of East Asia as a continuous homogeneous mass. Can I tell the difference between a person from China? Korea? Japan? This is certainly not a great mix and the cultures are quite different. WWII did not start with our entry in Pearl Harbor, or even the Bltizkreig in Europe. Japan, with imperial intentions, had been relentlessly attacking mainland China and Korea throughout the 20s and 30s. This was a particularly brutal war, with such atrocities as Nanking in China where 250,000 were killed in a systematic massacre. There were similar events in South Korea. In Seoul itself the royal palace was almost completely burned to the ground. Though the palace has been 70% rebuilt there only remains one original royal building. It was this building that we were going to be scanning.

Harry and I cant sleep, so we partake of the all you can eat breakfast and go to check out the site. We are scanning an original palace and it is quite beautiful, traditional with the rice paper rooms and intricate woodwork. We sure will have our work cut out for us.

On the same campus lies the national history museum where Harry shows his cultural literacy by matching shapes to shapes.

We catch up with our co workers for an afternoon hike. We ride the amazing metro system out to Bukhansan national park which literally encircles the northern half of the city. The whole city is in fact surrounded with beautiful mountains with gleaming 500-1000 foot granite slabs. I could learn to like it here.

Not a great picture, but that is 1000 feet of rock just lying within site of 10 million people. And this is just one of hundreds of such formations.

After some initial wrong turns we make manage to get a nice hike up past some temples.

A neat map at the trailhead.

The fun is over however and we settle into a 12 days straight of scanning 10-12 hours a day and processing 6 hours a night. Not much time for anything but work and a little sleeping.

However first impressions of Korea are of a gleaming modern city. Bustly and with a certain pressing imperative to get what needs to be down quickly and efficiently. This is not an idle city.... I like it already.

Week 14: A True Adventure Oct 2-4

2009-10-10T07:50:00.002-04:00

My job occasionally involves travel. As a 28 year old guy, thats for the most part a good thing. Meet different and interesting people, see neat places, be a little more independent than a day at the office. But as a get a little more settled in a life involving someone else (that is you Eliza) the time away this year has occasionally become more than I would otherwise enjoy.

But when the destination is Southern California, i get a weekend to do whatever I want, and I get the chance to hang out with some long lost friends... my planning mind goes into overdrive. I can see Anne Marie, in San Diego, go to JTree, Maybe do a thing or two or the southern Sierra. All in 40 hours.... my flight home is on Sunday at 8 pm... Seems reasonable so-cal isn't that big right???

If you have ever lived there. or perhaps looked at a map, you might laugh at my folly. Southern California is approximately the size of the entire northeast. Also looking at my itinerary... i am traveling in the wrong direction going from LA to SD before heading further north.

So I pick up my Kia at 5 on friday afternoon. Always interested in my mileage on trips like these i try and switch out from trip mode which is displaying 150 miles. On the 405 going south at 5:30 on a friday this is proving to be more troublesome than perhaps it could be. 10 minutes in I realize my mistake, the car only has 150 miles on it.... total Neither I nor the car have any idea what trouble we will get into in its early life.

2 and a half hours later I arrive in San Diego to meet Anne Marie for a night out on the town. Some friends surpass distance, time, and occasional lack of effort (on my part) AM happens to be one of these friends. And though our visits are brief and infrequent we manage to reconnect immediately, divulge our most pressing issues we are currently dealing with, and give and receive insightful advice. Talk about high efficiency friendship!

After a great night out, they gracefully let me stay in the guest room at their new house. The adventure fire still burns and at 4 AM I am in the car and driving north. AM couldn't get to Jtree for the weekend so I decide to go up to the Needles and try and get on Dome Rock where I had been a few months before.

I love driving a road for the first time. Especially at first light, and coming up the 15 through San Bernadino and on into the Mojave as dawn comes around was pretty special. From desert to metropolis up over the hills and back down into the desert.

The crowded commute, near Lake Isabella 7am Saturday morning

I drive around lake Isabella (the last bastion of civilization) and up into the southern-most foothills of the Sierra Mtns. 80 miles laters, and up at 8000 feet I get to Dome Rock.

Dome Rock is my Needles cop-out. The needles are steep and hard with climbs starting at hard 5.9 and getting harder, not that I cant climb that... but solo, at 8500 feet, and 3 miles from the nearest "road" that is pushing the envelope out a little farther than I would like. So Dome Rock is the same perfect rock, but lower angle, and longer up to 5 or 6 pitches!

Rope soloing is a funny experience. The climbing by design is technically easy, but regardless the amount of work to do to get up a sizeable chunk of rock can be immense. For every pitch (in this case 150 feet or so) you have to first climb, then build an anchor, rappel and clean the pitch, then climb it again. Repeat till you get to the top. The beauty comes in both the rhythm you get into, and the total self-sufficiency.

Hard to even explain how enjoyable this experience was to me. Perfect rock, place, movement, and for me that day being alone made the experience so much more visceral. Suffice to say this was the best rock climbing i have done in a very long time.

On top after 3 hours of sustained movement, I am in a good enough mood to make friends with strangers *gasp* and even chit chat with fellow climbers for an hour or two at the parking lot.

Looking up at the namesake pine tree, mid way up pitch 1

Some next door neighbors on Anti-Jello Crack

Looking up at pitch 2, it doesnt get any better than this

The setting isnt too shabby either

Some nice texture on this hdr of an anchor

The obligatory summit hdr pano, check this one out, i am working through a new flash panorama viewer just click the picture.

Chatting with the climbers on AJC back at the lot

Its still only 4pm and the previous nights short sleep and the mornings long drive havent caught up to me yet. I head over to a little pullout I saw earlier about 10 miles back down the road, 100 Giants.

If you have never seen a Giant Sequoia, they can be hard to imagine. These things are massive... for example find me in the following picture.... you probably need to use the link and zoom in...

After an hour or two walking around the grove, I head out, near sunset to go grab some food at the only establishment for 50 miles. It takes me a while to get there as the sunset is suitably stunning.

Stunning sunset number 1

Stunning sunset number 2

Stunning sunset number 3

Dinner at the Ponderosa Lodge ends up being the only thing to mar the day... sub par service and worse food. Though the beer in large mason jars is pretty tasty. Its 7 or so, im finally tired, but the flame of adventure still burns.

I had seen a trailhead called Mineral Spring not too far north... if i could fly. 3 hours of paved road... all the way down the valley up to Visalia then back up into the mountains. Once off the main road. I turn onto the road up to Mineral King only 20 miles to go.

The next day i will see what I have driven up... but at midnight after 20 hours on the go I am glad it is dark. 120 switchbacks take me more than an hour until i finally pull my car into a small pullout at 9000 feet. When i step out to pee i notice it is very cold.

My alarm goes off at 445 am, the temperature gauge on my car reads 18. But with only 15 hours till my flight takes off i dress quickly and I am on my way. There is no set goal but I hike in the general direction of Sawtooth mtn. an 11500 foot mtn 7 miles from the the trailhead.

Despite the cold i warm quickly (no flat ground here) and as the sun rises i am greeted by spectacular scenery. In every direction the land juts to the sky and boulders and talus lay strewn below the peaks. It as if the ground grew too rapidly and violently, brusquely throwing anything and everything out of its way on its race skyward.

An hour or two later, at monarch lake i stop to take a few pictures. From here the trail goes up to the ridge and then a short scramble to the summit of Sawtooth. I do not take it. The temperature has dropped precipitously just standing here taking pictures and my light jacket is warm if I am moving only. I have pushed the time, weather, and safety envelope as far as i care to.

On the way down it snows from a clear sky, the moisture precipitating snow directly from the heavy air. Back at the car i feel the tug of responsibility pulling me back down the mountain. I regretfully point the car down hill and leave the crisp clean air, and ragged untamed peaks behind. I leave only with a greater sense of self.

Week 13 Back in the Swing September 26-27th

2009-10-09T19:52:00.000-04:00

Ok for sure no pics this week. Thats because it rained the whole time.... which is ok! it makes for better adventures :)

If you recall I mentioned Nate... looking to learn a bit of aid climbing.

So never having met Nate I pick him up at 6am. He (like myself) is really into climbing... and only 20 miles into the drive we are old friends.

While not out-right raining it is not pleasant. A drizzle that looks locked in for the day. Luckily Nate and I are eerily similar. Climbers, photographers, we have maps all over our walls, and a penchant for of siding on the side of adventure rather than comfort.

So the rain seems like a good thing. Annapolis rocks can be busy, and since we are aid climbing anyway,it will keep most of the climbers away.

The rain is certainly not stopping, but the hike goes quickly and we set up below a short overhang. I lead up... which ends up being 5 aid placements and then quickly 4th class to the top of a fin.

Unsatisfied we set up move over to Black Crack...a great sustained 5.9 to free climb. This ends up being perfect... long for A Rock with decent but thoughtful gear.
I give Nate the lead... testing the second piece... he pops it and takes it a 8 foot fall grounding and just barely missing an ominous stump.

Now climbing, and even more aid climbing is a game of the mind. Not only in the specific motions of being deliberate... but in the momentum and in the case of a fall convincing yourself that you can get back up there and do it differently next time.

Nate clearly has the head for aid.... I think it is ingrained in genetics. He hops up and 5 minutes later is up past the initial stuff and plugging away. An hour later he makes the top... not bad for a first aid lead.

Something about aid belaying... it is perhaps the most boring thing you can imagine... an hour (up to 4 at times!) of just sitting there watching. Not much else. Usually i go aid soloing for just this reason.

Today i had a strange experience.

When i was in college I made my first 3D movie about the juxtaposition of scale in climbing. Here we are climbing these large formations, but our success depends on such tiny, even microscopic, connections of the rock. Similarly sometimes a small piece of rock can all of a sudden change size and the 6 inch piece I am looking at becomes a perfect 200 foot tall corner. Hey we can all dream and aid belaying certainly spawns thoughts like this.

I re-lead the pitch and we call it a day, and hike down.

So a good day aid climbing? or perhaps more importantly a new friend... and someone to keep me motivated for the bigger projects that have taken a back seat in the last year. Stay tuned.

Week 12: The mid-atlantic is crowded September 19th

2009-10-09T11:53:00.002-04:00

Things aren't what they used to be. And by things... perhaps I mean my own temperament.

I have recently gotten a request from a Mountain Project user Nate Miller who wants to start to learn some aid techniques. Apparently I know how to aid climb and would be able to teach someone. So to make sure that was actually the case I went down to Great Falls VA to do some solo aid climbing and brush up on some of my long rusty (no pun intended) aid skills.

I never expect Great Falls to be quiet... and on a beautiful September day my worst fears are realized. It feels like an ant hill as i drive in and see the swarms of people. And not just hikers, but every kind of climber as well.... boy scouts, parents with 9 kids (we only had 8, geez) guided camps... and of course, one pitiful aid soloist looking for 30 feet of rock free from the swarm.

Of course the route I am looking to do... appropriately called the aid crack, has with sticky rubber and years of piton use, become a very popular 5.10 free climb. There is a line halfway back to DC at the base.

I manage to find a 9 to TR a ways down the river... and eventually get back and get on the crack. The aiding is as tedious and painless as i remember. I meet another solo climber and we TR the crack and then put up a rope on PVO. PVO (Potomac Valley Overhang) is a 12d roof problem with awkward moves through the roof and teeny tiny crimps after.

At the top of the aid crack

All in all good climbing.... but the crowds and atmosphere remind why I do get out and climb... and it is certainly not the day i had today.

A Helicopter rescue?

Increasingly it is not the quality of the climbs that draw me to the sport... but the quality of the experience that surrounds the climbing experience. I am still convinced that this sport fosters a good experience, but at times.. and certainly in the crowded Mid Atlantic... these experiences can be challenging to find.

Week 11 Not too Adventurous, but a lot of fun September 19-20th

2009-10-09T07:57:00.005-04:00

Ok a weekend with good friends at a well appointed lodge in Western MD is not particularly high on the adventure scale... but it is a heck of a good time.

Ill keep this one rather brief...

One day of fine food making, including some grilling of tasty sausages and potatoes. Theme of the night... babies! Our good friends Kendall and Mark are expecting in a month or two... as well as Marks cousin. Strange to see so many of my peers in the baby making phase!!! I am imagine myself playing the game of life... driving my car.. my little peg man all alone barely over that little green hill after you get out of college.

Still I imagine my use of metaphors here leaves a couple of the subtleties unspoken.

We finish the night with a nice paddle out on the lake.

Day 2 we travel to Swallow falls... just so i can get some pictures.

Mark posing on top of the falls

Mark contemplating fatherhood

Kendall contemplating motherhood

And of course the obligatory pano

Ok I know this isnt an adventure... I wasnt ever in peril... i didnt push too many boundaries, but sometimes even a loner like me needs some good old fashioned friends with whom to hang out.

Week 10 Managing Expectations Part 2: September 5th-7th

2009-09-13T22:50:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I get an idea in my head... and that idea becomes hard to remove. Sometimes that idea (and here is my error) becomes temporally based. This is the two year old in me speaking. I want my cake and i want it now! But as it ends up often when you have to friendly and motivated people... the lost cake turns into a pumpkin pie. Now i absolutely love pumpkin pie... the question is can i quit thinking about the cake long enough ton enjoy the tasty treats right in front of me.

This weeks distraction... a plan to hike all of the Maryland AT in a day.

This is by most measures a worthy adventure for me. It is rather long at 42 miles, but mostly flat hiking all a ridge with only a few ups and downs along the way. Hard... likely a 20 hour day... but doable.

Eliza was going to be away this weekend, but at the last moment decides to stay in town. Plans change. We cant leave till sat nite, we have some errands to run, we make 2 stops in annapolis. I can feel the anger rising.

But i quickly realize that alongside my point of view of expectation, are elizas expectations of a more chill weekend with me. It is amazing the effect of taking into account someone else position can have. My anger dissipates quickly, as we have adventuring to do.

My saturday I spent combing the local cliffs.

10 ascents of blue rose as a warm up, then over to friction wall.

My rope matches the car!

I manage to climb the slab route (10ish) without falls for the first time in ages. P90x must really be working! I spend the rest of the day cleaning a route that has never been done. and working on the crux opening moves.

Been a long time since i worked on a new route.... and i had forgotten how fulfilling it can be. Ill keep you posted if i manage to haul my butt up there.

Eliza and I head down to VA for a little cragging. We first go to a sport area near Front Royal called Elizabeth Furnace. Do a fun sport route and then practice our self rescue techniques.

In climbing carrying a cell phone is not a rescue plan. If climbing is about self reliance (and it is for me) than that is the antithesis of my desire to be out there. So the best real option is to have the knowledge and skills to deal with most situations yourself. Besides being quicker than relying on outside rescue you minimize the number of people in harms way.

Specifically today we practiced escaping the belay. A technique where the belayer... usually tied to the rope with the climber, can safely remove herself form the system. It is the first step in a number of more advanced techniques.

Later we go to hidden rocks near harrisonburg. One of my favorite small little cliffs in the area. Short climbs but great moves over nice rock.

Playing around at the base.

Sunday I manage to get back to friction for some more work on the new line. Ive figured out the crux but for one move... getting closer!

Looking back I managed to get to 5 climbing spots in one weekend. And I get to spend most of it with my favorite person. Ill still go out and do that hike in the woods soon, but this weekend was by no means a bust.

Week 9: An eclectic Birthday August 30th

2009-09-10T00:27:00.005-04:00

Oh how to write a blog and have no pretty pictures?! Now clearly the few people that read this enjoy my pictures more than my writing... and dont worry... I agree with you! However with so much going on and so many people around... even I couldnt hide behind my lens. Ill do my best not to bore anyone and keep it short and simple.

So Eliza turned 25 this weekend, a place from where she can contemplate either her effortless moves into the working world... living with a crazy man (me)... and general where-with-all..... or... she can have a quarter life crisis. Certainly planning on having a party with 35 people... in our tiny house... from a wide cross section of the people we know... and have our moms meet for the first time would push towards the later. Luckily we had access to Ellie.

Of her many talents, perhaps prepping for a party is her most astonishing. Our house while lovely is shall we say... well lived in. In nigh on 4 hours Ellie had transformed it with flowers, furniture rearrangement, several cheese plates, more dip than you can shake a stick at and beer and wine to intoxicate a roving band of sailors.

With the stage set our guests descended. In an amazing stroke of luck we managed to bring in people from virtually every aspect of our lives. Elizas family friends from when she were young were chatting up friends of mine from elementary school! By some serendipity we managed to bring a group of amazing individuals together by just their connection to ourselves. And it worked!

From Russ' perfect ribs... to every girl cooing over Mark cooing over the baby of the evening.. Otto.... to Harry's eerily good Meatloaf cover. I cant imagine a better celebration or a better bunch of people for Elizas big day. Thanks so much for everyone who attended and made it possible.

Now ill have a month of reprieve until she starts reminding me about her next years birthday!

Week 8: A Night Hike August 22nd

2009-08-31T08:21:00.001-04:00

The myth of the methodical planning outdoors-man (or woman!) is false. At least in my case. While I occasionally make a well thought plan, getting up at 6 am for a nice long hike, a well packed bag, correct food items, cooking gear, a partner, more likely its something that happens like this weekend.

Its 530 pm, and my casual checking of the forecast shows dark masses of greens and yellows and reds moving across the radar. I have procrastinated all day, and like usual miscalculated; missing the 10 previous hours of dry weather.

But occasionally something strikes in my head. And all of a sudden, task in hand, and im in motion for the first time today.

My new backpack is a Millet Ura Lite. It is described as a ultralight one day pack, its even listed under the "small volume" section of my outdoor retailing sites. My theory is that if i am carrying as much stuff as fits in my huge backpacking pack, then i dont want to be there in the first place.

I stuff a tiny sleeping bag, my bivy sack, a half sleeping pad, and some camera gear in the pack. Ill pick up 4 Snickers bars, a liter of water, and some nuts at a gas station later on. Just enough for a bad night out. Any more and the hiking becomes miserable.

Driving out past Frederick the skies just open up.

Sitting in my car at the AT parking lot the rain just beats down. I get some practice with a new panoramic toy.

However one of the redeeming qualities of a rainy afternoon.... if you get lucky and things start to clear, you get a spectacular sunset with just enough clouds to make things pretty. And today i got lucky.

