still no camera, still no pictures... just rambling about rv living

These past few weeks have been interesting for me. I've more or less committed to resting from rock climbing. I've been climbing one to two days a week on things i've never really been on before. Leaving sunny, full of life Hueco and coming back to the freezing cold, currently uninspiring, vortex that's flagstaff sucked a lot of the life out of me. The bago lifestyle was definately challenged by snowy weather. Fortunately, Tempe was a welcomed, warm retreat. Waking up to an inch of snow reminded me I need to a bit more religious about checking the weather. One weekend of stress, then another housesitting while the bago rested in Tempe brings me to today. The long distance bago shuffle prompted me to commit to something more life changing. I want to sell my 4Runner. It's highly likely I'll let it go January 5th before I leave AZ. Some other changes that have develeped. I'm not going straight to Hueco. I'm going to the Southeastern part of this country based on Nicks good word. My friends Nick and Jill recently moved back to Boone, NC. They told me I'm always welcome, they're not currently working and are psyched to climb a lot. It currently seems like Boone will be too cold and wet but deeper into the south we should be in luck. I've had a much more positive outlook on work lately which makes me feel better. The count down is on until I have total control of my schedule. 3 weeks. In one month I'll be hitting the road. The Bago hasn't had any mechanical issues in 6500miles and seems to be running like a top. My camera has been charged.. now i need to remember the damn thing, my apologies.

What little climbing I've done the past few weeks was in spite of some pretty serious back pain a few massages and a lot of stretching ultimately set at bay. The routes have been good.  Nick and Jill showed me The Blackhole at the Priest Draw before they peaced out. Then I found a route at the Homestead on the ol' mtnproject that no one had done and appeared to be an open project. Went out there with Chris did a really fun route called 'Johns Meat Market' then i got myself up the project. I tried it on toprope and did all but one move. Went back the next week and rope soloed on it did all the moves, it'll take some work to link the top section. I also soloed on Tufa the Soul. I'm not going to say I'm too short to do that route but that's a long move. I'll try it next time I'm out there. Then I had a positive week at work! Next weeks climbing went down out in Queen Creek. Tried to do some bouldering. Brings me to today where I'm starting to contemplate getting back to getting and ending this 3 week long break from climbing regularly. I'm about to enter 3 months of serious bouldering. As much as I want to start climbing again I want my body/mind rested well enough to keep the psyche and feel healthy through the next few months.

I'm thinking of staying in Flagstaff through my birthday and leaving for Joshua Tree from here Dec 23. Back to Flagstaff to pound out some work and the roadtrip begins. Sometime between now and then I'll turn  it on again and get my forearms ready. Might not be today though.

I blinked and November was almost over. I finally found all the pieces to charge my camera. Unfortunately, my camera was back in Flagstaff when i found the cables. This is merely a journal entry. Not entirely sure where to start with this one because a lot of things happened the past 2.5weeks. It all got kicked off with a day of endurance training at the Pit fueled by the last attempts on Goliath. Somewhere in that day there was a onehang effort on No Joke, I went through two partners. Keith climbed the first half of the day with me and Carrie the second. Keith had to pack for a climbing trip in Turkey. I was in luck that Joe had belayed me up the thing the day before and I was able to leave my draws on the route without anyone stealing them, a rare occurence in the unfriendly sport climbing city of Flagstaff. A few rest days at work led to a commando trip to the Enchanted Tower with Garn. It was unfortunate that this trip quickly became the worst day of climbing at the tower all year. That's all I'm going to say about that because the we were off to Tempe. It was the most interesting night I've had in a while. My only plan was to have a few beers with my good friend Shawn at Casey MOores. It quickly escalated to a crazy time and Black Carl was playing at the Yucca,  we had to go. The rest of the night will remain word of mouth tales. Best night I've had out in a really long time. Then back to work because my schedule was not a pleasant one this month. I got the sickness from someone somewhere and I think it was a pt. I barely remember. I was sick for days spun into confusion about what to do with my 8days off that was about to start. Finally committed to the original plan of Hueco Tanks. Got to Hueco in 10 or so hours accompanied with Joe. It was really good for the soul and my health to be back in the desert. The days there went North Mtn, East Mtn,Rest, North Mtn, East Spur/West Mtn. All great climbing days and gave me a glimpse of what I'm looking forward to January when my minimum work requirements change.Between walking around the park and a BBQ I met some great people along the way including a guy named John who I heard established the Mars Roof. Really nice guy about to graduate from nursing school. Look forward to climbing with him a bit after his graduation. We ended the trip at the Enchanted tower. I almost acquired a cool black kitten in the middle of nowhere newmexico. There was snow on the ground. The pleasant lady at the Datil gas station/cafe wants to know how to market to rock climbers better. If your passing through and have any ideas let her know. I told her to sell chalk and keep selling cheeseburgers and beer. Fortunately, this trip into the tower yielded the best day of the season I was able to experience. Quite a contrast from the previous trip. The air was still, silent and crisp. I climbed what i truly believe to be the finest pitch of rock climbing of my climbing career thus far. I didn't 'send' Goliath but I did my absolute best and that's no disappointment. Thinking about relaxing around AZ for the next few weeks and getting prepped and psyched for spending 6 or so weeks in Hueco Tanks come January 8th. That's a brief glimpse. I may edit this one a bunch i just had to get something out before i lose track

