Pacific Ocean Or Bust!

Disc golf in the desert, with Reno in the background.

What happens in Reno... is almost always hilarious.

Disc Golf in Truckee. Although the wooded landscape is much more challenging than the desert, the shade was warmly welcomed.

Been growing out my hair while on the road (credit: Matt Siok).

Hey tough guy, nice sunset.

Cities and stars.

A little behind on the updates! Been hanging with Greg and Matt, soaking up all that California sun. Greg and I almost didn't leave Truckee to get Matt. If I got stranded there, I don't think I'd be too upset. We played a bunch of disc golf and explored Reno. That city sure has some characters. 

We then grabbed Matt in Roseville and headed to the coast. Muir beach was breathtaking. Camping consisted of parking in a turnout and running into the brush before anyone could see us. Thankfully no issues from the authority. The next night we stayed in a hotel in Sacramento, a far more legal approach. Albeit a brief time together, it was great to see some familiar east coast faces again.

I've made my way through the Redwoods and I'm very excited to share those photos with you soon. What a magical place! I'm currently in Crescent City. The coolant leak has gotten so bad that the entire coolant reservoir empties out within 20 minutes of driving. With the heat and hills out here, my car is going to spontaneously combust if I don't get this fixed... to quote the guy at the shop: "You drove all the way across the country with a coolant leak?!?".

Greg Gone Wild

Greg working his way up a very stout 5.8 in Donner.

Exploring the snow formations at the summit.

Picked up Greg from the Sacramento airport. He'll be hanging out for a week, living the dirtbag dream with me. Spent yesterday climbing in Donner and then checked out Truckee Thursdays again. Today we'll be checking out Reno before heading back West to meet up with Matt in Sacramento. 

The Bay Area

Sunset

Moonrise 

This bridge is neither golden nor does it have gates...

A "full flight" at Russian River apparently includes every beer they have on tap.

House party in San Fransisco. Nice view bro.

Indian Rock Park, Berkeley. Barring the polished holds, the bouldering was real fun.

Woah, what's with the crowd outside this big white building?

Ohhh... It's the Dalai Lama. Peace be with you too!

Made my way to the Bay area to meet up with Fabienne (with whom I travelled in South America) as well as Sebastian (who Fabienne and I met in Colombia, and now lives in SF). What a lovely part of the country! People left and right were smiling and saying hello. Had a great time catching up with both of them. 

I also checked out Russian River Brewery, home of the world famous Pliny. The bar was packed and I managed to find a single seat open at the bar. I sit down and who is sitting next to me but a man who grew up in Belchertown MA (where I'm from). Pondering the near zero odds of this happening hurts my brain. Of course we talked about treehouse the whole time.

I'm now on my way back towards Tahoe to climb with Sara again before Greg flies in on Tuesday. At the last second I decide to stop in Sacramento to check it out. I start walking around and see a crowd near the capital building. 20 minutes later, who walks out of the building but the Dalai Lama! Another really great coincidence (with this one being far more spiritual...). 

གཙང་སྤྱོད་ག་བ་ཡོད་པ་རེད། སྒུཀ་རེགས་གནང་།

Car Cooking: Father's Day Cake?

Hey, it was worth a shot... Happy Father's Day!

Donner Pass

Some fun slab climbing with a great view of Donner Lake.

Donner Lake at sunset. Mmmmm.

Pines, snow sheds, train tracks, mountain, sunset.

Living the dirtbag life at Donner Pass. Lots of fun climbing with awesome views. The nearby town of Truckee has also been really fun to explore. I could get used to Truckee Thursdays.

Dosemite: The East Buttress

The 5.10b section that I was psyched to have led and sent but during the crux I was shaking like a wet dog in winter.

Sara bravely climbing off into oblivion during the exposed traverse.

The summit. 2 thumbs down. The climb was way too fun.

Bouldering rest day. V1 in Yosemite is like V4 in New England. 

A nice sunset view from the meadow.

My first climbing trip to Yosemite was a huge success. Got in a little but of everything. I'm very excited to get back and do more!

Yosemite: Part 1

First climb in Yosemite! Regular Route on Sunnyside Bench [5.5]. No rope required for this one.

The view is okay.

Yosemite Falls.

