Not There Yet

Sights and Sounds of Silverton

2012-01-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

Spent 2 very lovely weeks in Silverton, Colorado over the holiday. We skied as much as our legs would allow, and I even got out on ice a couple days. Kate and I managed to go back to our nemesis and redeemed ourselves by climbing it on a blue bird (and non-epic) day.

The crew heading up to Rope Dee with Billboard in the background.

Kate getting it done.

Core Shot

Our ride to the lift.

One last hike for the day.

The Yurt.

Doing what I do best.

Freshies!

Rum Bar.

Hiking Up To Rope Dee 4 from Lauren Wilson on Vimeo.
Taking First Class to a Mountain Top from Lauren Wilson on Vimeo.

What Would Tammy Taylor Do?

2011-12-15T16:30:00.009-05:00

                        Friends I am very thankful for.

Holy! The year is almost over. And just like that, you find yourself asking where the time went. I don't have any crazy revelations, except maybe one (see below about donuts). I can say the year was transitory and filled with a lot of life lessons. I guess that's every year.

Let's review the Themes of the Year.

1. Working

I finally got a job. To treat myself for accomplishing such a feat I bought a sports car. Which brings me to my second Theme.

2. Top Gear

I bought a sports car and I blame it on the Stig. I never thought I would enjoy the jealous stares of boys who are driving cars much less powerful than mine, but I thoroughly do.

3. Beer

            A good beer drinking buddy. They are hard to find.

Drinking it at the GABF. Brewing it in my kitchen. Dumping my first bad batch. Here are some of my favorite brews I enjoyed this year:

Left Coast - Hop Juice
Ladyface - Saison
Green flash - le Freak
Firestone Walker - Abacus
Bear Republic - Cafe 15
Cigar City - Oatmeal Cookie, Guava Grove
Shorts - Saison and Bourbon Wizard
Boulevard - The 6th Glass and Saison Brett
Bells - le Pianiste
Jolly Pumpkin - Bam Noire
New Holland - Farmhouse Hatter and Envious
Ommegang - Aphrodite
Bruery - Saison
Dogfish Head - Bitches Brew
Russian River - Pliny of course!
Petit Obscura - Telegraph Brewing Company
Seabright - Huff Daddy IPA
Port Brewing - Hop 15
Lost Abbey - Angels Share
Mad River - Pale Ale and 2010 Barleywine
Lagunitas - A Little Sumpin Wild
2008 Dogfish Head Fort (Belgian ale brewed w/ raspberries) delicious!

                   The oatmeal stout that didn't turn out so well.

4. Friday Night Lights

I have fallen in love with Tammy Taylor and the whole crew from Dillon Texas. Watching a show that inspires you to be a better person is really one of the joys of television. When I am in a tough situation I catch myself whispering under my breath 'What would Tammy Taylor do?'. Call me cheesy, that's fine. But thinking about some fake, cheesy, not-realty show actually shakes you out of the mind block you've put yourself into. Try it sometime.

5. My new favorite 'person' of the year: Momo

6. Donuts

They are wonderful little bundles of energy. Especially when you are heading out for a long day on ice, skiing in the backcountry, or soloing the first flatiron. The best of all in the donut world is donut holes. Delicious.

7. Winter

I am spending the last couple weeks of 2011 in Silverton. It's such a special place and I am really excited to ring in the new year here. Good friends, good snow. I am very thankful for that.

Moldy Bottles Suck

2011-07-19T23:44:00.005-04:00

I have a lot to learn about brewing. First off, how to keep beer bottles clean. Second off...well, I don't know what I don't know.

I had a good crew of friends help bottle the stout. A taste test reveals a heavier than I was expecting coffee tone to the beer - I think I put more fresh coffee into the wort than the recipe called for. I pulled out a finished bottle the other day - not bad.

Thanks to Todd for lending me the brew kit. And no, I didn't use the moldy beer bottles for my stout.

Brewed with the Brewsters

2011-06-27T21:08:00.009-04:00

I was itching to brew. It’s summer now, how about a stout. Wait. A stout for a warm, summer’s night? Sounds a bit heavy don’t you think? Nah – I think that sounds just right.

If I am going to brew, well then I should have the Ladies over to help. The latest installment of the Ladies beer and brewing club (which I officially(!) named the Boulder Brewsters) gladly showed up to socialize, ask questions, and share each others favorite beer. Being new to this brewing gig I wanted to be prepared, have my ducks in a row so I don’t get distracted when everyone starts chatting and drinking. I sanitized before everyone showed up, laying out all of my tools like a surgeon’s table.

I used an extract recipe - here Andrea adds the yummy malt.

These Ladies need a beer - stat!

Adding some fresh espresso.

Few weeks later....Moving into the secondary.

As you can tell by the look on my face, its tasting pretty decent so far.

So far I've been using extract recipes found online, so I can get the basics down. I am hoping to start playing around with ingredients by the end of the summer and see what I can come up with. That and brew with an all-grain recipe. Next up - the bottling party with the Brewsters! If you are in the area, and want to come hang out you are welcome to join :)

Project for next year

2011-05-24T19:20:00.003-04:00

The beautiful couloir right in the middle, near Radiobeacon Mountain. This picture doesn't do it justice. More on this tour later.

Tecky Mantel

2011-05-14T01:58:00.008-04:00

I am watching Matt on a reconnaissance mission. Dude, don't fall. You weigh a lot more than me, you'll squash me like a bug. Maybe he had the same thoughts.

Sometimes you are sitting there figuring out beta, and by the time you figure it out, the power meter is empty. Matt tells me about fast twitch muscles. I start to think I was built to be a boulderer exclusively. Whatever, I have a beer in one hand, and my other hand is spotting a 170lb man. He won't fall, he's strong.

A long weekend in Joe's turned into a short weekend, capped off with a front range route session. In between all of that was a lot of desert. No cell phone, only music on someone else's Ipod. Mine died somewhere on the way out. Do you think applying glue on a finger will hold enough to climb on? Well, it does somehow.

I think Utah hates me. First it made me leave my gear at home, and then it rained me out. But the universe has a funny way of keeping things in line. While Utah was hating me, I was having the most romantic time with a certain beer. Yes, I just put the words romantic and beer in the same sentence. A certain elusive beer has made itself present when I probably needed it the most. Do I believe in karma - hell yes I do.

I woke up with all four corners of my tent housing puddles of white creamy water. I start laughing. Matt hears me as he's sitting in his 15 year old North Face tent perfectly dry. Bastard. Not him - my tent. I've decided my tent is a male.

Primo Wall was the trip wrap-up. By the time we were on the last route, the rain started to come into the canyon. It's the same rain we out-drove from Utah in the cute car. Oh - the cute car. Aka, my homie. If you think your car can be male, well, it can.

