Florida roadtrip and sweet new t-shirts!

After a bit over two weeks without climbing due to a pulled lower back, I'm officially starting to get a bit restless.  The timing seemed especially bad considering I was just on spring break last week, but at least walking still felt okay and I was able to spend a few days doing all of the fun tourist stuff in DC that I don't otherwise make time for.  I also took a roadtrip down to Florida for the first screening of Live the Dream, Seth Warren's new film about my sister Sara learning to hang glide, which I interviewed them about last week.  They really did an incredible job on the film, shown Saturday night at the peaceful Wallaby Ranch to a bbq stuffed crowd before everyone danced the moonlit night away.

Along the way my mom gave Sara our dad's old flight log...

 And I got to take a flight of my own!

                                                                                             Photo: Pennie Close

Still, after a couple days on the road, it was nice to make it back home yesterday.  I was especially excited to see that two t-shirts I was waiting for had arrived in the mail.

The shirt on the left is from Leave No Trace and that on the right from Access Fund, both of which I received for recent membership renewal.  For those who may not be aware, both organizations work hard to support those of us who spend much of our recreational time outdoors.  While most people are familiar with the concept of "leaving no trace," many don't realize that Leave No Trace is also an organization that works to promote responsible outdoor activity, and puts a heavy emphasis on education.  Access Fund, on the other hand, is an organization that is more specifically linked to climbing.  They help to develop policies for climbing management, aid in conservation efforts at climbing areas, and work with land owners to keep climbing access open.  At times they have also been able to buy land previously closed to climbing, and reopen it under a responsible management system.

In addition to the national work that the Access Fund does, it supports the work of local and regional affiliates such as the Mid-Atlantic Climbers.  These are the groups that organize most of our local cleanup and area care events, such as the MAC's upcoming Rockfest.  While the Mid-Atlantic Climbers' events are all free and open to non-members, those who are frequent attendees of the events should definitely consider joining.  By signing up for Access Fund membership through this link, you can simultaneously sign up for membership in the Mid-Atlantic Climbers or other local groups, and the Access Fund will give 40% of your membership fee to the group you specify.  That money then goes directly toward the cost of the events they put on.  Helping two groups with one donation, and getting a free t-shirt out of it?  Now that's money well spent!

Colorado Roadtrip 2011

A couple weeks ago, having finally made the adjustment back to East Coast time, I hopped in my car and pointed it west.  My eventual destination was Colorado, though if destination were the only concern I'd have simply flown there and saved myself two long days of driving, running on bad gas station coffee and inane talk radio.  And to a certain extent, I'd have been missing the point.

Let me rewind a few years and say that I often didn't understand my dad while he was alive.  Once described as the King of the Road Trip and Sovereign Presider over the backcountry roads of America, at the time I could never really figure out why he preferred to spend the majority of his vacation time driving... why he drove at least three times to visit my siblings in Colorado, but only stayed there long enough for a single meal before turning around and spending the next week driving home.  Almost every day he would send long winding emails about his travels, several of which I'm sad to say I never even read until years later.  But as with many things, late is better than never.  Reading through them now, there's one passage that strikes me in particular...


For some reason, as I was driving today, I started thinking about how beautiful everything was, and how we often do not take time to look at things. In general, while I am taking a long drive like my drives to/from Colorado, I leave the sound system (radio, tape, CD) turned off most of the time and attempt to feel and enjoy the sounds of the air flowing over the car, and the beauty of the grass and other plants, and the clouds. The most spectacular clouds I have seen have been while driving in Iowa. You never know when you will never have another chance to hear the wind sounds, or enjoy the shapes of the clouds in the sky.


And so I drove, albeit on an interstate rather than the small country roads... and eating fast food, but only from places we don't have at home.  

Cali 2011 part 2- Escape from Yosemite

A wise man once said "Sometimes success is just making it back home.  Perceived failures are often the greatest adventures."

The morning of July 2nd started out with great promise, as we woke up in Camp 4 with the plan of extending our stay another night, and spending another day in the Valley before heading back to Santa Barbara.

Strike one.  We got up too late, and soon found ourselves displaced by the family of roughly 50 people who were now moving into our site.

No matter.  We had heard of a campground outside the park boundary that would have some sites available.  Even better, by staying there we would be able to use the pool and hot tub at the neighboring hotel.  Suddenly the day didn't seem so bad!  Throwing our things in the car, we left the Valley in search of our temporary residence.

Strike two.  Arriving at the campground only to be greeted by a "no vacancy" sign.  Okay then, new plan.  We decided to grab some lunch at the nearby grill, then head back and climb for the day before making a late drive back to Santa Barbara.

