RMNP! (Once again)

I finally got climb in RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) for the first time this season! It was good to be back. It was the usual Dan Squared (Dan Baker and I) and one other. Emmy Voigt! It was her first time going to RMNP and she was super stoked! But unfortunately, she was sick. :( We got into the park probably around 12 or 1 at night. We luckily found a nice campsite in Moraine Park, even though a sign said the camping area was full. We woke up pretty early and drove up to the parking lot at Bear Lake and began our hike. For some reason, I was really exhausted when we got to the boulders even though I have done the hike before. It was like I was hiking there for the first time again. We warmed up on the usual warmups, nothing special. Emmy got on Potato Chip (V7) and gave it a few tries. After we were done warming up, we headed over to the Gang Bang boulder. Baker, Emmy, and I tried it a few times, but no sends. There were some guys from Boulder working on The Marble V10. It looked really cool and I wanted to try it, but when nobody else was there. Emmy wanted to see Autobot (a really long V5 with a deep/scary landing) so we talus hopped to the boulder. But not without skipping rocks on the gorgeous Lake Haiyaha first. We got to Autobot and looked at it for a second but didn't get on it. Instead, I tried Pistol Grip V8. It has a pretty hard start and an awkward landing. Theres this weird rectangular block that you kind of undercling, then a slopey pinch with a decent thumb catch. You throw up in a space between boulders, then throw out to a huge sloper. Baker got on it (sending it the trip before) and sent after two tries. Then I got on it. The block had really sharp edges that dug into my palm, and after a few tries, cut a small chunk of skin out of my palm! :( Then to add insult to not-sending-injury, it started to rain/snow/sleet. So we decided to head back to town. Before we departed Lower Chaos, we stopped by Geeks Of The Industry V7 to show Emmy. We got back into town and ate at Ed's Cantina. I had an amazing cheeseburger!! I suggest if you're ever in Estes Park, you eat there. After Ed's we had to find a new campsite, and we luckily got one in Glacier Bend (or something like that) .So we went back to camp, hung out, and went to bed. Nothing special there, either. Next morning, we woke up, and went bouldering.

We warmed up, Emmy tried Geeks, and we decided to try to find our way to Upper Chaos. We had no idea where the trail to get up to it was and no prior knowledge of where the boulders were. We went on anyway. We did a bunch of talus hopping, and finally found a huge boulder with a gnarly high-ball with a super sketchy landing. To the right, was a pretty decent looking problem. I decided to hike up a little bit more to see if I could see if I could find some more boulders. I did. It was a really hard problem that was wayyyyy cool! I yelled at Baker to come check it out, and moved up a little more. I found the most amazing thing ever. A giant raspberry bush. Anyway, I went back down and convinced Baker to try the problem I found. He got on it and sent in three tries like a super boss! You go girl!!! After he sent, I got on. I'm not going to go into details, but I got shut down times a million. Fast forward: hike down, dinner, camp, sleep, wake up, camp tear down, leave for Wyoming. All in all, it was a pretty unsuccessful trip for me. But I did come out with one awesome thing. This;

Probably my most favorite photo yet.

1 down, 5 to go.

Great White Behemoth 5.12b

I finally got to return to Ten Sleep! After a Summer and Winter of missing, I came back. And with a vengeance.

Dan Baker (my usual partner), Aimee Stafford, and I left Casper at about 10:00 or so. I got to ride in Baker's new Lincoln Navigator. Its RAD! We showed up in Ten sleep at about midnight. We drove up the old highway where all the climbers camp, trying to find a camp spot. Emphasis on trying. There were soo many people there! Its kind of nice to see a lot of people there to climb in Ten Sleep. We found a weird little turnout and setup there. We made food, a fire, and a lot of fun conversation. I got tired so I went to bed. Nothing new. But I slept really well that night. Didn't wake up once! We woke up at about 8 or 9 and drove into town so give some stuff to Alli. But when we got to her house, she was already gone. So we gassed up and drove back into the canyon.

Due to the Big Horn's record snow pack, there was a lot of run off, so the creek was insane! The log crossing shortcut to the Superattic (where we were going to climb) was under raging rapids. Or gone, I don't really know. So we had to take the long hike from the Slavery wall parking lot. On our hike up, we saw a moose! A MOOSE! We came up on him eating, and he just looked at us like "Whatever." and kept eating. When we got to the crag, Alli and Kevin were there! Kevin gave me the best man hug, and I got to show him a picture I have of him out of a climbing magazine. I think he enjoyed that. We warmed up on a couple times and got Aimee on the wall. She did really well! I warmed up one more time, then we headed over to The Great White Behemoth, which had perfect conditions! Plus it had draws on it already. As we were getting ready, Cedar Wright, Matt Segal, and some crusher kid named Stefan came up. So I get on, not remembering any of the beta, holds, or anything like that. I wish I could go into minute detail of the climb, but I phased out and just climbed.

