Slot Canyons anyone?

Will G and I are talking about going to the SW to cruise some slot canyons in Zion NP around Jan 1. Anyone interested?

the unknown

This 60 yr old pilot listens to Tool, System of a Down, and other hard rock while he is flying. He said it keeps him alert and he got bored with his generation's music decades ago. Awesome.


It's been a while since I've been back to CA. Unfortunately this visit isn't for fun. Work has taken me to the northern half of CA (think Lassen area) for 18,000 ac of forestry work with 2 helicopters. Part of the project is fire rehab and part is forestry. It has only been a week, but I am ready to head home. Unfortunately there are still at least 2 more weeks (if we are lucky and the weather cooperates).
We stayed at the worst "nice" hotel ever in Susanville. Don't EVER stay at the Diamond Mountain Casino. It is only 2 years old but the list includes: 2 broken/destroyed desk chairs in my boss's room, not cleaning the room for 2 days, checking me into someone else's room, no sheets on the bed, clogged drain, no refrigerator and microwave after asking 3 times over 2 days, our truck driver had a sticky nightstand cover and never had his floor vacuumed once, and no one was EVER at the front desk. It doesn't seem like a big deal really, but when you are living out of a hotel for 4 months a year, you need a certain standard to keep sane.
Enough with the bitching already! I have had some fun in between working. Yesterday we had a half day due to wind so I took the opportunity to go climbing! There is a formation called Lone Rock that I have had to drive past every day on the way into work. The local forester said that when he was a young lad back in the day he had climbed it. I had to go play. I warmed up on a really fun boulder sitting very invitingly in a soft meadow, and then a large flat slab wall on lone rock itself, traversing across the very solid andesite(?). Once I was comfortable with the feel of the rock I went over to where the forester said I could probably find a weakness to the top. Sure enough, in a large alcove, there was a ledge system with steps of 20 ft boulder problems on very solid rock. After a few timid starts, I committed to the crux (juggy, steep, 5.6ish) and pulled past it, making sure I was comfortable with downclimbing later. A short scramble took me to the top, and I sat there celebrating with nothing but the wind for a while.
I found some old climber's chalk on rocks, so I definitely wasn't the only climber who'd been there, but it felt like I was. I have never celebrated a summit by myself, but it was really peaceful to just sit cross legged, smiling ear to ear, and listen to the wind wash through the needles of the few pines remaining after the fire. I considered whooping and hollering from the top, just because I could, but decided it would be inappropriate to try and break the calmness. It felt more respectful somehow to sit and experience things rather than impose myself on the world.

To get no beta more than, "it's been done before" and to then go out and climb, solo, was incredibly cool for me to experience. There was no question about safety, I felt 100% in control, and the rock was solid and perfect for climbing. There is something that just feels so much better about climbing the unknown! I know the word "better" isn't very descriptive, but it really encompasses the whole feel I have from this, and I want to experience it more. Jake and I got a similar experience this summer at Carver Cliff, when we looked at a climb, said, "hey, that looks fun," had a blast climbing it, and then found out it was .12a. The unknown is something we rarely get to experience anymore unfortunately, because there is always a map, guidebook, or description of some sort. It is scary to just go out and do it, but the rewards are always, for lack of a more descriptive term, BETTER!

Oh, and while I've got you, I managed to experience my first on-the-job accident. I had a hoody on (acted like blinders to my peripheral vision) yesterday morning while we were calibrating a new fertilizer bucket (to sling under the helicopter) and I accidentally stuck my head into the 1100 rpm spinner at the bottom. Through the hood, I got a 1 inch cut on my scalp that immediately hemmoraged blood all over. by the time I could get gauze on it, it had filled the bottome of my safety goggles with blood. I probably should have gotten stitches, but I figured that since it is all covered in hair anyway, who cares!
I really shouldnt be smiling with that much blood all over.