With the sun setting, one may think i had a desire to get going up the trail before getting too dark. But I know the trail well, the hiking is easy, and i have 3 headlamps in my pack. Plus the sun through the clouds is looking great and I cant help sticking around for a few pictures.

The Veggie VW

Some sky

Some more pretty sky

This looks the Jerry Bruckhiemer's Touchstone Pictures logo

The Appalachian Trail bridge as it crosses Route 70

The sun sets and its time to start hiking. I take one last shot of me looking rather grumpy... but i prefer serious.

The hike up to Annapolis Rock is about 2.2 miles, and familiar. My load is pretty light, and the hike is enjoyable, despite being past twilight i refrain from using my headlight. There is as close-ness to the trail you develop when trucking through at night that you miss during the day.

The top of Annapolis Rock is relatively flat, and I find a perch just a few feet from the edge. The weather alternates between a clear night with clouds moving quickly over the ridges with views to the sky and down to the valley, to a fog so think i can barely see my hands.

Took a couple of long exposures between weather breaks and generally just lost myself at the top for an hour or two.

Trees and clouds

Vistas and me and a headlamp

A tree a little light, some clouds and a plane

I lay out my bivy sack and sleeping bag, find a nice spot close to but not on the edge. The frogs sound like a pneumatic hammer, the fog is really encased now, and realize that I already go everything out of this hike that I wanted... a few hours of solitude and self reliance. A calm I can never find in the hectic life of the city.

So I pack up and 40 minutes later, after any equally enjoyable hike down, im back in my car and driving home. Even NPR feels harsh and abrasive on the radio so I turn it off and drive home in silence.

Week 7: The North/Luskin Wedding August 15th

2009-08-20T09:23:00.008-04:00

Anyone who thinks a wedding may not count as an adventure is gravely mistaken.

People I have never met that need mingling with... someone important's boyfriend to chit chat with .... how to take nice pictures but not be THAT guy with the camera... do I eat too much? have too much to drink? why am i being so quiet?

Well that's usually how it goes. But luckily this time it was not the case.

We got to the Eastern shore early to help set up. This mostly consisted of moving a few things and then helping Bella plant peach pits in the backyard.

Eliza and Bella going for an evening walk the day before.

And the heavy lifting that needing doing to set up.
The centerpiece at every-ones' seat.

We loved seeing Paige and Alex and their family the night before the wedding and were so glad to have been invited to this part of the celebration - it felt like we were a part of it, and not just guests. After helping out we retire to my mom's cabin, only a mile away from the North farm. Life at my moms is like taking a moment out of time. Chestertown is not that far away from civilization and my moms house is not that far away from town. But it feels so peaceful there. Good meals, good company , and beautiful surroundings make for a restorative visit.

My mothers loom

The next morning after a wonderful breakfast down in Easton with Eliza's grandmother we arrive back at the farm.

Rule 1 for a nice wedding. Have it somewhere beautiful. This sounds silly, but a rented ballroom in a place with no beauty and no history to the family just doesnt cut it. The farm definitely qualifies. The provenance of the once tree lined driveway turned into the perfect wedding aisle is hard to beat. Flowers, the outdoor setting and the vegetable garden only add to the ambiance.

A 360 of the farm turned autumn

Cliche i know, but I can not resist taking pictures of flowers under nice light

More flowers

Rule 2: A happy couple. Ok this may sound redundant. OF course they are happy right? They are getting married. But so often you see the struggles of putting a wedding together overcomes the happiness of the event itself.

For those of you who havent met Paige and Alex.. this clearly would not be the case, but I couldnt get over how giddy and calm and happy these two were.

Alex could not wipe this grin of his face all day long

The happy bride

Rule 3: Keep it simple! A 20 minute ceremony. No conviction was sacrificed. No sincerity overlooked. It was just 20 minutes instead of 2 hours. Everyone was grateful.

The first poem reading of the day. Well read by Paige's friend Gaby

The dads looking over a new common son

Let the after party begin

The after wedding tent

Only Paige North can make this face... and we love her for it.

A little night painting with a headlamp... notice Bella's interpretative dance on the right.

The tent from the vegetable garden

The night ended with some dancing of course. And i didnt even mind! Amazing what state of mind can do.

The boat ride the next day on the Sultana an 18th century (replica) schooner that has a home port in Chestertown. Despite only going a mile downstream, still a neat experience. They even lit off a canon, which you feel more than hear. Rapidly expanding gas is scary.

Hard for me to convey how enjoyable this was. Not only a happy event for two our closest friends, but done in a way that I am sure everyone involved will remember.

And just to finish up my favorite pictures from the day.

The picture perfect Aisle of Pines (no pun intended)

And saving the best for last , in pano form with a little dabbling with the colors.

Week 6: An Impromptu Sail August 9th

2009-08-16T22:54:00.009-04:00

With a weekend ending more quickly than I had anticipated, heat and lack of motivation conspired to finish a week without a true adventure. Eliza tries to tempt me with a hike, or a climb. Nothing works and I despaired of losing precious adventure momentum.

An old friend of Elizas' calls up to go on a sail with him and some friends. I dilly dally as what was i to expect? A bunch of people i dont know... making small talk, on a dinky sailboat, in the midafternoon heat of a sweltering August day in Baltimore. I love an adventure, but from my spot on the couch i couldnt see in the making.

Eliza did manage to drag me out.

The view from the tunnel under HarborView

And the 30 foot sailboat we were about to embark on. Looks like more than enough room for 3 people.

Sort of unexpectedly we end up spending the day with Jeff (the boats' owner) and 8 others! 11 people on a 33 foot boat is pretty interesting. Looks like i was right about the dinky bit!

I hope i dont sounds like a snob, but people go sailing for two reasons in my opinion. There are the pleasure cruisers. Out on the water to gab and drink and be merry. And those who delight in piloting an elegant machine with nothing more than the wind to carry you.

Clearly my beliefs are aligned in one camp, however not to say that the other is invalid, just not as aligned with the way i like to enjoy my days. Still I managed to have a great time in both aspects.

Strangely i have never considered the water as i am so drawn to the mountains. But i can see the same purposefulness, and self reliance required by true sailing that I see in the mountains. Going to consider taking some lessons in the neat future

Eliza with clouds on the way out of the harbor.

We pass under the Key bridge and head North for some swimming

Jeff with his "harem"

On the way back after much non-progress with light winds, we go back to motoring as an approaching storm almost catches up with us.

Marissa braves the storm on the way home

A quick pano of the Port of Baltimore on the way back in. Moving boat, and moving water, makes for difficult pano stitching.

Maybe not quite the ragged all out adventure i perhaps i had in mind when i cam up with this idea. But as far as being outside of the norm of my own experience. This one definitely counts.

Week 5: Siggraph 09 August 3-7th

2009-08-09T23:21:00.005-04:00

I don't often talk about what I do for a living. Amazing since i both talk rather expansively, and I spend an inordinate amount of my time awake performing functions related to my work.

To "do for a living" is in itself a funny statement. Taken literally it is quite a more serious statement than often considered. Do people often define themselves, and in fact, live through their jobs? I doubt it.

As i embark on my typical soapbox rant I will try and keep brief, as so much cool stuff happened in New Orleans that I don't want to waste space with my measly ideas.

A fairly conservative estimate puts about 100 thousand hours of work time in a lifetime. That is 35 continuous years! I don't know about you but if something is taking up that much of my time, not only must i enjoy it, but it must be fulfilling in a more complete way than just providing the means by which i enjoy the rest of my "real life" In fact for me ,unless my job is meaningful I quickly tire and become bored. Not that meaningful always means for a greater benefit to society, but can be personal growth, or challenge, or dedication.

Now 3D scanning (my occupation) may not sound glamorous. And I dont want to sound all holier than thou. But my job is great for me.

I work at a good position along the continuum of a technology. 3d scanning has been around in the workplace and out of the laboratory for some time, and is now just living up to its promise. We are out doing real, amazing jobs for the first time, and at the same time new improvements to the technology are happening every day. Growing my knowledge as the field has grown is a pretty neat thing for a kid so recently out of college.

The applications are wide ranging and I often find myself working on an airplane in the morning and a medical prosthetic after lunch.

Lately I have taken on a role helping to fit a new technology into what we do on a day to day basis. The software by Dimensional Imaging allows simple digital cameras to turn into 3D scanners. The technique is called passive stereo photo-grammetry and the instant (1/10000 second) capture time, and huge (22 MP) color are enticing in a host of applications.

Which gets me back to this weeks' adventure...

Helping DI3D has brought us to New Orleans for Siggraph 09. Siggraph is a technology conference I have dreamed of going to for years. Hosting all the major 3D software providers, hardware providers, and the service housing putting these amazing tools to work.

The booth

I had the pleasure of working with 3 of the guys from Scotland, Dug, Ewan, and Colin, as well as my own boss Michael Raphael, and the every savvy Spike Milligan. A more formidable team in the 3D scanning business would be hard to find.

Being on the Exhibitors floor was a little disconcerting, as I had expected Siggraph to show the technology of 5 years in the future and instead all I saw was the technology of today. Unfortunately manning the booth kept me out of the talks where the things 5 years in the future WERE being discussed.

Also many noted that Siggraph was much smaller than it has been in years past. This is not surprising considering the fate of the worlds economy. However compared to the host of other shows I have been to this year, with their myriad of other industries, Siggraph was by far the healthiest.

A final rare treat I got to briefly meet the wife of what amounts to my idol in the 3D world... Paul Debevec has basically invented most of the fields I work in. From image based modeling, to HDRI to 3D model relighting he continues to amaze me and is a person to keep watching.

New Orleans itself is a strange town. A bit two-faced we enjoyed amazing food in the arts District and a metropolitan downtown with friendly and interesting folks. However ever present was the knowledge that not more than a mile away total destruction and mass evacuation had afflicted much of the city.

This was very clearly a city that was trying very hard to come back.

And also was very clear that it had not done so 100%

Michael and myself enjoying some of the international cuisine at Cafe du Monde. A caloric deluge of fried beignets and chicory.

The other side of New Orleans. A street corner in the middle of the Upper 9th Ward. a 10 x 20 block neighborhood all but annihilated by Katrina. Though hard to tell here you can see the juxtaposition. 3 states exist, the destroyed but not yet demolished house, the shiny new buildings (on stilts mostly) being erected by the brave, and the tall grass the only remaining evidence of past houses.

Sorry for all the writing and lack of pictures... better next week I promise!

Week 4 A Dash to Portland July 24th

2009-07-27T18:17:00.008-04:00

So last weeks adventure was about getting back in touch at least partially with my more mainstream side. This weeks however is much more me, both the situation and activities made for a great day! If there is anything better than a gallivant across a state, it is the same but with the strict deadline of a flight at the end.

So here is the situation. Eliza and I disembark from our week-long cruise at 8:30 am. Our flight does not depart till 10pm, but faced with the option of dragging all our luggage around as we see more of Seattle we decide to taxi down to SeaTac and see if we can catch a couple seats on stand-by and get home early.

Of course there are none, and now we are faced with 13 hours in the airport. Sounds even worse than hauling our luggage around. But we have any idea. 10 minutes later we have checked our luggage and minus 60 bucks are now sitting in a luxurious Hyundai Accent that we can call our own for the next 13 hours.

Eliza and our getaway car

It is amazing the sense of freedom a car gives you. Our world went from the size of the airport one minute, and suddenly we could span several states or even countries if we wanted to. There is something so powerful about the American vehicle system. Now I am just as much of an environmental hippie as the next guy, and truly believe our system is way out of wack and something drastic must be done to correct it. Addressing this situation is something I hope to spend some time working on in the future. However something we as American nailed is that when you step in a car and 1000 of miles of relatively inexpensive interstate lay before you its hard not to feel the freedom, the sense of space we have.

Now in an event many months prior, akin to Joseph Smith happening upon his Golden Tablets, a document arrived at our household and Eliza found it gleaming in all its glory on the front porch. This document may have been masquerading as a mere NY Times travel section but No! here indeed lay the road to the promised land and Eliza's eyes had never seen anything so beautiful. It read... " and the path to enlightenment and eternal happiness lies west, way west in a humble city called... Portland"

And so we found ourselves months later. With ample transportation. With 13 hours to kill. And even in adjacent states! The time had come for a pilgrimage.

220 miles later and quite peckish we grab a coffee then pull into Bunk sandwich shop in the brooklyn-esque neighborhood (think other side of the river and small shops). Billed as the "tastiest breakfast sandwich ever" we had high hopes and were not disappointed. We met the owner who after introducing us to his sandwich artiste Javier described the naming of the joint to be after a character from the distinctly Baltimore show The Wire. Sated and happy we aimlessly drive around town, noting the cleanliness of the city.

Now one thing must be said. Eliza is pretty darn convinced that this is the promised land. Not that I am unconvinced, just that havent been fully convinced yet. But certainly the people are nice. The city is the right size. The location while not perfect, is pretty darn close to many of the things i love to do. Lets just say im open to the argument.

One last drive through the alphabet district, which is like a bigger Hampden, and I convince Eliza that I need to get out and see the countryside a bit. The pacific NW is known for its volcanoes and we at random pick one (Mt St. Helens) and start driving. Its now about 3:00 pm and as Eliza sits contentedly in the passenger seat I try and cover up the clock.

We drive through Cougar, which is alas seriously devoid of cougars; feline and sumptuous varieties alike, and head up to Windy Ridge. Among the funny things you learn about someone when you live and vacation together are their habits in a car. I drive slow on highways and fast on twisty roads in the mountains, which in turn puts Eliza to sleep (carcolepsy) and makes her nauseous respectively. The road to the Windy Ridge lookout 16 miles is by no means tame, and as I race up the hill I contemplate the alternate paths which lie ahead. Eliza sick in the car, us missing our plane home, both occurring simultaneously... I slow down a bit.

The happy couple

When told that area around Mt St Helens looked like a moonscape. President Carter responded that "the moon looks more like a golf course compared to what's up there." Even now nearly 30 years later destruction abounds and the desolate landscape shows what nearly 1 billion cubic meters of mountain can do to a landscape. Seeing this and haven driven around Yellowstone which could do something of the same but 1 million times as bad gives me the chills.

Note that from this view looking SW you can see the North side of the mountain is completely blown away. Oh yeah and it used to be 1300 feet taller

Obligatory hdr pano on at Windy Ridge.

We snap some shots, and get back in the car to head back down. It is 6:30. Flight leaves in 3 and half hours, we are 160 miles away 4000 feet up and a long long way from a fast road. I had spied a shortcut road on the map and found it on the way down. Eliza points out the no cars sign, and the 4WD only sign, which I promptly ignore. Pretty quickly i come to the realization that in every adventure where you have pushed things to the limit, and while the limit is what you came out here to find, bursting through that bubble and going over the edge is not where you want to find yourself. Whether its a whirlwind tour of Oregon and Washington, or a 2000 foot rock climb, ending up on the wrong side of your abilities to deal with the situation gets you in trouble... and fast.

I turn around, knowing that in fact that that moment was what I was looking for all day. The 500 miles of driving, stopping 15 minutes here 30 minutes there was so I could reach that point on that road.

3 hours later we waltz through security and find our seats on our plane with at least 4 minutes to spare.

Week 3: Alaska July 17-24

2009-07-26T23:21:00.007-04:00

Sometimes an adventure is not one of pushing the boundaries, but instead pushing my boundaries back towards the middle.

Not that I am some sort of extremo crazy guy living on the fringes. I have, rather successfully, found a place where i can feel sufficiently apart from the day to day humdrum but also take part in mainstream life.

However at times I can recognize that there are things I miss about the middle and strangely enough my recent trip to Alaska showed me some of these.

While a trip to Alaska may seem like a strange time to find some normalcy, what I really did was take a cruise to Alaska. What better opportunity to be average than when as a captive audience aboard and all you can eat relaxing extravaganza.

Appreciating the origins of a global monopoly (and some tasty coffee)

Mountains (appreciated from afar) would be a staple of this trip. Though most arent terribly tall (4000 feet or so) they sure do get to that elevation in a hurry. It would be hard to live in Seattle and not want to climb this monster (Rainer at 14410)

Formal Nights with the Fam. Having dinner everynite at the same table with the same people was oddly soothing.

Lounging on the Deck

Cultural Awareness.. a visit to the now deposed Governor of Alaska. There was even a clock counting down how many days left she had to make a difference. It said 505 days.... how about 1!!!

Sightseeing at the Mindenhall Glacier

Hanging out with the family, playing some cut-throat monopoly.

Local Fishing Culture.

Long Walks on a Pier in Canada

Of course it wasn't all eating and enjoying the on-ship entertainment. As I am wont to do... i managed to find a few things to do outside in the extraordinarily beautiful landscape of SE Alaska.

Hiking up 4000 foot Mt Gatineau from Downtown Juneau. In the rain, at 1500 feet elevation gain per mile.

Eliza and I enjoying some sea-kayaking

It rains 250 days a year here and this summer was no different.

Glacier Bay in Hypercolor. An hdr taken from the back of the ship.

The tidewater Margerie glacier runs 15 miles back to Mt Fairweather at 15000 feet.
It rises a greater distance in a smaller amount of linear mountains than the Himalayas.

Hiking above Ketchican. Where we met a a sage of a man. In perfect shape, flying gloat planes in the summer and running aid organizations in South America in the winter.

All in all a great trip. Nice to experience some wonderful things usually outside of my day to day, and also try and work the system and make the most of our limited times in an amazing environment.

Week 2: New Friends and Old Friends July 11-12

2009-07-26T12:46:00.003-04:00

It may seem at times that I go on these adventures selfishly. Certainly even to myself I wonder whether i am in this just for myself. This weekends adventure proves the contrary.

Starts as any normal weekend, a trip to the Gunks.

Drive to NYC to meet some of Eliza's college buddies for dinner. 5 minutes of driving through NYC and i am reminded that I like persons... but the general populace on the other hand not too high on my list.

Luckily at dinner I manage to be both friendly and talkative albeit on tequila greased tracks.

The next morning Eliza and I drive to the Gunks to meet up with some older friends for me and new for her. Nathan and Bomber (of Squamish fame) have taken a sojourn up from Asheville to experience some of our Northeast Rock, and brought his girlfriend Nicole to boot.