aka Jeff on Goliath

~i'm not gonna edit my journal for grammar. if that bugs you at least there are pictures this time. you can see that we were out in the woods rock climbing~

my short work week ended uneventfully sunday morning with a stroll through the damp hospital parking lot. to my knowledge the Bago was packed and ready to roll out to the Etower for the October climbing finale. joe carrie and I had a plan with some loose goals, mostly get pumped, take big falls and have fun. For me, the drive was uneventful. the bago didn't break down.I slept pretty much til we got to datil. fueled up, talked with the skinny hick in the market about the routes at the Land Beyond and met some crazed newmex hippie who had been traveling india for a bit then bought a Bago kinda like mine. I was real cordial but I was afraid he was going to hug me. We bounced our way down the dirt road. There is a strange vertigo feeling i get when it feels like the bago could tipover on sketchy roads... it only happened once. We parked and I was finally feeling awake. The idea I had about what to accomplish this trip was quickly thrown out the window when joe was PSYCHED on Goliath. Quick warmup which included some Rumpelstiltskin...



carrie on rumpelstiltskin. i think. maybe that's grendel..

 then I got the opportunity to hang quick draws from the 16 or so bolts on Goliath. As the sun was setting we retreated to the comfort of the Bago. Day 2 brought us a lot of wind, just like the internet had said. We started late and still climbed a whole lot. started with a tour of the good moderates around the tower. Ooey Gooey is always fun. Checked out Blessed and Blissed.



Joe Morgan. Blessed and Blissed

  I 'flashed' that I guess.. as the terminology goes... that was nice... then we got blown around on Goliath. An ongoing debate over Bruce Lee movies was ended in a draw. Carrie nourished us with more bomb cooking and I made a Krusteaz. Due to subpar conditions we all left some gas in the tank. Day 3, tuesday, was the day where it all came together high up on Goliath for me.



Goliath

The top crux which is about as hard as a warm up boulder problem I thought was damn hard I admit to being weaksauce pretty often but I really didn't want to tell anyone just how hard i thought the crux was. I wanted to skip the clip cause even if i did the moves there was no way i could find the fine motor ability to clip that draw as pumped as I am there. That's an obvious catch 22 because if you skip a clip on that route your fall went from really big to fuckin huge. In all honesty i was ready to throw in the towel on the route for the season. I decided to try a move that is really big for someone like me with short arms instead of the rad body tensioney cross over deal I had tried again and again and again. Sure as shit. Not only did I stick it... I clipped, I breathed, I rested, I chalked up and hung out there. So I rested and went for it with my new knowledge of movements. I knew at the first rest that the end of my thrid day on was a bad time for a focused effort went for it and fell. The day was over. We kicked it and watched the origianl Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Day 4. last day of the trip. Joe sent the first pitch of Goliath. It was awesome to watch the endurance grow in a guy with all that power in just 4 days. I essentially warmed up on Goliath then went for it. floated all the cruxes only to be thwarted by a foot hold hidden around the arete and under a draw. when i found it, it was too late. hands opening...  i desperately tried to deadpoint through the last hard move anyway although it was obvious I wasn't gonna stick it.

