life based on the star-rating system

checkpoint!

my last day of work:  April 22, 2011 (one year ago today!)
time spent so far on the road:  11 mos. (we didnt actually hit the road until June)
longest time spent at someone's house:  2 mos (THANK YOU AGAIN NOAHHHHH!!!!!!)
longest time spent in Nessa:  4 mos.
longest time without a shower:  7 days

so how is it going?
i love living in a van!  absolutely love it.  who knew that life could be so simple.  i have everything  i need to sustain me within a 5' x 10' space.  in fact, i have a lot of stuff in here that i don't need, and havent even used.  of course, it took a little while to get used this living style.  no space.  no privacy.  limited electricity.  no running water.  no bathroom.  no shower.  no mirror - ew, i know there are days when i look nasty rugged.  no internet.  no tv.  intermittent cell service.  no money.  the list continues..

so what i do have:
freedom.  time.  health.  sunshine.  chocolate.  ;)  and its wonderful!

what's it like?
we go grocery shopping every few days.  our staples are:  bananas, eggs, veggies, pasta, frozen chicken, tortillas, and bread.  (don't worry, we each a ton of other things.  those are just the staples!)  our cold items are kept in a cooler, so we have to replace the ice every few days, as well.  we use baby wipes to wipe our faces and feet, and sometimes the body if i feel particularly dirty.  also, we've heated up water on the stove and used a washcloth to wipe down.  that actually feels pretty amazing.  i may wash my face in the bathroom if we make a stop somewhere.  otherwise, we try to shower every third day.  ive gotten used to the dirt and just being dirty.  my tolerance is much, much higher than it ever used to be - even since we started this trip last year.  laundry is done at laundromats found on google maps - maybe 1-2 times a month.  so far, we've chosen a place based on how many stars it gets.  the star-rating system also goes for restaurant choices on the seldom occasions that we decide to eat out somewhere.  and of course, when picking a climb out of a guidebook.  ;)  i started cutting my own hair.  we get internet at McDonald's.  we hang out in the van and read.  ive started stargazing.

of course, i'm climbing all the time, but there is so much more.  i see parts of the country that i would have never seen otherwise.  most of the climbing areas are in smalltown, america, so i always notice when i'm back in an urban area - chain restaurants, malls, traffic, etc.  there is a ton of farmland.  there is a lot of poverty.  there are RV parks everywhere - there are multiple parks at the bottom of Death Valley.  you can tell how much money a state has by how the highways are maintained.  ive really grown to love a view of the mountains.  i take notice of the different types of trees - ok ok, yes, jason is usually pointing it out to me ;)  however, i have come to know how to distinguish a few trees and the scents of certain bushes!  the desert canyons are beautiful.  and the high plains - what an interesting concept.  we've been hearing this type of bird making his little bird calls - its almost like this sing-song squawking that ends in a grunt.  hilarious!  we finally saw a desert tortoise!!  we saw a very intimidating rattlesnake that was rattling, coiled and ready to strike at us!  there are towns full of cheerful people who smile and wave hello to every stranger.  we've met people who are interesting in farming - who knew that people wanted to spend their lives working a farm! there are still people who care about the environment.  i want to personally thank those who built the trails that we use to hike in and out of climbing crags - some of those trails are really, really well done.  it is now the little things that make more of an impact on my senses.  i guess i just have time to "enjoy."

the biggest lesson learned so far:
patience.

favorite climbing spots?
my favorite climbing spots remain the same, and are on the eastern half of the country.
- New River Gorge, and the Red River Gorge.  of course, i'm probably biased ;)  afterall, this is where i started climbing.
- SE bouldering of TN, GA, and AL

as for the runners up in the West:
- St. George, Utah and the surrounding areas - who knew that limestone could be so fun!
- The Homestead, AZ - more limestone, actual tufas.
- Bishop, CA and the surrounding areas - the setting is beautiful.  a small mountain town in the Sierras, so you wake up in the morning surrounded by snow-capped mountains.. that says it all.  the bouldering is also super sweet.

awesome non-climbing areas:
- Black Hills, SD - such friendly people!
- Moab, UT or anywhere in Utah - very, very beautiful place, possibly the most beautiful state in the U.S?
- Carlsbad Caverns in NM - huuuuuuge caverns, this place is amazzzzzing!

this trip has been an amazing experience.  i'm still working on how to do this forever :)

return of the sport!

since we were mainly bouldering for the winter, our power meter was certainly high.  however, our endurance meter, was definitely low.  no biggie, we'll ease our way back into sport climbing with short sport routes!

Cochise
ok well, actually, our first plan was to do a 6-pitch sport climb in Cochise Stronghold.  not sure what i was thinking - going from bouldering 15' walls to climbing 700' of tall wall climbing?  who knows!  in any case, we ended up doing the first pitch, and bailing.  :)  conditions were not what we wanted - cold, shady, and windy.  brr!  however, the climbing was pretty dang funny.  S-L-A-B!  like real slab with absolutely no hand holds, just super trusty frictiony feet and divits for fingers.  woooo, scary!  and hilarious!  i felt like i essentially lying belly down and mantling on slab!  we ran into people a few weeks later who said they had friends who would compete with with each other to see how many bolts they could make by RUNNING up the rock - as in, "let's see if we can get to the second bolt.. ok third bolt" etc.  yes, i guess it is just that slabby that people are running up the side instead of trying to climb it ;)

prepping the gear the night before inside Nessa - lots of trad gear, itty bitty little living space.