Bomber seals his place as the second cutest dog in the Universe.

Great day with ascents of Middle Earth (doing the finish which i never have before), Absurdland and Three Pines.

Eliza about to go for a ride on Absurdland

Climbing photo tip: To make a 5.8 look like a 5.13, just get on a rope right next to the climb and shoot away with as wide a lens as you can muster.

Nicole cranking through the crux

Eliza split to go see some friends back in NYC while Nathan and Nicole and I stayed for another day.

Second day Nathan made a nice ascent of Wasp, and then we climbed a combination of Moondance and Sundance at the end of the Trapps.

Nathan at the ledge about to dance.

Of course a note from my closest friend.

Not finished yet I go meet Eliza and her bestie Addie down in Philadelphia. Everyone concurs that Philadelphia is way closer than Kentucky.

The last friend experience of the weekend however was not the kindest, and worst the "gift" kept on giving the whole next week. At final count I had acquired 47 chigger bites from my time in the Gunks.

Moral of the story is just to make sure that the friends you pick are not parasitic, acid-injecting vermin and you will be fine.

50 weeks to go!

Week 1: Expectations, July 4th

2009-07-10T12:02:00.023-04:00

Apparently I am better at going on adventures than writing about them. Hope to catch up soon.

When posting about my road trip, i was mostly concerned with preserving my memory of the events that transpired. As such it often became a roll call of... climbed this .... saw this beautiful thing... blah blah blah. Great as a log of what I have done... not so great for trying to explore what is going on in my head.

This time I want to strike a better balance. Sure ill give the rundown of what I did, but it will not be the focus.

I am a hypocrite.

I am so scared of dying, and yet I climb 1000 foot rocks as my hobby. I love helping people, but i am one of the most selfish people i know. I have always known this and have always struggled to reconcile my contradicting views.

This is a story exploring just a little of that.

Occasionally after many weeks of not getting out, my plans start to escalate. Im planning a nice hike in the woods. Ends up no one can go so it turns into a solo trip. I decide to climb instead. All of a sudden, what was a hiking trip with some friends is now a solo 2 day wall climb 500 miles from our house.

Usually when this happens my pictures start looking like these...

Burnt to a crisp in Peshashtin

and of course the 1000 yard stare

While certainly not easy or relaxing these adventures are some of my favorite memories, and certainly a cathartic experience wiping the day to day drudgery away.

So the plan had formed in my mind. Eliza was not going to be back till friday afternoon, so I could take the three day weekend and drive to NC. There i would attempt Glass Menagerie a 900 foot route up the steepest granite wall on the East Coast. Though now a free climb (at 5.13a!) Glass Menagerie is a classic wall climb at 5.8 A2+, with tons of exposure and some exciting hook moves.

This promised to be a real adventure... Basically a very full schedule of driving and climbing and hauling, exciting climbing, and exciting head space. Living on the hairy edge. My head felt good and I was ready to go.

Then things changed. Eliza changed her flight and was going to be home early enough for us to do a full weekend. Then we were going to bring Phil our Boston Terrier, then I had a commitment to see my sister briefly, then we had to get to annapolis to drop off a phone.

All of a sudden my plans had changed significantly. And as i sat in traffic taking 30 minutes to drive a block in downtown Annapolis on a holiday weekend, i will admit that I was quite angry.

My goal lately is to recognize these points and take a step back. To think about the decision rather than just blindly follow my impulse. The question of course is one of priorities... what is more important, a weekend by myself, or a weekend with Eliza. But this isnt a question of better. Both are great options for a weekend in the woods, so it is more a question of timing.

Really the hardest part was to adjust my expectations. I think my head is like a rocket, slow to get started but hard to adjust once on a course, and it feels like it takes herculean efforts at times to re-adjust.

In any case we had a lovely weekend, and really pushed Phil to his limits.

Certainly packed alot into a weekend... First practicing self rescue at Elizabeth Furnace in VA, then a hike in WV on Spruce Knob, then back to MD for hiking near Thurmont and crabs!

Phil still looking perky as we drive to West Virginia

Eliza just starting on our 14 mile hike of the High Meadows trail on the back side of Spruce Knob. Note camping gear.

Halfway through at the High Meadows. Despite lugging out camping gear we would easily finish this in one day. Go check out the incredibly detailed site about his hike at Hiking Upward Also a great source for other hikes in the area.

Not finished yet, we go do some hiking and bouldering at the place that started it all for me. Wolf Rock at Catoctin Mountain Park. A bouldering traverse of the rock is a wonderfully long piece of climbing for MD.

Nearly 20 miles of hiking and Phil is toast.

Week 1 done! Only 51 more to go.

One Year Later

2009-07-10T09:23:00.006-04:00

From May until September of 2008 I took a trip across the country; alone, in a questionable vehicle, and with little plan on where I would be going. 5 months later I returned from the most amazing experience of my life.

The beginning...

The end?

Eliza and I happened to be climbing with Jeff and Monica at Cooper Rock exactly one year from the day i left for my trip. We camped 4 sites from where i camped that first night.

I was overwhelmed by the feeling that while this trip had been amazing. I hadn't redefined myself as i thought I would. But i feel this mountain of potential energy the trip has given me... I just haven't used it yet.

To that end, this year I will do something a little different. I can not justify another 5 month trip so soon. And regardless I must learn to live with the world.

So instead I will make sure I can have an adventure... every week... for a whole year. Maybe I can put some of my experiences to use.

Pano HDR

2008-10-26T11:39:00.003-04:00

Just a quick post about my recent foray into combining my High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Panography pursuits.

Just a quick test in the humble abode.

Note that since the pano aspect ratio is so extreme it doesnt work very well in the constraints of the blog-o-space. Solution... click through to the Flickr page and check out the original size image.

Gone to Court

2008-10-21T14:18:00.004-04:00

Having returned from India I was still not quite ready to go back to work, and after a week processing the data I decide to go hang out with Jeff Moss and Monica up in Troy NY for a week.

Managed to do a good bit of climbing,

Little Falls, Gunks, and Adirondacks.

Hadnt been to Little Falls in ages, and took Jeff over to the Dihedral wall where we did a couple fun routes. Though my head wasnt as into the whole trad thing as just a few weeks ago, amazing how you lose that so quickly.

The new guidebook came out for the Adirondacks, which i attempted to memorize in an evening. However the new guidebook puts the "burghundy Bible" to shame, with way more routes, new areas and way more descriptive details.

Included are many new areas. Not sure how i never got involved with the community while at school, as I had explored all but perhaps 3 cliffs in the older guide. The new guide has bunches that were right under my nose!

One of those is the Courthouse. A small-ish cliff on the North side of Johns Brook the most popular hiking trail in the adirondacks. Jeff and I made the hour long hike and did most of the routes there. The climbing was great and the views even better.

The Climbing

The Colors

Some shadows

The Pano

Beautiful climbing in a great setting. Tons of small horizontals that make the steep climbing manageable at a reasonable grade and afford clever yet secure gear placements.

Despite some rain on following days we got out to the Gunks to do some Aid climbing.

We went to scout out Spinal Traction an Aid line at the end of the near Trapps but ended up choosing to do Harvest Moon as an aid climb instead. More on Spinal Traction in a bit.

Harvest Moon is usually a mid 11 crack climb, yet today with our bumblie arms and the wet we garnered enough excuses so that we only had to aid climb. Free attempts later confirmed this as a wise decision.

Aiding in the wet...

Monica following on aid, and later even sporting a nice falll up top.

Ok finally, and I hate to do this. Its time for a rant.

The Evidence

Aid climbing is by no means the most popular form of climbing, and yet it still deserves at least a little respect. When we got to Spinal Traction we found it littered with gear. Likely 13 pieces spaced through the 40 foot roof crack. Now i can think only a few reasons why someone would leave 500 dollars worth of gear in an aid crack. Either you had been aid climbing and were unable to perform the moves and thus lowered off, or you are attempting to free climb the crack.

Bailing off an aid climb is not all that uncommon especially something as intimidating as Spinal Traction, and is entirely fine if you come back in the near future and clean up your gear that you have left strewn about.

However to me this appears as if someone was attempting the free climb. There were many tick marks, and the draws used had been taped, in the style of someone going for a free ascent.

Now I have nothing against free climbing an aid climb, quite to the contrary in fact. But it seems the gym ethic of not cleaning up after yourself has prevailed even down into the outskirts of the Gunks. The climbing scene is a public place and leaving your mess about is akin to no picking up after your drunken frat party the weekend before.

Now I could have gone and stolen all the gear. Certainly not justified and respect of others things even if misplaced is paramount. Now if i go back in a month and it is till there...

But why not just climb? Well aid climbing is about finding the placements and solving the puzzle both in the rock and in your head about how to trust these tenuous placements. Both of these puzzles teach and require a reliance on your own judgement of this gear. As such aid climbing on fixed gear is reduced to mere transportation, not sport.

It is like filling in a mad lib rather than writing poetry.

To take it a bit further. This ethic of casual ownership / lack of respect concerning our communal climbing resources is repugnant. Please dont treat our resources like you own them.

India

2008-09-29T15:21:00.002-04:00

Been almost a month now since I went to India for work.

While it was a great experience in terms of my professional career, and despite an incredibly hectic schedule. It was also the furthest I have ever been from home and a chance to see and reflect on the world beyond my rather narrow view of reality.

The biggest thing I noticed to my hometown in suburbia Baltimore after college was the widening of the gap between those well off and those not.

In India this effect is multiplied a thousand fold.

Here is where we stayed.

and from a subsequent drive through rural india...

Those who know me well realize that I am not that dependent on the normal day to day material pieces of life. I can sleep pretty much anywhere in nearly any condition. A house is usually too much. Expensive cars etc. Not really for me.

However it is literally because they are so viable an option for so many here in this country that I have the ability to shy away personally.

This is not too say it is worse.... or better than here. Just very very different. Personally i found the clog of humanity distasteful, but i find that here in a big city as well.

Enough rambling.

The work aspect which was 90% of the time there was quite interesting. Did some measuring work on a very large (several thousand tons per day) air compressor located on a steel plant.

During the deluge of several inches of rain partway through the nite of the 24 hour day, I am lying underneath a monstrous air filter, cowered with 40 other indian laborers escaping the rain at 3:30 in the morning. Quite a time to feel apart.

Just a couple pictures.

Through the scaffolding

Underneath the air "house"

Would go again for work.... but just to see?? Maybe I am a little less adventurous than I expect myself to be.

API nerdom

2008-09-26T14:38:00.004-04:00

Been awhile.

More posts to come soon including India, autumn colors in the Dacks and more.

For now just wanted to nerd it up a little and test out putting in a nifty slideshow.

So without further ado here is a set of my best 20 pictures from the summer. Enjoy!

SD -> MD -> SD -> MD -> India

2008-09-01T15:55:00.002-04:00

Yes indeed. There has been some traveling of late.

Basically. Drive from Vancouver to South Dakota, 3 days
Climb in south Dakota 1 day
Fly home to visit the fam 2 days
Fly to South Dakota, do job 3 days
Climb at Devils Tower 1 day
Summit of Devils Tower to Elizas Bday party in Baltimore... 48 hours
Fly to India.... today

Not many pictures of note..

Devils Tower

Ft McHenry from an unusual perspective.

More updates from Bangalore... if i have the internets.

Puddle Jumpin

2008-08-21T18:28:00.003-04:00

Little airplanes are fun, especially in a cross-wind.

Took a brilliant tour of Crazyhorse in preparation for the work I am doing there, andthat evening got the coolest picture I have take this whole trip.

CrazyHorse, lit you at night and with a lightening storm. Cool

Though not as cool, here are a couple of others as well...

Campground lightening

Looks like a lightening man with just his legs and arms below the clouds.

Also since the guy I am working with climbs (perfect!) I got to get the grand tour of the Needles this morning before heading out to catch the plane.

Did Classic Crack 5.8 Not really crack climbing but still nice, and the summits here are always spectacular.

Three Rings for Elven Kinds at 5.9+ was the best route I did here. Face climbing to a rappel off slings around the top of the spire!

Grading is pretty stiff here, and it is a very traditional area, runouts of 40 feet are not uncommon, makes you test the integrity of the little crystals you are pulling on.

Lots more pictures to upload but the internet in airports is pretty much guaranteed to be poor, which it is.

There be gold in them thar' hills

2008-08-20T15:51:00.004-04:00

At least say the signs in every store in Custer SD.

Usually the apostrophe is used in the English language to indicate that something is missing. Perhaps the ability to construct a grammatically correct sentence?

Now that I have opened up myself to cries of hypocrisy when i make an error...

Drove from Vancouver through Pocatello, picked up all my stuff that I had left, and up past the Tetons and to South Dakota.

A not so standard picture of the Tetons. Though it looks normal, if you look really closely you can see some streaks behind the mountains... You will probably have to view it larger than in this blog. I took this around 11pm, and those are star trails!

Here is the more typical night shot.

Spent an uncomfortable night in the parking light at the spot where these were taken. Decided that 23 year old headlights, plus herds of Mule Deer and Bison on the road, plus night-time didnt mix.

Will be nice to have the real tripod back in the arsenal when i get home. With the tiny one that I am using its hard to see if you are level when you set it on the ground.

Another annoying thing I have discovered... The wireless transitter which i use to take long exposures is not quite as good as i though. The maximum time it can stay open is a half hour, you need the mechanical lock to do more. More toys to purchase.

Made some interesting encounters on the way across. A man with a mechanical hand was quite interested in my car. We swapped stories. You know how it goes...

Me: My car runs on veggie oil.
Him: You from Maryland? I met a Hells Angel in Sturgis that tried to stab a guy from Baltimore in the eye with a screwdriver. The guy from Baltimore just shot him.

You know you have had a similar conversation at a truck stop in Eastern Wyoming with a guy with a mechanical hand, we all have.

Also... Baltimore Rocks.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are host to some amazing scenery. As well as Mt Rushmore.. CrazyHorse Windy Cave National Park. etc.

Also the home to some fine granite face climbing, on "needle-like" spires. Where you pinch the crystals to make forward progress.

The view across Sylvan Lake.

Had another very strange encounter in a strange place.

Though it doesnt look like much, the following is one of the most famous pieces of rock in the world. It is about 35 feet tall and was first climbed in 1962 by a famous boulderer named John Gill. To this day only 4 more people have climbed it. The fall potential and the grade (5.13!) where so ridiculously far ahead of its time.

So I am thinking that it is neat that i just stumble upon this spot. And next to me, in slurred speech I hear.

"This is the famous Thimble, I'm a famous mountain climber"

Out stumbles this main, cocktail in hand, from behind the drivers seat. He recognizes me as a climber (I am not too subtle) and I have to convince his wife that this is indeed the famous thimble. For which i am offered a cocktail. I decline.

Turns out he is (was) a famous mountain climber, there was even a pictures of him in my car already! He was on the second ascent of mount alberta with Steve Swanson. Which was a huge deal at the time. A George Lowe route (they usually go unrepeated) had killed Tobin Sorenson when his anchor and all his gear pulled as he tried to rope solo the second ascent. In the book it mentions that Steves partner (Kit, the man waving his cocktail around by my car) had drunkenly tried to beat up a man in Canada who had nearly taken their parking spot while they were intent on celebrating.

I am thinking about this to myself, and the guy is bouldering on the thimble (remember 5.13 with a deadly fall) cocktail in one hand saying...

"I'm a famous mountain climber. A drunken mountain climber. I'm a famous mountain climber. Im gonna make the 5th ascent of the Thimble"

I look over and his wife has her head buried in her hands. I try not to look and make he feel worse. Though as they pull through the narrow one lane tunnel and one to 14 more miles of twisting driving, I feel even worse for her.

Did a little climbing before heading to meet with the CrazyHorse guys. Neat pebble pulling with some outrageous exposure as you get to the summits of some very tiny needles.

An interesting note here is the standard decent is to leave one line fixed at the bottom, drape a single line over the top and rappel off with no anchor just with the line over the top. Makes for interesting times, especially while rope soloing!

Just some fun with the macro

Off to go see a giant horse carved out of a mountain.

Then back to MD tomorrow, and it looks like India has been green-lighted!

Also check out Nathans Blog which if you look around has some more of those neat sketches and a picture of Bomber leaping through the air and catching a ball!

Squamish Summary

2008-08-19T17:47:00.002-04:00

Ill add to this when i get some time with the guidebook in front of me, but in climbing terms this was the best 3 weeks of my life.

145 pitches, which at 100 foot average per pitch (which is conservative) gives me almost 3 miles of climbing!

Besides a ton of cragging, which could mean up to 6 pitches itself! I did 5 big routes. In order...

Ultimate Linkup 5.10b 23 pitches - did this as Bottom Line 3P 5.9 to supposedly Banana Peel which is a 8 pitch 5.7 but we simuled, got lost, and did parts of Slab Alley 5.9 before getting back on. Then to Boomstick crack 5.7 2 pitches, all this to get to the Ultimate Everything which is 10 pitches and 10b. Did this with Nathan in about 9 hours.

Angels Crest 5.10c 14 pitches. Climbed this with Jo in like 6 hours! Much more serious than anything else i did. It is hard to get off of, has 5 pitches of 5.10 and feels like a mountain route because of the position. Spectacular!

Rock On -> Squamish Buttress -> Joes Dike 5.10c 15 pitches Rock on destroyed me, but the rest is pretty casual besides the one incredibly hard 10c pitch. Did these first 3 in just 4 days!

Grand Wall 5.11a A0 8-12 pitches.

Re-did Ultimate link up with Jo, Dora and Andrew skipping Bottom Line, but doing Diedre instead.

Besides the climbing, I relearned making friends, hanging out, god forbid socializing. And I actually enjoyed it. The British Columbia license plates say the it is the most beautiful place in the world, and while that may be a bit presumptuous it is also not far off.

Had a little culture shock getting back to the states for sure.
Now I am in South Dakota by the Mt. Rushmore. Pictures to come when i find the huge rock faces.

Squamish the Final Days

2008-08-17T14:32:00.002-04:00

After the Grand Wall i was perhaps due to take some time off... not!

Although not as terrribly exciting as the Grand Wall these last few days were awesome, and I really feel like I did some of the best quality routes here.

