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.