Thanks to my buddy Matt Battaglia for being a wonderful guide in Joe's Valley. Check out his humor and good story telling here:
http://littlephotonthatcouldnt.blogspot.com/

I am taking over the world. One beer at a time.

2011-04-15T00:56:00.008-04:00

I have officially started my first club. Its a beer and brewing club - for the ladies. My first installment of the club consisted of two ladies visiting my house, both who aren't big beer drinkers, but came anyways for moral support. I had this big agenda for the night, beer stuff I wanted to talk about. About 5 minutes into my talk on beer ingredients, the conversation took a 180 and we were officially off the topic of beer for the night. Fail.

I waited 6 months to have the next installment. This time, I decided to have the meeting at a beer establishment - Avery's tap room. I came with no agenda, only with the hope that I could slip in some beer trivia, or see some ladies trying a new beer for themselves. Six ladies showed up. Success.

Over the noise of the tap room, I could hear spontaneous conversations of beer occurring, without my doing. I did mention that I wanted everyone to at least sample something new or different than what they normally order, but some of the ladies did that anyways. I could catch the lady sitting next to me commenting on the smells and flavors of a particular beer. A smile quickly formed on my face. Total success.

After a couple beers in (one casked conditioned IPA, the other an imperial IPA) my inner desires of what I wanted to accomplish with the beer club stated to make their way out into words. After these poor ladies listened to me for a few minutes, one of them said straight "What you are saying is you want to take over the world." I thought about it for a second. Why yes, that must be what I am trying to say.

Beer making is 90% sanitation. Scrub, scrub, scrub!

I am taking over the world, and making this guy the King. Love you Duke.

Hueco, a little late

2011-04-01T00:50:00.005-04:00

Busy, busy, busy...I am slow to getting pics up on the blog.

My first trip to Hueco was simply awesome. I was surrounded by awesome people and awesome rock. We spent half of the time on North, one of those days being the Rodeo. The other half we went out to East twice and West once. If you get the chance spend some time out on West. It's quiet, adventurous (you need a guide who knows where he's going) and full of really good problems.

~Hueco is certainly a special place~

~Todd and Rob loving the desert wind~

~Some V9 on West~

~Baby Martini~

~Lars on Daily Dick Dose~

~Some super fun V2 highball~

~Hobbit in a Blender~

A good climbing partner

2011-02-09T00:29:00.012-05:00

I had a recent climbing experience that helped me understand what is a good climbing partner. I of course learned it the hard way. How? I was the one not being the good climbing partner.

-Hiking in on our recon day-

I was down in Silverton Colorado hanging with a friend of mine who's heading to Iraq in a couple months. We were planning a couple days of ice climbing in Eureka. Our first day out ended up being a reconnaissance mission due to high avalanche danger. After getting our bearings that day, we decided on a couple of safer routes for the next day. Back to town we went.

-An old mining town-

While having dinner at the only place open in Silverton, we ran into a couple of Swedes visiting for work and a little play. We chatted with them about our climbing, and asked them what they were doing in Silverton. They replied that they were skiing the next day. Hmmmm, it's Tuesday, where could they possibly be skiing? I mean Silverton Mountain is closed until Thursday. And no offense, but these guys didn't look like backcountry skiers. They reply with "we have rented out the Silverton helicopter for the day." Ah, makes sense. After telling me how much they spent, I told them they were getting ripped off. Not according to European prices they say. Then the unthinkable happens. They then ask us if we want to come along. A free heli day in Silverton, unlimited drops and unlimited powder?? YES PLEASE!

-Stairway to Heaven was our original goal, but the avi danger on the decent was too high-

We didn't go heli skiing. It's not what we came to do, we came to ice climb. Right? This will come back later to haunt me.

-Breaking trail to Stairway. Really happy to have snowshoes-

Next day we get up and get ready for our day out on ice. We had picked out two routes and they were right next to each other with little to no avi danger in the vicinity. We made it to the first climb with no problems. I gave my friend the first pitch and away she goes. What felt like many hours later I can see we have not much rope left. I keep screaming at her. No answer. My hands are icicles, my feet are two cement blocks of cold. We finally make contact. She builds an anchor and I start running up that pitch as fast a I could, fueled by annoyance. I am partially annoyed because the pitch took longer than it needed to and because I was so damn cold. I kept thinking 'We need to move fast. It's a long route, we don't fully understand the descent, and we are moving too slow.' I get up to her and I am visibly pissed off. She didn't think she was moving so slow. I say it was my fault, I should have taken the first lead to let her get some swings in as she hasn't been on ice in over a year. Going forward, we decide to stay within shouting distance of each other and to keep a good pace. Four pitches later, we are still far from the top and I am not seeing the descent. It's getting late and we're going to have to bail.

No problem. We can build some V-threads, get off pretty quick with the double ropes. Right?

-The dreaded climb itself. Looks so inviting. Maybe too inviting.-

Six holes later, I am having no luck connecting my screw placements to make the v-thread. I haven't had such a hard time before with these, what's the problem today? All I know is it's not working. I try and try, and I am still way off. At the peak of my frustration, I can hear something off in the distance. I stop what I am doing and look up to see the Silverton helicopter coming through the valley. It passes so close to the gully we were climbing. All I could think is 'I should have gone heli skiing today instead. What the hell was I thinking? Instead I am stuck on a climb, freezing my ass off, and I can't make a damn v-thread!' Seeing that helicopter was the biggest middle finger I've ever gotten. My friend could read my mind and apologized. (more on that later)

Wait, all you have to do is use some screws to bail, right? Yeah, you know how much a screw costs? They aren't cheap. And by this point my ego has taken over and has lost its mind. I viewed leaving screws as the ultimate failure. I have other tools necessary to safely get myself off this climb, yet that day I had forgotten how to use them. On top of that, bailing on what I'd call an easy climb is also hard on the ego. All of this coupled with the fact that I could have gone heli-skiing had turned me into a complete jerk. I didn't talk much on the rappel. We start to pack in the dark, in the middle of this huge empty valley. All of the disappointment of the day had to pour out. So what did I do? I shouted many obscenities at the top of my lungs, only to hear it reverberate off the ice and snow. My friend must have been thinking 'she's lost it.' She apologized, feeling bad. For what I ask? I am the one who should be apologizing.

-Kate leading the way-

Getting off a climb safely is always goal number one, whether you have to leave gear or not. The difficulty of the climb? Doesn't matter. Get down safely - I had forgotten this simple rule.

-Racking up for the day-

If I was a decent climbing partner I would have had some patience with myself, and with my friend and climbing partner. With ice you have to accept the fact that you were going to be cold, whether you are belaying or leading. I shouldn't have been annoyed with my friend for taking so long, and I shouldn't have carried that annoyance with me for the rest of the route. Heck, I've been slow in the past, particularly on really cold east coast days where my same friend was belaying me on an ice project. I think its normal to be somewhat pissed because you had to bail on an easy climb and leaving gear you didn't have to. Freaking out about it? Not cool. My friend and climbing partner for the day was totally calm the whole time, didn't cop an attitude or was disappointed that we had to bail on an easy climb. She was just happy to be out and get down safely.