Wanted to sneak in a couple of the nice cracks at the base of the Grand Wall before the rain and managed to get on two spectacular ones.

Jo lead the first pitch of Rutabaga 11a (though the first pitch is 10b) though it looked like a crack down low, it was mostly balancy stemming between seams, but you do get the 30 feet of perfect cruiser hands up top.

Not a great picture, but a picture nonetheless, of Rutabaga

I did Arrowroot 10b, located just to the left. Tons and tons off large rattly fingers and tight hands through a small roof halfway. would have been way harder if there werent so many places in the crack for your feet.

Ended up being a great day to watch people on other routes as well. Saw people on the Grand Wall, and even a party on the Black Dike at 13c!

SunBlessed

I had wanted to get to the Solarium on the backside of the Chief since I got here. No crowds long walk from the crowds and beautiful view, plus supposedly some great stone and a hugely long handcrack to boot.

Sunblessed 10b is 4 pitches (we did it in 3) and its 3 pitches of 5.10 were hugely varied and matched the strengths of Jo, Andrew, and I perfectly.

The hike up is long! almost to the summit of the 3rd and highest peak, and with the temperatures near 34 C there were some definite grumblings on the way up. We made it to the base however, and the route was living up to its namesake, sitting there baking in the sun.

Jo took the first pitch a 10a dike with some balancy moves but with good holds, glad she did it as the first bolt was 35 feet up with some non-trivial climbing down low!

Andrew looking for practice on handcracks took the second pitch, 120 feet of glorious hand-jamming, or it would have been if the crack wasnt so dang small! Basically .75 and 1 the whole way up, Andrew climbed himself into a predicament when he ran out of his needed gear only a third of the way up! Amazingly he managed to put in a few pieces, downclimb, clean the needed gear, re-climb, and continue on all to preserve his onsight! Well done Andrew. He linked this with the 3rd easier pitch bringing us to the base of the final corner.

Andrew starting up P2

The guidebook describes this as a "somewhat nasty and hard to protect start, but required for a true ascent of Sunblessed" sounds prefect for me. Actually not nasty at all, being perfectly clean rock, but it was bizarre. The crack was more like a groove flaring in every direction in a tight corner. I managed to get a bad #4 Camalot in before the bolt, and a succession of tenuous fist jams got me into the upper section. Andrew required a different technique entirely doing wild stemming to get through.

Me in the groove on the last pitch of Sunblessed

Andrew improvising past the corner

Jo Enjoying the summit

Ended up being a perfect climb for the three of us, and was a superlative memorable experience.

Ultimate Linkup Take 2

This time as a group of 4!

Jo and I would be a team, and Dora and Andrew would be the other team. Even planning on skipping the Bottom Line, the route is still 20 pitches.

Leaving bright and early

Jo and I did Diedre 5.8 on the Apron while Dora and Andrew did Banana Peel. Despite being longer they still got up first (simul climbing to make it 4 rather than 8 pitches. As it was Jo and I still made good time and were at the base of Boomstick in an hour and a half. Not bad for a 6 pitch climb that neither of us had done before!

Looking down at the last belay on Diedre.

Boomstick is an amazingly thin flake, and here I am looking psyched. I am actually leading right behind Dora here who is following, not normally a good idea, but the climbing here is casual.

Attacked by the belay tree on top of Boomstick

After boomstick you walk for awhile to get to the base of Ultimate Everything. 10 pitches already down! And a friend on the trail.

Dora coming up the the belay on P2 of Ultimate Everything

Andrew on the handcrack of P5

Did I have this smile on my face all day long???

Making 5.5 appear much harder than it actually is!

I actually managed to wipe that smile off my face for a bit.

A man sized sandwich on pitch 18

The last pitch is rated 9+ A0/ or 11c. So basically there is one or two hard moves than you can pull through the gear and keep the grade slightly easier. Though I would have like to have tried the moves, its sort of strange when you are 1800 feet off the ground.

Me on the 9+ mantle right before the crux

The last moves to the summit

On the walk down i reflect that I am sort of glad that it is the last walk down (6 times!) off the Chief because as good as the Waldies are at being approach shoes doing the 2000 foot walkoff 6 times over rough blocks ladders roots and my feet are really really sore. Of course so are everyone elses.

Seasoned in the Sun

A semi forgotten brilliant off fingers crack near the base of the Flake Escape ledges. I seem to have 10b pretty wired and 10c gives me fits, at least in Squamish. I think this suited my hand size pretty well, getting alot of big fingers albeit it with poor feet. This was not to bode well for later in the day.

Me leading up Seasoned in the Sun 10b

Jo leading up the start of the same.

Magazine shot of Jo halfway up

Took a while off to get packed (it was 34 out!) but me and Jo ran back right before dark to do one more climb.

Exasperator 10c is probably the second most popular climb after Grand Wall. Just 2 pitches long it climbs a 10a thin crack to a diagonally 10c crack only climbable one one and two finger pockets.

Decided to try and do it was one long! pitch. Took two falls at the crux thin finger locks which were just too small for my fingers. I knew that you sometimes have to skip ones that arent the right size so i had the good locks with trailing hand (left) and kept bumping up the right looking for something that fit. After skipping 4! pods that i couldnt get my fingers in i fell going for the jug at the top of the sequence.

Got back on and finished though just as twilight started to set in. Despite falling off I was glad in the way i tried it and it was a most brilliant finish to my climbing in Squamish, its been amazing.

The Grand Wall

2008-08-12T22:13:00.004-04:00

The Grand Wall is a legendary rock climb, probably considered the best, and certainly the most famous, in Squamish.

The rating at 5.11a while difficult is accessible by gumbies like myself making it a classic that is doable by more than just the few elite.

A sorry try at a Pano of the whole Chief. The White X through darkish rock with a tree just to the right in the lower middle of main wall is a good indicator for locating our route

And again but just of the Grand Wall route. you can see the X and tree more clearly here.

A good overview of the meat of the route, Split Pillar starts at the tree, the guy in the picture is at the top of Split Pillar. The Sword takes the obvious right facing brilliant line above, and Perrys is the wide layback high above.

We had assembled the perfect gumbie team.

-Dominic, (myself) a middlin' 10 leader with some decent crack skills
-Andrew, tradster and leader of scary/traversing face pitches
-Simone, hardcore sport climber and multi-pitch newbie

We also assembled the massive rack required for us to hang-dog our way up

The Grand Wall is a pretty popular route, let me rephrase that. On a massive sheet of granite a half mile wide, crisscrossed with hundreds of routes, at any given time more than half of the parties will be on the Grand Wall.

So we wake up early, really really early.

Leaving camp at 4:30 in the morning.

We get to the base of the flake ledges after some trouble in the talus, and make our way up the flake escape ledges. This allows us to bypass the 2 pitch (often wet, and always hard) start called Apron Strings 10b. It is a pretty tiny ledge to navigate so early, but before long we are at the base of the first pitch.

P1 + P2 while moderate, Merci Me 5.8 is rather runout, and thus falls to our runout master Andrew to lead. We followed the first pitch of Merci Me, and about halfway up the second pitch you do a scary 5,9 traverse right to a hanging belay under a roof and the first belay. This is usually done as two pitches but we linked them into one with like 5 meters of simul-climbing.

Simone at the top of P2

Me starting up the same pitch

I dont know whether it was the early start, the type of climbing, or what but my head was not into the day, and this seriously compromised my climbing ability all day. Even on this first pitch at a scary step across to the belay i was feeling it.

P3 is a 10b traverse to get to the base of the Split Pillar. Again falling to Andrew who styled it nicely. I got through it but again gripped, I do not like traverses!

P4 is known as the Split Pillar. It is perhaps the best pitch of granite crack climbing in the world. 120 feet long, goes from finger laybacks, to perfect hands to fists to a squeeze chimney all on the side of this completely detached pillar. I dont layback very well, but manage to get through and up into the perfect cruiser hands. I took once in the wide hands but then fired on up through the squeeze chimney to the sweet belay at the top of the pillar.

Starting up the layback on Split Pillar

Into the meat of the hand jams.

Finishing up

Looking down at another party coming up the Split Pillar

P5 The Sword of Damocles may be just as famous as the Split Pillar pitch, albeit at the 11a grade rather than 10b. I dont lead anywhere near 11a and yet being the "crack specialist" it was my duty to get up there and send. My head still wasnt in the game either, and i spent maybe 10 minutes not really looking at anyone trying to convince myself that this was actually a good idea. Certainly not from a danger standpoint could i talk my out of this, there was perfect protection everywhere, but could i hang in there and place it? The first bits of wide crack go easily, and I am quickly below the first crux, thin tips laybacking up and over a bulge.

Hangdogging is a funny climbing word. There are lots of strange climbing words, and they could really mean anything. Its all pretty arbitrary. So you might get something like well-styled, and hang-dog ascent mixed up rather easily if you are unfamiliar with the vernacular.

Unfortunately I do know better, and though I got up the Sword, and in fact all pitches this day, it was rather ugly. Pulling on pieces, aiding on top-rope etc.etc.

Looking up at the first crux on the Sword, thin tips jams over the bulge.

Entering the enduro upper crux

Me on the same spot but from the campsite, courtesy of Jo with my big lens.

Finally here is a movie of me moving into the upper layback.

In any case, the bolt ladder above the Sword leads to a spectacular hanging belay with 600 feet of rock spilling below your feet, a spectacular place no matter who you are.

Andrew coming up the Sword. You can see parties at the top of the Pillar and just about the get to the base of the Pillar.

Time to break out Simone from our bag of tricks. Though rated about the same as the Sword, Perrys is way physical and if you stop you are toast.

Simone does not disappoint and styles the crux. Taken from afar.

The amazing chimney rest at the end of the pitch

I wont even show pictures of me doing this pitch. Even on toprope i end up aiding and groveling and cursing myself, however a half hour later i am at the belay, which at this point is all that matters.

P7 takes us from the Flats, a large ledge system, over and up via much wetness. Andrew with his usual soft spoken-manner is up quickly and puts us on belay. I find out when i get there however that at the 10b crux the vital hold is sopping wet. Nothing like pasting your feet on nothing and the one ok handhold you have being wet. But ends up being not too bad. I sure wouldnt have wanted to do that on lead... Thanks Andrew!

P8 is the last pitch and tackles the Sail Flake a 10c undercling out around a massive flake pasted to the wall. My lead again. I get through this with not quite grace but at least better than I had been doing the last few pitches.

Climbing the Sail Flake

Up to Belly-Good and tie into the anchors. Phew! over! Think again. Belly-good at times is nothing more than a horizontal crack splitting a vertical wall, not your average ledge. We end up belaying 4 more pitches over to the forest and can finally un-rope.

The first (of many) sketchy bits on Bell-Good

And Simones reaction to it...

Gummy Treats when we finally reach the forest.

This has definitely been a learning experience for me. On one hand it is the hardest and bigger wall I have ever done, especially in the free climbing realm. But i didnt really free climb very much and mentally struggled through much of the climb. I feel way better about nearly all the other climbs I have done here, and yet if climbers has resumes it would be on the top of mine.

Something that if I ever can increase my ability I would like to do again to see if i could do it in a better style.

Strange though that the exposure, though massive, didnt really phase my head, it clearly was subconsciously affecting my climbing. I have done as hard of things near the ground and been fine. Something I will have to work on I guess.

The Nose anyone?

Nathans Sketches

2008-08-10T16:38:00.002-04:00

Decided to post these amazing sketches of Nathans that he uses as his visual diary, kind of like a blog but without all the amazing-ness of the internet

My car in the Index parking lot

Bomber Sleeping

Jo reading in the tent.

I wish i had practiced contour drawing more freshman year...

Phew all caught up, the weekend has been rainy, so we are resting before going up the Grand Wall a 12 pitch 11a, with i think two pitches below 5.10.

I think i get all the trad cruxes.

Will be the climb of my life. Either Monday or Tuesday.

Friday August 8th (Rock On to Squamish Buttress to Joes Dyke

2008-08-10T16:21:00.003-04:00

Having summited by 2 or 3 both previous days we decided to push back the departure time to 7 to try and get some much needed rest.

We get to the base of the route first luckily and I start up the first 5.8 pitch, which ends up being nowhere near as casual as I has hoped.

Me on the steeper than expected first pitch

Rock On is a steep left facing corner system for the whole way, and is both strenuous and burly the whole way though. On pitch 5 the last crux I wiggle my way into a flared slot barely squeezing in with my backpack. I can barely see around and am breathing heavy. I get the jam I need up high but when I try to move the backpack is seized in the chimney.

Over the next minute I unleash a verbal barrage at both myself and the rock. Anyone who has seen me climb something near my limit knows what this sounds like. I hope that I at least scared some of the 4 parties following me. The rock afterwards is dripping with lactic acid, and I am pumped beyond belief but atop the pitch.

Turns out I missed a crucial hold which I couldnt see due to my sack being in the way.

This is the karmic rock gods way of getting back at me after I expressed that I havent been pumped in ages. Rule #1 in climbing, get cocky and get burned.

Dora showing how its done on the crux of Rock On

My anchor to bring everyone up to the top of Rock On (this is a joke btw)

From here we hike up to Squamish buttress through the trees. The first 5 pitches are pretty easy and we simul most of it getting to the large ledge at the base of the crux pitch which looks decidedly not easy, at least for me.

Jo making it look easy!

Andrew bravely leading up the 10c pitch

Me struggling up the 10c pitch and barely getting it.

Only 1 more pitch of 5.6 and then a great 2 pitch 5.7 puts us on the summit.

Victorious summit shot!

Feeling good back at camp. Rain days are coming which means rest days and scheming for the Grand Wall

Thursday August 7th (Angels Crest)

2008-08-10T15:27:00.002-04:00

Jo and I wake up at 5 and are headed out by quarter till 6.

It is a little longer walk that before and certainly more of a hike to the base of the route. Since we would be getting to the same summit as Nathan and I had done previously I was in my mind trying to account how this route could be 9 pitches shorter and still reach the same place.

Well the first 4 pitches or so were made up in that the route starts much higher off the road.

Two grungy pitches lead to the first crux Angel Crack a 10b finger crack with a layback crux up high.

Me moving through the start of Angels. Still looking fresh.

The crack itself was quite easy, maybe 8 or so, but the moves at the top were definitely hardish, though not as bad as I thought. An exposed bolted anchor on the very crest let me view the next pitch. 10c face climbing past bolts.

Jo with her delicate face technique got this pitch, and she was so intent on the moves above she fell almost immediately off the belay on easier ground! Startled but otherwise fine she got back on and easily moved through the rest of the pitch.

Following it felt no harder than 5.9. And now we had the two hardest pitches behind us but still 10 more pitches to go.

We ramble upwards past two more 10a pitches and a bunch others and get to the base of the Acrophobe Towers at pitch 10.

These towers are perched right on the arete and as the name implies not a good place to be if you are scared of heights.

On the walk through the woods to get to the base of the first tower follow the totem who guides the way.

The 5.5 pitch up the tower may be the best moderate pitch I have ever done, rivaling High E for classic position and moves. You start easily up the bottom left of the tower soon reaching the very crest which you hand traverse easily but with absolutely huge exposure to the right. More climbing takes you to the top of the tiny pinnacle and a rap anchor to lower into the notch below.

If you look carefully here you can see me at the top of the tower.

Pitch 10 is actually 4 pitches of work, climb the tower, rap, scramble, downclimb, scramble again. Phew.

A few more exposed pitches over and around towers lead to the base of the final handcrack at 10b. I make it to the top, not too bad, a few cruxes over some roofs (good thing the Gunks have had me training on roofs so long)

The last pitch you literally crawl horizontally through almost a cave and then up a chimney, which starts horribly as all chimneys do, but then opens up higher into nice finger crackcs.

The summit is brilliant as always, and at barely 2 we start the walk down.

Two summits in 3 days not bad at all!

Not done for the day we go to Murrin park and hang out with our friends Dora, Andrew, Simone, and Michelle, at Up Among the Firs

Andrew on Wicker Cranium

Simone moving delicately through balancy moves on Poster Boy 5.10d

Andrew on A Little Testis

Andrew had someone made his arch collapse in his foot, but still wanting to climb and with a better diagnosis from his doctor we would tomorrow attempt Rock On 5.10a to Squamish Buttress 10c to Joes Dyke 5.7. Again all the way to the summit.

3 summits in 4 day? Could it be done?

Wednesday August 6th

2008-08-10T14:50:00.003-04:00

Nathan had decided to head out by noon or so to make sure he could get back to the east coast on time, so since we had our huge day the day before we would just do some cragging at Smoke Bluffs before he left.

Jo, Dora, Nathan, and I headed to Wonderland the last pitch of Smoke Bluff Connection which had been my first climb with Jo.

I headed up White Rabbit a really short but powerful 10b fingertips crack while they did Wonderland.

Nathan starting up Wonderland

Dora finishing off the short second pitch of Wonderland.

Then for some strange reason Nathan wanted to try Split Beaver a 10b offwidth. Offwidth in climbing terms means an inbetween size. Basically if your hands fit perfectly things are generally easy. If you fingers fit perfectly, things are generally easy. If you can get your whole body in and chimney, things are easy. But inbetween things get interesting.

The most notorious of these inbetween sizes is something bigger than your fist, but you still cant get inside. A 6 inch crack is basically the most evil thing in climbing and this is Split Beaver.

To make upward process you stack your hands to fill up the desired amount of space, then somehow jam your lower half of your body so that you can unweight the hands and then reset them higher. Powerful to say the least.

Nathan proudly led the line as his last lead in Squamish and I managed to (barely follow toprope)

Me getting into the tough stuff

Pretty good rest day all in all. Jo and I decided to get for Angels Crest the Next day a 14 pitch 10c, that goes all the way to summit. Should be fun!

Tuesday August 5th (Ultimate Link up)

2008-08-09T18:14:00.003-04:00

Given the length and description of our route (bring head lamps, start early, exhausting combination of routes etc.) Nathan and I get up at 5 am to start our climb. We walk to the apron, and only 12 steps off the old gravel road bed we are on the first climb Bottom Line 5.9 3 pitches.

The rack the nite before

Almost all slab friction climbing, it is actually some of the hardest climbing we did all day. Nathan links the first two pitches with minimal gear and a few bolts and I rapidly climb through and lead the last 5.8 pitch. Only 40 minutes have passed since we started.

