Tom Grundy 2016 year end report

As some of you may know I try to write a year end report every year. Sometimes they don't really come at the end of the year though. In any case I wrote one up for 2016. I also mail these out so if you want to be on that list you should tell me. Google seems to have changed their contacts thing so that it is less like a computer and useful and more like a phone and hobbled so it is possible the report went into your spam folder this year.

on the summit of Longs Peak with Sam and Raquel

Tom Grundy 2016 Year End Report.

This year I am going to try something novel and new – writing up the year end report near the end of the year!

I'm starting in March 2016 since that is where the last report ended with a return to Bishop from overseas adventures. Mostly I was busy catching up with lots of little tasks that had piled up in my absence. And bouldering, a fair bit of bouldering. Then I took a trip to central Texas for YogaSlacker festival teacher training and to get pretty miserably sick – I might have been patient zero there. On the way back I taught at the Red Rock Rendezvous and stayed after with Nalumon for a few days for more climbing and a hot spring hike. Then back to Bishop. I got in a day of skiing in Yosemite. There were plans to climb the Colorado 14ers (peaks over 14,000 feet tall) this summer, so I began training for that a little bit with some gentle running and a few uphill efforts. As the weather warmed a few hikes into the Sierra including a Hurd –  Johnson - Trapezoid – Goode traverse and a training acclimitization hike up Mount Langley.

By the end of June I was packed up and on the road again to Colorado. First was Wanderlust music and yoga festival in Snowmass with the YogaSlackers and then the 14ers started July 4th. I won't bother listing them all here but in general I started in a range with Sam and Raquel and then after they left to work in various places I finished up the range before starting the next one. In July we did the Elk Range. Nalumon joined us near the end and although she didn't do any of these 14ers she did join in on rock climbing, camping, backpacking, and backpacking up a 13er. Then it was on to the San Juans. I wasn't able to finish them all with Sam and Raquel but Nalumon joined me on the second half of them.

In August I went to SLC for the summer Outdoor Retailer show and then back to Colorado for more 14ers with Nalumon before she escaped but I was rejoined by Sam and Raquel. We were working our way through the Collegiate Peaks when my truck radiator exploded. That put a crimp in our style but with their help I got back rolling again to do a few more before Wanderlust 108 in Fort Collins and then finishing the range up by myself with some early snow and a few days to rest and recover.

It was now September and with S and R back we did the Sangre De Cristo 14ers in some lucky weather windows and some rather grim conditions. After a brief respite in Pueblo we were back at it with Pikes Peak and then Longs Peak to finish up my effort. 57 in all and all of the 53 “official” 14ers except Culebra which I purposefully skipped because it is on private property with logistic and cost issues. These 14ers entailed hiking about 457 miles and 177.5 thousand feet of elevation gain. Then I hurt my bum knee and we taught at the Yoga Journal Estes Park Conference before rushing back to Bishop for Wilderness First Responder training at my place there.

The WFR training ended in October but there was little rest to be had with a visit from Nalumon and then another trip climbing in Red Rocks. It seemed like I would have a bunch of time to catch up for the rest of the year but then I discovered that I was going to Nepal and Thailand – yay and yikes. I scrambled to get everything ready for that and then whoosh off to the opposite side of the world in November.

In Nepal I met up with Sam and Raquel and we flew from Kathmandu to Lukla and trekked up to Gokyo by way of Tengboche before they had to return. I parted with them in Namche Bazar and trekked up to the Everest base camp area and Kala Patthar before returning via Kongma La. I got to experience sickness, cold, stunning views, tired legs, an early morning earthquake, and flying into and out of what has been called the sketchiest airport in the world.

In December I went to Thailand and immediately down to Krabi and Tonsai for 10 days of rock climbing. Sadly I wasn't in as good climbing shape as the last time I was here but I still met some great people and had a good time. Then I joined a bunch of other YogaSlackers for the Koh Lanta adventure complete with slacklines, waterlines, snorkeling, and acro. After that we went back to Tonsai for a few days before a day in Bangkok and 40 plus hours mostly awake flying back to LAX and the return to winter and what passes for responsibility in my life. Many thanks to the people I shared adventures with as well as the sponsors and people that allowed me to spend vast amounts of time away from home.

As usual if you don't want to be on this mailing list or you want this sent to a different e-mail then tell me. Also there are links to various trip reports on my web page and blog.

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/index.html

http://tomgrundyman.blogspot.com/

Tom Grundy not so end of year 2015 report

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/