And why didn't we go heli-skiing in the first place? Well, my friend hadn't been skiing in a while, making heli drops in Silverton terrain a rough (and probably unsafe) day. She felt bad about that. And when we saw that helicopter hover over our climb, all she could say was "i am sorry we couldn't go heli skiing today".

Fast forward a couple weeks I was back out on some RMNP ice. I practiced my v-threads. 3 for 3, no problem. What the?!

If you need to practice your v-threads check this out: http://www.chickswithpicks.net/videos/setting-up-a-v-thread-part-1/

If you need to practice being a good climbing partner and friend, well, you're on your own.

-Stairway I'll be back for you!-

A quick guide to Stout Month

2011-02-08T19:09:00.005-05:00

Here in Boulder, every February is Stout Month according to the Mountain Sun Brewery. Todd and I got out a couple nights ago to start the stout tasting. So far, here's what we sipped with a quick description of each. We threw in an FYI (IPA) to clean the pallet between tastes. Get out and enjoy some stout!

This is my first foray into beer tasting, so excuse the elementary descriptions.

(unless otherwise noted, beers brewed by Mountain Sun)

Steelhead Extra Stout, Mad River Brewing: Carbonated more than the other stouts we tried and as such it had a clean taste and wasn't too heavy.

Korova Cream Stout: More porter like, super low hop, goes down smooth. I am not usually a fan of cream stouts, so it's hard to say how it fares in the cream stout category.

Big Bear Stout, Bear Republic Brewing: More hoppy than a regular stout, good overall taste. A good introduction to stouts if you enjoy IPAs.

Trickster Stout: Smells like a pine tree, tastes like a pine tree, and goes down like a black IPA. Delicious.

Nihilist Imperial Stout: More roasty, heavier finish, good all around stout. A Russian imperial. One of my favorites so far.

Girl Scout Stout: Just as you would guess, it tastes like a Thin Mint cookie. A little too rich and minty for my taste. If you love mint, you'll really enjoy this beer.

Thunderhead - hoppy character, not too viscus, good all around stout.

Dark Harvest Pumpkin Stout - just a hint of pumpkin, with a cinnamon twist. Kinda tastes like a pumpkin pie.

Dropkick Stout - more hoppy and more carbonated than the Thunderhead. The hops linger on this one!

Oat lord - super carbonated, less taste than the other stouts. Goes down clean, no after taste.

Addiction Imperial Coffee Stout - it's the first coffee stout I've ever enjoyed! Faint smell of a mocha, not an overpowering coffee taste. Smooth. Todd wants this as his morning coffee. I think he has an addiction.

On tap

2010-11-25T11:16:00.003-05:00

As we speak our new black IPA brew is gaining body. A taste test has gotten us pretty excited!

Up in the clouds

2010-11-25T11:00:00.002-05:00

More Squamish

2010-10-27T00:42:00.008-04:00

I am a bit late at getting these pics up on the site. Better late than never!

One thing I've learned about taking photos in Squamish is that the lighting is terrible. It's dark at the base of the Chief where a lot of the bouldering lies, and you don't know it till you try and take a simple photo.

This was a great birthday trip. Good climbing, good friends, and good times. Can't ask for more.

Squamish

2010-08-31T21:09:00.002-04:00

Just got back from a quick trip to Squamish, via Seattle. More picks to come!

Pikes Place:

Signage

2010-08-31T21:04:00.004-04:00

I am not sure what this person thought the sign meant.

Moving and brewing

2010-07-28T22:58:00.009-04:00

Since our last post on brewing, we successfully moved into a new apartment. Once settled into the new joint, we bottled. We then waited a week or so and finally opened one up to enjoy. The brew is tasty I must say. Perfect for a warm summer night while you're grilling some chicken or steaks. I am a heavy beer lover myself, but the hefe is doing just fine.

We double fermented the hefe, moving it from the original bucket to a carboy. Here we are moving the beer from the carboy into the bottling bucket:

And lastly, we bottled:

So that's it. I can check off a box on my to-do list. Of course, it's much more than that. I love beer. I love it so much, I had to learn how to make it.

Brewing for the first time.

2010-06-19T00:10:00.009-04:00

Grain steeping at the correct temperature.

The to-do list is on it's way to getting smaller. Yep, that's right. I am checking off a box. The brewing box that is.

Since I am not very good with words, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. But a little background:

Todd and my friend and neighbor Erik had some brewing supplies sitting around, but was in the middle of moving. No time to be brewing when you don't have a kitchen! I figured this was my time to jump in and learn how to brew. On the menu is a hefeweizen, a wheat beer good for the hot summer days.

Adding the malt.

Cooling the wort.

Siphoning into a bucket, where it will live for about a week. This is where the yeast eat the malt sugar and creates alcohol.

Taking the gravity reading.

I'll be back in a week when we transfer the liquid into another fermenter.

Red Rocks. Again!

2010-06-13T13:31:00.011-04:00

I had taken a quick trip to Red Rocks back in April, and never got around to posting a trip report on it. I think Cory did a great job of summing up the trip, so check out his wonderful blog post below (plus, he takes wonderful photographs). Cory's blog.

Here's what I took:

Cory flagging.

My darlings!

I lost two buy-ins the first night, won it all back the second night.

Is 24 draws enough guys?

The crew heading into Black Velvet Canyon.

Looking up at the Black Velvet Wall.

Char and Cory on the 2nd pitch of Prince of Darkness.

Jared starting up Rock Warrior. The R-rating = somewhat scary. Not going to lie.

Chillin after a good day of climbing.

Back to work

2010-06-13T00:12:00.002-04:00

Three weeks into my new job and I am feeling a lot more whole and a lot less bummed out. The stress of looking for work and not hearing back, even in the form of rejection, can begin to wear on you. Mind you, I asked for this. I am the one who left my last job and timed it along side the worst economic period since the Great Depression. But as all those rich, successful people say in their 'How-To' book: in order to succeed you must take risks, even if it means you end up broke and flat on your face. Both things did happen to me, but not in the glamorous way you want to hear. Yes, I was broke, monetarily, but I was living with my boyfriend so I wasn't going to exactly starve. I was also broke mentally. This one might suck more than being money broke.

Blessing in Disguise

I moved to Colorado with all the time in the world to climb, ski and look for work. I figured I would find something soon enough so I didn't worry right away. Then a few months passed. Nothing. I started to get worried. What am I doing wrong? Should I re-do my resume for the up-teenth time? The more I let it get to me, the more I was losing it. Then I hit a wall, mentally. I figured out why this was all so upsetting...I am one of those people who base a good portion of their self-worth on their career. Sounds like such a simple thing to figure out, doesn't it? Apparently not in my case. Either way, I was still working on finding work, and now knowing why this was all so mentally torturous, made things a heck of a lot easier. And, as if the universe couldn't get the timing more right, I got a job not long after having my epiphany.