Since Banana Peel is mostly easy with one 5.8 move in its 8 pitches to the top of the apron, I start out on lead and after 100 feet nathan starts simul-climbing behind me. Keeping several pieces of gear between us makes this a reasonable alternative for moving quick and being safe.

However not having done any of these routes before I traverse too far to the right and unbeknown to me have ended up on what I would later find out is Slab Alley 5.9+.

Nathan gives me an actual belay and I wander upwards following bolts every once in a while and eventually negotiate a really hard friction bulge and find an anchor out right. By this time we know we are in the wrong place, but with one rope and looking at the book we are completely off the topo we decide to continue up and see what happens.

Nathan bravely goes out back left and does a sketchy 5.7 traverse across licheny rock and gets into a odd water runnel and finally manages to get a piece of gear in at about 100 feet from the belay.

Another runnel leads up to a tree and he belays me up. Way up and left we see the trees at the base of Pitch 7 on Banana Peel and I set off to reach them.

After 90 feet or so with no gear, I have to make a sketchy traverse across lichen and glacier polished rock to the belay. Halfway across my foot slips a little but stops as it finds a cleaner patch. Carefully wiping my feet on my pants to get the lichen off. I am bent nearly double trying to keep my center of gravity as low as possible and avoid the ride of my life. It is hard to describe how tenuous friction climbing can be, sort of like aid climbing you have no idea when you are going to blow and be off. There are no hand holds to re-establish yourself. Past the hardest bit, and all of a sudden the book in my pack is out and falling down the rock. Due to the low angle it only goes like 4 feet and sits there teetering on the slab.

Now this is a precarious position to be in. 700 feet off the deck, no hand holds, struggling between staying attached to the rock and not see the guide go tumbling into the void. I manage to pick it up, stick it in my mouth and finish the pitch.

Nathan comes up, and leads on and we simul the last 2 pitches of 5.4 with burning calves.

The brings us to Boomstick Crack a really really (I mean barely an inch) thin flake pasted to the wall. One tricky move to get established and then you walk on top, looking down at the razor edge from above. But the climbing is easy and I am quickly at the top linking the two pitches. Nathan follows up and we look at the watch, not even 10 yet and we have down 13 pitches of climbing. We un-rope and walk through the forest up towards Ultimate Everything.

Ultimate Everything 5.9+ is a 10 pitch route that ventures up a bunch of terraces to the top of Peak 2 on the Chief. We cross the gully via some fixed rope and surprisingly find the belay bolt rather quickly.

Since we have been swapping leads, Nathan gets the first 9+ pitch. Some tricky face climbing past a few bolts leads into a grove. The next pitch I follow the groove up at 5.7 all the way to the end of the first terrace. Move left and Nathan leads up the 5.9 pitch 3 takes some neat face climbing under an arch and up to a tree belay. A pitch of 5.7 ramps leads to lunch ledge.

Up to this point the grades havent been very equitable with Nathan getting the harder leads, but this was about to change. Being smart fellows, we had brought up a whole pepperoni pizza and devour this on ledge before continuing. Pitch 5 (or 18 of the day) is a nice short 5.8 hand crack.

The next pitch of 5.9 is my favorite of the day, left my smiling for hours. A 5.9 layback over a roof to some well bolted face, and slab, to another great roof to the belay.

The rest of the climb follows a dike of volcanic rock intruded into the granite. Nathan leads Pitch 20 at 5.7, and I get another great pitch of 5.9+ up steep rock with gymnastic moves and unique handholds. Finally in the sun Nathan pushes up Pitch 22 and stops early at a nice ledge under some trees for shade.

The route either goes straight up here, at 5.9+ A0 where you pull on a bolt to get past an 11c slab move, or there is an option to do a leftwards traversing crack under a bulge at 10b. Nathan decides on the latter.

It is warned as being pumpy but I had no idea, the moves are all there but man is it hard to stay on. Nathan does a great job, and I follow barely and we are on the summit at barely 3 pm.

9 hours 23 pitches, not a bad day out. And though we joke about doing more after we get back to camp, after the long hour long steep descent the high has worn off and we gladly eat and sleep.

Monday August 4th (Gil Returns)

2008-08-09T17:56:00.004-04:00

Gil manages to come up for another day of granite crack climbing as a break from math camp.

Despite me wanting to take him up something big, he is not able to get in terriblt early and with the heat I decide a day at Murrin Park is more suitable.

We warm up low down on some sport routes, Gil leads Oscars Slab 5.8 and I lead Zoe 5.10a a fun sport route on neat rock.

Gil seconds Zoe

Gil leads up Wicker Cranium at 5.9+ which is an excellent thin layback up to fun fingers up high.

I do Totally Clips 5.10b, but get stymied by the thin slab moves up top. I make it to the top but not cleanly.

Jo doing Totally Clips in much better style than I

To the right is a really cool looking climb called A Little Testis 5.10b/c which features 30 feet of perfect hands in a corner. While we are climbing the other routes a couple guys, who were surprised that I could even climb because I am from Maryland, start up the climb.

I have never seen a more dangerous awkward struggle in my life. The guy protects in the wrong places, makes the route look like 12b, and at one point for some unknown reason ends up horizontal face down in the corner looking at a face first fall onto a ledge.

Never have i been so deterred from a climb.

Later on they leave and looking at how nice it looks decide to give it a try despite the earlier fiasco.

Though awkward down low, it is not terrible and the corner is some of the best climbing I have ever done. Never would I think that getting to the top of the crux on a 10c I would want it to go on for twice as long but such was the case here. Everyone else did it and agreed on the quality.

Nathan re-leading A Little Testis

The view from up top.

Back down it is getting late, Nathan and I start scheming. We want to do something long, and yet not too technically hard that we will get shut down completely. Not ones to take baby steps we decide on the Ultimate Link-up which combines 4 classic routes (Bottom Line 5.9 -> Banana Peel 5.8 -> Boomstick Crack 5.7 -> Ultimate Everything 5.9+) into the longest multi-pitch in the area at 23 pitches. You basically start on the road at sea level and climb all the way to the summit.

We celebrate our plan with 5 dollar pizzas from Little Caesars and send Gil on his way back to Vancouver.

Sunday August 3rd

2008-08-09T17:36:00.003-04:00

Not yet ready to tackle some of the larger faces. Nathan Jo and I decided to try and do two fairly long-ish hard-ish routes in the same day to see how we were doing.

The first would be Centrefold, on the Papoose a 3 pitch 5.10c, and the second, Birds of Prey, a 6 pitch route up the Squaw.

Mornings at camp

In the parking lot, we met Jeff, a seemingly knowledgeable guy who needed a partner for the morning. So Nathan and I went up Centrefold, Andrew and Dora would do Hairpin 5.10a, and Jo and Jeff would follow them up the same route.

The first pitch of Centrefold is a 5.10b slab, arete which is notoriously slippery. Today it was also wet. I came off once at the bolt protected crux but managed it using a heel scum (on lead!) and easier climbing leads to the first belay at a nice ledge.

Nathan got the crux pitch at 10c. Nice hand crack to a two crack system through a bulge. Bearhug the two cracks then make a cruxy hand traverse left and up over a bulge to a rest. Phew. Final thin moves lead to the anchor. The final pitch at 10a is no giveaway. I lead up past a bolt, then traverse 40 feet up and left with no gear, finally plugging in a yellow alien before making a tricky move up the the next bolt. A few moves of 10a slab which are better bolted leads to the exit moves, 30 feet of 5.8/5.9 slab which was quite wet. Yikes! Scary but a really great route.

We hike up to the Squaw in the heat (low 90s) and start up Birds of Prey, which destroys my ankles. All the jamming plus the heat got to me and I rapped off after the first two pitches, Nathan and Jo continue up one more pitch and likewise head down. Might be nice in the shade.

Nathan rapping off the steep walls of the Squaw

Saturday August 2nd

2008-08-09T15:34:00.002-04:00

With the rain finally gone, we searched out some quick drying rock at the Smoke Bluffs first thing in the morning.

Went to Burgers and Fries, a small cliff, with houses not 10 feet from the edge on top!
Jo leads the namesake a 5.7 crack to some interesting slab and face moves up high

Nathan then got on Catch me Quicker 5.10b and I went around to (finally) take some pictures.

Nathan on the thin start.

Working out those tough moves

Through the crux and rolling up moderate terrain up higher.

Jo waltzing up 11a slab on Over Forty 11a.

Me making it look, much much harder.

A neat shot showing my tiny handholds and the desperate hand foot matching technique.

Sort of underexposed but I like this shot of Jo.

Also got on Catch Me 5.10a a nice face climb, and Move Over 5.9 a nice corner.

Headed down to The Zip a 5.10a hand and finger crack in a bog near the lake. Slimy! and of curse it starts to drizzle again, despite the blue skies.

Since I havent led anything all day, I get suited up and give it a go. Man this thing is strenuous. Steep fingers, but the locks are so good you just cant fall out of it. Nathan rapped in and took a bunch of cool pictures of me climbing.

Just starting out

Perfect Locks

Nathan calls this my Superman Pose.

Giving everything I have

Moving strongly through to the finish

Bomber as always being cute at the base of the Zip

After dinner we headed ver to the Upper Malamute for some evening climbing. The Lower Malamute is closed due to its proximity to the train below, but you can rappel in and set up some fine routes on the upper faces. Plus it is quite and the view is amazing.

Nathan and I rapped in and did High Mountain Woody a classic hands route at 5.8+ while Andrew and Dora set up Slap and Tickle 5.10b on TR.

Dora climbing out of from the blue sound below.

And the view isnt bad either.

Making the crux Dyno to the arete on Slap and Tickle.

As you can tell it is starting to get pretty dark at this point, and I finish up the day lowering down and doing the 10b, in the dark with my headlamp.

A spectacular finish to a spectacular day.

Friday August 1st (Rain day)

2008-08-09T15:23:00.002-04:00

I am not good at waiting, and a full day of rain felt pretty arduous. Gives a lot of time for scheming however. Long live the rain day and the crazy plans that have come forth from such days.

Also in the news the Veggie VW might finally have a proper name, The Phoenix. Suggested independently by 3 different people on the same day, and given its propensity for rising from the ashes and its current paint job it seems like a natural fit.

Thursday July 31st (Trees are In!)

2008-08-09T14:43:00.003-04:00

The rain is really supposed to kick in for the afternoon so Jo and I get up early to try and squeeze in a longer multi-pitch on the Apron.

The Apron is a huge triangle of less than vertical rock on the left side of the Grand Wall. It hosts several extremely popular moderate climbs and today was no different. Despite two parties being in front of us, things would get less crowded as they were doing a different route, that happened to share the first pitch.

One of the quirky rules about squamish climbing is that trees are always allowable as a handhold. In fact the grade takes into account that you DO pull on trees, otherwise certain climbs are significantly harder. In other climbing areas this is sort of a faux pas but here in Squamish with the weather being so wet and the vegetation so prevalent, and tenacious it would be impossible to not climb the trees.

The first two pitches of St. Vitus are a case in point. You literally pull yourself up vertical rock covered in cedar roots, using the roots for both handholds and protection. Actually sort of fun.

Jo led up the first 5.7 pitch and to avoid the crowds ahead we moved left, avoiding the second pitch of tree pulling and did St. Vitus Direct and 5.10a thin right facing corner. It was sopping wet, and I barely lead 10a on a dry day. I get to the top of the corner, but take a short fall when my foot skitters out of the wet corner while I am trying to pull over the final roof. Finish it off second try however.

Jo gets the money pitch, a full 170 feet of 5.8 hand jams off the ledge that get wider and wider until you can almost step inside the crack.

I lead off on the 5.9 awkward pitch as the weather starts to look ominous. Neat moves transitioning left across different crack systems lead up into an awkward slot, which my large frame barely gets through. I build the anchor in light rain, and bring Jo up.

The crux pitch is wide crack through a steep bulge, luckily cracks are not too much harder in the rain, which is really coming down now. Jo bravely smears up the opening slab and gets some gear in the overhanging crack above. Takes one fall, but gets it on the second try.

I finish the final 5.4 slab pitch in pretty heavy rain meeting the others who had been climbing next to us.

Our book had told us that we could rappel down the side, but not finding the top anchors, and not to eager to look around the slippery top slabs in the rain, we decide to follow them down the "walk off"

This is how we meet Dora and Andrew, a mid twenties couple from Montreal on a long road trip.

As good fortune would have it, Andrew has descended from here before and guides us down.

Here is a little overview of this "walk-off" climb a short 5.4 slab to get to a gully, though wide enough to squeeze through the exposure is pretty intense, walk through some woods and do a 5.1 traverse over 800 feet of air, walk so more, do another 5.1 down-climb and finally get to the trees. Walk down a bunch more and finally hop through huge wet slickery talus to finally get to trail. Needless to say we keep roped up for much of this and take longer descending then we did going up.

Back at camp Nathan and Bomber have arrived!

Nathan had driven unknowingly to the rock-slide and been stopped. Hanging out among the hordes of newspaper men and women he garnishes some support and a rallying call to get this poor road-tripping youngster to his destination is enacted. Not soon after he boards a motorboat with a drunk dad and his son (named after his favorite brand of cigarettes) with just his harness a sleeping bag and his dog.

They arrive in squamish harbor rather abruptly, quite abruptly in fact as the inebriated man didnt realize that the draft on his boat was 3 feet and the sand bar was only two feet below the surface. Stuck not far from the dock they realize that in squamish the harbor doubles as the landing strip for the many float planes, and currently one such is trying to land.

Frantic pushing, pilot cursing, and some well flown airplane maneuvers safely yield them at the dock. Bomber smartly exits the craft as quickly as possible and is quite subdued for the rest of the evening, which we spend playing cards with our new found, and long lost friends alike as the rain pours down in torrents around us.

Wednesday July 30th

2008-08-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

Get up in the parking lot, and easily find a spot, campsite 16, which is to be my home for the coming time. As i set up my tent I meet Jo, a woman from York, in England, looking to share a site to split costs. Certainly seems like a good deal, and turns out to be quite fortuitous.

Jo has been on the road since March, mostly in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, and has a full array of stories to match. She has had tent run over by monkeys, on a bus with goats, and adventures in the high mountains of South America.

She arrived a day before and had spent the previous day hiking her gear from town to camp in the rain!

Since neither of us had partners, we took advantage of the break in the weather and went to the Smoke Bluffs for a day of cragging.

The Smoke Bluffs are a bunch of "tiny" (some are 150-200 feet tall) crags nestled among a development just outside the town of Squamish. Despite their diminutive size they have excellent quality of rock and some great crack lines.

We started out with Smoke Bluff Connection, which links 4 all star climbs that tier on top of each other, giving and almost multi pitch experience. Mosquito 5.8 is a nice layback hand crack that links almost directly into Phlegmish Dance 5.8 a finger crack in a corner. Both are excellent. You then walk through the woods for 50 feet and get to the base of Jabberwocky a 10b fingercrack, which i surprisingly led clean on the first try, despite not doing and 10s in a while. This lead to a terrace and the best pitch Wonderland 5.9 which traverses directly (almost horizontally) across the exposed face. Good hands with minimal feet leads to quite a pump in the arms.

We then went up to Penny Lane and ticked off two five star climbs. Penny Lane 5.9 the namesake of the cliff is a perfect handcrack for nearly 100 feet, and QuarryMan 5.8 which follows an interesting corner to perfect jams around a roof.

We then go up to Pixie Corner, which is really right around the corner from Wonderland, and do Trixie 5.10b a short fingercrack, and Pixie Corner a neat 5.8 with two cracks in a corner. I try Captain Hornblower 5.11a a slab (not that vertical) that has extremely few and small holds. I am learning that while the grades here are mostly easy for the grade, the slabs are pretty tough, or I am not too good at them!

To finish off the day, we go to Octopus' Garden at the top of the hill and do the namesake climb a 5.8 wider crack. Despite being perfect hands for me the flaring nature of the crack made it tougher than perhaps I had anticipated.

10 pitches on a rain day with a new partner! not bad at all, and Jo quietly waltzed up everything with ease and even led two of the pitches, despite not climbing technical rock for 3 months.

Tuesday July 29th (A near miss)

2008-08-09T14:07:00.002-04:00

It had rained all of Monday and Tuesday after spending the weekend with Gil and Dave in Squamish, but despite the rain I decided Tuesday evening to get back to Squamish while it was still wet and hopefully get a campsite and avoid the crowds/climbing scene that had so intimidated me over the weekend.

I left just about after dark maybe 10 or so, and drive north on the Sea to Sky Highway that goes from Vanouver, past Squamish and up to Whistler. Though only 60 Km away this is not a trivial drive given the intense roadwork going on the improve the road for the 2010 Olympics here.

Roadwork in Canada is not like the states. Things are not well marked, what is left of the road is barely drivable, and the dark and rain are not adding to the fun. Luckily I make it to campground, and finding the gate closed (its after 11) promptly settle in for an uncomfortable sleep in the front seats of my car.

I only just fall asleep and a ton of sirens of all sorts scream past, clearly attending to some accident on the treacherous highway.

I find out the next day, that only 10 miles south of Squamish near Porteau Cove a massiv rockslide had covered the road blocking both train and car traffic.

Since no one was hurt I will count this as a blessing in disguise as the normal zoo scene in squamish was significantly reduced because the only way to go around involved a 10 hour drive from vancouver.

Still sort of scary how close I was to the incident, and looking at the picture those are some big rocks.

What is this Internet thing i hear so much about?

2008-08-09T14:01:00.003-04:00

Sorry I have haven't posted in so long. Been too busy climbing here in Squamish, finally got a rain day and a much needed rest day, so I am finally getting some time to do something else and let my fingers take a rest. So without further ado here is my day by day account of my time in Squamish so far.

Also havent gotten all the pictures from the people i have been climbing with so these may change in a bit once i acquire said pictures.

No pictures!

2008-07-31T20:50:00.002-04:00

Sorry no pictures for this update.

Done two days of squamish climbing now. its brilliant!

I got in after a rainy day tuesday hoping to find a campsite. Found one just fine, but the road had a huge landslide only an hour after i got through... so now im stuck here at least till tuesday. darn!

