my sport climbing season has come to a close

yes, ive been out of touch, but is anyone surprised - no?  exactly!  we've been really busy climbing at the New and at the Red.  it was at least 8 weeks of full-time climbing, and it was AWWWWWWEEESOMEEEEE!  oh yes it was.  side note:  we were so busy climbing, we dont have a single picture.  not one.  :)

The New - aka my home crag!

i love this place!  so how did i fare at the NRG after spending the entire summer climbing?  i still got totally, totally worked!  and it was sweet!

what will you get from the New?
- solid sandstone
- a variety of climbs - techy faces or slab, overhanging jughauls and crimps, even a variety of movement in a single climb
- grades are stiff, nothing is a gimme
- crux moves that are powerfully difficult, some are long and reachy
- committing moves, bolts are 10 ft apart if you're lucky
- smeary feet that you just have to trust
- i can go on and on and on .. climbing here will make you strong - physically and mentally

i was hoping that i'd come back this fall and send hard climbs (for me), and the New just wont give it up easily!  i was happy just to be making committing moves that would have scared me in the past.  we actually didnt get in as much climbing as we would have hoped.  again, the weather was just not cooperating (how is it STILL rainy in the fall??!).  one of the best parts of the stay at the New was seeing old DC friends!!  we miss you guys!

and the world-famous Red River Gorge

we spent 5 weeks here, yes FIVE!  what a great time!  and we STILL didnt do everything we wanted, or even see everything we wanted.  there is just so much to do.

our friends!
we had wonderful friends every day of our stay!  can you believe it?  it was awesome to see everyone - and also make new friends!  even jason's parents visited for a week!  its always really fun to see them :)  they were really great sports about hiking around and hanging out at the crag.  troopers, i tell you!  such great people really make the climbing experience.  good climbing is one thing, but having great people surrounding you.. that means so much more :)

living situation.
we moved around a little bit, but we mostly camped at Land of Arches.  its a pretty good campground.  there is a hanger (yes like an airplane hanger) to hang out in if its rainy or cold.  you can even sleep in the back section if you want.  there are bathrooms, showers, and internet.  $5 a night.  oh, the craziest part was the domesticated deer!  a buck and a doe just randomly walk around the campsite.  they seem to be nice, but ill admit im weary of being too close to them ;)  when jason's parents visited, we had a room at Lil Abners.. awwwwesome!  great timing too bc the weather was rainy and cold, so a warm room was sweet!  we visited a friend at Lago Linda's.  that also seemed like a good, clean campground, but its pretty far south, so anything outside the southern crags would be a little bit of a drive.  we stayed at miguel's a few nights.  cant beat that cheap price of $2 a night, per tent or vehicle.


the climbing.
we spent our first week just working on our fitness.  that is one thing about the Red.  you can "train" all you want for steep, endurance climbing (altho, we didnt train at all).  but the first day you're back, BAM!  smack in the face.. these steep jugs are STILL hard!  but it also feels so good and you're just happy to be here!  anyway, i wanted to avoid projecting anything.  i just wanted to climb a lot and get in Red-shape.  but come Day Two.. i found a project climb that i wanted to send haha.  i just cant stay away from projecting, even if its just a few days spent on a climb.  overall, i'm very happy with my climbing at the Red.  i sent a few climbs at my limit.  i was particularly happy about sending a climb that to me, "was everything that i couldnt do before", which would be really small and thin holds, locking off, rocking up onto my feet, making committing moves above bolts, going for something to see what the hold is like and missing and taking the fall .. this climb was so fun!  im really psyched!


in the end, my fall season of climbing was awesome!  great friends, fun climbing!  i cant ask for more!

all you afternoon climbers, tensleep is the place

i've been having a hard time trying to write this post about tensleep (all text for now, a photo or two will come later).  everyone, and i mean everyone, has RAVED about this place, so i was anticipating that i probably would too.  however, now that i've spent time there, well for me.. "its ok."  there are a number of things that go into a good climbing experience, and i have run down that list:

