Thumbs Up Adventures

Highlights of Zion

2011-12-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

"This adventure began with the intention of climbing the hanging left facing corner two thirds of the way up the SE face. The route came close. But we should have brought a bolt kit to reach the dihedral."

- Ironically, I didn't read this guidebook description until the next day. Sometimes the best adventures are those unanticipated and unplanned ones.

Ty lured me into a trip to Zion after his solo road trip to the Southwest in May. Towering sandstone walls greeted him at each bend in the narrow canyon of the Virgin River, yet he left his rack and rope at home in Seattle. Fortunately, Zion offers more than just climbing and one can spend weeks just hiking and canyoneering. He vowed to come back in the Fall and I took the bait.

On November 17, we sped out of Vegas as fast as we arrived with a trunk full of gear. After stocking up on over-priced groceries in St. George, we arrived in Zion with enough time to get a taste of Zion rock. We warmed up on a few Indian Creek style splitters:

Squeeze Play 10a

Ty on Fathedral 10+

On our first full day, we got an early start to make use of the shorter days. Yet, it was a tad too cold, shady, and windy at the Temple of Sinawava to jump on Monkeyfinger. I'd have to test myself on the "Astroman of Zion" another day. Instead, we found a sunny aspect on the Organ below Angel's Landing. To avoid a long hike, we forded the Virgin River. Ty led the first 2 pitches of 10 Percent on rambling terrain. I then broke right on a 5.7R traverse to a perfect hands splitter left facing dihedral - the obvious objective we spotted from the car. I thought it would require wider gear, but turned out it was actually 30 meters of 2.5-3" jamming and I only had 2 No. 2 and 2 No. 3 camalots....I opted to leapfrog and downclimb/backclean, which detracted from the joyous experience just a bit. There were no signs of previous travel on the last two pitches and we wrapped up the day with an unexpected, unplanned adventure that offered the perfect taste of what Zion had to offer: a blend of splitter cracks, sandy holds, loose rock, adventurous route-finding, and beautiful scenery. Turns out, after some further research and verification, our variation was a new route as described by Bryan Bird above. We dubbed it, Thrutch to Clutch, 5.10- (5.7R), sans bolts. Here's a short of the adventure:

Back in camp, we still had high hopes for Monkeyfinger, but our daily morning ritual was to drive to the end of the canyon, check it out once again, and then find sunnier rock. Day 3 brought us to Iron Messiah, the supposed "Epinephrine" of Zion, albeit only 6-7 pitches:

Day 4...well, on day 4 we could hardly lift our arms anymore so we slept in and debated a rest day. Somehow, we opted for a 4 pitch 5.11 finger crack. It was worth it! We highly recommend Smash Mouth. Supertopo is right on in recommending 6 or more 0.5" cams - yozers! The ratings are a little off though. The breakdown was more like 10+, 10+, 11-, and 11.

Now that our arms and bodies were fully obliterated, we racked up that night for Monkeyfinger - no ifs, ands, or buts...however, the 30% chance of rain forecasted all week finally touched down in the night and all morning. Logically, we packed up and headed south to Red Rocks to squeeze in a handful of pitches in Calico Basin, including the Fox, 10d, an ever-expanding crack from thin fingers to 6" offwidth. I used 2 #4s and 2 #5s on the upper section and was sure glad to have 'em. We climbed the classic Caustic at Cannibal Crag and a couple others on the way out before checking into our room at Circus Circus for a wopping $35. With a flight out at 5pm the next day, we opted for a chill half day at the Gallery and Black Corridor. As our 6th day straight, our arms politely told us 5.10 would be the day's limit. Clipping bolts in the sun never felt better.

For those of you who have never ventured to Zion, put it at the top of your list, whether you are a climber, hiker, or canyoneering junkie. I can't wait to get back. Even when the road is visible from above, the climbing feels alpine in nature and there is something for everyone. Feed the rat!

Check out the full gallery here.

Jailhouse gets a makeover

2011-12-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

Check out the new AF blog site and our
recent blog post on the
Jailhouse Rock Adopt a Crag

* what's unsafe about the above photo? *

Hard to Say...

2011-09-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

What's not hard to say is that we had sunny skies and t-shirt weather in late September at 13,000 feet on Mt. Evans this past weekend. After a weekend with Team Mammut on Mt. Baker in full white out snow storm conditions, Dougald MacDonald and I met up again for some more cooperative alpine conditions in the Rockies.

We printed out MP beta on a few climbs but after a short scout along the base of the Tan Buttresses opposite the Black Wall, we chose a line that led to a beautiful ridgeline between Astro Goat and Musafar's Home Cookin'. We had info on Astro Goat but not Musafar's at the time.

Starting the first pitch, it was hard to say where we were going to end up, hence the name. After negotiating some loose rock at the start, I pulled over a small roof and continued up the shallow corner to another roof. I finagled some small gear below before laybacking up the arete where the crack closed off, stemming and finding just enough gear to motivate upward progression. A short traverse and splitter small hands crack led to a ledge. 5.10. So far so good.
Dougald headed up the second pitch, climbing cracks and flakes towards a steep and attractive arete above. He crossed over the arete to find a beautiful face crack. After contemplating his remaining gear, he climbed up balancy terrain to a small roof. A great find and a stellar pitch! 5.9.
After a short tiered roof of sandy horizontals, a beautiful double crack continued up ridge proper. Moderate climbing over fun flakes reminded me of the North Ridge of Stuart in the Cascades. 5.8 and its no longer hard to say, the ridge eased up and fun climbing continued ahead.

From the 4th pitch onward, we climb previously traveled ground as for Musafar's Home Cookin'. Dougald climbed a short chimney and dagger flake to gain more fun ridge climbing similar to the Flying Buttress on Meeker. Goat Food also meets back up on the ridge crest for the 5th and final low-fifth ridge traverse.

Hard to Say, 5 pitches, 5.10, ground up trad (in blue)

Its 1:45, still sunny, and there is plenty of time to get back to town for a fun evening out. Cary Granite, Road Warrior, and Good Evans looked amazing and I can't wait to take another trip to climb on Mt. Evans.

In fact, Arun and I took a leisurely tour the next day, taking photos of Summit Lake, an 1000+ year old stand of Bristlecone pines, Echo Lake, and aspen stands on the way back down:

New Explorations on the West Side

2011-08-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Remember Jason's post about skiing a likely first descent of Caterpillar Couloir on Mt. Alice? After Jason crushed me on a 24 mile day of carrying skis and skinning deep into the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, I was psyched to head back up East Inlet and explore its granite faces.

After the massive AK-esq cornices finally melted in the hot summer months, it was time to cash in my backcountry camping permit the weekend of August 12. While I wasn't Jason's best choice for a big ski trip, I needed a climbing partner who was willing to hike more than 8 miles to climb, cross a few log jams, jump on an alpine climb sans topo, and run it out a bit because "honey badger don't give a shit."

So, we opted on the attractive granite tower of Aiguilles de Fleur. We didn't know the name of the peak nor its handful of routes until after the trip, but we selected a corner along the right side of tiered roofs. After 2 60m rope stretchers and a short 3rd pitch of moderate climbing, we were at the base of the corner. Three short and wide roof cracks lined the way. I bypassed the last roof on a hand traverse out right to avoid loose rock. By the time I topped out, I was coated from my toes to ears in a fine layer of lichen and wished I packed goggles.

Nonetheless, we topped out on a grassy summit of wildflowers (hence the name, "Flower Tower") after climbing 4 pitches ground-up onsight trad at 5.9+ with the afternoon to spare. We have reached out to a number of climbers who have explored the western side of the Park in the last few decades to verify route history of the area. Our route is likely an FA, but it was the adventure and lack of beta that drew us there. We will not be giving the route a fancy name or more than one star, but for those keen on an adventure, the massive roofs to the left offer some new potential hard free/aid lines.

Afterwards, we explored another unknown route on the main east face after descending a gulley via a short rap (a sun-bleached cord was in place). A beautiful corner crack on impeccable granite was the main attraction, yet it blanked out 300 ft up the face. A few discontinuous flakes near it gained higher ground but also blanked out far below a roof. We decided to check it out for the hell of it and climbed 2 pitches of flawless rock, yet the cracks were filled in with hard dirt and grass. After we reached the first fixed anchor, we called it quits since it appeared to die out and we did not have a hammer to check the pins or a brush out the cracks.

We headed back, dipped our feet in Lake Verna, and threw a few casts to eager trout. With our main objective complete, neither of us had the motivation to explore another route, so we opted for some fly fishing instead. The trout were plentiful, albeit small.

I highly recommend folks to drive the extra hour to explore the western slopes of RMNP - less crowds, lush vegetation, and solitude. All the camping above Lone Lake are single group sites. The only thief stealing your food while you're out taking care of business will be the resident fox.