Did 9 pitches on wed, despite a wet start to the morning, all but one were 5 stars. perfect granite. Today i did a 6 pitch 10a called St. Vitus Dance, with the direct start which was wet 10a, started to rain at the top of pitch 3 but we got through just fine, cracks are solid even when wet.

looks like rain till friday aft or so, maybe ill go for a hike.

The scene isnt so bad now that I have been assimilated into it, ive already gotten four offers to climb the grand wall (most classic 10 pitch 11a on the planet apparently) might give it a go, as the grades are pretty soft here. 10c feels about 5.9 at Seneca, so 11a might be doable?!

updates as they happen, or at least moderately soon after they happen.

Squamish

2008-07-29T15:15:00.002-04:00

I finally made it to Canada, and Squamish, after years of wanting , and one other failed attempt.

Accompanied by Jeff Moss' brother Gil and his friend Dave, I would finally get my chance to experience the granitic wonder of Squamish BC.

Certainly one of the main draws of coming here was the presupposed lack of "scene" that had plagued my dreams of going to Yosemite. Although reasonably sociable in small group settings, I am terrified of larger groups.

Strangely the situations were one would think i would be most comfortable (a gather of climbers) are exactly the worst situations. The relief of anonymity given at a metal show for example, provides enough psychological cover for me that enduring moshing overweight unkempt adolescents and ear destroying decibel levels actually an enjoyable event. Likewise a small group of close friends (2-5) I feel like I have enough control to participate.

However situations where I should be comfortable are horrendous. Likewise I truly hate the cliche atmosphere, the posturing, the innumerable subaru outbacks, dreds,local beer + unkempt dog + tailgate = instant popularity that infuses a popular climbing hangout.

Agreed some of it is exposing my own way of living as being cheap, and shallow, but whatever the reason it drives me nuts.

We pull into the Chief parking lot and camping (the main camping for the climbing area) and lo and behold there it is in all its glory. the "scene"

I can barely drive through looking for, and praying not to find, an open campsite. Which luckily we dont.

We find a nicer spot down by the river in the Kalahanie campground by Shannon Falls and our proposed climbing spot the next day.

The next morning we hike up to our first route, Kalahanie crack, past droves of Asian tourists and are the first at the base of the wall. The waterfall spills loudly into the stream a couple hundred feet to our left.

Gil starts up the perfect 5.7 hand crack. His sweet climbing tights can be purchased for your own collection from Running Funky

Dave nearing the chains on Kalahanie Crack

By now the whole wall is swamped with 5 parties and only 3 popular climbs. We manage to get not too far back in line for the next crack to the right Cardu Crack. a 5.8.

Some of the Charlie Foxtrot over on the slab climb to the left "Local Boys"

Gil doing some sweet stemming on Cardu Crack

Me belaying Gil on Cardu crack

Amazingly i look to my left, and on the climb we were just on there is a guy cleaning the route, and only 15 feet behind him someone else is leading the pitch! I realize that these ethics are a little obscure to those who dont climb, but at least where i climb back east this is akin to cutting someone off AND slowing down in front of you when you are driving. Amazing! Not surprisingly this same lady was leading on our pitch before we could pull our ropes, causing them to get stuck. And then she had to "help" us get them. Serious faux pas'

All of this ruckus was confirming the worst of my fears. The climbing was brilliant and the atmosphere horrible, we moved down to the base of a friction slab that was devoid of people to see if we could salvage my respect for the climbing community.

Often on climbs the first bolt is rather high to keep out the "fluff" and usually i pride myself on keeping my head together to get to that bolt.

A polished 11c friction route is not the route to try this on. Me retreating after 50 feet off of Magic Carpet Ride.

Gil manages a bit better and gets the first few moves but in the end we are both stymied.... fluff.

A sweet tree near the parking lot.

We head over to the Smoke Bluffs a bunch of little crags near town, and amazing find a crag all to ourselves.

Me leading up Baby Lizard 5.9

Time for a shave... belaying on Baby Lizard

From the same setup we were able to do a combination of Centre Street 10c, and Reptilian 10d as a topRope. Not too bad thin tips locks to the super technical finish on small feet to a slopey dike.

We then went over and did Easter Island, a fun 5.8 through a short roof.
Dave makes it look easy.

For the last pitch of the day, Gil went over and did Payanoia 5.9 maybe the silliest route any of us had ever done. A decent short 5.9 crack leads to a ledge that you could walk off of, and then for no reason an unprotected boulder move, above said ledge.

Gil pulling down hard on the contrived finish.

Me pulling the same move, you can see the ground below me, about 12 inches.

We feasted on hot dogs, beans, coconut and chocolate.

Chipmunk Dave and I gaping at the Chief the next morning.

This is about 3% of the Chief, I didnt feel like putting on a lens to capture it all, and this is showing maybe 300 feet tall of rock!

We headed over to a cliff called the Upper Malamute which drops almost directly into Howe Sound near squamish. After some "dacks-like" shwacking to get the base of our route Gil led up a nice 5.8 called Jacobs Other Ladder, in a light sprinkle.

Gil demonstrating some of the moves enroute.

The sound is this amazing color, not blue not green, but a grey version of both and quite beautiful. I believe from the silt in the glacial runoff. Here is a photo of it doubling as both log storage facility and run-way.

We found a fun slab to play on. I led a 10a friction climb in the rain (scary!) and then from the bottom we would run up and see how far we could get. I believe the two routes we did on the slab were called. You gonna do something or just stand there and bleed 10a, and With friends like that who needs enemas 5.8

Dave concentrating hard on making his feet stick.

Dave preparing to be animal like and Gil in slack-taking position.

For the rest of the day we hung out at the Seal Cove. Up in the top 5 of most beautiful places i have ever climbed. And the climbing was good too!

You rappel in next to and below a train tunnel and the cliff is over the sound. The climbs are reached via a 5.9 traverse out over the waves to the appropriate point before launching upwards to the top of the slab.

Gil leading out the traverse to the base of our route Soul Mate 10b.

The really were seals here too! we saw bunches playing in the cove behind us, apparently they were as amused by Gils pants as the climbers were.

Gil sets off on 10b friction slab which as you can see has a plethora of holds.

He was encouraged by a strange man with a mohawk in a strange "Greenland Kayak" who happened upon us and then disappeared back into the future, which was the only probable place he could have come from.

Gil takes a rather striking picture of Dave

And the view out across the Sound isnt bad either.

We end the day, lowering back down and TR-ing Swept Away a 5.9 on the far end of the slab.

Hard not to enjoy the location.

Too finish it all off we drive back to Vancouver for all you can eat sushi!

In the end it was a fantastic weekend. The climbing scene didnt turn out to be as bad as i had thought (it never is) so i will give squamish another try by myself.... once the rain stops that is.

Index

2008-07-29T12:36:00.002-04:00

Nathan and I spend the morning doing a couple climbs in Leavenworth at Icicle Creek, but quickly realize that even if we want to climb, or bodies are dead tired from the epic yesterday, still we get in two good pitches (i think?) before succumbing to Heidelburger, in Leavenworth.

Greatly replenished we head back over the hill to Index, and after even more lounging manage to get in 4 more pitches before dark.

Bomber doing his part in the lounging.

On the far left of the popular Lower Main Wall is the Great Northern Slab, the only place at Index with moderates. Since we werent terribly gung-ho this afternoon we did a 4 pitch meandering up this nice slab to get a feel for the rock.

I led a short 5.8 fist crack to a ledge. Nathan leads up a tricky 8 tips crack, and decides that the flared offwidth chimney above is not to his liking. I step around left and viola! a perfect easy handcrack appears. Above this Nathan leads on easy ground to the top of the slab.

It is rather heavily forested in Index, and you dont really realize where you are until you get high enough off the ground to get a look around.

Atop the 3rd pitch I finally turned around and noticed the vista. Mt. Index, and Mt Persies rise strikingly from the valley with the glacier blue/green Skykomish river running below.

Mt Index is only 6000 feet tall, but considering the valley where we were in Index is only at 500 feet it is certainly precipitous.

On the way back down we notice Breakfast of Champions, a perfect 10a handcrack approached on the wall to the right of the slab. Unfortunately we would never get back to climb this, but it makes me happy knowing such a perfect handcrack is there waiting for me.

The next morning we go over to do GM (which stands for General Maintenance) over at the right side of the Lower Wall called The Country.

Clearly we have too much gear, but the rock feels like we are in Yosemite, so we might as well have the rack to match!

The first pitch is either a 3rd class scramble or a 10c slab. Since the slab is unprotected to the belay but looks fun Nathan goes around to set up a toprope on the slab.

Turns out neither of the ratings are very accurate. The 3rd Class scramble feels more like 5.5, and the 10c ends up feeling like 11+

Nathan at the P1 belay.

The second pitch leads up an ok 5.8 corner past a scary move protected by a pin, then left to a bolted belay below a monster wide flake.

Off the belay you go up some blocks and try and get established underclinging the flake. Me just getting to the goods.

Me struggling (loudly if i remember correctly) through the 9 flake and up onto the belay ledge.

Nathan took some neat shots from below the flake looking up all the way through to the belay. Those are some big cams! glad i brought the 4.5

From the belay our route GM continued up and right along a wide flake, but an incredible 10 handcrack continued above, P3 of Heart of the Country. It looked too good so we had to do it.

Nathan just off the belay on Heart of the Country.

Nathan milks the rest and points out the view before the crux section over a bulge.

A nice ledge at the top of the pitch and I am trying to remember what the topo says about this next bit. Oh yes, 10a to the ledge and 11a all the way to the top. Its my lead and the crack looks to be the right size, just through a bulge.

Do it with one hang, but i could have, should have punched through. Neat 11a trad! at Index which is supposedly sandbagged!

We rap off with one double rappel! When we did Outer Space it felt short, but was 1200 feet of climbing, and this felt huge and was only 200 feet tall!

At the bottom Nathan tries the "10c" slab again, and eventually gets it clean, at the expense of much finger skin.

We go back around and up into a gully with a cliff called the inner lump. At the top of the gully is a clean wall amongst all the moss, and a climb called Toxic Shock.

Not a great shot, but Toxic Shock either takes the 9 lieback or the 5.8 double cracks to the midpoint, and then the crack in the left wall at 5.9 to the top. The double thin cracks up top are Even Steven, an 11b.

My lead up the double cracks on P1

Starting up the perfect hands on P2

Perfect hands will put a smile on anyones face!

At the top it was trivial to go set up a TR on Even Steven, which we both got with one fall. A super line up thin twin finger locks. This actually felt like 11b, technical and pretty sustained. a super line.

Friday nite I had to be in Vancouver to meet Gil, but we had time to do one more line at Index before heading out. Tried to find RacerX, supposedly a nice slab climb, but the approach pitches at 5.8R/X had overgrown and looked horrible and nasty.

Did get a neat picture crossing the tracks through.

The last line we ended up doing we thought was Princely Ambitions, but looking at the topo now, and it was definitely Japanese Gardens 10a.

Either way a great climb, with a variety of moves, from a balancy transition low on the route to a powerful jam flake up higher.

All in all a great couple days, and the best pure climbing so far. Maybe i can convince Nathan to come back up to Squamish and do the Grand Wall

Out of this World

2008-07-29T12:15:00.002-04:00

It was late a night, a very star one
And the sky was so very blue
Something caught my eye
Shot across the sky, as a gleaming white contraption
Clearly very new

These funny looking creatures
Lulling in my backyard
Who were here from out of a hatch
They waved to me
Form down below
With their funny heads
Holding their hats

So come on stay, stay with me
Please don't go away
Come on and talk to me, please feel free
Do you speak english?
'Cause i want to talk to you
Where do you come from?

-Aliens by Imogen Heap

I was feeling pretty worn out after the hot day in the sun on my ledge, and that the feeling persisted post drinking 32 Oz of sweetened iced coffee it was time for a change of pace.

Still hopped up on caffeine I didnt leave Wenatchee till nearly midnight, but the drive flowed easily up an over Stevens Pass and eventually down in the town of Index. Despite a number of sketchy Rvs, I promptly fell asleep in a pullout by the river.

Index is one of the places that one never really hears about, when you search for classic climbing areas. Clearly in any pursuit there are a whole subset of attractions that dont make the “Best Of” but are of equal and sometimes greater quality than the more popular destinations. Somehow Index had made my short list of places I wanted to really check out. In the morning (nearly noon by the time I got moving!) I went up and checked out the cliff to see what I could find that might be doable.

This is by the nicest stone I have ever seen. Absolutely perfect diamond hard granite with a ton of features (cracks flakes corners etc etc) and steep! I can imagine this being John Kelbel's dream crag. Grades starting in the 5.8 range with most everything being 9+ to mid 11. Almost all lines follow a crack (from thin seams to burly 8 inch offwidth laybacks) steep vertical lines, pumpy, and up to 6 pitches tall. John if you are reading this, put it on your to-do list.

The rock here is so perfect the apparently University of Washington drilled a 4000 foot deep tunnel into the mountain to figure out some unknown properties of gravity. Thats the urban legend anyway, and I can at least vouch for a big (10 feet in diameter) locked door on the cliff. Adding to the legend the hole was supposedly drilled by the same machine that created the Chunnel connecting France and England.

But I still has some time before I got to sample this fine rock snack.

Back at the parking lot it is about 1 ish in the afternoon, and I run into Nathan another solo road-tripper, from Asheville. East Coast represent! Seemed we has similar goals, and we both at the same time mentioned this route Outer Space, a 6 pitch 5.9 back in Icicle Creek. Which is near Leavenworth the town I just left.

Not wanting to do the math... (8 hours of sunlight left – 1.5 hour drive back – 1.5 approach hike – .75 descent scramble – 1.5 hour descent hike leaves how long to climb over 1000 feet of rock???) we gather some gear and hop in my car with Bomber his corgi mix dog and head back over the pass.

The hike itself gains 1500 feet in about 2 miles to the base of the wall, which we reach a little after 4 pm.

Looking out to town from the base of the wall.

The money pitches up high are obvious from the ground, a striking 400 foot crack runs from the top of a pedestal to the summit, and the pedestal itself has a nice looking diagonal crack splitting the large front face.

Getting there however is not as obvious. You start on a ramp system, 200 feet right of the fall line of the obvious features above.

Silently worried about time, I fly up the first pitch, passing at 30 feet a belay spot that could be used by those with shorter ropes. I belay when I run out of rope at the top of the ramp.

Nathan quickly follows and only 30 seconds after reaching the belay is gone and on lead again. This pitch traverses a full 200 feet to the base of the pillar. It appears I had gone a bit too far in the ramp system, missing a nice corner/crack and belaying about 20 lower and more out on the face. Made the traverse a bit more spicy but not terrible. Nathan milked it, finding a really fun 15 foot vertical crack along the way.

I followed and we were quickly at the base of the pillar. I never checked the time while we were climbing, but I felt better having reached this point quickly.

Nathan lead up the crux pitch, with a few complaints on the beginning section of loose blocks etc. We found out later that a better variation starts around the corner. From the top of a steep 5.8 crack the crack shoots out almost straight right across the exposed tower. Nathan took a while negotiating this stretch, explaining later that it was a little loose, a little scary and a little hard. But he did it in great style, I would have been sketched on that lead.

I moved up the next pitch supposedly 4th class but ended up feeling around 5.6 -7ish. Pull over an easy roof from the belay, and then diagonal up and left to a runout sea of knobs to a great corner. The belay is on a great ledge and the perfect crack draws a line from the sky to my feet directly above.

The last two pitches are gift to climbers. Perfect hands that go on forever, the only ledge conveniently placed at a ropes length to make for a comfy belay changeover. As if the crack werent good enough it is surrounded by dozens of beautiful black knobs that look like they have landed from outer space. Interestingly the crack splits the a few knobs directly in half, giving some weight to the idea that the knobs predate the crack.

Me following pitch 5

Nearing the belay.... I love the slung knob for protection.

Me starting up pitch 6.

Looking up from the belay on pitch 6, I am already out of sight on perfect jams.

We have climbed quickly enough to savor the last pitches a bit, and we gain the summit with not a lot but at least some light left.

Doing a bit of math I mentioned to Nathan that we had climbed 1000 feet of rock only knowing each other for less than 8 hours.

Someone I had talked to about this route had mentioned that if you get the top and it is dark, bivouac on top rather than attempting the walk-off which apparently is rather tricky. Still we had at least a half hour of light left.

The “walk-off” was not east but not bad. A bit of downclimbing a lot of scrambling and one rappel. When we got back to the packs at the base of the route, it really was dark. However Bomber seemed to be in a good mood and led the way most of the way down talus slope to get back to the main trail. Even he lost the trail near the river crossing, and it took us the better part of an hour to get these last couple hundred feet to the main trail.

Then just a steep mile and a half slog back to the car.

I wondered what time it was when we got back to the car, 12:37 am. Not a bad way to bring in my birthday at all.

Route Summary

P1 200 ft of easy corner/ramp. Exit a touch earlier to have better climbing, and bolts for the belay.
P2 200 ft of traversing straight left to gain the base of the pinnacle.
P3 150 feet of 5.9 first up a steep crack to a hard thin traverse, better start around corner?
P4 150 feet a sea of knobs and then a sweet corner maybe 5.7
P5 200 ft the start of the money.... literally 200 feet, end to end of 5.7 hand crack with a sea of knobs
P6 210 ft. can it possibly keep going?? even more hand crack to the top

This is the best moderate hand crack anywhere. The position 500 feet off the deck, perfect hands, and a sea of moon knobs in case you get tired of the crack. Slightly detracted by the approach pitches, but incredible nonetheless.

Wenatchee Reprise

2008-07-21T19:39:00.002-04:00

Need to fill in the gaps between my arrival in WA and these more recent expeditions to mountain in the last few days.

In short I have been abducted, taken in, and cared for by some of the most gracious people I have ever met.

Woke up in the parking lot at Vantage, to the sound of a car pulling in. Usually means I have slept to long and some authority is going to kick me out. Luckily it was a few climbers who quickly were up and climbing at the cliff.

Took my time and drank some ovaltine, Yum! Since they were a group of three I went up and introduced myself to see if i could join up and make two teams of two. The happily agreed.

So it was that I met Ty and his younger brother Jon. Within an hour of climbing, I was offered food and shelter, two things a roadtripper does not pass up. Besides that the climbing was great on short basalt pinnacles in the desert!

