Tom Grundy 2015 + Year End Report
As usual I am a bit late for the end of the year. This year I have the excuse that I was traveling at the end of the year and then I just got busy/lazy when I got home. Also as usual if you want to be included in the mailing list for my not so accurately named year end reports then tell me.
I started off 2015 driving from Boston down to Florida ahead of a winter storm. In Miami I joined up with a group of YogaSlackers and friends and went on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was relatively short but we packed a lot of fun with slacklining over the ocean, beaches, snorkeling, touristing, and most importantly just hanging out with each other. Following the cruise and a few more days in Miami I headed west through the everglades to the west coast of Fl (fantastic bird photography opportunities) and then headed across the country (while getting sick) to Utah for the winter OR show. There we (Sam, Raquel, and I) decided to try to run an ultra (100K) trail run that summer – so we started running.
Back in Bishop I got back into climbing and bouldering as well as tried to continue running (really jogging) and some uphill biking to change things up. I had some nice visits by friends. I also got back into the house project for the year – insulating the ceiling – a long slow process that along with whitewashing the roof did seem to help keep things cooler in the summer and warmer the next winter.
I explored a bit of Death Valley NP on my way to and from teaching slackline with Tom at the Red Rock Rendezvous near Vegas. I was privileged to get to join Liz and JD going up Mt Whitney for their summit wedding and then later in the Bay Area for part 2. Sadly my somewhat trusty steed (bicycle) The Sheriff was stolen from my front yard. Fortunately I was able to reconstitute my older bike.
This brings us to June and I was starting to run longer distances and add more elevation in the mountains. I slipped stowing my camera on the way up to Bishop Pass and hurt my wrist. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but due to slow healing and re-injuries it was still bothering me at the end of the year. Fortunately I could still run even if it was slowly. I did some cool big runs including to Pilot Knob, over Echo Col – Muir Pass- Lamarck Pass- and back to Sabrina, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, and from Pine Creek through French Canyon plus a bit then back. These were mostly all day affairs in training for the ultra. Sometimes it seemed quite possible, other times out of reach.
In the second half of July I went to Wanderlust at Squaw Valley (a yoga music festival where I helped teach slackline and slackro) and to Lover's Leap for some climbing. Then another trip was down to San Diego to visit a bunch of friends and join in Paul's Slackpocalypse – walking as far as you could on a slackline in 8 hours. I managed 2.78 miles and was pretty beat down afterwards.
Then it was on to Utah for the Ultra. The Katcina Mosa 100K trail run was pretty brutal with a lot of elevation gain and loss. We started at 2 am and I felt ok 'til about Km 45 where things started to get unpleasant. I hit a low spot in the middle and walked for a while before being able to jog for the last 30K or so. I did manage to finish within the cutoff time (total time 20:03:11 for 100K or just over 62 miles). This was my first ultra and might be my last. Then we had the summer OR show and I returned immediately for the last 8 days of the Sierra Challenge. I don't think I was fully recovered from the ultra but I did manage to finish the 8 days I was there for plus a few bonus peaks.
Following the Sierra Challenge I packed up and drove to Bend to join a fun crew for Jason's 40th birthday trip down the Deschutes. We had up to 18 people in a wide variety of mostly packrafts. I stayed up in Bend for some more packraft fun plus competing in the 36 hour adventure race which we sort of finished (we finished, but skipped some of the checkpoints/activities at the end). I also had an all too short visit with Matt and Nandini in Portland.
In the end of September I left heading east. First I did some fun climbing in Red Rocks with Dawn (Frogland and Epinephrine) and then to Castle Valley for some photographic fun with Alf before heading to Estes Park to help teach slackline and climbing at the Yoga Journal Conference. I also got to highline up by Estes and then climb in Eldorado Canyon and a visit with Matt and Kristin in Colorado Springs before heading back west to Indian Creek and Mexican Hat for more climbing with Dawn and a stop in Flagstaff on the way home.
In Colorado I was encouraged to join a big overseas trip and decided there was no real reason I couldn't go, so I tried to finish up everything, get tickets, and pack for a few months of adventures. I left in mid November to join the YogaSlackersTAO trip (Tour of Asia and Oceania).
Hong Kong. Nov
The first stop was Hong Kong where I joined Sam and Raquel in a bit over a week of touristing, paddling, teaching acro, and rock climbing.
Thailand. Nov-Dec
We started in Bangkok before taking the train to Chiang Mai for some climbing and the YogaSlacker Thailand retreat. Then down to Koh Lanta with a bunch of people from the retreat for playing on the beach, slacklining, snorkeling, and deep water soloing. Then back to Bangkok for the acro convention and Star Wars in 4d.
New Caledonia. Dec-Jan
We got to New Caledonia just in time for a massive French Christmas Eve dinner. Then we went water and highlining, snorkeling, taught acro, and a trip up north for beach longlining and rock climbing. We returned on New Years Eve with multiple sobriety checks. Then we went to Ile des Pins for waterlines, snorkeling, caving, hiking, and other shenanigans.
New Zealand. Jan-Feb
After too long in airports and the air we started in Wanaka assembling our vehicles and crew. There we climbed, hiked, paddled, conditioned, caved, and otherwise touristed our way around the South Island before taking the ferry to the North Island for the Wanderlust Festival and more hiking and climbing.
Hawaii. Feb-Mar2
Here we stayed with Marshall and family on an army base. Adventures included paddling, boogie boarding, sand castles and other beach fun, rock climbing, hiking (Olomana and Koko Head), slacklining, acro jams, and hammocks. After Wanderlust on the North Shore (where we got to witness big waves and the Eddie Akau big wave contest) we did a little small wave surfing at Waikiki.
Then it was back to Bishop where my place was still standing. In all of those countries we got to sample lots of local food as well as the usual joys and frustrations of traveling with too many toys and electronics in new places with other people.
That is enough of a year to report on. As always I would like to thank the people that shared the adventures (especially Sam, Raquel, and Nalumon) and brought in my mail and checked on my place (thank you Julie) so I didn't have to worry about it in my absence.
You can see some of my trip reports here:
http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/index.html
and here:
http://tomgrundyman.blogspot.com/