The log crossing and "bushwack" up to Aiguilles de Fleur

Impressive view of the tower and its lower slabs

Topo of our route, "Eastern roofs" (5.9+ Grade II) and the unknown and potentially unfinished line on the main east face

The impressive tiers of roofs - our line followed the orange left facing corner

Jason following the first pitch (5.6)

Jason making his own path up the 2nd pitch (5.8)

A short 5.7 pitch brought us to the base of the corner

Joe on the final 5.9+ pitch - solid pro but pretty dirty

Summit panorama from Aiguilles de Fleur

Looking up the corner of pins from our high point on the unknown line - beautiful, steep granite!Fishing rocks don't get better than this!

At the inlet to Lake Verna - alpine sandy beaches at their best
A tree in the sandy isthmus at the inlet of Lake Verna

South Africa video finally complete!

2011-07-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Arun and I captured thousands of photos and a fair amount of video during our journey around South Africa: bouldering at Rocklands, wine tasting outside Cape Town, craziness at World Cup games, driving along the Wild Coast, safaring at Kruger National Park, exploring the history of Johannesburg, and much more. We narrowed it all down to 12 minutes, so sit back, take a break from work or enjoy a beer on your couch.

Its full HD so if its streaming slow, deselect HD. Enjoy!

South Africa 2010 from Joe Sambataro on Vimeo.

Lost my shirt

2011-06-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Arun retrieving a stuck rope rappelling off Young and Rackless, a fun 5.9 4-pitch climb, with Leici...go Arun!

Its summer in Boulder, which means I may be inclined to climb without a shirt on occasion. I bet you've never seen me climb in shorts though - I'm too much of a trady at heart to not bang up my knees scumming up a climb.

But yesterday was the first time I lost my shirt. Luckily, a crumpled pile of cotton did not add to the climber micro-trash of tape - Marc and RD kindly picked it up on their way out. I drove the hour+ drive home weaving through the farms and estates of the front range shirtless and feeling free. I won't forget the look on my neighbor's face when I said I lost my shirt. I can crack myself up sometimes. Apart from the occasional sufferfest (see Jason's post on Mt Alice ski trip here), I've been enjoying the daily swing of trail runs and sport climbing.

18 miles down, 6 to go in the East Inlet of RMNP

Here are a small handful of photos from some start-of-the-summer trips:

Paul cruising up Empire of the Fenceless at Easter

Zach on his way to sending The Ticket

Hiking the meadows below Lumpy

RD getting us started at the Monastery

Marc on the fabulous Tabula Rasa

Me enj0ying the moves high on the pillar

Quite a ride

2011-06-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

...on the Joy Ride!

10 months and 6 trips to Coney Island later, I convinced Arun to meet me at work for a quick trip up the canyon. The weather was stellar and the route would be in the shade, but I couldn't convince a partner to get on it with me; others had Easter Island, Oceanic Wall, and Sherwood Forest on the mind. I made it clear it was Coney Island or bust for me. I felt good after working The Ticket on Saturday and climbing the full Naked Edge on Sunday with Mr. Briggs. We swapped leads - I led the first pitch clean (wahoo!) and followed Roger on the spicy chimney pitch - a classic climb with a classic guy!

First a little more history on why I became obsessed with the Joy Ride. On my first try with Jason last August, I didn't get to the last bolt on my first attempt - two sections were super reachy. I didn't even get it clean on TR, but the moves were awesome, the foot skills super technical, and the rock just fine. We went back with Shane a week later and both Shane and Jason style the RP and show me how its done.

Shane cranking the first crux move over the roof

Jason agreed to feed my need the next week and we headed back. Despite a poor state of mind, I jump on it a second time. The roof move is now on cruise control and I finally figured out a short dude's sequence for the reachy move at the 4th bolt. After sticking the 3rd and final crux, I blow the clip attempting to lock off and reach high. My forearm juice crystalizes and I take the fall after 5 minutes of deliberation. Ideally, I would have made a few more moves and clipped it higher, but my fear of falling was too great. I was climbing it for the wrong reasons.

Long story short, I developed a shoulder injury, initiated PT, and associated the climb with my shoulder pain, so I shelved it for the year. 7 months later, I returned to it before my trip to the Ruth Gorge and knew I had to change my approach: not to get to the top clean or tick it off the list, but for the personal growth it would bring. On an early May return with Brendan, I climbed it with one hang between cruxes when my fingers went numb. With the lack of a good warmup in sub-70 temps, my fingers had no chance.

With my lovely fiance at the belay this evening, I head up with the idea of warming up, taking a practice fall, and hanging the draws. As I step off the ground, I let out my usual flatulence, but this time I let it fly a little too far. With some TP and hand sanitizer on hand (thanks hun), the damage was manageable. A few minutes later, I was depressurized and back on the climb with my mojo unfettered. I kept thinking I would take a fall or a hang as part of a warmup run, but the moves came together and the fingers did not fall asleep. Soon enough I was on the ledge. At this point, I let the pump in my right arm subside and worked out the upper crux moves in my head. But the anticipation returned and a rising heart rate sneaked up on me. Boulder Creek raged below and I realized that if the water could flow so easily (along with my flatulence), why couldn't I. Arun smiled up, I embarked, struggled a bit with the sequence but committed and hit the jug. Instead of reaching high and blowing the clip, I made a couple more 5.10 moves and clipped the bolt at my thigh. I reached the anchors, called it a day with a huge grin, and we drove back to town to shop for our future kitten. Thanks for all the good vibes everyone!

PSYCHED!

To the Ruth Gorge and back

2011-05-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

[Apologies for the re-post - blogger is decisively the worst online software I have ever worked with - it deleted the post and messes with your formatting all the time)

Lessons in defining success

After 2 years of negotiations and raising nearly $1 million in funds to conserve a thousand acre property, we awaited a signed purchase agreement, only to discover that, instead, the landowners went under contract with a developer to parcel out their land amidst some of the best salmon habitat in the Pacific Northwest. Who ever thought salmon could bring someone to tears? Well, it did, and it was an important lesson in land conservation. Just the same as the countless scores of alpine attempts, “takes,” and minor injuries which fill our climbing lives with erratic waves of success and failure.

But what really defines success in the mountains? How can we justify decisions to bail or head back and yet carry a lingering feeling of regret? How do we slay the ego-centric dragon and focus on real “success” – personal growth and learning, coming home in one piece, two weeks with one of your best mates?

Late in the afternoon, nearing the summit ridge on the Northeast Face of Dickey, Graham reaches an impasse out of my view from the belay. After a short discussion, we proceed to bail and make 7 raps on a series of pitons, nuts, flakes and snow bollards. GZ never felt so good about the decision he made – no other thoughts got in his way.

On our attempt of Barrill, another snow storm, avalanche, and above-freezing temps send us back to the safety of basecamp. With an inversion over our heads and a forecast of unsettled weather, we retrieve our fixed line the next day and take the next weather window to fly out 3 days early. Graham was comfortable about the decision; I was sad to leave. Yet, on my shuttle back to Anchorage, Graham called to tell me about the serac that slid into the Root Canal basecamp from Mooses Tooth and killed an unfortunate climber from Texas. “Those mountains were the most dangerous I’ve ever seen them,” said Graham.

I was beginning to understand. Chris’ copy of The Rock Warrior’s Way frayed at the edges as I flipped through its pages at camp and Ilgner’s words of wisdom filtered through to my subconscious. The lessons learned here will carry forward to my projects back home. “Joy Ride” will be just that, not a nemesis. After ten years of climbing, the lessons and learning are just as vivid and real as my first scramble or first trad lead. It’s the journey, not the summit or the redpoint, that we need to embrace.

Alaska was an incredible experience. Our trip was a success. Graham and I climbed some amazing, high quality pitches of ice, mixed, and snow. We took calculated risks and acted out our decisions confidently and efficiently. We climbed strong and threaded together some mentally and physically challenging pitches. We chowed down on “deancakes” and burritos while listening to solar-powered ipods. We shared quality bro time together. And I learned just how small we are compared to the expansive Ruth Glacier and its 3,000 to 5,000 foot faces. Graham and I started our adventures together over ten years ago and we have both grown and come back together as stronger people and climbers.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip. For the complete photo journal, visit:

http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~don/pictures/v/friends/joe/joe_climbing/joe_ruthgorge/
(copy and paste link if it does not work)

At Talkeetna Air Taxi, GZ carting over half our 461 lb load of gear and food

Landing in Rick's Beaver ski plane

On a scouting trip to see whats in - so close yet so far

Denali

Cheers from basecamp! Barrill on the left

The Mooses Tooth

Our attempt of a potential new line on the NE Face of Dickey

Starting up a beautiful runnel of ice

More fun terrain

GZ topping out a short step

GZ backstepping up a narrow v-slot

Me topping out the v-slot below

A couple pitches later, GZ negotiated up some runout M5+ only to find a 30ft blank section with no pro and a loosely consolidated snow mushroom above. We bailed and a snow storm came in for the next 4 days.