- fun people:  i climbed with jason and i mean dont we all want to climb with jason?
- good climbing:  i didnt get on a climb i didnt like, rock was solid, movement was fun
- decent camping:  quiet and there were a billion stars

so i cannot pinpoint my issue.  it could very well be that everyone hyped it up, hyped it up .. and it is a fun place - dont get me wrong.  however, i guess, i just dont fall into the group of everyone else who just so happens to absolutely love tensleep.

in any case, here are my thoughts.

the first thing to note:  there are a lot of "PM shade" climbing areas.
there are AM shady crags, but most of the areas we climbed were PM shade, like 130pm.  this meant that we'd get up in the morning, and basically, we'd just hang out til the afternoon .. and then we'd head into the crag.  so weird.  this was a huge change for us seeing that all other climbing areas have been get up early and start climbing early - you know, the usual.  it was quite interesting, very different -- and has pretty much ruined my schedule ever since!  ;)

climbing:  techy limestone pockets.
i expected the climbing to be more facey and vertical.  however, there were a number of climbs that were slightly steep .. and when you add small pockets .. it adds to the difficulty of the climb.  most times, we werent getting particularly pumped on climbs.  however, my burns on climbs were limited due to the fact that my fingers were killing me.  i did enjoy the sequential nature of the climbs.  its always a lot of fun to figure out the piece to the puzzle that works for you!

crags:  there are a ton of crags!
try not to get stuck at any one place for too many days in a row.  there is a lot to see.  it seemed to us that certain crags were more pockety, while others were more crimpy.  either way, most of the holds seemed pretty small :)  but dont worry, the feet are usually really good.  and the rock is beautiful.  one area had blue and orange streaks on the wall.  the climbs on that wall mostly followed a streak of color.  another area had brilliant white.  very pretty.

approach:  not bad.
some are short.  but some are longer with a sustained uphill.  we mostly chose the sustained uphill crags, but you get used to it.  and the best thing to do is to consider it your cardio workout for the day!

guidebook:  very different from others that ive seen .. very comical.
first of all, its titled:  Lies and Propaganda from Tensleep.  keyword:  "lies."  now, how much can you lie in a guidebook?  i mean, its a guidebook!  we got on a climb where the description said:  "not a 5.12 move on it."  when, in fact, the first move off the ground is most certainly a 5.12 move and quite difficult!  haha, really??  we talked with other climbers who had been on the climb and they agreed that there are 5.12 moves on the climb .. soooooo, not sure how it makes any sense.  and on the cover pages of crags, there are African Dictator icons.  they mean absolutely nothing but they are still there!  oh and the star-rating system:  patriotism is 5 stars, pornographic girls are 4 stars, and cats are 3 stars.  you have to keep flipping back and forth to understand the rating system.  OR, just get on everything ;)

random beta for the area:
- RV Park.  showers arent cheap so we didnt go there often.  but when we did, we'd pay to stay overnight and we'd hang out there during our rest days.  the park host is really nice.  they also have a book exchange, or you can pay 50 cents if you want to purchase one of the books.
- the visitor center at the edge of town has a bathroom, and they are really nice people :)
- at the time we were there, you could get water from the pay campsites and even use their toilets.  this really surprised us since in any other climbing area .. this would never be allowed.
- there are no food stores in Tensleep.  the closest grocery store is at least 30 miles away.  gotta stock up!

so, my thoughts on the place:
could it be, could it be?  could i possibly be the first Tensleep Hater?  haha, no!  i really wouldnt take it that far.  actually, i think i got stuck on a project early in my trip with a precision move that i couldn't stick -- and that left a bad taste in my mouth.  sigh - boo hoo!  soooo, i am going to reserve my final judgment until i return to the area again.. because really, Tensleep is a fun place to climb  ;)  and for all of you out there, i would recommend a visit!

oh and side bonus:  my fingers definitely feel stronger!