Wait, I had a to-do list!

Oddly, now that I am back to work I seem to have more time to do the things I want to do. Maybe I am just a little more motivated because I got my self-worth back. Or maybe it's because I don't feel so poor anymore. Either way, I had built up this big to-do list that I wan planning to pile through while I was unemployed. Things like home brewing, baking bread and blogging more. Getting in shape was another goal along with dropping a few lbs. Sampling a little of all the climbing here in Colorado was another one, something I've been able to do almost every weekend:

Great Zot to Rewritten, Eldo

Pear Buttress, Lumpy Ridge. One of the most fun 5.8s I've ever climbed. Thanks to Jay for letting me lead the money pitch.

Todd on The Turning Point, Satellite Boulders

Super fun A7-V1, Satellites

I am finishing this blog post on a Sunday morning while its raining cats and dogs out there. A hike up to Chasm Lake in the Park was on the agenda today, and despite the forecast calling for 3-6 inches of snow (we're in June people), we might head up there anyways.

5 hours later...

Oh look, we made it up there! Except as soon as we passed the tree line, we heard thunder not far from us. I've never heard thunder so low before, and I totally freaked. Here's Todd wondering why the heck we tried to hike up to see the Diamond, when you can't even see 10 yards in front of you...

I love Rifle

2010-04-29T18:10:00.002-04:00

And I especially love the road into Rifle where you get to see local farm-life.

Can you say 'erosion'?

2010-04-21T13:43:00.003-04:00

Taken at Buttonrock Reservoir.

Freshies!

2010-03-16T17:35:00.004-04:00

The last few weekends have been full of fresh tracks, all of them inbounds. I am not avi savvy, nor do I own an AT set-up, so this is the closest I am going to get to backcountry skiing for this season. Learning how to ski in powder is very different from skiing New England ice that we all know and love. Here's Todd getting ready to find some fresh tracks in Breckenridge after a nice hike up.

Todd and I at the highest point in Breck, so worth the short hike.

This might be Breck or Vail.

Definitely Vail, in the back bowls. I love this place.

Ski season is starting to wind down, which I am sort of happy about cause climbing season has already begun (or really, it never stopped, it just continues). Two months straight of getting into the car and making the drive almost every weekend gets old. Though as you can tell from the pictures, it's oh so worth it.

It's been a while....

2010-02-17T13:48:00.003-05:00

I've been MIA the last couple months for good reason. I moved. I climbed with Kate in Ouray. I've been having an Epic ski season in Vail. Oh, and I am job hunting. For my 3 followers out there, I'll post something soon, promise :) Here's a tease... (Kate climbing Pic of the Vic)

Red Rocks and Back to the Beginning

2009-12-14T22:34:00.013-05:00

I managed to get the camera out on the last day I was in Red Rocks. I followed the Mass crew to the Sunny and Steep wall, which is such a fun crag. A bunch of overhanging routes with good holds, the crux being if you can hold on long enough. The walk in is beautiful and long enough to remind yourself you aren't in as good of shape as you thought you were.

Warming up.

Learning to be strong.

Just as I rolled into Red Rocks I learned that the road trip was coming to an end a little sooner than I had originally thought. In some respects, I was OK with this. In other respects, I was super bummed. Things (meaning life) were all good, which is more than I could ever ask for, but given the way personal events panned out, I had to cut the trip short. I am moving to Colorado where I hope to climb outside more than I ever could have dreamed in New England. I was able to find a nice apartment, but now I need to find a nice job which I expect will take some time. I've actually already applied to some positions, and I hope the only reason they aren't calling me is because I don't have a Colorado address on my resume. I feel like the job Gods will come around once I role into Boulder with a 22ft moving truck on January 2nd. Lets hope.

I am back to the beginning, to the first place I climbed when I started the trip, only this time I am going to settle in for a while. Ski season is underway, and I am ready with my Epic Pass in hand. Before I hit the slopes, I am hitting the ice. Ouray that is. My good friend Kate, whom I haven't seen in a long time, will be patiently waiting for me to unpack the moving truck and make the drive over the mountains and through the woods so we can go play on some ice. Very psyched!

On my last drive back east, I did visit one last national park, Arches near Moab. It was a whirlwind of a day; drove in, ran to a particular arch, snapped a couple pics, then ran back to the car. It was a bit cold, and since I was by myself, I couldn't pass the time by chatting with someone else. Instead I ran back to the car.

Don't you love it when you see wildlife within the first 2 minutes of entering the park?? I believe these are desert bighorns, which apparently you don't see often in Arches.

They are just like billboards! But made out of sandstone, and are many many years old...

I was damn lucky to have Delicate Arch all to myself! I guess that 15 degree outside temp is a crowd killer.

This is about the time the camera died due to the cold.

I am now back in Boston trying to say goodbye to as many people as possible before I head out west for good. For the first time ever, I am actually not moving alone! My wonderful bf is coming with me, who is also psyched to be near all the climbing and skiing one could ever want. All I can say is, Life is Good.

Pity Party

2009-11-28T11:22:00.001-05:00

My boyfriend recently pointed out that I haven't posted anything on the blog for quite sometime. I then wondered to myself 'what have I been up to the last few weeks?!' Then I quickly remembered I've been in state of self pity, feeling bad for myself for no important reason. For non-climbers reading this post, this may sound somewhat silly and childish; for those climbers reading, well, you know all too well about these pathetic states.

Simply put, I have this hobby I am obsessed with. Its a sport that drives you to work hard to get better, at any cost. That includes spending all weekends, vacations, and holidays doing it. You spend the weekdays after work going to the gym to get stronger. We read magazines, watch videos, buy the newest gear whenever we can. I would even chat about my climbing adventures with my colleagues at work at least once a week (that's a lot given that these people don't climb...).

So first we have obsession. Next come expectations. Oh man, climbers love to torture themselves. We love to put these silly and somewhat over the top expectations on ourselves. I believe this is because we spend so much time obsessing we think our expectations are normal. Wrong! Which brings me to the pity party I was throwing for myself. Expectations of my performance got out of hand, and then I started to not have fun. And when you aren't having fun, well then, its time to walk away. At least temporarily. I got great advice from friends and especially the bf on how to deal with this.

First, take it down several notches. That means climb stuff you know you can do successfully, and do that for a while. Also, something I don't have is mileage. I need to build the base before I can even think of trying harder stuff. Despite having started climbing a LONG time ago, I really couldn't tell you how long I've been climbing due to periods of life stuff where I simply didn't climb for a while (accidents, school + work, moving). So mileage is my #1 friend right now.