Happy Easter from the Ruth Gorge! Bradley plastered in fresh snow

Our attempt on the NE Face of Barrill

GZ belaying the first pitch

Inching up the narrow M6 squeeze chimney

The chimney ate up so much time that we opted to fix a line and come back the next morning ready to send!

Graham starting up a beautiful pitch of tiered ice

Another thin vertical step

The crux of the climb - a vertical arete of rock plastered with dollops of ice. Just at the top, with his head above the lip, an avalanche hit, pounding Graham with snow, ice, and rock for a good 20 seconds as he held on 15 feet above his last stubby screw.

Me on the next pitch of snow and ice

With warming temps and greater snowfall, we called it a day and wrapped down

Graham prepping another meal of salami burritos

Our fellow basecamp buddies, Andrew and Claudine

With unsettled weather and an inversion, we opted to fly out early

Parting shot - we'll be back to the Ruth for sure!

Off to AK in T-1 Days!

2011-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I feel like the only way to prep for Alaska is to just go to Alaska. Nonetheless, Colorado has been the backdrop for all my training and prep along with a quick visit to Southern California, Hueco, and the Red River Gorge. Bouldering and steep sandstone equates to long mixed climbs in the Ruth Gorge yeah? I'll let you know.

Jason was kind enough to donate his raffle prize of a free month to Alpine Training Center, where Connie whipped me into shape and I finally got an idea of what Chris has been up to the last 14 months:

Lots of sandbag carries, push presses, ball slams, and slashers. I got schooled on work-outs like the airdyne, turkish getups, and farmer carries. Towards the end of my month, Connie tailored it for AK. Good times! Not only did it get my legs stronger and my forearms pumped, it worked a lot of my opposing muscle groups we climbers tend to neglect. I may pick it up later in the summer to help prevent overuse injuries from climbing, especially my shoulders.

A couple trips to Hessie Chimney with Jason and Blake helped keep my dry tooling in tune. Luckily it was fat this season and, all in all, it is as quality and classic as any winter climb in the Park:
Doug "Show me how to Dougie" Shepherd helped prep me for the trip with a winter attempt of the Diamond. The forecast called for sunny skies but 60-mph SW winds. We took our chances, headed up at 4am, and after hiking through some heavy gusts, the wind died down below the sheltering walls of Long Peak's giant east face. The approach to North Chimney from Mills Lake was a snow slog and Doug led the first block of getting up and over to the base of D7. The fresh snow slowed us down but, hey, what better training can you get for AK! The last slabbey stretch of the Chimney required Doug to shed his gloves and make some committing moves. Broadway was in rare form - steep walls of snow made the usual cake walk more interesting:

My block was to aid D7 and our late afternoon start meant only a few hours of light before I would be aiding upwards in the dark. Under the narrow view of my headlamp, I made slow but steady progress from piece to piece on straightforward A1 with the occasional balancing act traversing ledges in my double boots. But, it didn't feel right the entire time and I kept looking for the D7 crux I remembered from the summer of 2009. I figured any vertical gain brought us closer to the summit and the "super moon" encouraged me on. 4-5 pitches up by 2:00 am in the morning, I called down to Doug. The uncertainty of being on or off route, plus our tired bodies, brought me to rap down to Doug and take a break for food, water, and rest at a hanging belay. My down pants, Phantom 6000 double boots, and puffy jacket kept me just warm enough with the occasional leg pumps to get blood past my constricting harness. After a round of water and soupy Ramen, the MSR Reactor pot handle broke off, sailing into the darkness and ending our supply of new water. It's 4:00 am and Doug gives his first aid pitch a go. Swallows swooped by the belay and I dozed off in between feeding out rope and looking behind my back at the horizon, waiting anxiously for the sun to rise to warm my body. The Diamond's granite face eventually began to glow in the morning sun and we savored the moment. After jugging up to Doug, we realized we were at the base of the last pitch of Black Dagger, with a rotten, broken seam and chimney higher above. With no water and no cam hooks, we opted to rap down, where the stove pot waited on the deep snow of Broadway. The rap off Broadway provided more entertainment as nearly all of the rap stations were buried in snow.

Let me sum this up: incredible experience, great partner, brutal, and awesome at the same time. 35.5 hours car-to-car without a proper bivy and sleep - my longest single push in the mountains.

After a trip to the Red River Gorge heal-hooking up huecos, Doug convinced me to take one last alpine trip. This time it wouldn't be a day and a half outing - just a pre-work jaunt up Brain Freeze on Mt. Otis in the Park. Both Doug and I had climbed the route in 2010 so we planned to simul climb as much as possible. Doug took the first block, simuling through the unusually fat Changing Corners and all the way to the chockstone. From there, I linked two pitches out of the chimney system. 9:15 am. We skipped the short final step and rapped down so I could get back for half a day of work. I'm not sure it counts as morning alpinism if I got in at 1pm, but hey, it was another awesome morning in the mountains:

So Alaska here we come. Graham and I are super excited. I'm glad he is finally back from Eritrea, Africa - it was hard to plan for Alaska when your partner can only reach you via satellite phone. We are fully geared up and I just need to pack up tonight. And I couldn't ask for a better partner - Graham and I began our adventures together 10 years ago when he was 14 and I was 18. Since then, we have gone off on our own paths and repeatedly come back together from time to time to "stir the rad pot."

Sunday, we fly into the Ruth on Talkeetna Air to do a little window shopping. We will set up camp on the main Ruth Glacier and, weather pending, explore some new lines!

Thanks for all the support everyone! - especially Arun as I run off on missions into the mountains and chase my obsessions.

Rock Romance in Hueco Tanks, Texas

2011-02-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

Brought to you by guest blogger Leici Hendrix!

It all started with Meatless Monday, our weekly get-together with Joe and Arun. Over delicious vegetarian food, we planned our Valentine’s Day adventure to Hueco Tanks in El Paso, Texas. Hueco Tanks is a world-famous bouldering area known for its unique hollowed out features that hold water during the dry season.

We decided to take Joe’s Honda Passport on its sunset voyage and piled into the car for an all-nighter. We arrived at the Hueco Rock Ranch early Friday morning, ready for a day on North Mountain. Hueco Tanks is an access sensitive area—there are restrictions on how many people can be in an area at any given time. Reservations or guided tours are required, so it can be difficult to navigate on your first visit. After watching an informative video about the history of the park, we were off to Warm Up Boulder.

A few warm-up problems later, we decided to head over to the Potatoes at the top of the chains and ended up at the Grenade boulder to work the classic V2 “Nobody here gets out alive.” This was one of my favorite problems of the trip. The opening moves require intense heel-hooking action on perfect rock.

Leici spots Arun on a big move

We ended our day with a trip to the sunny New Meadow. There were plenty of quality moderates to be found. Joe and Ben even found a project, Lobster Claw (V5), that they’ll return to one day.

Joe traverses a quality V1

We left in search of good Mexican food and margaritas. Unfortunately, we found bad Mexican food and margaritas that were actually just shots of tequila. Lack of sleep caught up with us and we eagerly crawled into our beds at the Rock Ranch.

The next morning, we woke up to warmer weather and headed out to The Morgue on North Mountain. T-Bone Shuffle (V4) caught Joe’s eye. After his attempt at an onsight, Ben and Joe took turns working the classic line.

Ben working the crux

I’d heard good things about the Gymnasium, so we hiked to the top of the chains and squeezed Joe’s new Mondo through a small slot in the rock. The Gym is chock full of highball, hueco-covered warm-ups. We climbed leisurely and soaked up the sun for a few hours.

View of the Gymnasium

Lunch in the sun fueled our search for what most consider one of the best boulder problems in Hueco Tanks—Ghetto Simulator (V2). As Joe said, it was a hike “for a boulderer.”

It’s more like a route

We decided to call it a day and hiked back to the car. Arun volunteered to make yummy Indian food for dinner, so Joe cracked a bottle of wine and we relaxed at the ranch. As Arun was finishing up dinner, Joe decided to force the pressure cooker open because he was too hungry to wait. At least, that’s my version of the story. Lentils and veggies exploded all over the kitchen, covering everyone and everything in sight. Fortunately, Arun forgave Joe (thanks to the chocolate, heart-shaped cake that Joe presented to her earlier in the evening) and there was enough food left in the pot to have an awesome dinner.

Arun and Joe in happier times

A guided tour in East Mountain was on the agenda for Sunday. Our guide, Cory, led us to Kid’s Stuff, where we played around on easy warm-ups with fun heel hooks and big huecos.

Me, being awesome

Cory led us over to Dragon’s Den, where we got on all of the classics—Ostracizer (V3), Hobbit in a Blender (V5), Satan, Satan, Satan (V1), and Dragonfly (V5).

