I can't believe its been almost a month since i wrote on this blog. This maybe one of my longest absences yet. Weird. It's almost hard to start up again. Where to start you know.
We are back from out 3 weeks road trip through Cali, Nevada, and Utah. It was sweet. Lots of climbing, lots of new places, awesome company, and some crazy skiing.
Here is a rough outline of the trip:
1. Drive to Bishop, CA with a stop in Ibex, NV...the drive was pleasant especially with the walkie talkies we had. So much fun. Super Trooper (us) and the Rubber Duckie (matt & nora) had way to much fun on those things with all that trucker lingo.
2. Bouldering the Happy Boulders in Bishop...after stealing a free night at the local weirdo campground we started the trip off with some bouldering outside of town. I don't much care for bouldering, you know, climbing 5.10+ 15+ feet off the ground unroped isn't really my idea of fun. There is my ankle to worry about and well lets just say the rest of my body...haha...so i took to photographing the gang as they send the V-whatnots.
3. Climbing at Pine 
Creek Canyon...sweet free camping back in the valley under huge walls. That was awesome. The rock was nice and the climbs mysterious and fun. We all led our first climb, some strange 5.8/9 bolted thing back in the canyon. Good to be back climbing that's for sure. Then we tried our hands on a 2 pitch 5.9 that got us all freaked out and before we knew it we bailed...haha. So much for strong start. But did find a couple more 10's that made for good climbing.
4. Climbing hard at Owen's River Gorge...sweet sweet place to climb...a nice canyon you hike into and then there is fun cragging to be had. I led 4 awesome climbs (5.7-5.9) and had a blast. The rock was interesting and slippery but the moves very nice. We spent a fun day down there before the nation wide rain caught up.
5. Driving to Lover's Leap, South Lake Tahoe...what an amazing place. You essentially camp right under the huge wall called Lover's Leap. The rock is fantastic. The first day we explored, did a few climbs on the Hog's Back, and then hid out from thunderstorms before doing a couple more climbs (surrealistic pillar and the groove). The next couple of days is was time for multipitches. I was a bit freaked at first, the height, the climbing, just getting back into the systems etc but it was fun. We climbed a wicked route called haystack, 4 pitches, clean fun. We also finally took showers at the local strawberry lodge which was more than needed!
6. Mt. Shasta, CA...and then came time for the big climb up shasta and the big ski down. I'd been nervous about this the whole time. Almost dreading it. The elevation after coming fresh off the boat (i.e. sealevel), the skiing since i had only skied 3 times in the past year, and the big hike...yes...out of shape. We hiked in a couple of miles the night before with skis and boots on our backs. Set up camp in the snow below the behemoth.
At 3am it was time to rally and we skinned up towards the summit. It was fun and not that hard. It looked like bad weather may keep us from summitting but the sky and clouds did some crazy stuff that day, all cool and safe. Up to 13,000 feet i was doing great! Then we started straight up the snow slope, with these huge steps, steep, and hard and that's when it all hit me. I was so tired and seriously didn't think i could keep on going. I can hardly explain it but it hurt. All over and especially my lungs. Thanks to Nate who essentially pushed me up to the summit, i made it. Happy and delirious i stood above 14,000ft with a stunning sky and view. But all my lil brain could think about was that scary ski descent. Yeah! Steep icy start. And i was on tele skis and 
yet i dont tele. So i am doing sloppy alpine turns down this crazy mountain mass. And then, because that wasn't hard enough yet, the clouds move in and we have zero visibility. ZERO. Me and nate sitting on the slope staring into nothing but WHITE. We slowly slid down the mountain in between cloud breaks until we opened up into the blue sky and a huge snow field with luscious snow and sweet turns to be had. That now was my favorite part!!!
Until i was about a 100 yards from the tent and after falling on my ass out of weakness i just plain ol' broke down. Sobbing. I never felt so tired and exhausted in my life. Yikes. Nothing a 1000mg of Vitamin I (biprofun) cant handle. Haha. We hiked out that night, found a local restaurant, stuffed our faces, snuck a shower at a nearby campground and then slept somewhere in the woods. Its all a haze now, i probably lost a bunch of braincells...but as matt would say: that was stupid awesome!!!
7. Driving back to Lake Tahoe...and the luckily diverted plan of climbing/skiing Mt. Lassen. I was like: no way! I could barely function, and my lungs were hurting and there they were with binos in hand staring at another mountain not a day later. Crazy people i hang out with!!! But the snow was junk and huge weather moved in which in turn had me sleeping in the car since my tent decided to totally fall apart. Sigh. So much for giving my body a good rest.
8. Bliss campground at Lake Tahoe...nice but expensive camp near good climbing right on the lake. We went for a fun run and a morning swim in the icy lake. So friggin' beautiful, i could so move here. I LOVE it! We bouldered at the middle bliss boulders and spent an afternoon climbing at a place called Mayhem. Hard 10's and one fun 9 which i led. YAY! I was tired after that especially since i had spent the previous night scared out of my mind while a bear was wrestling with the garbage container not far from our tent. Yeah...exactly.
9. Back to Lover's Leap...change of plans since we loved this place. So we skipped yosemite etc and hit up more routes the Leap. And was it ever awesome!! Corrugation corner, the Line, East crack just to name a few gems that we climbed. So So So fun! We stayed another 4 days in this beautiful place until it was time to head out.
10. Kayaking Lake Tahoe...before we headed to Utah, Nate and i took a rest day kayaking Lake Tahoe. We explored a bay called Emerald bay which was beyond beautiful! So So So pretty. What a fun day we had. So nice to do something different.
11. Drive through Nevada towards Utah...we found a blissful campground (which we also escaped free) in the middle of NV near Angel lake. It was so gorgeous. The drive itself was trying...nevada can be soooooooo boring. Good thing for crosswords, which is what Matt and i were completely addicted to the whole trip.
12. Uinta rock, Utah...our last stop was the high Uintas in northern Utah just outside of Salt Lake city. Awesome beautiful place. The first day was soooooo cold. But the rock was fantastic and i led my first 10 of the season, which was nice. Also climbed a total of 10 routes that day most above 10. My arms and hand were butter! It felt like alpine climbing, the surroundings were stunning! Snow everywhere and aspens and blue skies. Bliss.
The next day we climbed a different crag that was HOT. The mosquitos were almost unbearable but the climbing superb. After that we decided it was time to drive home.
13. Home sweet home...we drove that night to the Flaming River Gorge in Wyoming and spent a nice relaxing night there. The next day we took small roads all the way back to Boulder. Beautiful scenery all along the way.
Overall a stunning, fun, amazing trip. Loved being with our friends and loved all the new places.
Now i am back home. Alone. We had a nice few last days just kickin' it around town, running, riding bikes, climbing at the gym. I also got some bad news with regards to my work authorization...the saga don't end. But that's for another post.
Here is to summer!!!