Lowered off, rested, tried again, regressed, snagged all my draws cause it was time to go home. the sun was setting fast and we still ahd draws on two of the north facing routes. I burned up those carrie cleaned them on TR. I wanted to repeat humpty dumpty, one of my first 5.12s. pretty much tried it in the dark. looked right when i needed to go left at the top just like the first time. hah. The pump was dizzying after those bonus pitches. Carrie and joe walked back to the bago. I sat and chilled. Ended the trip sitting at the base of the tower as total darkness set in. I soaked in how good it feels to have a breakthrough on a project. Sending is nice but it's like acing an Algebra exam first you need to learn Algebra. For me, the first time I really 'figured it out' was the most memorable and that's the feeling that sticks with me forever.

The White Wall - an October overiew

The White Wall got rained on in intervals all day it never had time to dry enough for climbing. Fortunately, perfectly horizontal limestone roofs at the Priest Draw are across the street and about 2 minutes from where the Bago is currently located. Over the past few months other climbers have been telling me to check out the one roof I never scoped because I didn't believe I would ever be strong enough to do any of the problems under it. We were FIRED up to get on No joke and Total Recall well rested and didn't transfer all of that psyche to bouldering but we were close. Seemed like a good day for the Mars Roof beta spray down and to take a break from sport routes. I did all but one move on The Receptionist and I'm psyched to work on linking more and more of those awesome moves together. The last hard move is a problem by itself that's gonna take some figurin out. Not sure if Joe's beta is gonna do the trick for me there I've heard rumor of Jill doing a heel hook there and her beta hasn't steered me wrong year to date. I was definitely flailing with a purpose. I now believe that doing any of those problems is not out of the realm of possibilities for my body/mind combination. It's gonna take a lot of work though. Made me think about and question just how many projects I'm working on this fall. Training on and for these routes has definitely made me a stronger climber. That's insignificant compared to what I've  learned from climbing this month.  I have not done any of them from start to finish without falling which is easily discouraging. I've put more focus on enjoying the process and loving the moves and the adventure and uniqueness of every focused attempt I make on these routes. The consistency of my climbing is markedly improved by this. No doubt I've gotten pissed off when I fall with the last hard clip in my face, or my feet pop off or even just by feeling weak. Now I recognize it and remove it sooner. Prolly transferable to life in a lot of ways. There is still one week left in this month which means there is still one trip left. Sunday morning at 0800 I am going to The Enchanted Tower with Joe Morgan and Carrie. Rolling in the Bago. Pictures and report to come. Time to put observation in motion. Only trying Goliath once or twice there are two more routes there I really wanna get on. gotta train for my new November plans.....

Start of the Blog

In an attempt to remember this period in my life that I'm enjoying so much, I'm going to post up trip reports and pictures if i remember to take any. Currently, I've been living in my Winnebago for 5months spending my time mostly in Flagstaff. However, 3-8 day trips all over the West Coast climbing on the best rock climbs I come across and think I can do is how I spend a fair amount of my days off work. Picking a trip worth reporting first is difficult decision. So I'll just start simple.... with yesterday.

After a long night at work and some morning chores to tend to I got about 3.5hrs of sleep and it was time to get moving again. A drive to Doney Park started my morning which was really 2 in the afternoon. My plan was to make it to the Pit in time to warm up and try either No Joke  or Total Joke with Garn. I was running way late. Dark clouds covered the sky. An occasional lightening flash followed by distant thunder made the possibility of climbing look desperate. By 1630 we were tying in. I got to warm up. While I was lowering off the Joker, I looked northwest into the storm and decided to take all my draws off the route. The wind started howling when I was about half way down. Sand was flying in our eyes, backpacks and jackets were getting scattered. Finally got off the thing. Rain started as we were half way out of the canyon. Bigfoot BBQ, hot tubbin and scary movie night was the welcomed retreat. Not a bad day all in all. Joe and I are going back Wednesday we'll see what a little more rest does. Sorry no pictures use your imagination...