Leici on Ostracizer

Joe’s proud send of Hobbit in a Blender

Ben’s last minute send on Dragonfly

East Mountain is also full of pictographs from Native American tribes that inhabited the area around Hueco Tanks. Cory took us to see a few of the drawings, along with Hueco Tank’s only year-round water source.

A well-preserved pictograph in East Mountain

Before leaving Hueco Tanks, we headed over to Warm-Up Roof and climbed a few more problems. Exhausted, we drove back to the ranch and packed up to head to Albuquerque. On our way out, we finally found amazing (and cheap!!) Mexican food at a tiny little place inside a meat market.

Hilarious group photo

Thanks to Arun and Joe for fun times and an awesome weekend of bouldering in Texas!

Ode to my Passport

2011-02-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, its just a conglomeration of steel and plastic, but I've been driving the Honda Passport since I was 16! That's...42% of my life! All in all, I have 195,000 miles on the SUV and its taken me to and through 26 states.

I drove an '88 Civic Hatchback for the first 8 months of my driving life - tinted the windows, added a chrome exhaust pipe, and squeezed in a 4.5 foot wide subwoofer. It was fun too and, dare say, I caused a lot of trouble in it after soccer practices "getting pizza" when I was really getting a cart of eggs. Nuph said.

Then my folks wanted me in a "safer" car with airbags and the such, so they handed me down the 95.5 Passport. It didn't have the high schooler zip I sought after, but it only took me a nanosecond to realize I could fly up icy dirt roads at 60 mph and skid around steep corners on my way to the trailhead for an Adventure Club outing. Maybe making the 14-year-old freshmans nearly piss their pants in the back seat made me evil, but I enjoyed it.

Let me just preface and say I've never been in a moving vehicle accident with that car. It's been rock solid and so has my driving record. Except for when I ripped off someone's bumper with the 12-foot long Uhaul trying to move my crap from Seattle to Boulder. But that was the Uhaul's fault, not mine. And I've only hit non-moving obstacles, like trees, rocks, and parked minivans. Also neither the Passport's nor my fault.

So why this memoir? The repair bills sky-rocketed to keep it going and I had just about driven it to the ground. So I traded it in, but it seems sacrilegious to talk about the new car on the block. Only time will tell if it will provide as many memories as the Passport.

I won't bore you with a 12-year narrative, but here are a few photo-documented highlights:

My first big road trip - Erich and I took a post-high school graduation trip driving down the Pacific coastline from WA to SoCal, skimboarding and camping along the way:

Just one of the gnarly approaches required for reaching trailheads in the Cascades - thank you Passport for kicking ass:

Courtney and I camping out at the Gorge for the first Sasquatch Festival in 2002:

Erich joined me the next year when I drove the Passport from Seattle to New York in one 45 hour push. This is what I remember from the trip:

Steve and I looking grungy after two weeks of climbing through Wyoming on my return voyage from my sophomore year at Cornell:

Summer of 04 I hit the 100k mark on a trip to Cannon Beach, OR, my favorite camping spot. My all-time road trip partner, Erich, was appropriately there to enjoy this moment:
Final cross-country road trip from NY to WA with Gerry, where we met up with Vijay on his trip back east for a few days of climbing at City of Rocks, ID:

I soloed the drive to the Bugaboos trailhead to meet Kyle, Brian, and Jeff for a week of climbing. The chicken wire is porcupine protection:
Mt. Shasta on my move from Seattle to Colorado in 2009. I stopped in Malibu to pick up Arun "on the way" and got an average of 12 mpg with that Uhaul in tow:

On a romantic Valentines Day trip with Arun to Wyoming when the temps were subzero:

Hat's off pal, you'll be missed

But kiwis don't fly

2011-02-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

Uno: My sister had a baby girl! Samantha Noelle Rush: 6 lbs 12 ounces and healthy:

Dos: American Alpine Journal posted a report by Blake Herrington on our route Flight of the Kiwi from August 2010 found here:

Tres: Its been a fun mix of ice and rock climbing in the last month - here are a few highlights:

Arun's first ice climb at Ouray!

Jason leading Cabin Fever in Cody, WYJason on the beautiful ice of Wyoming Wave above Cabin Fever

Chris and Doug heading up the final rambling pitches of Sendero to join the party, Cody

Echo Cliffs, Santa Monica Mountains
SoCal Bouldering
Serpentine on Weeping Wall at Tahquitz and Suicide - slabalicious!

South Africa Photos Finally Posted

2011-01-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Its long overdue, we know, but below is a link to the final photo gallery of our South Africa Trip. At some point, we will make a short video too. Enjoy:

South Africa Photos

An Engagement to Remember

2011-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

2011 could not have started off in any better way! The BIG news? Joe and I got engaged! While women always dream of a "perfect" way of being proposed to, in my opinion, no moment is as perfect as the actual moment itself...

We began our weekend with a trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to celebrate New Year's Eve with our dear friends from Boulder. A nice cabin in the woods, wonderful company, lots of delicious, home-cooked meals, and let's not forget the drinks! All of it topped off with very cold mornings and absolutely frigid (-8 degrees F) nights.

All in all, we would not have wanted our special moment to happen in any other way - surrounded by close friends, beautiful mountains and the perfect winter weekend. Oh, you want to know how it happened?? Well, you're just going to have to give us that personal phone call to find out the details. Let's just say that I was completely and very pleasantly blindsided by love on the morning of January 1, 2011 (1/1/11) while snowshoeing at Fish Creek Falls. So much so, that even the night before, I jokingly said out loud to our group that "my New Year's resolution is going to be to get engaged!". Needless to say, everyone thought my projection was very bold and was reflected by a group "Ohh!!". Our friend Mary, added "I'm getting a bit nervous!!" as she fluttered hands near her face. Thankfully, most of our friends were as clueless about the proposal the next day as I was.

So, of course, Joe, I and our families and friends are all extremely excited! We will take this year to thoroughly plan for the wedding. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these pictures from our engagement weekend, January 2011!

Joe and I at our cabin in Steamboat Springs

Our Boulder crew: Pete, Mary, Sam, Joe, Arun, Jason, Becky & Chris (counterclockwise)

Enjoying a celebratory glass of champagne after the proposal!

Joe and I continue on our lovely snowshoe journey along Fish Creek Falls

My "Happy" moment in a plume of snow, making snow angels

Beautiful pillows and plumes of powdered snow

Tada! The absolutely beautiful ring, custom designed by Joe

The ring: conflict-free gems - a ruby from Madagascar and six diamonds - with a white gold band with "beading"

Taking in the wintry scenery of bare aspens and puffs of powdered snow

The stunning ring against the white snow

Snowshoeing at Zimmerman Lake on Cameron Pass

Viva, Red Rocks (and Vegas, of course)!

2010-11-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

Joe and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Red Rocks, with lovely company, our friends Leici and Ben. It was my first time climbing in Red Rocks and cruising the Vegas strip. Thanks to Leici and Ben, we were able to meet some great folks from Salt Lake City - Jon, Erin and Mike - who made the long drive to join us in our adventures in "Sin" City. Thankfully for me, the only things we really lusted for was the fabulous climbing and the ever-frugal "yard dogs", the best and cheapest way to get a buzz, while strutting the strip. By the time you start at Fat Tuesdays in the Miracle Mile Mall and end up on the other end of the strip at the Wynn Hotel, you'll be happily buzzed and very hungry.

Joe and I in front of the Vegas Eiffel Tower

That's pretty much how our first night in Vegas started. By the time we deplaned and arrived at the hotel, we were all starving. I really wanted to check out the strip, so we decided, well, why not? I was under the impression that we would first get dinner, followed by drinks. I was very wrong. Needless to say, we didn't get dinner ‘til midnight...

Ben, Leici, Joe and Jon during our exploration of the Strip

We started our second day, climbing at the Magic Bus area of Red Rocks. We jumped on a couple of 5.8 and 5.9 routes that had nice face holds - perfect for me! I realized one thing about getting to climbs in Red Rocks - it's never as easy as it looks. I had quite a workout during the four days that we spent there, mostly from the approaches. Lots of climbing over big boulders, occasional jumping across smaller slot canyons, etc.

Leici belaying Joe up a 5.8 sport route on Magic Bus

Joe on the 5.8 route on Magic Bus

Arun on the 5.8 route

After Magic Bus, Leici and Ben decided to take us to the Black Corridor, a really cool slot canyon, with tons of routes ranging from 5.9 to 5.12a. I decided to take pictures and occasionally seek out the sun since it gets really cold in that part of the canyon. Joe, Ben, Leici and Jon got on some classic climbs, including Nightmare on Crude Street, a 5.10d up a series of huecos, and Rebel without a Pause, a bouldery 11b.

