Portugal!

Bom dia! Long time no chat. The flight to Lisbon was smooth and painless. Upon arrival Camille was waiting for me. She booked a hostel for the night since I didn't land until midnight. 

The next day we explored Lisbon. Quite touristy right now but it was fun seeing all of the architecture and history as well as beginning to practice our Portuguese.

The next night we stayed with a friend of hers that was living in Lisbon. She took us out for drinks and showed us the Lisbon nightlife which was fun. 

Lisbon has its own version of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

These trams are popular amongst all of the people that hate walking up hills. 

The colorful tiled walls (azulejos) are popular in Portugal​. 

Sardines are also very popular. 

Here's Camille showing off her handy work. She built out the bed and storage all on her own and it came out better than anything I could ever do. 

Out of the city and into the neighboring town of Sintra. Quite touristy, but it has climbing so it was a worthy stop. Also, we've been really successful at finding beautiful and secluded places to eat and relax. 

Remains of a castle with climbing just below! The granite was rather void of holds and felt quite difficult for the grades but it was worth the stop. 

Another beautiful place to make dinner and spend the night. So much of the coastline is full of stunning limestone cliffs and caves. 

And again... Another beautiful place to spend the night. Portugal has certainly treated us nicely so far. 

Another breathtaking beach. 

The Western most point of all of Europe is in southern Portugal. It was obligatory that we at least stopped for a quick visit. 

We are now making our way East, along the southern coast. In a day or two we'll be in Spain and my mind will be thinking about all of the amazing climbing the country has to offer. 

Easter, Dead Goats And Knee-Bars

So the Easter weekend has just passed. And the Greek take it very seriously. They close down restaurants, go to church, hang Judas in effigy and blow up absurd amounts of dynamite and other explosives. Being so close to Turkey, it took me a couple of days to adjust to the constant explosions and consequent rumblings and echoes off the walls which I was climbing (seriously, the explosions went on for at least 5 days). 

On Friday Susanne, Liam and I rented some scooters and rode over to Pothia, the capital of the island. We were told there would be a big procession that night where they would be carrying coffins through the streets. When we got there, the town was very alive and busy. While walking around, we were scared out of our pants every 30 seconds from nearby children lighting off firecrackers. 

We ended up grabbing dinner by the port and saw the procession from a distance. It was underwhelming to say the least, mostly just religious figures walking down the road. Either way it was worth getting out of our small town of Masouri and witnessing a festival from another country. 

On Saturday we had a short day climbing so I decided to take my scooter for a cruise around the island before needing to return it. I almost made it up the first large hill before running out of gas (I wish the guy told me that the gas gague was broken and stuck at a quarter tank). Luckily I was at the top of a hill! Before coasting back down I took an opportunity to snap a sweet shot of me and my rad 50cc scooter. 

On Monday Susanne, Liam and I decided to take the ferry over to Telendos, the beautiful island situated in the background of so many of my photos. 

The climbing was great and the change of scenery and seclusion was even better. 

The goats are very brave and can scale steep cliffs with ease. But sometimes they slip and fall. And sometimes their horns get stuck in bushes and they perish. 

This route involved some rad tufa wrestling and stemming. Definitely going to miss all of this fun tufa climbing when I return to the states. 

Credit: Susanne

Credit: Susanne

The following series of photographs will serve as a guide to resting your arms when climbing on tufa-laden, overhung limestone walls. 

All credit for these sweet photos goes to Aly, with whom I was climbing the 2 weeks prior. 

Level 1: Heel hook, heel toe cam and drop knee. Basic moves for making it easier to clip a draw or get a quick rest in the middle of a sequence. 

Level 2: The knee bar. An old standby, and a serious favorite of mine. In these cave-like situations you can find amazing knee bars at least every other move. It allows you to magically transform a 5.12a into a 5.11c. 

Level 3: The cowboy saddle (I made that name up). Find yourself nearing the top of a large tufa blob?? Just sit right on top and squeeze with the thighs! I like to then yell "yippie ki-yay" for added affect. 

Level 4: The hanging double knee bar. The best rest. The most badass looking rest. And the only way to get a rush of blood to your head so great that you forget what you're doing.

Thanks again Aly for the sweet photos. 

Today was my last day climbing in Kalymnos. It was a nice mellow day with Susanne and Liam. And afterwards we sat on the beach and watched the sun set behind Telendos. A fitting farewell. 

This place has blown me away. Definitely one of my favorite climbing locations to date and plan on coming back here in the future for sure. With that said, I'm excited to move on and see more of this beautiful planet. Tomorrow I take an overnight ferry back to Athens. Then on Thursday I fly to Lisbon Portugal where I'll be meeting up with Camille and we'll drive across Portugal and Spain together!

Rest Days Required

Still living the Kalymnos dream. On another rest day I joined Tobi and Eric on a hike. The goal was to get to the tallest point on the island. After many hours of hiking, we settled for a smaller peak that probably had equally great views. A worthy rest day activity indeed. 