I am not aware of any other hobby that people partake in that is sports related, requires as much time and effort, is all year long, that non-professionals obsess about like climbing. Maybe golf is the exception.

Anyways, I have been up to other things besides my pity party. I had the pleasure of meeting a Bishop local who took me up to the Champion Spark-plug Mine, which is a ghost town tucked away in the White Mountains. You need a high-clearance vehicle just to make it to the trial head, and then hike some elevation to make it to camp.

These buildings are where the miners lived, and the mine itself is another 1000 feet up. There's even a museum that volunteers have kept up. When you walk inside you are bombarded with samples of rocks and minerals that are found in the nearby mines, as well as other artifacts from the time when the mine was active.

View from the outhouse.

If you ever wondered what the terrain was like between Bishop and Las Vegas, well, here you go:

I took my time getting to Vegas by driving through Death Valley. Luckily, this isn't the time of year when it hits 120'F, but I did notice my car thermometer go from 55 to 75 as I drove deeper into the valley. Besides a few expansive valleys, Death Valley also boasts large sand dunes.

On my way out of the park.

So, now I am sitting in sunny Dallas, spending time with my family for Thanksgiving. I am flying back to Vegas, and sticking around for a while to climb at Red Rocks. I am ready for climbing routes as I am sick of climbing boulders. And my mantra for the upcoming week is mileage, mileage, mileage.

Sunny California

2009-10-30T15:14:00.011-04:00

So I hightailed it out of Yosemite for fear of catching the H1N1. That, and I hate being cold. I headed south to Bishop, home to world-class bouldering and much warmer weather. The funny thing is, I am not a boulderer, at all. So much that when I asked my friend Jared to pick me up the 'Bishop' guide, he gave me the Owen's River Gorge climbing guide. I looked at him and was like 'what is this? they have routes in Bishop?! I thought it was all bouldering!' And his response was 'well yeah, they do have routes, good ones too. and you're not a boulderer, so why would I get you the bouldering guide?'. Good point. But I bought a crash pad, and was determined to learn how to boulder, just like I was determined to learn how to crack climb in Yosemite.

I had left Yosemite after climbing all day, and man, I am bummed I didn't get to see the sites that Tiago Pass has to offer. It was a clear night with a bright moon, so I could make out domes and mountains all around, but I didn't stop for fear of some animal attacking me out of no where while standing in the moonlit darkness. The funny part about leaving Yosemite when I did was I think I was just getting the hang of crack climbing. I was finger and hand jamming like a champ! I learned how to toe into the crack, move more efficiently, and get into a good sequence. I even had some fun routes I wanted to lead, routes that would have been impossible for me a week before. My main climbing partner for the week even mentioned 'Lauren, I think you're getting the hang of jamming! You can lead this!' I guess that means I'll be back at Yosemite as soon as seasonally possible.

Ok, enough chatting.

This is why Bishop is a nice place to climb:

Oh, the views. . .

Sunset on the Buttermilks.

Mr. Happy, V5, Happy Boulders. I learned how to tape my fingers for pockets on this one. Otherwise, ouch!

Solarium, V3, Happy Boulders.

Iron Man traverse, V4, Buttermilks.

Cave Problem V4, Buttermilks.

Gorgeous 5.10b, Owens River Gorge. A classic arete climb in the gorge.

I am here in Bishop for a while, though taking a short break to head back to Boston so I can pick up my diploma and see my boyfriend. The next major stop is J-Tree, then Red Rocks in the beginning of December. The coolest thing that happened this past week was I somehow met the southern-Mass climbing crew who were in town for a bouldering vacation. It was nice to be hanging with mass-holes again! I credit them for all the fun I've had this past week, plus they took some cool pics of me climbing! I am planning on seeing some of them again in Red Rocks, and again in Hueco in Feb. So psyched!

Beer, sunsets, and the Valley

2009-10-24T22:52:00.009-04:00

As per my road trip goals, I spent time visiting local breweries. This included Rogue, Deschutes and others. Oregon is full of delicious beer!

I spent some time in Bend, Oregon (home of Deschutes), and let me say, its quite a nice place! Here's a pic taken from a downtown balcony which belongs to a high-roller named Crash.

This is Crash. Don't mess with him.

Time to leave Oregon and make it to the airport to pick up Todd by 10pm. I took a little detour to see the Oregon coast as it was suggested I check it out.

From there, I drove to San Fran for a weekend with Todd. We did the blitz-tour of the City, seeing about 7 of the top-10 things to do there. We even managed to get to the Valley for a day of bouldering.

After dropping off Todd, I stayed for another day, then got back on the road to the Valley. I got there on a rainy Monday, but it miraculously cleared up as I pulled into Camp 4. Here's a nice sunset on Half Dome.

I can't really tell you much from the week, mostly cause I was in a daze for almost all of it. I think I was sick, and when you walked around Camp 4, you heard quite a lot of hacking and coughing going on. I think I slept like 12 hours every night, and when I got up, I wasn't really motivated to do much. Maybe it's cause I suck at crack climbing. Or maybe it's cause I was sick. Anyways, I decided towards the end of the week to work on my crack climbing technique. So I set out and had a day with my rope and gri-gri. I worked on Conductor Crack, which starts with the business, then slopes off to easier ground. I wish the business went for the whole route, cause it's quite fun and does make you find some technique, as there's no other way to get up it.

And to end the post, here's a classic shot of both El Cap and Half Dome. Enjoy!

Smith Rock

2009-10-13T12:12:00.000-04:00

My tips are hurting just thinking about the routes we did at Smith, and despite all my whining and crying about it, I think Smith has a special place in my heart. I want to spend more time here, but the next two days calls for rain :(. I might get desperate and drive there anyways and see what I can find that's dry. Oh yeah, and find a climbing partner as well, as my friends Mikey and Char are back in Seattle beginning their life there. I need to get out of Bend in a couple days to meet Todd in San Fransisco, and coupled with the forecast, Smith climbing might have a to wait.

To start from the beginning, we had set out to climb about a week ago, when this happened.

So we hung out instead and went out to the bar in the evening to play some giant Jenga and bar-shuffleboard.

Day one of Smith we went to Morning Glory wall, which is quite popular, sunny, and has a good amount of warm ups. Here's Mikey walking down to the crag.

Me on the first pitch of Magic Light. Super duper fun, but the pump shut me down.

Isn't this place so beautiful?

Can you see what I am seeing?

Day three we headed away from the main areas and went down to the Northern Point. Mikey dubbed it mini-Waimea, in reference to Rumney, and really he was spot on! Here's Mikey loving that mono. . .

We warmed up on this fun 11. Thanks Mikey for hanging the draws.

Char high-stepping it.