Leici, Ben, Joe and Jon in the Black Corridor

Jon on a cool, bouldery climb

Joe on another bouldery climb with cool huecos

A busy cragging day at Black Corridor

Leici working Friend (5.10d)

We ended our climbing day with some delicious Japanese food, off the strip, where we met up with Jason and Chris on their own Vegas-Red Rocks extravaganza – check it out here: http://zclipped.com/?p=196

Joe always gets super stoked to take me on multi-pitch moderate climbs; it was no different this time around except one thing – no cracks! Joe had been raving for months that I would absolutely love the climbs in Red Rocks since a lot of them have great face holds. Give me face holds over cracks any day (shh…don’t tell Joe!). On our third day, we decided to climb Olive Oil on Rose Tower – four pitches of moderate (5.7) trad route. From the night before, Jason and Chris warned us that the last bit of the approach would require some creative maneuvering around large boulders, prickly bushes, and tunneling through hard spaces. By the time we arrived at the base of the climb, my heart rate was elevated and my thighs were screaming with pain.

Arun on Olive Oil (5.7)

There was a party ahead of us that was moving a little to slow for us. Usually it’s Joe, who wants to overtake slower parties en route. Surprisingly, even for me, this time I was the one who was itching to get on and hustle through this climb. As Joe had predicted for months, I ended loving this climb. I felt confident and strong, and the exposure actually didn’t bother me. The last pitch consisted of a narrow chimney, which in retrospect, I must have made way narrower. There were points where I was literally stuck. I suppose that’s one way to get over my fear of falling! I really enjoyed climbing the chimney pitch, a pleasant surprise to Joe.

Arun and Joe on top of Olive Oil climb, a few hours before sunset

A successful climbing day with Joe encouraged me to get a “Yard dog” of my own that night! Erin and Mike joined our outing to strip this time. Some of the night’s highlights included a poor gambling attempt at The Bellagio Hotel, Joe having to vigorously convince the group about a waterfall, apparently under which we could walk, and a foiled attempt to go dancing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The water fountain in front of the Bellagio Hotel, programmed to "dance" to a selection of classic songs

(From top left) Leici, Jon, Mike (hiding), Erin, Ben, Arun and Joe. Our half attempt at gambling: Joe lost $3 and Jon lost $10.

Arun and I are playing some blog post tag so I'm taking over from here. After another fun night, the 6 of us headed up to the Gallery for more fun bolt clipping. We started out on a couple 5.10 face climbs on the left side of the wall. The crimps and small, in-cut flakes offered some fun, pumpy climbing at the grade. However, the crowds soon overcame the area and a line formed for the classic 12a Fear and Loathing steep jug haul.

Joe giving it a go on the Gift (5.12c)

In an attempt to get on Yaak Crack in the meantime, I threw my rope down below the Gift (12c), thinking it was the 11c I was looking for. With a little encouragement from Erin, Leici, and Arun, I jumped on it but obviously lacked the right head space...maybe I don’t trust permadraws, traverses or steep climbs? Either way, I didn't make it look fun enough for Erin to climb (crush) it. Despite the half attempt, I joined the crew for a single round on Fear and Loathing.

Joe working Fear and Loathing

Despite the hangs, I really enjoyed the climbing and will be coming back some day for the RP. After wishing farewell to Mike and Erin, we searched out Mediterranean food and my first hookah.

Wrapping up climbing for the day and wishing Erin and Mike a warm farewell

Last day - fourth day of climbing, with two nights of yard dogs, was taking its toll. Yet, we had another canyon to explore on the other side of Kraft Mountain. We hiked by some popular bouldering spots and I pointed out pictographs and agave roasting pits along the way, from the archaeology tour that I had taken during the Climbing Management Conference. Not all of us were enjoying the long hike in, but everyone was enjoying the quietness compared to previous busy days and the beautiful desert oasis.

Joe leading Mr. Choad's Wild Ride (5.11b)

After some searching, we finally made it to Sunny and Steep. Despite the blazing sun, I got super excited about jumping on Mr. Choad's Wild Ride, an 11b, 105-foot bolted climb. It was full on (no grid bolting here) sustained and super technical, despite the occasional rest. "Slopey crimpers" was a common descriptor for many of the holds. Ward Smith from Massachusetts developed the area, taking the time to install glue-in, eye bolts, which will stand the test of time compared to regular expansion bolts. Needless to say, Ward and friends established a fine route. While others climbed a not-so-classic 5.9, I took two hangs on lead. After seeing a lonely set of rap bolts and reading that it was over 100 feet long, I belayed Ben up so that he could belay Leici.

Ben following on Mr. Choad!

Coming down to seek shade, I warned Leici that it would be a finisher to our day, the entire trip, and our sore bodies.

Moonrise over the Kraft Mountain area

We wrapped up the trip with another round at Ronald’s before grabbing a burrito and catching our plane. There will definitely be a repeat of Red Rocks - Vegas hooligans in 2011 - stay tuned!

Sunset and moonrise as we hike out, on our final day at Red Rocks

Final Days in South Africa - history making of all sorts in Jozi

2010-07-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

As we set forth to Johannesburg, I secretly wished that somehow, magically, we could extend our time in South Africa. Alas, that didn't happen. But we had a marvelous time during our stay in the city. Let us tell you right away that at no point did we ever feel unsafe in Johannesburg. We were smart travelers. We stayed away from the few neighborhoods reputed to be unsafe, and enjoyed to the fullest extent the rest of city and surrounding areas. Our first day in Johannesburg was quite hectic as it was game day. We drove in from Nelspruit, checked in with our host family, and promptly left for the game. We managed to get lost and head in the opposite direction of the stadium, thanks to Ricardo (our hostess, Karen's GPS system). Thankfully, we arrived at the park & ride with sufficient time and were in our seats 15 minutes before game time. I won't enlighten you too much with our collective feelings regarding the outcome of the Italy vs. Slovakia game, except that we hope that the refs are sleeping with fishes.

Italy vs. Slovakia at Ellis Park Stadium in Joburg

Right after Italy's first goal, the Slovakian goalie decided to
sit with the ball in the corner of the net, setting off a minor
fist fight as the Italian goal scorer attempted to recover the
ball.

In our final days in South Africa, we explored all that Johannesburg had to offer. A lot of history has been made here in Johannesburg, the most recent- losses of Italy and France in the first round, thus making it the first time in history where both finalists from the previous World Cup were unable to progress further in the tournament. A more significant history, occurred at the Cradle of Human Kind, a rural area outside of Johannesburg, which has produced an incredible number of fossils critical to the evolutionary history of mankind. At the Cradle, we visited the Sterkfontein Caves, a massive, 20-million-year-old cave that is the excavation site of the world's largest collection of hominid fossils. The small openings of this underground crave proved quite dangerous to small ancestors of modern humans, as they frequently fell into the cave unknowingly and died there. A combination of limestone, mud, and other mineral deposits formed the perfect preserving material for these fossils for millions of years. The two most noted fossils are that of Mrs. Ples and Little Foot. Both are of the species Australopithecus africanus, a distant cousin and precursor to the modern human which date between 2 and 3 million years old. Little Foot, a near-complete skeleton, was discovered most recently in the late 90s and other fossils are still being discovered to this day, making the cave one of the longest standing archaeological digs ever.

Sterkfontein Caves

Statue of the professor who discover "Mrs. Ples" - legend
has it if you rub the professor's nose, you'll get luck, and if
you rub the fossil's head, then you'll get wisdom.

As we returned to Johannesburg in the afternoon, we ended our history lesson for the day on a more somber note by visiting the Apartheid Museum. At the entrance, Joe and I were randomly assigned a color; Joe was "white" and I was a "non-white". Jokingly we tried to change our fates by re-selecting cards, only to end up with the same outcome, three chances later. The Apartheid Museum is an excellent place to learn in-depth about the history, progression, and the violent struggle against apartheid in South Africa and its impact on world human history. We highly recommend a visit to this extensive exhibit.

An exhibit at the Apartheid Museum
featuring generations of certain families
that played a critical role in the history
of apartheid

The following day we completed our history lesson by visiting the township of Soweto (short for Southwestern Township). Traditionally reputed for housing the largest number of impoverished, discriminated against, and disenfranchised black South Africans, Soweto was the battleground for South Africa's anti-apartheid movements in the late 1970's. Home to the first uprisings in 1976, where black South African schoolchildren and youth protested against the integration of Afrikaan as the primary medium of education, Soweto fell victim to the devastating massacre of innocent children and youth that lasted over six months. More than 500 children were murdered during this period. Today, Soweto is world-renowned as the home of anti-apartheid activists, political leaders, and Nobel Laureates, Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. One cannot visit South Africa, specifically the Johannesburg area, without learning the incredible history that was made here, which even today continues to play a crucial role in the development of global race relations.