day trips

we spent a week in Oregon with my dad's side of the family for a reunion.  its always, always great to see family!  especially when i only get to see them once a year .. maybe .. sometimes less.  we spent a couple days in Portland.  (thank you michelle and keith for letting us stay in your new - and awesome! - house, and use your car!  it was so very nice and thoughtful of you!!)  then we spent 5 days in Bend at  Sunriver Resort.  yes, it was pretty dang cool :)

jason started reading the Da Vinci Code .. he couldnt put it down.  photo taken at michelle and keith's house!

walked around Lava Butte with my family .. mannnntle ;)

this guy is the bestest, most awesomest person in the whole wide world!  love you bro!

my little cousin alison posing with the Lava Butte sign at the top of the butte -- hahahah!  there were a bunch of cousins that took that same silly photo -- of all ages!  cousin karen, i mean you!

another walk along the river .. i am not happy about those darn mosquitos!

outdoor family bbq

my family is so cool ;)  my bro is so silly!

jason .. trying so hard to be my bro ..

we got in 2 days of climbing at Smith Rocks.  what ive heard of the place is true:  straight vertical and small holds.  the climbs we got on were fun and had good movement - super balancy and trusting those feet.  we'd like to go back one day and spend more time there.  it was just blazing sun and way too hot to really do anything more.  before leaving, we did hike around the area and check out the history of modern day sport climbing ;)

Watts Tots, 12b - first sport climb in the United States!

Smith Rocks

and more ..

Monkey Face crag (do you see it at the top?).  right in the middle of the white face is Just Send It, 14b or something .. the original "hardest sport climb" in America.  funny thing, a few weeks later, we met the second ascensionist (ever!) of this climb - Mark Le Menestrel!  haha, he told us his send story -- called in sick to work, etc.  we all understand this addiction ;)

our next stop was City of Rocks - Idaho.  as we're driving in, passing these rolling plains of grass and shrubbery and only seeing continued hills ahead of us, we're wondering .. where are these supposed rocks?  and out of nowhere, there it is .. The City.  quite beautiful.  ive heard that its more known as a trad place, and after visiting, i agree.  i'm not sure that i would recommend the place to my sport climbing friends.  however, please take this with a grain of salt.  i only climbed a few sport climbs of the area, and surely there are more.  but, of the sport climbs that i got on .. whew, scary!  and i mean like "decking potential and really hurting yourself" kind of fear.  the first climb we got on had the first bolt at least 25' off the ground.  now the terrain to get to the ledge was fairly easy, but the bolt wasnt even right there.  you still had to pull moves off the ledge (which wasnt truly great great.. it still sloped slightly downward) to clip the first bolt!  what??!  however, then, the rest of the climbing to the top was actually really fun!  another climb we got on had a 25' runout between bolts!  the moves in between the bolts were not difficult, but why the runout??  just drill in one more bolt.  come on, just for safety!  haha, anyway, i had to laugh it off - altho is it really funny?  ;)  when i return to the area, ill visit with trad in mind.  :)

City of Rocks

jason is cleaning off his last climb.  he saw a photo of this climb back when he started climbing in the 90s .. and hes re-creating the image .. silly!

jason sent 13a!!

hellls yeah!!  if i had pics, i'd post them!  what to say?  it was awesome to see the progress:  high point every single time he got on it!  and finally, third burn of the day.. PROJECT SENT!  bumped into an entirely new grade!  i'm so happy for him!!  i almost cried when he lowered to the ground ;)

CONGRATULATIONS JASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

taking advice from friends: dont pass up on opportunities!

as we're driving on a highway through the Redwood Forest, we suddenly see a blinking construction sign that reads, "watch out for crowds."  we're thinking, "what the heck?  we're on a highway."  and sure enough, we round the corner, and there are cars parked and people walking along this bridge.  traffic has slowed to about 5mph.  we cross the bridge and see a crowd of people on the left side, but we have no idea what they're doing.

keypoints of our discussion while driving across the bridge:
"what is going on?"
"why is everyone on the left side and no one is one the right side?"
"should we stop and check it out?"
"let's check it out."

we cross the bridge by now, but park anyway on the other side.  there are tons of parked cars on this side too!  we get out and start walking over.  im really curious what is going on!  i just want to see .. very fortunately, jason grabbed the camera.  :)

our discussion while walking back over to the other side:
"what are they looking at?" (im peeking over the bridge to save the walk to the other side, but i cant see a thing)
"how come no one is saying anything?"  no reactions either.  (as they are walking back to their cars)
"its going to be a bunch of kayakers doing some training exercise."
"haha this is going to be something really stupid"

"oh wait, i see something .. there is something in the water!"

and guess what was in the water..