I hope to be back here soon. But in the mean time I can look forward to seeing Todd and bouldering in the Valley :)

In between Boulder and Bend

2009-10-13T01:26:00.000-04:00

I took three days to get from Boulder to Bend, Oregon. My first stop was Ogden Utah, north of Salt Lake City. Utah is super gorgeous, but I got there at night and stayed in a hotel, nothing too exciting. I did go to a local brew pub as suggested by the guys at the outdoor store and when I walked in they even had baseball on. Life is good. But as I sat down to order my first beer I vaguely remembered that Utah has some weird law about alcohol percentages in beer. With that in mind, I thought 'what the hell, I am at a brew pub, they'll have a decent beer'. So, I ordered an IPA without looking at their menu, cause every brew pub has an IPA. To my horror, the bartender informed me they don't have one. Excuse me? Yeah, we aren't able to brew one. Huh? Yeah, we can't brew an IPA within the state-law limit. Uhhhh...ok, I guess I'll have your hoppiest beer please. As the bartender went off to get my 3.2 beer, I promptly called Todd and said 'Utah can't brew IPAs. We are never moving here. I don't care how awesome the climbing and skiing is.' Todd just laughed. After ordering some food and watching some baseball I settled down and enjoyed what ever beer the bartender put in front of me. He was quite nice and even set some samples of their other brews in front of me when I wasn't looking. He also explained to me that they CAN brew IPA's above the 3.2 limit but they just can't serve it at the bar, but are able to sell it at the state-run liquor stores. Ok, fair enough. I obviously was being overly dramatic that they couldn't serve me a delicious IPA the minute I walked in the door. Sorry, that must be the New Englander in me. . .

The next day I woke up and went for a little hike before I got back in the car. My friend Char reminded me that I need to get my ankle strong so getting some walking in will be good for me. I hiked straight east of the city and got on some beautiful trails that had awesome views of the surrounding Wasatch Range. I didn't take any photos really, so I have nothing to show of my visit to Ogden expect a sticker the bartender gave me from the brew pub.

Next stop, Idaho!

On I went to Hell's Canyon, which according to Wikipedia, is the deepest river gorge in North America. That's right, its almost 2000 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, it's just not as wide and long.

I camped there for the night. As I was making dinner one of my neighbors, this sweet old man, comes up and was like 'just want to let you know, there's been sightings of a 250lb black bear in the camp ground recently. Of course, be careful with your food at night, and you should be fine.' Damn it, that means I'll be scared out of my wits to go pee in the middle of the night for fear of running into this beast. No joke, but in the middle of the night I was listening to what I thought was something moving outside my tent. I had my knife in hand and was shaking from fear, trying not to move. Then after about 10 minutes of that I turned on my headlamp and then realized the sound I was hearing was my sleeping bag rubbing up against the side of my tent. DOH!

Bouldering, siteseeing, and planning for a romantic weekend

2009-09-29T14:47:00.004-04:00

The title is what I've been up to this past week. I went bouldering up in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is super gorgeous, and of course any photo I take won't display its grandness correctly, but here's a snippet.

So, instead of the full rainbow of colors we get in New England, here in Colorado the Maple trees turn yellow.

We took the main trail from the Bear Lake parking lot, and first checked out Lower Chaos. We warmed up at Potato Chip Boulder. After four moves, gaining the top-out was the real crux, cause you're winded. Yes, totally out of breath. At an elevation of 10k, you quickly learn that the air is a little thinner than you are used to.

From there we made our way up to Upper Chaos. The hike was a workout to say the least, and consisted of a lot of boulder hopping. I was carrying a pack which is way easier than carrying a crash pad, but still it took me an additional 10 minutes to make it to our spot vs the rest of the crew. I blame it on living at sea level for 6 years.

I don't have any cool pics of Upper, mainly cause I was getting lazy. But this picture gives a good idea what it looks like: just a lot of scattered boulders with scary landings.

Soon after arriving we got on a super short but fun boulder that had a decent landing spot as compared to other problems in the area. I was fooling around on some 4-move problem with a big move that made my feet cut when I missed the crux hold and came down on my right ankle missing the one pad we had by like 2 inches. Ouch. I sat there for a bit trying to not move too quickly, and gave my ankle some time to decide if it wanted to be injured or not.

In the mean time, the 2 other girls who were there with me sat down and we began to chat about our past injuries and how they have affected us mentally. Each of us has had a serious accident in the past, and each of us has had at least one mental hurdle to get over. Sometimes that hurdle is 10ft high, sometimes it's 1000ft high. Now we all look for specific characteristics in a belayer (or a spotter), things that let us know we are being as safe as possible in an inherently dangerous sport. For me, its been a long time coming to get to the level of comfort I am currently at when leading. But, I had forgotten about that, until I looked down at my bum ankle and thought 'you've lived through much worse, be happy it's just a sprain.'

Moving on to happier thoughts, not being able to climb for a bit allowed me to get some things done...like think about finding a job, working on my blog, planning a romantic weekend. The planning for a romantic weekend included picking a city that was a straight shot from Boston and had some cool siteseeing to do. My hubby doesn't have much vacay time, so its going to be a quick trip, probably so quick that we won't get out climbing. We picked San Fran as our destination, plenty of siteseeing and we can catch up with some good friends that live in the Bay Area.

On a final note, here's a pic taken right before I left RMNP. The walk down from Upper Chaos was slow moving with my ankle, but it gave me the opportunity to take most of the pictures featured in this post.

More WY

2009-09-28T10:15:00.014-04:00

We arrived at Ten Sleep!

I awoke to some rustling just feet from my tent. Some large animal was trampling slowly through the woods, breaking what sounded like tree trunks. Then I heard a long, low-pitched 'moooooooo'. I popped my head out to see that we share the camp with these guys. They were as interested is us as we were of them.

View from camp. Look at all that rock to be climbed! (and that's only a fraction of what's there).

After a little bit of a hike in (at a decent elevation to 7600 ft...man, I am NOT in shape) we got to the Metropolis/Zappa Corner area.

Me having fun on a warm up, 'Captain Tombstoner' (which actually the guide gave no stars).

Here's Sarah, our resident Brit who's visiting CO for a short time, finishing the classic 'Black Narcissist'.

Me working the crux on the same climb. It was hard!

Ten Sleep kicked my a$$. Here I am again working the crux of a climb, another classic 'Weight of the World'.

The last are of the trip was Slavery Wall. Here's Sarah working 'The Burden of Immortality'. You go girl!

My last climb of the trip, 'School's Out'. Again, super fun!

Making some food before we hit the road back to CO.

I can't wait to get back to this place. The potential for development (of more climbing that is) is so big, I am thinking of buying a piece of land there.

At Elevation

2009-09-26T00:08:00.011-04:00

I've had quite of bit of time on my hands to think about whatever it is that I want to think about. A lot of it is meaningless, some of it is somewhat important. Anything in between is lost on my bad memory. I have to admit, waking up and being at the mercy of the weather and if your friends have to work that day is an easy way to live. What are these somewhat important things I've been thinking about? At the moment I can't recall, but in the mean time, I'll let you know what I've been seeing, climbing and doing.