A mixture of poor and middle class homes in Soweto

Residents washing clothes in the poorer settlements of Soweto

Children from the poor settlements came to sing for our tour
group

Sunday mass at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto - a
historical place where the first services for the dead children
of the 1976 uprisings took place

All in all, we were saddened to leave South Africa, but vowed to each other that certainly we would return. We are thrilled to have embarked on this remarkable, enlightening, and beautiful journey together. The people and places of South Africa are inspiring and incredible. Yet, we have still so much left to experience and see, and even more rock to climb! We will forever remember the spirit of sharing the World Cup with people from across the globe, making new friends at Rocklands, and those special moments - cheering our hearts out for Italy, feeling the comforting warmth of a huge campfire and playing cards with Thomas, stumbling onto a herd of giraffes in front of our Kia, and ending our journey with the quintessential Saturday afternoon braii (bbq) with our host family in Johannesburg. There are entirely too many special moments to write of, but we will do our best to share them with you in person and hold them dearly in our hearts.

A true South African braii with our host family in Johannesburg

Watching the US vs. Ghana game with our new English mates
at Nelson Mandela Square in Joburg

Crazy stuff happened...but we won't tell you here!

2010-06-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

After the wild drive, beautiful beaches, and delicious Indian food along South Africa's Wild Coast, Joe and I started our journey inland toward Nelspruit and Kruger National Park. Exhausted already from the extensive drive, Joe and I found comfort in knowing that this leg of our journey was going to be the last, long drive! At last, we arrived at our tented safari camp in Mthethomusha at 1:30 in the morning, and promptly crashed. We would call this luxury safari tent home for the next five nights.

On game day in Nelspruit, Joe and I decided to take it easy, update our blog, and attend the Italy vs. New Zealand match. We are rapidly becoming experts in "game attendance" - waiting patiently to find parking at the park & ride, yet cleverly managing to skirt to the front of the masses to ride the bus and get into the stadium. What was once at least a 2-hour process in Cape Town, we quickly whittled it down to 45-minutes. The Nelspruit game day presented itself as quite the dilemma for Joe as he was uncertain about his allegiance - Italy or New Zealand. Having lived in Christ Church, New Zealand for 6 months during his college years, Joe was ecstatic to experience the Kiwis' only second appearance in the World Cup, but his Italian heritage equally pulled at his heartstrings. Eventually, luckily for Joe, he didn't need to make a decision as the match ended in a draw. Italy's yet again lackluster performance against this underdog, foreshadowed their subsequent destiny in World Cup 2010. Despite the mediocrity of the game, we enjoyed the quaint feel and beautiful sunset at Mbombela Stadium.

Italy vs. New Zealand

Italy's equalizer goal off a penalty kick

New Zealand playing well against the defending champs

Joe, a proud Italy supporter!

The beautiful sunset behind Mbombela Stadium

Our remaining days in Nelspruit were reserved for self-drive safaris in the world-renowned Kruger National Park - an impressive 2 million hectares, three times the size of Yellowstone, of diverse African life forms. We drove around the southern most area of the park, merely scratching the surface. A discussion with an honorary park ranger informed us that most of the game had migrated to this southern region. Unusually dry weather in the north had forced the game to migrate to the wetter south, which contained lush vegetation and better opportunities for food and prey.

Springbok at Kruger National Park

Excited to take Joe on his first ever safari, we were pleasantly greeted by Lady Luck. During our two, full days at Kruger National Park, we were some of the few lucky people this season to have seen the Big 5 - Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhino. Whether driving along paths less traveled or staying on the main paved roads, we were indeed fortunate to have our own "private" moments of game viewing, with no one else around to experience the uniqueness of those awe-inspiring, individual moments. As we drove around Kruger, Joe and I started to categorize groups of safari people - crowd seekers and lone spotters; crowd seekers were those people who wanted to see game by finding the biggest group of people parked on the side of the road, and lone spotters were people like us, who found excitement in trying to find the game on our own! Although, at points, we too played the role of crowd seekers in our quest to locate the more hard-to-see lions, especially from the low profile of our Kia Picanto.

Our first giraffe encounter, right on the road!

A similar awesome encounter with elephant population

Our second attempt at seeing a lion...success!

The white rhino is an endangered species

It was so hot the hippos never left their watery haven

Needless to say we had quite the adventure in Kruger! While we attempted to maintain a good schedule for our safari drive, somehow we managed to exit the park after the gates closed, on both nights. As fate would have it though, as we rushed to leave the park in dusk, we had two very thrilling encounters - seeing the stealthy, elusive leopard cross our path on its way to hunt prey, and catching a glimpse of a new nocturnal mammal, the African civet! What a great way to end our safari! We ended our stay in Nelspruit by taking a short day visit to Swaziland and appreciating their local arts and crafts. Along the way, we stopped at one of the most lush forests of Southern Africa, tucked in the high hills of Swaziland.

A wild drive along the Wild Coast

2010-06-25T13:23:00.001-07:00

The drive

We embarked on our marathon drive from Cape Town to Nelspruit along the coast with no set plans or reservations, other than a four-day window to get to Nelspruit. No problem, right? Well, it turned out to be an epic 1,800-mile drive. Wildly passed by speeding cars at least 50 times. Passed another 100 trucks, cars, and vans ourselves. Down here, shoulders turn into lanes and the center line is more of a guideline than a rule. Thousands of South Africans walk up and down the road, casually crossing between cars speeding at 140km/hr and stepping in front of our car to hitch a ride. It's all part of the excitement, eh?

In between the long stretches of driving, some of the country's greatest gems can be found along the Garden Route and Wild Coast. I'm not talking diamonds, but instead beautiful beaches, river mouths, and coastal forests. Based on numerous recommendations, we stopped in Knysna for their fresh, local oysters and seafood along the Garden Route. A must-do! From here, the 5-day rainstorm finally ended as we drove into the night, arriving at Tsitsikamma National Park, the third most visited park in the country. However, we accidently arrived at the wrong side of this 47-km-long coastal sanctuary and back tracked back to the N2 highway. Finally in the right place, we set up our tent and cooked a quick meal while listening to the second match for South Africa—bafana bafana! Despite their attempts to equalize at 0:1, the game turned disastrous when the ref gave the goalie an undeserved red card, and Uruguay capitalized, finishing the game with a 3:0 win.

Our Tsitskikamma campsite below the Indian Ocean night sky

We fell asleep to the crashing waves just a hundred meters from our tent and awoke to expansive views of the turquoise blue Indian Ocean. Camping or lodging at Storms River Mouth is highly recommended! We enjoyed a quiet hike on the Blue Duiker Trail amongst remnant forest giants; the Outeniqua Yellow wood trees where heavily logged starting in the late 1800s, and much of South Africa’s temperate forests have been permanently lost…a familiar story across the globe, whether it’s the old growth of the Pacific Northwest, the native beech forests of New Zealand, or the yellow wood forests of South Africa. Already behind schedule, we joined the main throng of tourists for a quick walk out to the mouth of Storms River. The river’s water, brown from the rich tannins, flowed slowly out of the canyon, clueless of impending clash of ocean waves. We quickly got back on the road for a 9 hour drive to Coffee Bay. Despite a local climber’s recommendation to NOT drive through the Transkei region at night due to poor road conditions and stray animals, we pressed on. The Transkei region was a central relocation area of blacks during Apartheid rule and received very little government services until recent decades. As warned, I swerved around potholes and the “Transkei Big Five” (donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep and cattle) with the mission of safely arriving at our ocean front thatched rondavel by 11:30 pm.

Tsitskikamma coast

Blue Duiker Trail

Bushbucks graze and hyraxs scurry near the rocky shore

Storms River Mouth

Or so we thought. On day 3, another visitor pointed out a flat tire in the morning. We replaced it with the dummy spare tire and briefly blanked out the problem for a few hours to visit a neighboring Xhosa village. Many of the native Xhosa people still live traditional lifestyles: families live in thatched rondavels constructed with mud-dung bricks, teenage boys undergo circumcision ceremonies, and the dowry is paid in cattle. Our tour guide, Cylas, went to college in East London and now organizes visits to his home village. His career goal is to manage a hotel. Nelson Mandela’s homeland is not too far away and even he returned to his home to stay in a circumcision lodge. From here, the local Magic Tyre Repair Shop did their magic in removing the nail and patching the hole. Six hours later, we made it to a backpacker’s lodge in Pietermaritzburg—the home of Alan Paton (author of Cry, the Beloved Country) and the location of Ghandi’s arrival in South Africa where he was thrown off the train for being colored.

Coffee Bay

Arun and a local Xhosa woman

Cylus' little sister

Taking on Bafana Bafana's next generation of football legends.