WE SAW A WHALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i kid you not, a whale!!  it is one of the most amazing things ive ever seen!  there we were crossing a bridge over the Klamath River.. and there is a whale making big circles underneath!  it would swim deeper into the water, but every few minutes it would come up for air!  what a sight!

now i was worried thinking there is a whale in a river and no one seemed worried about it.. how come there werent rescue teams taking the whale back out to the ocean?  there was a police officer who drove back and forth across the bridge forcing cars to move, and patrolled general safety.  as the whale swam from one side of the bridge to the other, the crowd would cross the busy street alongside with it!  jason and i did it too.  really funny!  we also saw the River Coast Guard stop and talk to a boat of two photographers who were wayyyy too close to the whale.  in fact, at one point they were right on top of it and it looked like the motor could cut the whale.  very scary.  so, government people know the whale is there .. yet no rescue teams?  we looked at the Redwood National Park page later and it seems that this is a migration path for the gray whale .. and i guess this is normal for them to be in this river.  CRAZY!

anyway, enjoy the pics!

.. i cant believe we saw a whale!!

"i think there is something in the water"  (white line near the top of the photo)

coming up for air..

they are idiots.. literally chasing it around.. stupid boat is scaring the whale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

swimming under the bridge

sooooooo awesome!!

Goonies, Grease, Return of the Jedi

what do these movies have in common, you ask?
- well 1)  duh, i love them all.
- but 2)  scenes from these movies could have been shot in some of the areas that we saw on our coastal drive from sacramento to oregon!

we spent a week in sacramento with my mom.  it was awesome!  hanging out with my mom every day.  eating her cooking every day - so good!  hanging out with family!  resting, resting resting.  seriously, the first two days were spent watching all the Harry Potter movies.  yes, ALL of them :)  we were so tired and just needed to be lazy!  definitely an awesome week.  ;)

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from sacramento, we had to head up to oregon.  we decided to take the very scenic Route 1 Coastal Highway drive, and stop along the way at beach bouldering spots!  this route would take us about 3 days.  we started by driving through Napa and Sonoma.  if i drank wine, we could've stopped at some wineries.  instead, we just looked at all the grapevines.  pretty cool.  then we hit the coast.  talk about beautiful!  the ocean continues forever!

our first stop was Fort Ross.  this beach looked like Goonies!  the huge rocks just off the beach could have easily fit in that coin that Mikey had when looking for One-Eyed Willie's Treasure!  the bouldering was cool, i guess.  i have ZERO power.  i could barely send the warmups.  ;)  the fun part is climbing on the beach!  however, jason was trying some cool stuff on some fun looking boulders :)

do you see the rocks just off the shore (on the left of the photo)?  there were more.. and it totally looked like Goonies!

 pulling moves on small bouldery crimps.. ow.

big pop for the next hold!

didnt make it ;)  so hes resting before his next go.

where is the coin with the holes from Goonies?  i know that peak fits..

our second stop was Moonstone Beach.  it was Grease!  the opening scenes where Sandy meets Danny - totally this beach!  we couldnt really climb here.  turns out, the sand level is about 2' higher than in the photos!  weird!  i guess the beach sand level changes?  anyway, having the starts of the problems buried so deep really changed everything.  you couldnt really climb.  we just hung out a bit and people-watched, and then moved on.

our next stop was Redwood Forest.  i know i was always looking around the corner for Wicket .. Ewoks from Return of the Jedi!  this forest is truly amazing!  the trees are ENORMOUS!  they can live to be thousands of years old and reach heights of 300ft -- although it seemed like some of them were taller than that.  ;)

cars will drive through this tree .. unfortunately, Nessa was just a little too tall.

look at the size of these trees!  thats Nessa!

jason took this awesome photo.  this is looking up at the treetop.  see the size of the pieces of bark?

the absolute best part of this deserves its own post!  stay tuned .. !!!