I am sitting comfortably in my friend Blake's living room, looking at pictures from the last couple weekends while listening to Emiliana Torrini. I've become somewhat stuck here in Boulder, and I have learned that this happens a lot. Locally, I've see a little bit of Boulder Canyon and a tiny tiny bit of Eldo. Before I came here, I heard people talk down about Eldo, how's its polished and overrated. That may be true, but after getting on 2 routes (yeah, 2!), I am super psyched to get back there and push myself. I don't think I'll have time to get back there soon, as I am leaving for Rifle again on Monday. That's another place I didn't expect to like, AT ALL. But I love it, in all of its unreadable cruxes. I finally sent the 'warm-up' at the Project Wall. Hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?

(courtesy of Kirk Donaldson)

Before I go on, I must take a break and head to the local sports bar. I haven't watched a baseball game in HD in a long long time, and it just feels wrong. Who knows what's going to be on TV, but as long as it involves American sports while I drink some delicious local brew, then I am a happy women.

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Ok, I am back. Not much MLB, mostly college football on the TV's. Iowa beat Penn State. That was a great game. Enjoyed a couple Avery IPAs while I talked with some fellas at the bar. Ok, back to the climbing pics....

First up, Devils Tower. As viewed from our campsite. Look familiar? Yes, its from a very famous and classic si-fi movie.

Devils Tower is a great place to work on your crack technique. Or, learning to avoid poisonous snakes... (my first encounter with a rattlesnake. . . such a beautiful sound, though scary if you weren't expecting it)

Me on Tulgey Wood

Following Megan on the first pitch of McCarthy's West Face.

These guys loved to watch us from above.

We only had two days at Devils Tower as we planned on spending two days at Ten Sleep, which is a few hours away. We actually left Devils Tower in the rain, barely pulling ropes on the last pitch when we could feel sprinkles. After driving through sleet/snow/hail we made it to our camp at Ten Sleep. The rain slowed enough for us to pitch our tents, and we went to bed hoping that the crag would be dry enough for us to climb the next day.

The long haul

2009-09-15T15:58:00.023-04:00

From Kalamazoo, I made it Chicago. First things first, I had to go see the Bean! What is the Bean you ask? Here is your answer.

I am the speck you see in the middle of the reflection...

The new fountains in Millennium Park, which distinctly look like the Twin Towers.

I also saw some family. Lola is the newest addition to the Conway side. She takes good care of my cousin Sean.

If the state of Illinois can figure this out, why can't the Northeast?! (toll lanes with no stopping, what a concept!)

A very flat state, but full of surprises. Well, just one (see below).

I saw these all the way from Illinois to Colorado. This makes me proud of our country.

Impending storm that later pelted the crap out of my car.

Worst coffee ever. Todd warned me that the minute I leave the city and head into the corn fields, I'll not taste anything resembling coffee till I hit Colorado. He was correct.

I know I am jumping ahead here with this photo, but really, there wasn't much to take pictures of in Nebraska, and then I forgot to take a photo of the Wyoming sign. So, here I am crossing the border into Colorado!

First stop: Fort Collins where my friend Kevin lives. I was so giddy with anticipation of getting to Colorado, I needed to settle down for a few minutes. While I did that, I enjoyed a delicious local brew by Odells.

That night we enjoyed a relaxing fire in the backyard, which really made me want to pitch my tent and sleep outside. I wouldn't get to camp till I arrived at Rifle.

Finally, I get to climb! Kevin and I went up to Poudre Canyon, and got on some super fun 10s. After 3 climbs, we got shut down by the rain.

But before we could get to the climbs, we had to do a river crossing. We had to go barefoot cause we weren't prepared for how high it was... our 'path' of rocks was mostly underwater.

Somehow I get chalk on everything, including my face.

From Fort Collins I stopped through Estes Park to meet a potential climbing partner. I took the sights in, and really, I could live with this scene everyday.

On I-70, on my way to Rifle. By the way, its sunny all the time in Colorado.

My camp at Rifle. So happy here. I was warned I wouldn't like the climbing here, and I can see why (no warm-ups, and the good stuff starts at 11+) but to my surprise I am loving it. Its wicked challenging and makes you think. I already have a few projects too. I don't have any photos of the climbing, but we'll see what I can get later on in the week. And I am so lucky to be climbing with cool people. Thanks Jason and Arnold for showing me the ropes on day 1!

Less chat...more pics

2009-09-08T11:31:00.016-04:00

Last stop at the Publick House before I leave.

All packed up!

I forgot to take a photo in Cleveland, but here I am almost to my parents place.

Dad and our lap dog, Duke.

In Kalamazoo, on the way to the beach.

Da Beach (Lake Michigan) with Jill and her kids.

Some of the best beer ever, unfortunately it's seasonal, and isn't distributed outside a 7 state radius of Michigan.

My buddy Aaron knows how to build a real tree house. Conner is utilizing it well.

Riley's turn!

A month (well, summer) of good news

2009-08-28T11:54:00.004-04:00

It's been a crazy month, full of good news, firsts, and a little partying to celebrate it all. Here's a list:

One of my best friends and his wife just bought their first house, and officially closed on it yesterday.

That same friend passed level 3 of the CFA.

I quit my job.

My brother got a job.

Some other best friends of mine are moving to the West Coast. Before they do that, one of them will receive their PhD.

Another good friend also moved to the West Coast to be with his fiance, but before he left town, got his PhD.

A very good friend from college got his PhD, just moved to LA, and is so happy.

I found an awesome guy.

Some certain friends of mine have babies on their mind. :)

I finished business school.

A friend from college just had her second child.

My father turned 60 (!).

I might have forgotten some others...

Preliminary Route

2009-08-28T10:08:00.002-04:00

Leave Boston Monday the 31st

En route to Detroit, stop through Cleveland

Through Labor Day Weekend: Detroit

September 7ish, head to Kalamazoo and stay till Jill and Aaron kick me out

After that, will head to Chicago for a few days to see more family

Stop through Madison for a night to see a friend.

So, now we're in mid September or so I think.

I hit I-90 till I find the Black Hills.

Chill in S. Dakota for a night or two.

Then finally my first climbing stop!!! Boulder CO.