Inside Cylus' rondavel

The village above the ocean

Cylus stands over a tap for potable water, installed by the government after ongoing issues with cholera

The Sacred Pool, where generations have come to honour their ancestors

The next day, we cruised into Durban’s densely packed Indian district where we walked the markets and sampled some Indian cuisine. We also visited the local mosque, Juma Musjid, the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. A volunteer guide from the Islamic faith center gave the tour, but it was mostly a lesson in Islam. From here, we finished the drive into Nelspruit where we were led to our safari tent tucked between a township and tribal authority nature reserve. Arun drove a few occasions when she could, but it was a bit of a crash course in driving a stick shift. Driving on the left side, the dubious road conditions, and the South African drivers were a bit much. Most importantly, this third leg of the trip ended safely in time for the next World Cup game and visits to Kruger National Park (next post!)

Durban's Indian District

Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street and the minarets of Juma Musjid

Juma Musjid

Viva Italia, vino, y pinguinos!

2010-06-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the World Cup and our favorite team, Italia, we're writing the blog title in Italian. Now we will attempt to write in Afrikaan..."skool...accommodasie...dankie".

Alright, enough kidding around...Afrikaan is a pretty complicated language that we're not attempting to, let alone write!

Since we left Rocklands over 10 days ago, we noticed a couple of key features of South Africa - 1) It rains a LOT here, and 2) South Africans in general are impatient and often crazy drivers. Our few days around the Western Cape started off with rain - torrential downpours at time. We realized that it had rain for four straight days - no joke. The rain however did not dissuade us from exploring this impressive area.

Our first day in Hout Bay naturally started as a moderately rainy day. Ideally, we would have enjoyed a hike up and around Table Mountain, but a tragic incident the night before left us cautious of the dangerous and slippery conditions of the trails during rainy days. Given the wet weather, Doreen, our gracious hostess at the Makuti Lodge, suggested that we take the day to explore some of the cape peninsula and perhaps enjoy some wine at the local wineries. Being the “over achievers” that we are, Joe and I decided to take Doreen's advice to the next level – it's amazing what one can get done in a day!

We started Sunday off with a scenic drive through Chapman's Peak, along the rugged coastline of the western cape. The winding road overlooked picturesque scenes of small coastal towns, nestled in the mountainside of Table Mountain National Park, while the fog and dark, wispy rain clouds hung lowly over the confetti of conifers and native South African canopies. While passing through the townships, we infrequently encountered amusing, picture-worthy road signs, paving the way for a short track of jokes and off-shoots. The beautiful coastal drive landed us at the tip of the cape peninsula – Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope is known as the “southwestern” most part of Africa and it is incorrectly associated with the phrase “two oceans, two shores”, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The correct point where these two oceans meet is at the southern most tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas. Regardless, the area around the Cape of Good Hope is stunning and a must-see for any visitor to South Africa! The sheer beauty of icy waters of the deep blue Atlantic crashing energetically onto the rocky, white coast that meets the rugged, tall cliffs overlooking the ocean, is simply breathtaking.

The tranquility of this area was soon replaced with a brief period of anxiety as we noticed that our gas tank was showing “empty”. Not sure exactly how much gas was left and how far the nearest gas station was, made for a nerve-wracking driving back up the other coast of the peninsula. Nervously, we drove into the quaint little town of Simon's Town, where we filled our gas tanks and bellies. You can't be in a coastal area this vibrant and not enjoy fish and chips! Precisely, that's what we did – a simple yet delicious lunch on the pier at the Salty Sea Dog was the perfect midday break. After lunch, there was a small window of sunshine during which we visited Boulder's Beach, a marine conservation area for African (aka “jackass”) penguins. The conservation area provides a safe nesting area on the coast for these penguins to breed and raise their young. As the rain returned, we concluded our drive along the peninsula and headed into the mountains for a warm fire and wine tasting. The Steenberg Winery, a local favorite, rapidly became our favorite winery in South Africa – their staff is incredibly helpful and the wine is delicious at a surprisingly affordable price range. Even in the mist, the grounds of the winery was lovely. We ended our evening with a yummy dinner at The Raj in the trendy Camp's Bay area.

Monday – game day – started again with rain; this time it was torrential and no signs of the sun appearing that day. As we drove along the Stellenbosch Wine Route, we secretly hoped for clear night skies during our evening Italy vs. Paraguay game. Wine tasting in Stellenbosch ended up being the perfect rainy day activity – sitting near warm fires and enjoying world-class wines made in South Africa – couldn't have asked for anything better! There are over 30 wineries in this region and it's impossible to visit all of them, especially in a day! We wrapped up our afternoon with four wineries and rushed off to meet our camp mate Helen, for an early dinner in Cape Town before our 8:30p game. This turned out to be way more hectic and tricky than we anticipated – thankfully, we had a local with us to take us to dinner and drop us off near the stadium. Yay for Helen! Our first World Cup game together was absolutely incredible and completely memorable. The game itself was rather mediocre, but the atmosphere and spirit of the world was unforgettable – driven with energy, enthusiasm, and cheer. I wanted to dress up as a crazy football fan, but buying all the accessories would be incredibly expensive, so I resorted to painting my face and dawning the Italian gear. Joe wore his jersey and waved the Italian flag proudly as Italy scored to tie the game. Returning to the car after our game was completely mayhem mixed in with order – we felt like cattle being herded – literally. Pushing and shoving our way through 63,000 people is no small feat! Long lines, buses, and a car ride later, we returned to the serenity of our quaint lodge around 12:30a. Not bad :)

Tuesday, our final day around the western cape was slow-paced as we decided to explore Cape Town itself a bit further. As usual, the day started off cloudy and drizzly, with brief pockets of sunshine. Joe and I had lunch on the Cape Town Waterfront and made our way up to Table Mountain for a cable car ride. Unfortunately, the cable car ride had just closed as we drove there, but Joe managed to get some lovely shots of the city and bay in sunset. This would have been the perfect end to the day, expect that we ran into internet troubles during our blog post – after spending 3 hours writing our post and uploading pictures, it turned out that Blogger was unable to actually make the post...so here we are, 5 days later, attempting to post again!

Our second game, Italy vs. New Zealand, in Nelspruit will be starting in 2 hours – with that, we're signing off til next time! In the meantime, enjoy our photos!

Hout Bay and the Sentinel from Chapman's Peak Drive

Cape Point

Cape of Good Hope

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Steenberg Vineyards just outside Cape Town

Stellenbosch wine country

Morgenhof Vineyards Cellar

Arun at Morgenhof Winery...yes that's SNOW up in the mountains

The game! Italy vs Paraguay, 1:1

The Cape Town Harbor

Cape Town at sunset from the flanks of Table Mountain

Raw skin, pre-game jitters, and robots ahead

2010-06-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

South Africa has a lot of rock...and we haven't even travelled beyond the Western Cape. We finished our last post in Clanwilliam and left you with a sampling of photos of Rocklands. Lets start there.

First off, its impossible to sum up Rocklands if you only spend 6 days exploring the area. The plateaus and outcroppings of boulders extend for miles and a solid 3-month season will only scratch the surface of what's possible. Nonetheless, each day is special in this place, even the rest days. Arun and I stayed at De Pakhuys campground, an international dirtbag climber's paradise. Tucked between a farm and the boulder fields, laptops around the fire are as common as boerewors (South African sausage) on the braai (bbq). We were greeted by a friendly host of climbers from South Africa, England, Australia, US, Canada, Germany, and Norway.

There are a few different bouldering crags within a 10 minute walk from camp and the Roadcrew area is higher up at Pakhuys Pass in the Cederburg Wilderness, a World Heritage site. We spent our time exploring these two main areas. Running from boulder to boulder reminded me of days spent bouldering in Castle Hills, New Zealand, fully overwhelmed by the maze of boulders. Overall, Rocklands is 10 times more extensive, yet clusters of well-featured boulders are more spread out. And of course, this is sandstone, not limestone. The boulders present more features, especially in the overhangs, and chickenheads of every shape cap the tops. Just as the mountains energize my spirits, the emotions from climbing these boulders flood my body. With Arun at my side and the lovely company of new friends, I climbed.

A quick word on access. Permits are required at all crags whether public or private land. Climbing at De Pakhuys is free if you are staying on the farm. Permission is always required on other farms. As for the Cederberg, you must pick up your permit from Cape Nature in Clanwilliam. Arun and I picked ours up for the remainder of the week, since it was free with our Wild Card pass. However, the system does not work seemlessly. Driving to Clanwilliam is out of the way, rangers do not regularly patrol, and some climbers feel like the primary purpose was to generate revenue from international climbers and not to improve trails or mitigate impacts. In South Africa, public recreation is not a given assumption.

To sum up, go to Rocklands. And let me know if you are planning a trip. In fact, there is so much rock in South Africa, plan to boulder, trad climb, and clip bolts. Wolfberg is around the corner (but cold in the winter) and crags dot the entire country. We left the rack at home but may hook up with some partners for sport at Waterval Bovin outside Nelspruit in a week.