Serpentine Arete on Dragontail

Myself and Deverton climbed Serpentine Arete 2,000 ft 5.8 Grade IV, 23 hrs car to car last sunday. I haven't done a ton of long alpine routes and I definitely learned some lessons on this one. I felt the route had 5 great pitches, but the looseness (comparable to cascade volcanoes in the summer) of the upper pitches really detracted from the total quality of the climb. The quality pitches included a gorgeous finger crack, and a perfect hand crack for a full rope length. Shortly after the fun crux pitches things became a slog just to get off the peak. I am hard pressed to recommend this route to others unless you really want a low 5th class adventure. The descent down Aasgard pass also detracted from the overall adventure. We were expecting a little more of a real trail to descend (at night with one headlamp, Aasgard is sketchy to descend). The positive thing to come out of this was that we brought enough food and water for the whole adventure. I think this is the first time that has hapened for me personally. (probably means we brought too much, huh...)
Notes for next time:
dont let the stoner be in charge of the alarm (he went back to sleep and got us up way late,
always bring 2 headlamps,
bring less shit,
anticipate more time for approach,
simul climb on shorter rope lengths (60m = way to much drag on low 5th class),
dont do it car to car; it hurts,
Oh, and make sure your ride waiting back in icicle doesn't have to be somewhere on monday early; they left without me and took all my stuff. I had to take the train back to OR. Fuckers.

Over all, a helluva adventure, but no pictures unfortunately. And I think I had a slightly better time than Dev did. :)

Garden update

Our garden officially rocks! anyone want cucumber? Just say the word! We have already gotten a ton of squash and zooks, tomatoes are just starting to go crazy, carrots are perfectly straight and big, the pumpkins are doubling in size every week, and we've gotten a modest first blueberry crop.
Lessons for next year:
more basil
less cucumber
more eggplant
more winter squashes
earlier start on the onions & garlic
more leeks (spaced wider)
more green beans (planted 2 wks apart)

Oh yea, and Colleen is officially an excellent cook! I "graded" the "final exam" on a blueberry pie/cobbler she made, as well as some curry/squash quinoa. She scored very high marks for both on taste as well as presentation. There was also some scrumptious zuchinni bread made recently.

the way to long AK post

Ok, sorry this has taken so long to post. Col and I have been having waaay too much fun the past 4 weeks to slow down long enough for a blog post. At the end of June we(Colleen, Ariel, Sesha, Jake, and I) went for a 10 day trip to Alaska, with six of those days spend sea kayaking in two inlets across the bay from Homer, AK. Sesha’s uncle Steve lived in Anchorage and was an immense help with logistics before and after our adventure. His friend actually drove 4 hrs from Homer just to pick us up in Anchorage and give us a ride. (Thanks Tom!) On the way down Tom also acted as our tour guide, making sure to stop at all the cool side trips and wildlife (just on the drive we saw moose+babies, eagles, dall sheep, beaver, and otter).
For boats, Louie and Jasmine pointed us towards True North Kayak on the Homer Spit. As TNK ferried us across the bay I was the one tasked with remembering directions on the exact locations of our camp spots and yurts. We were dropped us with our mountain of gear at the boats with little fanfare and then proceeded to figure out how to fit a square peg (our gear) through an oval hole (the boat hatches). After two to three hours we had it all packed. We then paddled one mile, got hungry, and exploded the boats again looking for lunch! We made camp on a sandy point two thirds of the way into Sadie Cove and hiked around for a bit. AK, being bear country, had us (mostly me I think) a little nervous, so earlier when Steve insisted we take a revolver with us, I didn’t hesitate. Thus, on our land explorations we quite literally “loaded for bear.” (we didn’t see a one the whole trip). Sesha and our newfound friend Mike (Tom’s summer hand) met us at camp the next morning by ferry and joined up for the rest of the trip. We paddled in the morning to a yurt at the mouth of the bay and relaxed for the afternoon. Near the yurt was a perfect cliff jump, so we had to do it. Swimming in AK was a must-do for bragging later. Unfortunately Mike slipped getting out and put a deep gash on the bottom of his foot (definitely would have gotten stitches if we had been near a doctor). Sans Mike and Sesha the next morning we hiked 4,000 vert. ft. up a ridge to an amazing view of the surrounding area. Above treeline the trail petered out into rolling heather tussocks all around so we took off cross country to the summit on a spongy 8” mat of tundra. Tired of yelling “hey bear” on the way down, we called out different types of cheese for the 4 mile descent with only a few repeats.
I pointed out earlier that I was in charge of navigations throughout the trip. Well, I kiiiinda forgot where a few of the beaches were. They all look so similar after three days of bobbing around on the ocean! It all turned out ok thanks to a salmon hatchery which let us use a phone to call TNK for directions. And we actually found a better spot on an island for one night.
The second to last night, we stayed in a yurt near the end of the inlet. This was a really nice spot because we had a nice view of the bay and there was a Bald Eagle chick in a nest 40 ft from the yurt. I climbed a tree next to it for better photos and really felt like a pro wildlife photographer, dodging mother eagles, dangling from branches, and trying to get the perfect shot. Unfortunately I think they are all just good to mediocre photos. I needed a longer lens. (Of course it comes down to more gear!)
The last full day, Col Mike, Jake and Ariel went for a hike up a knife edge ridge while Sesha and I took the opportunity to paddle 4 miles to the far end of the bay on the glassy morning water. After a paddle through arches, past otters, and dodging seals, afternoon found us camped on the point again for our final night. Sesha and Jake paddled to a spring for water and I decided to go for a solo paddle to some arches off the coastline for the evening (had to paddle through all the arches I could find). After an hour or two of that I got back to Sesha and Jake flipping out about Killer Whales they’d paddled with (so jealous!) for an hour. We went out to try and find the pod at about 11pm (still light mind you) but only found a few porpoises (still, a pretty good runner up prize!). Sesha started each days paddling with, “Guys, today is a whale day,” and she finally got to see them, up close and personal.
We rounded out the trip with a wonderful hour long tasting and tour at the Fry’s Bear Creek Winery (I left with a case of assorted berry wines). The 4 person swing there is amazing! We also shot some guns at Tom’s cabin in the woods. One was a true elephant gun that, after two shots, left my shoulder veeery sore the next day. This was an amazing trip made all the easier by the kind people we met along the way. We were planning our return trip before we had even gotten on the plane to leave!

