Thursday, November 12, 2015

Going Intercontinental


I am heading off for the rest of the year - and well into 2016. I'll be joining among others at various times Sam and Raquel, Kristen and Matt, Eric, and more YogaSlackers plus visiting Tammy and Andy and hopefully a few other friends on the far side of the world. First stop Hong Kong, then on to Thailand, followed by Christmas and New Years in New Caledonia and then on to New Zealand for a while before a stop in Hawaii on the way back to the US Mainland. I am pretty excited by everything except the expensive tickets (actually a good bit cheaper this year than last year). I sure hope I can get all the stuff I need to get taken care of before I go. So much logistics and packing. I wish I could just have all my toys with me without having to cart them around when I am not using them. I am pretty sure that there will be some climbing, slacklining, Acro, Yoga, packrafting, snorkeling, running, hiking, photography, and eating. I suspect there will be some adventures whether we want them or not, so I'll pretend we are planning them.

I don't know how much internet access I'll have. I won't be taking a computer myself other than an old droid smartphone and a kindle but some of the people I'll be traveling with will have computers so hopefully I'll be able to at least update this blog from time to time as well as keep up with e-mail. At some point in the future you might be able to see a few of the many GB of photos I expect to take.

Meanwhile I try to finish up the things I should have been doing the rest of the year, find gear and pack and cull and repack my bags, and prepare my place to be abandoned for a while.

I made a kindle case to protect it while traveling

kindle case closed up and hopefully safe

quite a pile of toys and gear to try to pack

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Fall Highball Classic in Bishop

a little fresh snow on the mountains
Last weekend was the fall highball classic in Bishop. Friday I went to the Reel Rock 10 film showing. Unfortunately I was late enough that I had to sit on the floor. The quality of climbing films sure has improved in the last few years. Saturday I went to the Buttermilks with Julie and Ernie. We mostly got shut down but did do the stand start version of the Pope's Hat in honor of the Highball themed weekend. There was a nice sunset too, although the wispy clouds sort of changed before the color got decent.

sunset from the buttermilks

That night there was a get together off of main street, among other things there was a pack weight guessing contest (Price is Right rules) and a rope coiling contest put on by Sierra Mountain Guides. I had the fastest coiling time when I did it but was beat later. However my pack weight guessing skills were up to snuff and I won a nice Camp M4 pack. It might be my new carry-on pack (I gotta check the dimensions) not to mention a good size for other adventures. There was also a slide show put on by Peter Croft. This time I got a seat. The next morning I headed out earlyish (for me) for a nice bagel breakfast and then did a stewardship project out on the tablelands. Our group worked on delineating the edge of the road and either blocking off or making more obvious a few campsites and turnarounds. The weather was lovely and the city of Bishop helped with the festivities this year - the movie and slideshow was in the Bishop Twin Theater and the party and breakfast were across the street in the lot there as well as a Friday night get together in the Mtn Rambler Brewery. All in all a successful weekend although I did sort of strain my back picking up a rock. oops.


before

during - moving big rocks

mostly after - parking camping area but you can't just drive across the desert

after from the other side

Red Rocks with Dawn

I met up with Dawn to climb at red rocks. The first day we climbed "frogland" this was a fun romp not really marred by the fact that the first three parties to Black Velvet Canyon were all going to climb there. It was a little crowded, but not a big deal. We hung out in the shade at the top until the descent was in the shade. The temps were a bit hotter than I expected (there was a cold front the week before). Then we had the main event, "Epinephrine". This classic heads up some 11 pitches and continues on to the summit of Black Velvet Peak. We got an early start - showing up at the base of the route just as it got light. The one other car at the parking lot ahead of us was already on the route. Unfortunately they were a bit slower than we were. Eventually they dropped a shoe (I caught the sock, but the shoe was out of reach) and bailed. The chimneys were pretty physical (5 pitches worth), especially with a mini pack. Then we cruised up fun face and crack climbing to a huge ramp. We got there just in time to scramble up it to the end of the 4th/easy 5th class as it got dark. Then on up to the summit and a rather long but only slightly confusing descent. The nearly full moon and warm temps made that pretty nice really.


Dawn in the chimney (p. 4 for us)

Dawn was pretty tired near the top (as was I)

reading the summit register with the lights of Vegas in the distance


I have a more complete trip report here: Frogland and Epinephrine Climbing With Dawn