Spring Cleaning in the Summer

2009-08-16T13:34:00.000-04:00

I have begun packing up my apartment, and man, this reminds me that moving sucks. Big time. But it's also the best time to do the 'life cleaning'. If done correctly according to my friend Nicholas "you will have climbing gear and a laptop left. oh, and like 4 pairs of jeans." Sounds pretty good to me. But what about all that other crap sitting around in those boxes? Do I really need to keep all of my notes from my entrepreneurial finance class? All I learned in that class was that when you need funding for your new start up, you'll never be cool enough to get it from VCs, and if you were cool enough, then you wouldn't be taking the damn class to begin with. Also, contrary to popular thought, business school does teach you more than how to network and meet the right people. It also teaches you that some of the most successful people in business, or in life, all get there doing it completely different, by following their hearts and failing a lot along the way. Hmm, maybe I am thinking about the VCs again...anyways, I think there is some truth in that. It especially applies to climbing. Talk about failing a LOT. Failing might be a too harsh of a word, but you definitely get shut down frequently. And for some reason, climbers, me included, go back at it as soon as the weekend approaches. We can't wait to try it again. And again. Wait, I got off topic...what were we talking about? Oh, the boxes. What do I do with all the boxes?

See, that's the perfectionist talking there. She feels that there has to be an answer to what I should do with the boxes. I started to ignore her in the last couple years cause she began getting on my nerves big time. How many times are you going to take a perfectly fine day and make it stressful because you began mulling over something insignificant? Case in point: I started thinking about my road trip and where I should stop along the way, and it then turned into an internal battle with Ms. Perfectionist. I had a loose route mapped out of where to drive and what to see. Then she came in and was like "This trip is probably your only chance to see EVERYTHING before you get stupid again and go find a job with benefits. Really at some point you DO have to start paying back your graduate loans...". God, I thought, she's right! I do need to see everything I can possibly see, cause eventually I need to be a tax paying citizen contributing to society. I then sat down and mapped out a route that really would take a normal person 5 years to accomplish. I told myself 'I can do this in 6 months, no problem!'. Then it hit me. I am about to turn into one of those typical Americans who thinks they need to do the 15 city tour while on their first week-long trip to Europe. It's no fun to be in the train, plane or automobile everyday so you can tick off another City, another site, another museum. I turned to Ms. Perfectionist and said "You know what? Who cares if I want to spend a month in Indian Creek and not visit some other cool spots? Who cares if this is the last time I'll be able to travel extensively and enjoy life? At least I got the one chance, right?!"

Recombeast

2009-08-09T21:31:00.021-04:00

Todd, pitch 3.

Cory on pitch 1.

Just a quick entry here on one of the best climbs on Cathedral, Recombeast. It was my friend Cory's recommendation to tackle this route with a party of three, two leaders and a follower. The follower being my boyfriend Todd, who doesn't usually climb any higher than 10-15 feet off the ground (though climbs harder than Cory and I combined), who has never been on a gear route, let alone fondled a cam before. And the best part was that it was HIS idea (I swear!). His only demands were that it be multi-pitch, decently high, and exposed. Check, check, and check.

Todd on pitch 1. After finishing the pitch he states "wow, I have a whole new found respect for you trad climbers!"

Cory getting it done with some wet conditions. Pitch 2.

Pitch 3. F-ing tall people...

Exposure? Check.

Wet holds on the crux? Check. (this photo makes this pitch look a lot steeper than it really is, as you'll see below. . .)

When in doubt, high step. Especially through the crux.

Time for some beer and day old pizza.

Push-pin party

2009-08-04T19:05:00.004-04:00

I am lucky to have friends who have climbed in a ton of places, they become a wealth of information when you aren't sure where to visit. I've come across two people so far that have given me a good start to what I should climb while on my travels (thanks Mike P, Tim K). Its easy to pick the big, destination places, the areas where even IME has the guide book for. But I am looking for the areas where it may be a little less crowded, beautiful, accessible, that has killer climbing. Also, I don't have a permanent partner for my trip, so I'll also need the opportunity to meet people to climb with. As most of my good friends know, I'll climb just about anything. Rock, ice, cracks, boulders, multi or single pitch...

Help me put a pin on the map. Post comments to places that are near and dear to your heart, with any extra beta you think would be helpful. If you post, I'll buy you a beer. Thanks in advance.

Moving out, moving up, moving on

2009-08-03T19:34:00.001-04:00

For the last several years of my life, probably since I was like 5, my life has stopped and started around the end of August/beginning of September. This is for a couple reasons... 1. Its my birthday, and 2. a new school year begins. And in keeping with this theme, I've managed to again stop and start at the same time this year. Within a matter of weeks, I will be done with grad school, while at the same time be walking away from a pretty decent start at a great career at a great company. Then to top it all off, I am moving out of my awesome apartment and into my smelly car. Oh, and another birthday will pass. And the best part about it is I am actually OK with all of this. Sometimes I wake up thinking "why am I not freaking out?!?", but then remind myself that if I was freaking out, then that would indicate I didn't make a good decision. This must be what people refer to as 'listening to your gut.'

As I travel west to be one with the rocks, I plan to stop through the recession-hit midwestern towns of Cleveland and Detroit to visit family that I've neglected for some time (since moving to Boston really...). I plan to mend some connections that I've barely paid attention to, while try to be there for others who are going through harder times. From there I'll head to western Michigan, then into Chicago and have a great time with other family and friends, see the Lake, drink a lot of beer, and again spend time with people whom I love dearly, but haven't thanked for being there for me when I was going through some shit. I have this guy to thank especially...

If my trip ended there, I could call it a great success, but not a complete success. I'll move on from there and go get lost for some time. I'll enjoy it thoroughly, eventually pick a signal, GPS will then say 'recalculating' and help me get back in the right direction. Ah, a complete success!

It's That Time of the Year Again!

2009-07-24T20:12:00.000-04:00

Usually in the middle of the summer, when its 95 degrees out with 99% humidity, I start dreaming about ice season. But this summer, it hasn't really been anywhere close to even 80 degrees, and all I've seen the last two months is rain. Which bums me out, because this could mean it doesn't rain as much in the fall. What happens when it doesn't rain in the fall you ask? It could mean a really crappy ice season is in the forecast. So, instead of being super psyched about ice season while I sweat myself silly, I am instead drenched from the rain, thinking about the prospect of no good ice come December.

To keep my winy mood going, I'll also express that I am dragging at work and school. Kinda like this.... (insert photo of me struggling in the snow, before I even make it to the base of the climb...)

Tick List

2009-07-20T18:46:00.001-04:00

So, before I leave New England, I feel like there are things I should see before I go. Like Martha's Vineyard. So, what's the Vineyard all about? Well, I can sum it up in three words. . .ferry, beach, and the Black Dog. Wait, that was 5 words. Whatever. Now you can say you've experienced the Vineyard. I also enjoyed a decent stout at the local pub while I was waiting for the boys to finish up their 70mile ride. It wasn't the best poured Guinness, but it was a Guinness nonetheless. And within minutes of my last sip, the boys made it to the ferry safely. Time for the beach back at Falmouth!

2009-07-18T15:26:00.001-04:00

uh, I have no idea what I am doing. In the mean time, I'll post a delicious photo.