The next day, the three of us had big plans in the big cave. I managed an onsight of the  super fun 40 meter 5.11d, Trela. Here in the top left of the image, if you squint enough, you can see Tobi making his way through the last section of the climb. Stellar route!

While Tobi and Eric were resting before giving it a second attempt, I hopped on a 5.12c variation of a climb that I onsighted last week. The variation totally smacked me as I was unable to make the huge move off a small crimp. I admitted defeat and just climbed the original version of the route. 

Here's Eric giving Trela another go. 

We then hiked over to another wall to get on a 5.12c called The Craic. I had tried it last week and made it up with 4 hangs as I pieced together the crux section. Only slight progress was made as I made it to the top in only 3 hangs this time. A worthy project indeed. 

That night was one of the best sunsets I've seen on the island thus far. 

The next day, every part of my body was sore and stiff. Unfortunately Tobi and Eric were meeting up with some other friends from Germany. Fortunately I met Susanne, a girl from Germany who was looking for climbing partners. We headed to a wall with lots of easier routes on it, given that she's fairly new to leading outside and I was fairly certain my body was rejecting the idea of trying to climb hard. Some heavy clouds and intermittent sprinkling kept it quite cold that day, but we had a great time regardless. 

We climbed together again the next day and I jumped on some amazingly fun and technical 5.11s that were friendlier on the muscles. Today I'm taking a rest day in hopes of trying hard tomorrow. Only 5 more days before I'm on a ferry to Athens then a flight to Portugal!

Eat Climb Repeat

As the title suggests, my life in Kalymnos is fairly straightforward. A few beers and some sleeping get thrown in there somewhere too. 

After a rest day we headed to the Grande Grotta cave. Take a look at how small the people look on the ground. This thing is massive! Following a 5.10d warmup, I somehow managed a 5.11d flash and a 5.12a onsight. Maybe there's some validity to rest days! (I also found heaps of double knee bar no hands rests). This cave is absolutely stellar and I can see why it's so popular. 

It's also a nice spot to crack a beer and watch the sun set behind Telendos Island. 

The next day we hit up another wall nearby. A couple of hours of climbing near this cave full of silent and still goats became quite unsettling. The climbing was awesome though! Nabbed the onsight of a super technical and thin verticle 5.11d. The sheer variety of styles here is another reason this place is becoming one of my favorite climbing destinations. 

And now I've done something that I've always vehemently avoided as a traveler and as a photographer... I took pictures of food... Given that I plan on doing nothing more than climb every day while I'm here, I figured you deserved something more. And the food here is so good! All of these restaurants are family owned, serving up only the most authentic Greek cuisine for insanely cheap prices. I've gone out for dinner twice now and have paid 7 Euros each time. And this includes bread and dip for starters and dessert and alcohol after the meal. Not entirely sure how they make any money here but I'm okay with it. And the hoards of stray cats running around trying to mate is great entertainment while you wait for your meal. 

I've also been taking full advantage of having a legitimate kitchen with a stove and refrigerator. This is a new style of travel for me and it feels so cushy. The produce here is very cheap so I've been making all sorts of tasty dishes. Today I experimented with a balsamic based red cabbage slaw. Came out great!

Today I also bid farewell to my climbing buddies. It's been a great week climbing with them and hope to cross paths again in either Colorado, Squamish or Patagonia (where Chad recently built a house).

Now I shall try and find a busy climbers bar and attempt to secure a climbing partner for tomorrow!

You're A Vegetarian? I'll Make Lamb!

Like I said before, Kalymnos feels like a vacation from my vacation. This place is quite magical. On one side of this quaint little town is the beautiful Agean Sea. On the other is an endless sea of limestone cliffs just begging to be climbed. 

Having my own place (that still fits within my budget!) has been such a nice change of pace. Especially after camping in Arapiles for 2 weeks without a stove or most other basic amenities. 

This cave here is just outside of town. It has been staring at me since the day I arrived. Today I am resting. Tomorrow I am tackling that beast with everything I've got. 

The sunsets from my patio have yet to be anything​ less than spectacular. 

Time for a bunch of climbing photos. I've been climbing the last few days with a group of 3 that are staying in the same building as me. It's been an awesome experience and we've already gotten on a ton of classic climbs here, most of them being overhung juggy routes full of stalactites. It feels like climbing in a gym but way better! 

The goats own this island. They're all over the hills as well as the roads. There's more goat poop on the ground than there is soil. Their frequent goat calls and the ringing of their bells adds a nice dynamic to the scenery. Sometimes I see them climbing harder routes than I've ever climbed. 

Approaching the Secret Garden. A minor 20 minute hike and you are earned with a gorgeous cliff overlooking the sea and no more than 1 or 2 other groups climbing anywhere near you. 

Given my horrible geography skills, I was surprised to learn that we could see Turkey from where we were climbing. On a less hazy day it would be easier to see in the photo, but you get the idea. 

Also, I've booked my next flight. I'll be heading to Lisbon Portugal on April 20th. Upon arrival I'll be meeting up with Camille. At which point we'll explore Portugal and Spain together in her new van. Then Greg is meeting us in Barcelona for a week or so. Until then, I'll be climbing here, trying to get strong!