On my first go of the day, I sent T.G.W.B.

I was really excited! I only got really pumped at the top, as apposed to the usual in the middle pump out of the climb. And about halfway through, I started to talk to Cedar as I climbed. It was kinda silly. But I was really relaxed and in the zone! After I got down, I asked Baker if he wanted on. In a very reluctant voice, he replied "Yeah?" So he tied in and got on. He got 5 bolts up to a good rest jug, but didn't rest. He shook out once and kept going. I got a couple moves up and had to take. He stretched himself out on a move, and was having trouble with the sequence. But after a little thinking, he made it to the top. He came down, rested for a bit and tried again. But I think he got too tired. We hiked down to the Slavery and did a couple 5.7's for Aimee. There, I met Christine Balaz, who has been recently crushing a majority of my projects. After we were done, Alli and Kev came by to meet up with Christine. Baker, Aimee and I went into town and had a couple brews and a pizza. I had two 1554's. I really like 1554. The pizza was really good too. Afterwards, we went to Alli's and hung out for a bit, then went and played in the gym. Alli, Kev, Christine, a guy named Billy, Baker, Aimee and I were all having a super fun time. Campusing, laughing, and falling a lot. It was a super way to end the day! But sadly, we had to leave because AIMEE HAD TO WORK!! So we left. On our way back, we saw a little porcupine! Aimee named him Pickle. Awesome! haha

The end.

Me on Animal Acts V5

Happy late New Year!

So for Christmas this year, I got a trip to Hueco Tanks National Park, Texas for a present! And it is the best present to get ever. I just wish I could have gotten more time to stay!

Corry Cummings, Dan Baker (a friend I went to Rocky Mountain National Park with a lot this summer) left for the Tanks on Monday early in the morning. We got to Hueco at midnight and found a spot to camp that probably wasn't a camp spot. We moved to an actual spot next morning, an WENT CLIMBING! We went to East Mountain, which had the project that was on the top of my list; Power Of Landjager (V11) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4sdmg16EKk). But we started out warming up at a problem called Uncut Yogi. But it was a V6, so it wasn't a very good warmup. After a few bad attempts, I decided to save my self for later climbs, but Dan sent it! We went to the Maze which had a ton of problems, but we were there for a guy that wanted to work on Nagual (V13). It was pretty cool watching him work it, but there was no send! Cory, Dan, and I worked on a 9 I tried 2 years ago called Glas Roof. Cory and I were having troubles, but Dan was making good progress. But we had to leave so he didn't get to send. We made our way to Power of Landjager. There was a couple other guys working on it, but they didn't stay long. I stuck the first part of the crux twice, which made me extremely happy. Only problem was my skin was hurting, and I was getting bruised tips on the fingers I had to use on a sharp crimp. If I had more time, and more tougher skin, I could have sent! Our guide was really cool! His name was Cory, and it was his first time guiding, but he did a good job. Next day was a North Mountain day! North Mountain is a sector that you guide yourself. I had only one climb on my mind: See Spot Run. See Spot Run is a 25 ft tall V6 classic of Hueco Tanks. Luckily, there was a ton of people there so we had literally a gym floor of pads. Dan and I got on a couple times, and shortly after Dan sent. Then I sent! Cory gave it a few goes, but no go :(. After that, I told Dan he had to get on another classic called Baby Face (V7). I did it two years before when I went and it was the first V7 I ever did, so I was really excited for Dan and Cory to get on it. We hiked over with a few of the guys we worked See Spot Run with, and got to work. Well, they did. I got on top of a boulder with my camera to take a photos.

Dan on Baby Face V7

Cory on Baby Face V7

No sends though. Which is kind of a bummer. I was sure that Baker was going to send it. Baker and Cory wanted to go to Martini roof (I think) to work on a problem. There was a really strong chick working on Esperanza (V14). Baker started to try Baby Martini (V6) and was looking really solid. But I don't remember if he sent or not. Cory got on it too, but due to an ab injury (Baker turtled him and he tweaked his ab), he couldn't really try much. After a little bit, we left. Enjoyed a normal night of hanging out, but I went to bed. Next morning, we went to East Spur I think. The previous night, Baker and Cory met a really cool couple from Australia that was in our group! We got to try Better Eat Your Wheaties (V8). Vince (guy from Australia) sent! Baker and I tried a couple times, but no go. Then we went to Animal Acts, which is a cool V5 and a Hueco classic! I got on and did it first go. Baker did it too. Cory didn't get to, because of his janked ab. We left and went to another boulder that had a really long roof with a V6 on it I think. Baker really wanted to do it, but it started SNOWING!! So we left. By the time we got back to camp, there was about 4 inches of snow on our tents. We brushed it all off, and departed back for home. We snagged a little hotel in El Paso, then left on New Years day. We didn't want to drive ALL the way back to Casper, so we stayed at Cory's relative's house. And enjoyed a little New Years partying. But the next day, we made it back home. I miss Hueco!!!!