From Rocklands, we travelled back into World Cup mayhem, resupplied in the Cape Town mall, and arrived in Hout Bay at our self-catered cottage tucked up behind Table Mountain. We enjoyed a great day circling the Peninsula and driving to the southwestern-most point of the African Continent: the Cape of Good Hope. But we will save these stories and photos for our next post. I hope you all enjoyed the US-England match last night. Italy vs. Paraguay tomorrow!

Enjoy the photos:

Campground at De Pakhuys

Drew and Kane enjoying morning espresso

Evening gathering around the fire pit

A rainy day drive into the Cederberg Wilderness

Arun working a fun overhang at Roadside, Cederberg

The Roadside Crew: Me, Helen, Ingveld, and Arun

Arun on the approach to Roadcrew, Cederberg

On De La Lune at Roadcrew

Truly messing around here!

Working the last problem of the day at Roadcrew with the sun setting

Raw skin = great time climbing

First Few Days in South Africa - Flights, Driving, Cape Town, & Rocklands!

2010-06-08T01:56:00.000-07:00

Goeigdag from Clanwilliam, South Africa!

Joe and I just finished a lovely home-cooked breakfast (the usual - grilled cheese sami for me; eggs, bacon, sausage and toast for Joe) in a little internet cafe in Clanwilliam. We have been doing some bouldering in the nearby beautiful landscape of Rocklands! There are boulders of all shapes, colors, and sizes for as long as the eye can see. Joe said he would like to stay here for the next 20 years and see how many boulders he can climb; I mentioned that he can stay here for a lifetime, and still probably not make a dent! We've been hearing from our camp buddies from all around the world, that there are some amazing sport routes around here as well! Today however, started off with a thunderstorm and high winds; we figured this was the perfect opportunity to head into town, update our blog, and get some supplies.

Our journey to South Africa started off in a typical Joe's "go! go! go!" fashion. Our flight into Atlanta was delayed in landing by 45 minutes, waiting for a thunderstorm to clear the airport. Running to make it to our international connection to Johannesburg, we came to our gate just in time to a) discover that we had been assigned the absolute last row of seats on the flight and b) that our outgoing flight had also been delayed by another 45 minutes. I called my mom before taking off, expressing great concern that we will likely miss our flight from Johannesburg to Capetown, since we would have less than an hour to make our domestic connection in South Africa. My mom said "don't worry! Everything will work out." As we landed in Johannesburg (time 5:59P), we pushed our way from the back of the airplane, sprinted down the jetway and concourses to the passport checkout line -- NO LINE (time 6:03P)!!! Got through in a minute, got to the baggage, waited for 10 minutes to get our bags, and sprinted to customs -- no customs people (time 6:15p). Once in the domestic terminal, we received some valuable help from a local porter who sprinted with us to Mango Airlines and helped us check in on time (6:22). Gosh, we are cutting it close! Stood in the domestic security line as people chatted away without realizing that our flight was leaving in 15 minutes, until another lady finally pointed this out. So I stood there patiently (while rolling my eyes out of frustration - time 6:30p). Another LONG sprint later, while running, we hear the "final boarding" call for Mango Airlines...I tell Joe, "Go ahead and tell them I'm right behind you!" All that sprinting through the airport had made me short of breath! Time 6:35 - In line for boarding!! As we finally made it onto our last leg of this journey, Joe and I reminisced about how unbelievable it was that we, the last people on our flight to Jo-burg, were the first and only people of the 12 passengers who were supposed to be on this flight, to make it on board, in time...phew!

We arrived in time to Capetown, took another 1.5 hours to get money and our rental car - a stick shift! Joe had a great time driving a stick shift on the left hand side of the road - initially, he kept mistaking the wiper blade switch for the turn signal switch, so every time we made a turn, the wipers would turn on :) The lack of a power steering left a couple of bruises on Joe's right elbow.

Our first night in Cape Town was pretty amazing, even though we were dead tired. We decided to get some food and drinks at midnight and soak in the wild, crazy, jubilant spirit of the World Cup! The next day, we had a quick lesson in where to find cheap supplies and groceries in a fancy mall, on our way Rocklands. Let's just say we ended up purchasing, returning things, and repurchasing goods to make sure we got the best deal!

Well signing off now, as there are people waiting in line to use the internet here. We will right more about some of the cultural aspects and nuances that we have started to notice on our trip so far. In the meantime, enjoy these first few photos!!

first night out on Long Street of Cape Town!

on the drive to Rocklands

day 1 at Rocklands: warming up in the Plateau of De Pakhuys

the classic: Girl on our Minds

a deceptively tricky problem

Jon, our volunteer tour guide, pensive and steady

Arun chalks up with the sun in Arch Valley

my current project: Esoterrorist

Sex Etiquette, a wild jump on an arch!

Off to South Africa!

2010-06-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Our departure is hitting us like a cast iron pan. We are flying out tomorrow! I wrapped up a few acquisition projects and ran out the Access Fund door. Arun peaced out of downtown Denver and her world of health care statistics for the month.

Rocklands, World Cup games, Pinotage vineyards, marine reserves, safaris, and biltons (South African beef jerkey)...here we come. Here's a brief itinerary:

June 5: Cape Town
June 6-11: Rocklands bouldering, adventures, climbing
June 12-14: Hout Bay, Table Mountain, wine tasting, snorkeling, Italy vs Paraguay
June 15-19: Lots of driving, Eastern Cape coastline, Durban
June 20: Italy vs New Zealand, Nelspruit
June 21-23: Kruger self-led safari
June 24-27: Italy vs Slovakia, Johannesburg, Gauteng

And don't forget to tune in for USA vs England June 12!

Farewell! Afskeid!

Wide angle shots, pocket pulling, and orangutans

2010-05-10T19:20:00.001-07:00

After scoring a quality used Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 lens on craigslist, we piloted the new wide angle on a camping trip with "Samson" to Shelf Road. We have a month to get ready for South Africa, and playing with the new lens and a waterproof point-n-shoot HD camera is an integral part of the planning, along with of course, the usual passport copying and packing.

The southward journey took a bit longer with detours in the suburbs of Colorado Springs to find groceries and dinner. The drive culminated when we got lost in an apartment complex sandwiched up against the concrete backside of a supermarket while I replayed an iphone video of Nicholas' grandma teaching the toddler how to say "ORANGUTAN" in a loud jersey accent. Nonetheless, we made it to our destination, set up camp, and enjoyed well-featured walls of limestone below sunny skies. Below are a few 10mm shots:

The classic Alignment on Cactus Cliff, photos by Jason:

Cactus Cliff, part of the 115-acre hold
and transfer by the Access Fund in 1999:

A Time to Kill

2010-04-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

This recent New York Times article highlights an ongoing problem in South Africa concerning the prevalent tensed racial undercurrents. It is an account of a right-wing Boer politician and farmer, Eugene TerreBlanche. who was brutally murdered by his African employees over wage disputes. Just to summarize, TerreBlance's murder was of significance because the foundation of this act was based in the old song, “Ayesab’ Amagwala,” where the lyrics speak of "Shooting the Boer". "Boer" is the Dutch word for farmer, specifically, a white farmer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/africa/05iht-saf.html?ref=world

If you don't already know, South Africa endured brutal racial struggles from the mid 1980's to 1994, known as Apartheid. Nelson Mandela, a key figure in this movement, followed in the non-violent practice of Gandhi, and was imprisoned for a large portion of his life, due to his involvement in ending racial segregation. Essentially, similar to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and 70s in the US, the Boers and Afrikans (white Dutch colonists) attempted to segregate the blacks and other colored people living in South Africa, by the usual means: depriving them of education, attaining better employment opportunities, and of course, political participation.

Since the end of the Apartheid, South Africa has incorporated positive economic and political changes, and is now one of the world's leading developing countries. However, as the New York Times article aptly points out, racial tensions are still very real and an ongoing challenge for an emerging South Africa. However, the eventual point encompasses the subject of South Africa as the host of World Cup 2010, the world's largest sporting event. Why did the New York Times decide to feature this story? Simply because it's a good, important story that needed worldly attention; or because it was a convenient pitch in the midst of World Cup fever, as we are just two months away from the opening ceremonies in Johannesburg?

Let the planning and scheming begin!

2010-02-26T11:47:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, welcome to our blog! Its a little sparse now as the World Cup is still 104 days away, but we are both PSYCHED! Our buddy Ander will hopefully be in Rocklands around the same time too.

The planning (and expenses) are well underway since the World Cup has made accommodations costly and hard to find, but all the key dates are booked, with ample space for unplanned adventures.

We thought we booked a car in January, but they lost our reservation. Our late night Skype call to South Africa ended up in a fiasco of being on hold and misunderstanding each others accent. It involved me yelling into the computer and Arun acting as interpreter. We got gauged on the price, but the entire county is suffering from a temporary epidemic known as "World Cup rates." Nonetheless, all is good now, and none of this is deterring our excitement.

Itinerary, game schedule, and more to come later!

Carter Lake: Training Ground For Rocklands