Lovers Leap

we spent one day at Lover's Leap in South Lake Tahoe on our way to Sacramento, CA.  i have to admit, this day wasnt one of my finest.  cranky, that was me.  poor jason  :(  i was extremely tired from climbing 5 days in a row in Maple, then getting in the van the next day and driving 12 hours through Nevada which is terribly, terribly hot and boring, then getting up and climbing two 3-pitch climbs .. wahhh wahhh wahhh .. ahhhh!  just suck it up!  ok ok .. done.  ;)

the first climb we did was Corrugation Corner, 5.7.  super classic for the area.  there was actually a line for it on a thursday!  really good holds, cool rock formations, dihedrals, exposed, balancy traverse, spooky whale flop (no good feet!) onto a ledge at the top of pitch 2, chimney shimmy .. this climb has it all!

i'm the black speck in the middle of the photo in a dihedral.  this is taken from the top of the climb.  do you see the "heights" below me??

jason is breaking down the anchor .. be very careful ..

of course, the summit photo!

the second climb we did was Bear's Reach, 5.7.  this was more face climbing on a flake.  the best way to see this is Dan Osman speed climbing and soloing without a rope this exact same climb (also we didnt take any pics).  it takes him 5 minutes.  it took us a few hours ;)  here is youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D0P9aPu51A

so ive learned a few things about myself regarding multipitch trad days:
- they wear me out more than any sport day ive ever had!  is it all the hiking/approaching?  am i mentally drained bc i'm so far off the ground?  i'm still thinking on this.
- i want all the holds to be good, really really good, really bomber juggy good!  all the multipitch trad climbs that ive done so far have had awesome holds.  i just really want them to stay that way ;)  i dont want shimmers of doubt in my head that the next hold could be small, or slopey .. i just want really good juggy holds!
- jason and i need to really learn how to "pack light."  this is a work-in-progress.  carrying a pack is a super big pain in the butt.
- YES i am still spooked by the heights!  it FREEEEAKS me out!  i try not to think about it too much but when i'm belaying and im sitting on the ledge and looking out with hundreds of feet below me .. i most definitely see those heights!  whew, scary!
- thank you JK for letting me take the purple velcro shoes!  they just fit so well for these long days of climbing.. thank you sooooo much!  :)

super duper fun climbing!

picture this.
Mother Nature formed huge molds in the shapes of cliffs and/or ant hills (some parts of the canyon look like enormous ant hills!)  ;)  she filled it with rocks, cobbles, and pebbles.  and then she filled in the empty spaces by pouring in some sort of gluey rock paste to hold it all together.  once it was settled and dry, she removed the molds .. and wallah!  Maple Canyon!  we spent two weeks there -- and my verdict, a super duper fun climbing crag!  this place gets a bad reputation bc of the sandy, broken rock (aka "chunder" - a term we learned from some locals.. hilarious!), and questionable grades -- but if you can get past all of that, the climbing itself is just plain fun!  we dont have too, too many pics.. we were so busy climbing!  so i'll keep this as short as possible - but i can already tell this wont be short.  ;)

let's start with -- no guidebook!
again!  what is up with utah??!  we had an old, old topo from the drtopo.com days.  very dated and didnt have much info.  but one day, early in the trip, we ran into friends that we met at the New!  small world!  so great to see them!  anyway, the point is, there is a copy of a newer guidebook (although still from 1995 or something) that has a ton more crags.  also, we learned that you can purchase it online for $12 or something - for this, ask liz and amber.  totally worth the purchase.  there is a ton of climbing here!

approach.
pretty easy!  Box Canyon is right there off the road.  Minimum is about 10 minutes uphill.  and Pipedream is at the top of that same hill and takes a good 30 minutes.  the plus:  you can count it as your cardio for the day!  Damascus and Craganmore are also along that same uphill hike ;)  but closer than Pipedream.  we stayed on that Right Fork area.  it was enough to keep us busy for two weeks.