1 hour hike in

we're planning to climb the middle peak to the top..

at the top of Pitch 1.  jason's fingers are on the best "hold" on the route.. everything else was essentially friction!

classic "summit" photo, but we're only at Pitch 1 ;)

looking down off Pitch 1 - not sure its doing justice for the slab and lack of holds.  it may look like a rock slide?

im on the ground looking up at jason who is about to rappel down to me.  maybe you can see more of the slab??

Mount Lemmon
we spent 4 days in the Mount Lemmon area.  2 days at Melligroso, 1 day at Jailhouse, and 1 day at the Ruins.  super sunny and hot weather in all locations!  it was really nice.  all approaches were super easy - bonus!  most of the climbs were more vertical and balancy.  it was fun to get on some more technical climbs.  and everywhere we went.. saguaro cactus were "watching" and cheering us on!  ;)  they are some truly cool cactus!

happy cacti all over the canyon :)

The Homestead
this place was AWWWWWESOME!  and quite an adventure.  we'd been hearing about this crag for months.  however, we kept thinking we'd pass on the place because we always heard that you need 4wd to get back to the parking lot.  it was possible to hike the road from the highway, but it'd be at least a few miles each way.  so, of course on our last day at Mount Lemmon, a guy tells us that we have to see The Homestead.  then he adds, if we timed it right, we may be able to catch a ride with someone who had a car who could make it up the road.  i guess trucks passing those who are hiking are usually pretty nice about it and pick them up for the rest of the road.  sweeet!  we were sold.  we did some online research.  no guidebook of course, but we did find an old .doc file online that had some of the routes.  we headed to Kinko's to print a copy.  and then we spent a few hours at mcdonald's reviewing mountainproject.com and filling in all the crags and climbs.  yep, it took hours :)  finally, we were on our way!

we also spent 4 days here, and it was STELLAR!!  we never caught a ride with anyone ;)  we hiked that road each day - to the crag, and back.  it added to the experience ;)  we found out later, the hike is about ~3 miles each way - so ~6 miles everyday.  the only reason we left was due to the hiking time cutting into our climbing time.  it took almost 3 hours to hike everyday.  this would only give us a short climbing window because we didnt want to be hiking out in the dark.

obviously, the climbing is so worth it!  sticky limestone!  its such a new crag, the limestone is not yet polished.  and tufas, real tufas!  actually, all of the walls are different.  Tufa City - tufas, duh.  sweet, sweet movement and features!  Rough Rider - more vertical, and really tall routes.  Slate Nation - a little bit more blocky, sidepulling movement.

The Homestead is one of my favorites so far.  i would want to spend more time in the area, but first, i'd like to somehow have access to 4wd ;)

1/4 of the way into the hike.  we're heading for the cliff line in the middle of the photo

we're getting closer!

we're greeted by big horn sheep!

a shot of Rough Rider from across the canyon

Tufa City

more Tufa City

looking at Rough Rider on the left, and Slate Nation on the right.

jacks canyon
also super sweet!  a small canyon with free camping and easy access.  we spent 6 days in the area.  our first days were limited.  we didnt have a guidebook yet, so we were mooching off anyone we could find with a book.  we did get on some fun, short, vertical climbs.  the sandstone/limestone mix of rock made for really fun movement :)  after we got the guidebook, we got on some of the steeper climbs.  wow, bouldery!  you'd think i'd perform well since i've been bouldering the past few months.  so yes, i could power through the moves from bolt to bolt.  however, linking them all together from the ground to the anchors at the top - a totally different story!  in any case, all the climbs were super fun!  i really enjoyed this area too :)

of course - no pics ;)

we luv rocks!

after leaving hueco, we made our way further west.  while in new mexico, we found a lot of non-climbing activities that still involved rocks!

city of rocks
no, not the City of Rocks in Idaho!  altho i think you can climb here.  it is a park full of cool boulders and rock formations.  its almost like a maze of boulders with corridors and passages.

naturally formed

you can barely see the sun in the background

im standing on a rock that is balanced on top of that little rock underneath it

rockhound state park
at this state park, you pay a $5 fee and you can keep all the rocks and minerals that you find!  sounds rather silly since i guess you can do that anywhere, but these rocks are pretty!  ;)  really, there are true rockhounders who go to remote places in search of precious gems and stones (duh duhhh - do you feel the foreshadowing??).  we're still learning how to identify a lot of these stones, but it sure is fun to look for cool rocks!  ;)

at the entrance

digging..

and more digging

turquoise mining
yep you guessed it!  we went rockhounding for turquoise!  it started with me mentioning that it'd be cool to have some turquoise jewelry.  jason says, i bet we can just find that lying around somewhere.  he does some research online, and wallah - finds a guy who posted something about an abandoned quarry somewhere in new mexico, and he left his contact information on the site.  jason contacts him and they exchange a few emails.  eventually, they chat on the phone.  he's really nice and very helpful.  we find that this isnt the safest actvity.  the quarry is far back in the middle of nowhere, and the dirt roads can be treacherous.  he strongly recommends that we tell someone where we are going, and be sure to contact that person (jason's mom) at the end of our day when we are safe and sound.  the guy we talked to is the volunteer fire chief for the nearby town (and by town, i mean a cross-street that has about 4 buildings).  he actually told us to give out his contact information just in case we never got back in touch.  apparently, one time, a guy went back there and got stuck there for 10 days!  no one knew where he was and he almost didnt survive the ordeal.  it was a little nerve-wrecking but we were still in for it :)

and the trip was a success!  we had to hike an hour to get into the quarry area.  and we had to hike up and down about three different hilltops.  but eventually, we found true turquoise!

the start of the journey

ruins of the mining facility

more digging!