Second climb in Yosemite. Munginella [5.6]. 

Working through the last pitch of Munginella. Credit: Sara

My second visit to Yosemite is also my first time climbing in Yosemite. Now that I rock climb, this park has taken on an entirely new perspective. With Sara as my dirtbag park guide, I've had a lot of firsts here in the Valley:

• Climb a 3-pitch 5.5 and a 3-pitch 5.6 sans rope
• Climb a 13-pitch 5.10b (East Buttress of El Cap)
• Watch your partner fall 20 feet on pitch 3 after her cam rips out of the rock
• Get eaten alive by thousands of ants while belaying on pitch 5
• Sob uncontrollably while linking up pitches 9 and 10 due to excruciating foot pain (don't wear Solutions) combined with running out of quickdraws, running low on rope and not knowing where the next anchors are
• Bath in the Merced River
• Sleep illegally in the forest, away from rangers
• "Free" coffee from the gift shop
• "Free" tea and cookies at the Ahwahnee Hotel
• Project a V1 slab and fail to send

Just a couple more days here before heading out. Looking forward to sharing some more photos with you upon charging my laptop and finding some wifi. 

California Granite!

Sara getting the redpoint on a wonderful 5.11d.

Made it to California! Water pump started leaking again. For now I'll just pretend that it isn't leaking. I've met up with Sara who's been dirtbagging since the same time I started in October last year. She's been staying at a friend's place in Georgetown, helping out with the farm. Yesterday we climbed at one of the many crags in the area. The forests out here are mesmerizing. Today we're heading out to Yosemite to get on some big walls! Something I've wanted to do for years. We'll be there until Monday. Looking forward to sharing some hopefully epic photos with all of you!

Great Basin National Park, Again

The Saturn may be giving me a headache now, but her majesty never fails to look good amongst the forests and mountains.

Teresa Lake.

The twisted, knotted and enduring Bristlecone Pine (well, this one is dead).

The Glacier below Wheeler Peak (summit sits at 13,159 feet). 

Loved exploring the forest surrounding the Bristlecone Pine Grove.

Good morning Mule Deer. Keep on enjoying those beautiful Aspens.

For my third visit the Great Basin, I did some new exploring. The snow is finally melted enough to hike up to the Bristlecone Pine grove, where you can hike around and learn about these very resilient trees. They are one of the oldest living organisms on the planet. Some of the pines in this area are as old as 3,500 years. Given a very slow growth rate (they live in altitudes around 10,000 feet), they are very dense and can survive in very harsh conditions. Fascinating trees!

Great Basin National Park: 5 out of 5 stars
Still one of my favorite parks. Even in the summer, there's very few people (especially of the selfie stick, don't get out of the car breed). It's free to enter, you can backcountry camp wherever you want (and build a fire), and the stars are better than most other places in the country. Check it out!

Fun Fact: After forest fires (typically from lightning strikes) burn down the pines and elms, Aspens come in and thrive in the open environment. Once they grow large enough, they provide sufficient shade for pines and elms to seed and grow again, at which point they take over until the next fire comes to start the cycle again.

Hiking, Rappelling and Climbing, Oh My!

The approach hike to the canyon was rough, but the views made it tolerable. 

The Namaste Wall. Single pitch climbs that go FOREVER.

Take a seat in a hole, shake out your arms.

First rappel into Keyhole Canyon.

Charlie thought he could swing over the water to the other side. He didn't make it.

Last photo I took before soaking my camera.

Canyoneering is awesome. The biggest perk might be the ability to escape the insane crowds throughout the rest of Zion. Despite double bagging my camera in dry bags, it still got soaked and died on me after our first canyon. a few days in the desert sun and a bag of rice thankfully brought it back from the dead. Phew!

Day 1 consisted of Keyhole Canyon and Pine Creek Canyon. Both very fun, very wet and very cold canyons. The water isn't exactly clean, but you get used to the grime and smell quickly. Day 2 was a 10 hour marathon through the Behunin Canyon. Much dryer and much hotter. The approach alone was 3 hours up and around the West Rim Trail. We slept very well that night. Day 3 we climbed at the Namaste Wall to suffer on super tall, overhung sport routes. Parting ways with the group was tough, but I'm on a mission. A conquerer of the useless!!