I made it into Climbing magazine! (AK coming soon)

It isn't as amazing as it sounds, but it was a real surprise when I saw my name there. I sent a letter to the editor telling them about a new campground fee at the previously free Skull Hollow CG on BLM land and it was published. I really didnt think they'd just publish it verbatim, but whatever. I guess thats what happens in letters to the editors, huh.

I am withholding the post on our Alaska adventure until I get all my photos organized (700+), but check back for that soon. It should be up by the end of the coming week (when Col and I go down to the Sierras for some more vacation time.

Here's a teaser:

huge roof .14.c/d

fun to watch

Passages

RIP Micah Dash, Johnny Copp, Wade Johnson.
A really good Johnny Copp Film
What happened

I don't know them personally, but in the various climbing films and articles I've seen over the years, these three guys were all amazing people and climbers. Every loss in the climbing community feels like it was a close friend.

TED

I have started watching a lot of TED. TED is an organization of great minds who come together each year and give 10-20 minute talks or performances on any number of different subjects. The speakers are all selected because they have some very forward and PRACTICAL ideas. I guess I shouldn't just say ideas, because many of the subjects are showing a business model, or creation that has already been successful in the real world. The talks are all free on the web (thank goodness because it is a $6,000 per person club if you want to be there in person!). There's also a good number of musical performances too. Check it out! You wont regret it.

on the river

Colleen and I are camped out on the Willamette this morning and we chose a most interesting campsite with lots of entertainment. We have an industrious and well fed beaver going back and forth 10 ft in front of our feet. There were 10 students who passed in 2 orc rafts at 9:45 last night with no shirts (it was cold then) or camping supplies. By far the most random is a boiling cauldron or water. Yup. There is a huge gush of water shooting up from the sand bar and then heading upriver in a slightly separate channel from the river. It doesn't look like the water is coming from a pipe, and the boil is a little higher in elevation on the sandbar than the river. Weird.
I guess I could also mention that we are on the river because we are paddling from Eugene to Corvallis for the weekend. I think we could have done the trip in a day but we kinda just wanted to take it easy and camp. The upper streches were a little speedy at times (for a 17 ft long kayak anyway...) and surprisingly clear (who'd have guessed the water below Eugene looked drinkable!). Once we got to about a half way point, several tributaries turned the river into the green lazy thing we know in Corvallis.

Col relaxing on our beach. Easiest camp spot ever.
The beaver buddy we shared the beach with
had to test out the underwater function on the camera
Snacktime on the water
Colleen just cruisin along in the perfect weather.



People pay good money to do the things we do. How lucky are we...!