the climbing.
how do i describe it - cobbles and anti-cobbles everywhere (where cobbles have broken or fallen out).  if something breaks off, it can make a climb harder or easier.  there was an 11 in Pipedream that had a hold break, and it turned to a 12.  there was a 12 at Minimum that had a hold break, and is now a good warmup 11 for the harder climbs in Pipedream.  fascinating!  (especially since generally if a hold breaks, the climb is usually much harder.)  the climbing is overhung with awesome holds (just feel around and you'll find something that works for you) and awesome feet options.  i didnt touch a climb that i didnt like :)  there wasnt anything particularly cruxy about the climbs i did.  mostly, the difficult part was being able to hold on long enough to get to the anchors.  really, dont look at the grades - dont let anything scare you off.  just get on everything.

i cant stress enough -- all of the climbs are fun!

our cute little cottage!  thank you lillian for setting this up!

box canyon - lillian and jason are trying to work magic with the drtopo guide.  walls of rock on both sides..

Pipedream - check out the steepness of this cave!  thats lillian on the left warming up.

im in the top right corner .. some people will hike all the way to Pipedream (and as i said, it is a 30 min uphill hike!) and they will climb inside that hole.  jason did.  he said it smells like poo.  we think lots of pigeons frequent the spot.

jason made pita chips!  cut up some corn tortillas and baked them!  a salty batch and a cinnamon/sugar batch.  so good!  impressive!

mr quinlan working for his send!  he CRUSHED it for 5 days!

ms lillian sending her last climb (of so many!) of the trip.  talk about epic send!  storms rolling in, thunder echoing through the canyon .. and RAIN falling and soaking the rock face above her (wet cobbles??  no thank you!) .. intense!

who knew it rained so much in the desert

Mill Creek is  this beautiful climbing spot that's known only to a small group of people who have a special high-5 handshake that is taught after a long and grueling initiation process..  i kid you not.  ;)  but, no really, when you mention "Mill Creek", most people havent heard of it.  this place isnt on the map, except on a couple covers of climbing magazines.  there is no guidebook, there is no topo -- why am i not surprised?!!  the names of the climbs and their estimated ratings are spread word-of-mouth from person to person.  if you're willing to do some research, MAYBE you can piece together something off mountainproject.  or just maybe you'll truly luck out as we did, and find someone who knows the place and is willing to show you around.  moab-jason was so so so kind to do this for us!  (he barely even climbed, he mostly played tour guide and photographer.  thank you so much jason!)

the crag is located just outside moab, maybe a 30 min drive into the mountains, which means the temps are cooler.  score!  you drive this Lasal Mountain loop road and pull off into the "parking area", which isn't even a pull off .. the road actually just widens a little bit.  how and where people park during a busier time .. i have no idea.  also, you have to know where the trailhead is bc the trees look the same.  there is no indication there is a trail there!  the short approach is fairly easy .. unless it rains because then its a huge mudslide, and i mean huge.  our second day was cut short by rain, and i learned for myself just how slippery that mud can be!  you walk into the main area and already you can see the beauty of the place.  the walls of climbing follow a creek, and there is climbing on both sides.  you cross the creek from one side to another by walking over these dead trees that act as bridges.. sometimes a little scary, but they work well :)  the climbing here is super fun!  my best description would be mostly vertical or slightly overhung walls with nice incut pockets and awesome feet!

warmup - awesome incut crimps and great feet!

super awesome climb!  follow the crack / flake..

jason is putting up the draws

move from one side to the other

such a beautiful climb!

 my turn

just enough overhang to bring on a little pump

here we go .. layback some more

there's a bat, yes a bat, at that last gear placement!  (its a mixed climb)

cool looking rock - really, really awkward climb

streaked rock (jason is blending in at the top right)

crossing logs to get from one side to the other

jason's velociraptor impression!  overgrown trails ;)

moab-jason!!

good ole regular jason!

really fun face climb :)

up the creek .. luckily jason made it safely ..

isnt it pretty?