The Feathers area of Vantage

In the half day that we were there we climbed 10 routes thanks to the frequency of bolts and quick descents.

Over the next few days I stayed at Ty's place and they nearly literally made me family. Gave me a place to stay, fed me, took me to the pool, played some great tennis matches and stayed through a house party!

They have my most sincere gratitude, not only for their actual acts of generosity but also helping to restore my faith that not all humans are without care for others.

After a few days I changed locales to Jonathon's house. Not at all because I was tired of Ty's but with a family, I didnt want to impose more than I already had. Jon being a bit younger still leads a house life, not too dis-similar from the ones all young 20-somethings I know lead.

I guess I really needed to be taken in for a while, and the month by myself and given me a desire to actually be around others for awhile. Has felt great to make some friends and be part of a group for awhile.

Not to mention that I have been climbing every day! Did 3 more days at Vantage. Sometimes with Jon sometimes with Ty and even took a friend of theirs Laura out for a day, new to the sport, showing her some of the basics.

Me on a classic 5.8 at Vantage

Laura working her way up the crux of the same route.

Jon even showed me the joys of Geocaching (finding little hidden boxes with a GPS)

Me excited after finding my first. And also somehow looking like I have no teeth?!

Also did a bunch of days in Leavenworth, this strange faux bavarian village nearby that just happens to have some of the best granite climbing anywhere.

Even went tandem kayaking with a guys wife I met!

Quite amazing the generosity, everyone has offered me a place to stay and a meal. Maybe i look thinner than i feel.

Future Plans...

Might do the North Ridge of Stuart tomorrow! one of the 50 classics. more to come on that.

Definitely going up to squamish next weekend to climb with Gil (Jeffs brother)

Might have a partner for the Bugs in the first week of August.

Still a few things to do around here...

Outer Space a 6 pitch 5.9 with 300 feet of 5.8 hand crack... sounds like a tasty rock snack.

More to come as it happens.

Peshastin

2008-07-21T19:11:00.002-04:00

Since I happened to be up so early to look at climbing Liberty Bell i was back in town (nearly 200 miles away) by 8:30.

Feeling invigorated I decided to go to the local soft sandstone area, Rope solo some sport climb and haul up my portaledge and hang out for awhile.

Packed the haul bag, portaledge, all my RS gear, and headed up the hillside to try and find Windward Direct, a bolted 5.8 on Sickle Slab. Looked to be in the shade and slabby with lots of cracks etc. Casual.

Well the hike up was not casual a harbinger of the rest of the afternoon. Despite being only a quarter mile and a couple hundred feet of vertical, the haul bag packed to 80 pounds or so destroyed me. Starting to climb in a deficit, bad idea 1.

And of course, after getting everything ready, the route just came into the sun. What was intended on being a casual lead turned out to be rather scary. The route was prolly 140 feet long, much longer than it appears, and with 6 bolts. That is nearly 25 feet between bolts.

Luckily I brought some gear, but the extremely soft stone, and flared cracks didnt inspire alot of confidence. Also the route felt more like 5.10 that 5.8 with some pretty insecure smears and jams high above the bolts.

Got the belay, fixed the line and rapped back down to clean the pitch and bring the haul line up.

The route, looking deceptively easy from the base.

In addition it had gotten rather hot out. My Waldies had shrunk and were nearly too hot to put on! Of course I get stubborn at times. So rigged the TR solo and trailed the haul line back up. The route feeling much easier on TR than on lead.

Rigged the haul line and brought up the ledge. Its been about a years since I had it out, and setting it up again took some time, and this wasnt the ideal spot, but got it up and settled down for some relaxation.

View looking SouthWest after i got the ledge set up.

The Anchor

My standard self portrait face.

Clearly I am starting to suffer from the heat. The sign on the way back into town read 102, and the 2 liters of water i brought were nearly gone. Did get some good cell service however so I called Eliza and had a nice chat.

She just getting to choir camp and I hanging 150 feet off the deck in a nylon and aluminum contraption. Like we were made for each other. However bridging our sometimes obvious gaps in preferences is one of the most fulfilling parts of our relationship (in my mind anyway)

Remind myself that I am likely due for an opera visit after taking her climbing so much recently.

Took a pano, not a great one as it was hard on the ledge and i was feeling pretty exhausted and hot, but it turned out pretty nice.

Packed up the ledge (10 times faster than i set it up) and rapped off.

Man it is hot. You know at the beach when you can even put your feet in the sand cause its too hot. Just like that, but instead of an ocean to run to and cool off, here I am stuck 400 feet higher than my car, just drank the last of my water, have a huge mess to clean up, and an 80 pound haul bag to trudge back to the car. If pain puts hair on your chest, I am not going to need a down jacket this winter.

Back in town a 400 Oz (or thereabouts) iced coffee and some serious AC quickly brought the world back to normalcy. Closest I have been to heat exhaustion since the time in France with Dad when it was 120 and I was trying to climb.

Sometimes I am not the smartest.

Beautiful Indecision

2008-07-21T18:36:00.002-04:00

In an attempt to get out of Wenatchee for awhile I decided to go up to the North Cascades.

There were two possible (hopefully as in inclusive or) that I was going to look at. The first was called Goat Wall, outside Mazama. It has several longish moderate bolted routes, a 12 pitch 5.9 and an 11 pitch 5.7. Along with a few other (harder) routes as well. I would aim for the easier. The second is an area called Washington Pass. While Goat wall is still in the valley, everything at the Pass is 4000 feet higher and distinctly alpine. Home to Liberty Bell Spires 1200 foot alpine monoliths with some classic alpine routes.

Goat Wall is easy to find. It is the 1000 foot wall just off the road. Back East this wall would be covered in routes, here it is barely known about and has maybe 5 routes.

Goat Wall not looking quite as impressive as it is in real life.

However reaching the pullout and looking about for the trailhead, I didnt really find anything promising. Not that getting there would be difficult, its only a couple hundred feet from the road, but it implanted some doubts in my head.

Added to that there were a bunch of locals swimming in the river next to the pullout, they seemed perfectly nice, but i get in moods (clearly) where i dont hadnt bargained on dealing with people, however nice they happen to be.

Lastly after climbing on perfect granite the last couple days the volcanic, albeit good volcanic, rock added to the doubts.

This may sound like rationalization of my fears about climbing something so large, roped solo, and perhaps in some sense it is, but when undertaking something so big, i have found it was to listen to those little voices inside your head. Not THOSE voices, not even the ones that have you thinking about possible dangers et al. This is strange for someone so self-decribedly intellectual, but doing these things alone, I want it to feel right.

So i walked away and headed up to the pass.

The first view of the towers as you head up the final steep road to the top of the pass. This is looking towards the NE. Liberty Bell is the one farthest right. It seems this lens is exhibiting some serious vignetting lately. Odd.

At the trailhead, I ran into about 6 parties coming down the trail just finishing up the climb i intended to do the next day. The Beckey route 400 feet 5.6, considered one of the classic routes in the area.

With the little light remaining in the day, decided to try and run up the trail to inspect the approach a little, and try to get some shots with the great light as the sun set in the west.

After about a mile the climber trail splits left from the trail to Blue Lakes.

Not the greatest photo but it will work. Liberty Bell is the leftmost,nearly hidden spire that is still lit up at the top. Next is Concord and the two large ones on the right are the North and South Early Winter Spires. The route starts from the notch between Bell and Concord.

Again here i am having doubts about a prospective route. This time however, again atypically, I found myself thinking about what others would think of my ascent. I was visualizing conversations with those i had met recently instead of visualizing myself climbing the route. Persistent enough that I felt that i had already done the route, which is not the mindset to have about to rope-solo a longish alpine climb.

Decided to sleep on it, set the alarm early and see how I felt in the morning.

A view farther into the interior of the range.

Despite some voracious mosquitoes, I had a good nights sleep and woke to the alarm at 5:40.

A view of Liberty Bell as the sun just barely begins to crest the horizon.

Still feeling uneasy I headed back down the pass and began the long drive back to the Wenatchee area.

Never have a felt better about not achieving my goals. Unless I am going for the right reasons I dont want to go at all.

Got some pretty pictures though!

The Tooth Take 2

2008-07-20T15:05:00.002-04:00

I like it so much the first time I decided to do it again.

This time with a rope and two partners.

Jon and Danny soon after leaving the hiking trail and just starting the first snow traverse across the basin headwall.

Started a little earlier. left the car around noon, trying to be the last party up, but not too late to risk be-nighting. Tons of people on the trail headed up the basin. probably passed 35 parties on the way up to where we headed across the snow.

After the first easy snow traverse you head steeply up the obvious gully.

Danny nearing the top of the gully.

After emerging from the top of the gullies you get into the final snow basin. Remarkable how much this approach had changed in the 5 days since i had last been here. Likely about half the snow had melted, and snow conditions were much more mushy. Makes the snow travel a might bit easier, but since there was much more undermined snow, you had to be careful not to poke through to the talus below.

Danny and Jon walking up the basin. The tooth is not really visible here, these are the smaller formations north of the actual Tooth

To reach the start of the climb you climb up and out of the basin and to the other side of the pass.

Looking up at where you cross into the next basin. The small tower in the center is a small formation just south of the Tooth. The climb starts just right of this pinnacle. The skyline on the right with the sun is the actual climb. The pass is just left of the small pinnacle and called pineapple pass.

Danny and Jon feeling the burn after the steep final section up to the pass.

The base of the route was a mad house. Unlike the other day (midweek)when i had it to myself there were maybe 10 people rappeling off and as many climbing. Someone said there must have been 50 people on the route that day.

Looking up at the Charlie Foxtrot above from the base of the route.

Luckily it appeared that we were the last party and since we were in no rush we let most of the parties rap down.

The pitches flowed easily, with Danny and Jon simul-climbing. Believe this was Danny's first multi pitch.

The P2 belay.

After the first two pitches is a long 4th class scrambling bit, which we belayed though since it is almost more of a hassle to change systems.

The final pitch has a steep step through some flakes and then you are on the summit.

Party at the summit.

Standard summit shot.

The boys being silly as we wait for the rappels to free up.

A cool shot of Rainier off in the distance to the South West

Made 4 raps to get off and had a fun time getting down. It is amazing how fast you can descend on your butt.

Parting pano from the summit.

The Tooth

2008-07-18T20:42:00.001-04:00

Sunday July 13th

Woke up Sunday with a feeling like i needed to get moving again. I had horrible dreams the nite before and was feeling tentative about climbing, but at the same time reinvigorated about being outside. Despite the antsy feelings in the morning, i ended up getting a late start, and was sitting at the Coffee Cabin checking email etc, and suddenly had to get outside.

Talking with Ty's friend Jason the nite before he had mentioned The Tooth as a classic scramble. 3 miles from the trailhead, 2500 feet of gain to the base of the route and then a 400 foot climb to the top of a spire. Perfect. It is 2pm.

Reach the trail-head at 4pm, the book says it takes 3-4 hours. Not sure if that means round trip or not. Everything else in the book has times that are one way but this one doesnt specify. Will have to see how things feel.

Packing is easy. 2 liters of water, a cliff bar, and my rock shoes and chalk bag.

I dont deliberately solo rock climbs, however I have scrambled stuff that may be considered low 5th class. And I am sure that there have been times moving over terrain where I have pulled 5th class moves to get out of a situation, or save alot of time by going around. There didnt seem to be a consensus on this route, but reports were between 4th class and 5.6. Figured I would go up and see how things feel at the base of the route.

Hike a reasonable trail for about 2 miles with only about 800 feet of elevation gain. Not a reassuring feeling given that the base of the route is only .7 miles away and I still have to gain 1700 feet to the base of the route.

Looking left from near where you leave the trail. The tooth is the prominent leftmost tower. The route follows the left skyline from the notch.

Traverse a snowfield to get into the gullies leading to the upper snowfield. The snowfield is steep in places, but never too bad, kick steps here and there.

Looking back down the approach. The approach follows the center of the photo down from the top. The trees in center top are near where you leave the trail. Then traverse across the snowfield with the talus section in the middle, the up the gullies mostly talus but some snow.

In the upper snowfield the size of the east face is staggering, rising 700 feet directly from the snow and talus. It is cold and looming in this upper bowl, and i am pretty sure that I just want to check out the base of the route.

The gully up to the notch with the actual climb is supposedly loose and rocky class 3 so I take the more popular gully just to the left. Proves easy to get to the notch. On snow kicking steps nearly to the very notch. Step across to the west side, and the world changes. There is no snow, it is warmer, it is sunny out.

I check the time 5:30. Plenty of time to do the route if I want to. Scramble down the gully and around to the base of the route.

Though 400 feet tall, it is broken by many ledges and is like doing a bunch of short routes. Hang out for a couple of minutes looking at the route, put on the shoes and head up.

The allure of soloing is quite clear. The state of mind achieved is quite a wonderful thing, and moving unencumbered lets you move freely and enjoy the act of climbing so much more. I am up and down the route in maybe 12 minutes. I am only on the summit for 30 seconds. Not that I thought of it then, but i didnt want to break the trance.

However it was good to see it, and feel that feeling. Very clearly like a drug. Luckily I felt so removed that I was able to look at the act, know how wonderful it was, and at the same time commit to never being there again.

It is not the safety aspect. My ascent was more safe than a roped one. There are alot of rocks on ledges that a rope could dislodge. But it is clear how easy it would be to lose control.

In any case. On the descent I missed the gully on the way back, skirted around, and finally found it, wasting a half hour. Not a technical descent by any means, but clearly a lesson in learning that the descent from an alpine climb is not done when you reach the ground.

Reach the car 10 minutes to 8. Plenty of daylight to spare.

Drive into Easton and drink a beer and eat a hamburger.

On the road again (again)

2008-07-14T12:13:00.002-04:00

Eliza and I spent an afternoon taking Brooks out climbing in LCC. While the climbing was amazing,it also happened to be 100 degrees out and directly in the sun. Ii think the heat conspired to make this into a near epic day out.

Choose the easiest thing i could find in the canyon, a 4 pitch 5.6,figuring we could rap whenever we wanted. Wrong. The first pitch traversed more than it went up, and while technically pretty easy, proved too much for Brooks on his first time out. Not a problem though, we lowered him to the ground and Eliza came up to me and i thought we could rap off. Ended up having to do two more pitches (which were stellar however) with no water in ridiculous heat.

Eliza coming up to the belay at P1

Of course we cant pull the ropes after we rap down. So still without water I "ATC jug" basically just locking myself off with the belay device after hoisting my way up the rope. Scary and tiring. Then have to do a major pendulum to get to the real rap anchors and do a final rap back to the ground. Fun.

Probably the closest to heat exhaustion I have been since the time in France when it was 120 out and i was climbing on a white cliff.

In any case, Eliza headed out the next morning much to my dismay.

Weeks go by so fast now, that I had barely gotten used to the idea of having her around and she is now gone again.

Going to have to find a way to remedy that soon.

At the same time i was struck by a need to get moving again, away from SLC and the heat. So i headed to Boise, where it was even hotter?!

Found a bouldering spot down by the Snake river to camp called Swan Falls.

Tom M once told Marla and I that everything climbable has been climbed, Here i enter evidence A that this is not true. This shows maybe 1/20th of the boulders here. Uncountable.

Still trying to get a handle on this self portrait thing

Getting a little better. Some unknown boulder problem.

Spent a windy nite here (lost my tent pole bag!) and almost my tent in the morning as it blew 100 yards away as i was taking it down.

Tried to find some bouldering in a place called Reynolds Creek and while I found it, it wasnt very god and i left promptly.

While i am generally concerned about where our food comes from, it usually just a general concern and I dont do much about it. Especially on a road trip where Ramen and beef jerky are staples. However seeing veal cages made out of tiny plywood dog cages was rather disheartening. especially seeing them in rows of hundreds. Sick.

Finally left idaho again and went into Oregon headed up towards Washington and maybe Canada to beat the heat.

Found an awesome sport climbing spot (best yet) at a place called Spring Mtn. in Oregon. Check out Kevin Pogue's website if interested or in the LaGrange area. Definitely fun routes,well bolted and a pretty spot. Buggy though.

Pulled into Frenchmans Coulee late at nite and plopped my tent down. Here begins the next part in this crazy adventure.

Geometric Living

2008-07-08T18:19:00.002-04:00

Before heading back to Park City Eliza and I spent a nite at her place in Evanston. Which has rather interesting architecture!

A nice evening relaxing and cooking up some tasty steaks. Wyoming certainly makes for some pretty sunsets.

Monday we took her brother Brooks climbing in Little Cottonwood Canyon in SLC. While the route we choose (I choose) was techinically pretty easy (5.6) It did not make for an easy experience. Since the route wandered all over the place, it was not a great introduction for Brooks who lowered off after 70 feet or so. Eliza and I continued up for to the top of Pitch 3 and then rapped off. Of course since it was 100 degrees and we were out of water the ropes got stuck. I manually ascended back up the rope and made two raps to get off with no more incidents. But I was parched!

Chocolate milk and dunking my head in the glacier melt river helped to revive me.

After saying goodbye to Eliza for a while, I still had no idea where to go. The desire for less heat is driving the current migration.

Left Salt Lake and just got into Boise.

Going to explore a couple of the nearby venues (Swan Falls Bouldering, and Leslie Gulch) before heading up into Washington to find some cooler temps. May be in Squamish by the end of the week!

Eliza joins the fray

2008-07-07T00:15:00.003-04:00

After more than a month of not really seeing anyone you know, there is a certain relief in being reminded that the rest of the world still exists. Even better that it is Eliza.

While she was flying in... literally

I was being more mundane, and took a peek up Little Cottonwood Canyon in SLC. What a way to beat the heat. Compared to the 102 inferno of SLC, up in the canyon it was a cool 99. Glad i wasnt climbing today. Tried to boulder a little, but in a canyon already known for its greasy holds there was little hope.

Walked up to the cliff and met a group of guys from DC who had taken a fall and bumped his knee on a 5.5! They had already failed on Pingora and were going to attempt a 15 pitch climb on Mt Olympus the next day... yikes.

Picked up Eliza and drove over the hill (slowly) for lovely nite up at her Moms cabin. After a leisurely morning we headed to City of Rocks.

Eliza took me up Theater of Shadows, a 4 pitch 5.7 of Jacksons Thumb. Her first lead as well! Great job Eliza! A little scared starting up but waaaay better than my first lead! If Tom McCarthy is reading this he can attest to the 4 pieces that popped out on my first lead in the dacks.

Did some sport the next day before our tips gave out and we decided to roll up to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is a funny place. It is undeniably beautiful, varied wildlife, terrain, volcanic activity, waterfalls. It is also one of the busiest of all National Parks. I felt overwhelmed by the people, and the approach that these people take in experiencing the park. Drive -> Park -> Walk no more than 100 yards -> snap photos -> Repeat.

Maybe i am getting grumpy in my old old age, and the fact that these people that cant/dont experience the wilderness the same way i do is great that they get to experience it at all. Still I feel that you cant learn the important things about these places and yourself, without experiencing them at their level, and not through the windshield of our automobiles. Edward Abbey may have had something when he recommended that we all leave our cars at the entrance when we got to the National Parks.

All in the name of hypocrisy i suppose, we draw our own lines where we want them. I drive a car through parks, take trails, clip bolts, wear fancy new fabrics to ward off the "natural elements", and a host of other offenses against a natural way of approaching the wilderness. Dave Bingham the guidebook author for City of Rocks says. Ethics are like toothbrushes most people use their own.

My own ethic in the two arenas i have been most committed to of late, climbing and mountaineering involve the following. Mostly trad climbing, as it works my head and my body about equal. I can approach a cliff as it was before anyone had climbed it, climb and leave it the way i found it. Just to throw a dig at myself here, I do sport climb, and also benefit from the many fixed anchors for rappeling. As for the mountains, i take established trails to approach a mountain, read in a pretty descriptive guidebook, and even lately take a GPS. I also veer from the route, travel cross country and find my own way to the summit under my own power, alone.

While everything is a compromise, I cant help from feeling the accuracy of my own judgment. So get out of your car and walk a bit, and maybe ill resort to naked free solo first ascents to fulfill my need for purity.

As a parting jab at myself here on soapbox, here is are some pictures of Eliza and I really experiencing Yellowstone.

Matching sunglasses

And even better matching Waldies. Someone tell Michael, I may be the first person ever to have the Wave hole pattern tanned into my feet.

We saw a bear, deer, many bison, a bald eagle baby, and some swans.

Artists Point Overlook of the Lower Falls

Me being fashionable at an unknown waterfall

Nothing like a Mud Volcano

Eliza and I on the edge of Yellowstone Lake.

We went and saw Old Faithful, but im sure you have seen that before. If you really desire i am sure I have some up on my Flick page.

Ill bury one little story down in the midst of this page, as it is the most embarrassing moment yet on this trip. I got pulled over, by park police, for going to slow and holding up traffic. Despite being posted at 25, and having my speed at 30-35, apparently I was holding up "nearly 40 cars" in my wake.

After convincing him that i was not either stoned, drunk, or just plain stupid, they retreated with their tails between their legs, and I felt free to speed down the remaining 20 miles out of the park.

The Tetons are right below Yellowstone and rise directly out of Jenny Lake with hardly a foothill. They are rugged and hard to rival in pure beauty.

This guy sure will try however...

Spent an evening challenge role stereotypes at the campground.

Me in cooking bliss

And Eliza queen of the campfire.

Before heading out of Jackson we took a great run on the Snake river. 3 times the normal water level , and since i am fat and look big, the put me up front in the most fun position.

Here i am carrying the boat through Lunch Counter a class 4 rapid halfway down the river. Eliza is handily managing the all important cowering position directly behind me.

Now we are outside of Evanston for the evening before we go meet up with Brooks and do a little climbing tomorrow.
And oh yes, i am staying in a Geodesic dome.

More on that later.

So. Idaho ramblings.

2008-07-01T14:03:00.002-04:00

Got out of hiking Sat afternoon, and slept in the Pioneers. What a beautiful place. Nothing really of note, but i will add just one picture.

Came back Sunday and picked up April to go climbing with Peter again. Always have to be a bit wary when climbing with him. He tends to push my limits rather well.

Today we went to a shhh "super secret" area near Howe ID. I could tell you where it is but then id probably be killed by the climbing Gulag. Not that secret but since I couldnt find any info on the internet about how to get there, ill leave it that way. Rather amazing actually. French quality limestone in central Idaho! The two "warm ups" are both 5.11 and everything else is 12 and up. Completely different climbing than what I am used to. Just barely overhanging, but 90% of the holds are pockets. Some of which are very good, and most of which are slopey and bad. Trashed my fingers, but its always good to get out of your element. Logged some significant airtime as well. I dont think I got up anything clean except the warm ups, but falling your way up a 12 can be fun sometimes too. Havent taken a 20+ footer in a while (havent taken nearly any lead falls really lately) but here that is pretty standard. Fun.

Peter on some 12b

The snake river plain, looking southeast from the cliff. Despite being a rather boring picture, there are some interesting tidbits here. The two large buttes were used by settlers as major landmarks going West. You can see them for nearly 100 miles. Also the small collection of buildings in the leftish foreground is known as ERB1. The plain is the home of INL idaho national labs, and that group of buildings is the first nuclear reactor ever built. Neat

Peters younger dog, Simon, looking cute as ever.

Peter working through the lower crux on The Ghost 12a. This was the most fun route I did all day, managed to get it with one hang. The lower crux isnt too bad, just pumpy, then a good rest. Then it is all out to the anchors. Cross through to a mono (one fingered) pocket with the right, intermediate left, another! mono with the left, then it gets really hard. Pockets sure make for intricate climbing and footwork.

Joe giving the heads up belay on The Ghost

April headed back to Ketchum with the guys, and I drove back down to City of Rocks.

Spent Monday mostly hiking around. The tips of my fingers were done. I did a TopRope in the morning and felt like crap. Did meet up with a guy around 8ish at nite, and did two routes at the end of the day.

The prickly pears are in bloom and are beautiful. What is that song from the 80s? every thorn has its rose?

In more important news. I am an uncle again! Jeanne had her baby boy on Sat. evening, healthy. dark hair dark eyes. Cant wait to see pictures, and even go back and see the kid myself!

Now am down in SLC to pick Eliza tonite. Cant wait to see her and take her to all the neat places I have been!

A real rest day

2008-06-28T21:13:00.002-04:00

Got up and moving finally by noon! Yikes I must have been tired from yesterdays "rest day" Tried t get up and do a mountain called Snowyside. Got about 3 miles in (7 total to the base of the route) and didnt feel like making a stream crossing and slogging through wet boots for the next couple of hours. So just a 6 mile hike today.

Standard Pretty Mountains with lake in foreground shot...

More generic photos. Standard B/W backlit trees with Sun

Oh and i couldnt resist the B/W indian paintbrush

Sort of a shame I didnt make it up higher. There was a formation called El Capitan, though unlike its California namesake is only 2000 feet high and is composed of decomposing metamorphic rock (bad news) and not bullet hard granite.

Been thinking alot about the el cap in Yosemite. Everyone i run into says the rock is great but the scene there is intolerable. I am inclined to agree. Waking up early to reserve campsites. The "heart of the climbing universe" lots of tourists. Sounds like everything i dislike. Maybe the approach is to go there with haul bags packed and get right on a wall. No dilly-dally in the valley.

Just things to consider. I need to find another 2 day wall at least the get comfy again with the whole big wall thing. My climbing is getting near the level needed to do it in a reasonable amount of time.

More importantly. My sister went to the hospital today to get ready to have her baby. Due in the next few days!

Not going to Montana, maybe to a place called the Fins, and then to pick up Eliza on Tues!

An Easy Hike (McGown)

2008-06-27T19:07:00.002-04:00

I was supposed to go climb on the Perch again today, but got up here last nite, found Tim and he had to work today. Was a blessing however as I didnt think I had another day at the Perch in me so soon. It is just a ton of work, and you constantly have to be on the ball all day, which is mentally tiring alongside the vast amount of physical work that has to be done.

So I settled into a beautiful camp above the lake and took some great sunset photos while I was trying to figure out what to do. Here are my favorites, but check out the rest because they are all pretty neat.

Fire in the Sky

More Fire

Stars over Thompson Peak - a 3 hour exposure from about 10 till midnite

When i got up in the morning I was no closer to knowing what I wanted to do. Most of the climbs are approached via Redfish Lake which requires a 15 dollar (an well worth it) boat ride to the far side of the lake which saves 5 miles of hiking each way. Didnt have a particular desire to do something specific so i looked elsewhere. Was bad enough that i was driving through Stanley (such as it is) and trying to read my guidebook at the same time! Settled on the northernmost Sawtooth Peak called McGown.

A view of McGown only 100 yards past the trail register.

Of the parts of the hike that were a slog (every hike has them) this had the nicest. Wildflowers and rivers break up the monotony of the easier hiking. After a mile on the Stanley Lake trail you turn left onto the Alpine Way trail. This crosses several rivers and a swamp (mosquitoes!) and then gains a bunch of elevation on its way to a saddle below the McGown Cirque.

View through the trees on the way up to the Saddle

The rest of the hike is off trail, but not too bad. I dont have a lot of batteries in my GPS so instead of following it precisely i would just turn it on here and there to verify my location.

The hike is sort of tricky because as you come up into the cirque from the trees you have actually passed McGown and are more in the cirque for the next peak. Ended up being beneficial as there was a raging stream more easily crossed up high. Traversed over ledges and increasingly snow to the basin below the East Face of McGown.

A view of the route, bypassing the massive East Face via the ledges and snowed rib on the left.

Moving was pretty easy. Mostly stayed on the rock because that is my comfort zone. The rock here wasnt too great. Extremely coarse granite that isnt well adhered together. So lots of sandy bits.

Interestingly however, the Sawtooh granite has a lot of Feldspar, and when it crumbles like this it will tint the snow almost to a Koolaid color.

The last and trickiest part of the climb is to get to the summit. There is a summit block that you traverse on snow underneath and then scramble up the block as the going gets easier.

If i had traversed farther (to the ridge) the rock might have been easier, but the snow conditions were not great so i choose the slightly harder rock variation instead. Might be 4th class or low 5th. However it did put me directly on the summit.

Close up of the Sawtooths looking south from the summit.

Full Summit Pano

Got to practice the fine art of boot skiing on the way down. Made it back to the main cirque in 15 minutes compared to 2 hours on the way up. Found a neat little spire and had lunch.

Pano from the top of the spire.

And of course the mandatory Self Portrait.

Rest of the way down was uneventful. Not bad for a rest day.

Here are the rest of the statistics... Didnt have the GPS running so no nifty elevation profile etc.

Starting Elevation - 6400
Summit - 9860

Roundtrip 9 miles
Duration: 6 hours

And an improvised Google Map showing the way i went (approximately)

View Larger Map

Welcome to the real Mountains

2008-06-26T13:51:00.003-04:00

Meeting up with Tim and Peter proved an interesting experience. Both are very accomplished climbers and very different. I felt like we were getting tested almost to prove we could hang with the big boys.

Upon rolling in to Hailey on Tuesday nite, we picked up Tim and headed up Trail Creek Ridge to a Tony Yaniro crag. Yaniro was a beast and on this wall the warm up was solid 12. Even getting to the wall is a challenge, the road is dirt with a 2000 foot steep scree slope to the creek. Then you scramble up 5.0 slab for 70 feet to the base of the route and you jump on this route "Muscle Beach" aptly named and it is just in your face bottom to top. Talk about pumpy! Pete led it and everyone TRed it. Got it with one hang. Phew!

If that wasnt enough the next day we did a route with Tim. Where Peter is the hardcore sport man, Tim is the consummate mountain professional. He has been climbing for 28 years. Mountain and river guide. We wake up at 5:30am drive an hour to the Sawtooths and Redfish Lake.

The grand Mogul looking out of the back of the water taxi (not mine)

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The beauty of this place is hard to explain. These are not just little mountains. It is a serious mountain range with no easy way to cross country travel.

We take the 8am taxi across the lake which avoids the 5mile approach. Still after unloading we have to climb 3 or 4 miles and nearly 3000 feet to the base of the elephants perch.

Along the way there is a stream crossing over class 4/5 rapids with the water lapping over the logs. And a snow crossing where we kicked steps and used our ice axes/hiking poles to get up the slpe without falling into the creek.

The perch is a 1200 foot tall piece of perfect pink granite.

The route we did was around the cornerto the right and started from the approach gully. Sideline 5.9+R 4 pitches with a short 5.7 pitch to approach.

P0 5.7 - just getting around the giant chockstone blocking the gully
P1 5.8 - Tim leads up avoiding the big loose flakes and connects us up to the tree
P2 5.9+ - My lead, great flake system to some runout face up to a roof, step right then back left over the roof on small pockets. Exposed!
P3 5.8 Tim leads moderate stuff to a fun pull over a roof
P4 5.9 connect two flakes via some face climbing, and on last friction crux to the big ledge.

500 feet in an hour and a half!

Walk (scramble) off right to the descent gully and one rap gets you back to the ground. What a day in the mountains!

Might do it again on Friday.

Last week at City of Rocks etc.

2008-06-26T12:11:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to give a review of what I did at City of Rocks last week.

Lets see I got back to City of Rocks from the Pioneer Mtns Thursday nite. I had staked out my first spot at the BLM camping for nearly two weeks, so was a little bummed when I was only able to get the second spot. However it turned out great because I met another couple with whom to climb. Russ and Sharon are from Seattle and had quit their jobs in October and sold their house and bought an RV. On a climbing roadtrip since then! Putting my little gallivanting to shame. They were kind enough to share dinner and wine with me, and even better to provide climbing partners.

Friday June 20th

Got up early to beat the heat, and headed to the back side of Bath Rock (in the shade) Sharon lead up a nice 5.9 called Private Idaho, and then I went and lead up a 10a named Coffee and Cornflakes. Sort of neat, but a little scary getting to the first bolt 40 feet off the ground. Luckily I was able to put a sling around a rock horn to provide some intermediate protection. Especially since the next moves past three bolts were steep!

Me pulling through the crux on Coffee and Cornflakes

Russ then went up Colossus, the most popular 10c in the City. Felt pretty easy but still fun climbing.

Me nearing the crux on Colussus

Since Sharon had never done any trad before we went over to the Breadloaves and I did Intruding Dike a nice 5.7 trad line. Basically the quartz had intruded into the granite and then eroded faster, leaving a perfect inch and a half splitter through the wall.

Lastly we went and Toproped New Toy 10b, and Bloody Fingers. The latter which is becoming my favorite climb here at the city.

Saturday June 21st (the solstice!)

April, and her roommate/coworker Laura showed up yesterday evening with their friends from Wyoming, Andrew and Peter. After climbing so long by myself and then a day with the extremely relaxed and chill Russ and Sharon, spending a few days with 18-20 year olds was rather taxing to say the least. Nice kids and all but more than anything still kids. Loud, belligerent, irrespective, did I say loud? kids. But enough of that here is the tally of the days climbing.

Decadent Wall, Carols Cracks 5.8 trad line.
TR on New Toy (again)
Finally led Bloody Fingers which was my proudest lead yet at the City. It has a burly and committing lower crux which instead of just pulling through (which would have been easier but more dangerous fall potential) I felt great putting in 3 pieces through this section.

Since it was the solstice after we made dinner we went back up to Bath Rock and did the scramble up the top of the rock. Amazing spot with huge holes (the baths) in the rock. Everybody sort of found their own and chilled out and watched the sky on the longest day of the year. Was great to have some quiet time.

Sunday June 22nd

More climbing with the kids.

Went to the Incisor a really great spire formation near parking lot rock. It was pretty crowded but we got on a few sport routes (sorta) The 10a that I led only a few bolts up very thin and insecure face climbing, to a barely there tips seam that protected with extremely small cams. Last moves were great as you traversed back tothe anchors via an undercling out a giant roof. Did a 5.9 called Scream Cheese and a 10b called Fall Line.

Rain gladly putting an end to this strangely tense and grumpy day for everyone.

Lightening above our tents at the BLM (thanks to Russ for the pic)

Monday June 23rd

Hooked up again with Russ and Sharon, and went to Castle Rocks. Castle is a satellite area of the City and is visible as you drive in. The general impression is "oh look a couple more rocks over there" In fact it is a huge area with potential for 1000s of climbs. Amazing the scale difference as you approach these formations. Things that look like boulders from the road are 150 feet tall! April went off to hike and be by herself for awhile, and Russ, Sharon, and I chased the shade around the main Castle Rock. Ended up doing 8 pitches with all but one being 5.10 climbing! here is the litany.

Castle Moat 5.8 odd slab moves to enjoyable and easy 5.8
Blind Pig 10a easy diagonal face line.
Unknown 10c super thin technical crimping next to Blind Pig (nice lead Russ!)
Unkown 10d to Unknown 10a on the North Face (10d wasnt bad actually and the 10a was super exposed and fun.
April came back and did a hard 10b crimp line.
Russ led a fun and not too hard but with fun moves 10c
At the end of the day I managed to make my way up (2 falls) a short 12a. While it was 12 moves everything else was 5.9 making it a good introduction to the grade.

Me on the 10d arete

April on her hard crimpy 10b

After that long day April and I headed in the direction of the Sawtooths where we hoped to meet up with Pete and Tim whom we had met at the City a few weeks prior. Ended up camping at a great spot south of Twins Falls called Rock Creek Canyon. Isolated, and wild. Neat spot.

Tuesday 24th of June

Went to Dierkes Lake near Twin Falls. Hot! A neat Basalt area on the Snake river. I did lots of bouldering on chocolate basalt blocks while April washed our clothes in the lake. Shredded my tips on the boulders, but was fun just walking around and being able to casually get on anything at all. April finished up washing and promptly sent a hard boulder that started with a 10 foot horizontal roof to a knee bar and hard rock over move to get to the top. Spent some time swimming in the lake and getting cleaner than I have been in weeks.

Self Portrait on an Unknown boulder at Dierkes Lake

Off to Montana

2008-06-23T23:05:00.002-04:00

Lots to write about, not much time. Leaving City of Rocks for a while and going to Dierkes Lake, Sawtooths, and then to Helena Montana to climb at Hellgate Canyon. MMM Sport-climbing. Makes me strong like bull.

Ill write more and put up pictures once i get a chance.