Four lackluster patty melts later, we were on our way back into the Valley, planning to head over to Serenity Crack so Luke could get some good photos of Dan leading the 3rd pitch.  Then we hit the traffic jam...

Cali 2011 part 1- A week in the Valley

Back in January, long before Maryland was experiencing its current heat wave, my friend Luke Anderson asked me if I wanted to fly out to California this summer and climb this...

Photo borrowed from Wikipedia

Five months of training later, the snow on Mount Whitney was showing little sign of breaking, and we began to reevaluate our plan.  While the routes themselves would have been clear, the approaches and descents were far snowier than we felt like dealing with, and we regretfully decided to go with our backup plan instead.  Ok, not so regretfully, since that meant we were now going here...

Snowy Arizona

Got back last night from a week in Arizona, which is a state I've decided I need to spend a lot more time in.  All things considered, the trip worked out pretty miraculously.  Having stood through the longest check-in lines I've ever seen at BWI, we made it to our gate at 6:59 for a 7:00 flight, one of the last flights off the east coast before the impending snow began to shut everything down.  Arriving in Phoenix, we even found that our bags had arrived with us, despite the extra waiver the airline had made us sign due to our late checking.  From that point, the week continued to be filled with instances of fortunate timing, whether intentional on our part or not.

Driving north from Phoenix to Prescott, we stayed with family for the first few days while making day trips out from there.  Much as we had narrowly missed the East Coast snow, the weathermen were predicting a large mid-week snowstorm in that part of Arizona, giving us two days to figure out what we really wanted to see before the roads became too bad.  We drove the first day up to Sedona, stopping along the way in Jerome to visit Caduceus Cellars, a winery owned by Maynard James Keenan from Tool and Puscifer.  The wine was good, especially the dry reds, and it was a nice change from the overly sweet wines of the places we've visited near the Great Lakes.  While parking was a pain, it's worth the stop for anyone passing through town.

Continuing on to Sedona, I was amazed at my first sight of the town.  While the main streets had the tourist trap feel of Estes Park in the summer, the red rocks rising in every direction made the crowds easy to overlook.  Running short of daylight and wanting to get out for a walk, we drove down to the base of Bell Rock and hiked most of the way up.  Bell Rock is supposed to be one of the area's four major vortexes,  places where the earth's electromagnetic energy are particularly focused.  As a result, many of the people who walk there do so for meditation, or simply in an attempt to "feel" the energy.  But whether going there for metaphysical reasons or just to see the sights, it was one of the most gorgeous short hikes I've ever taken, and I found myself literally giggling as I walked because I was so amazed at what was around me. 

Emily walking up Bell Rock

Emily looking toward Courthouse Butte

Looking out toward town

Coming down from Bell Rock, we made a quick stop at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Catholic church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built up on a platform of rock, with huge glass window in front to allow views over the valley.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Inside the chapel

The next day we made our way up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  Even having seen it from the air, I was totally unprepared for the experience of seeing it from the rim.  I quickly found that I lost any concept of distance when looking in, and was overwhelmed by how much there was to see.  And that was just from any one spot along a 277 mile canyon!  Walking along the rim trail, I particularly enjoyed the fact that they had rocks from each layer on display for us to see and touch as we walked, giving us a much better understanding of what we were looking at.  Not to mention making me almost drool at times as I felt some of the rocks and imagined climbing entire cliffs of them.  After a couple miles of spectacular views, we decided to walk down into the canyon a bit along the Bright Angel trail.  While criticized as the most touristy of the canyon's trails, it was well worth the few minutes we spent on it, and I loved how the views changed as we walked, now seeing the canyon simultaneously from both above and below.  We were short on time though, and Emily's mom wanted to show us the her favorite views from the eastern end, so we walked back up and made the drive just in time to see the rocks glowing a spectacular red in the final light of day. 

Walking along the rim trail

Another view from the rim trail

Mather Point

Sunset at Desert View

The next morning we started south toward Tucson just as the snow began.  In another instance of fortunate timing, we pulled off I-17 to use a gas station restroom, and saw the sign for fresh baked pies at Rock Springs Cafe.  Deciding that their restroom would serve our purposes just as well, we took a pie and coffee break, and picked up a delicious Jack Daniels pecan pie for later.

Arriving in Tucson just before the main body of the storm, which at that point was far enough south to be rain, we estimated that we had about an hour of daylight and dry weather left.  We headed up toward Gate's Pass for some bouldering, and although it turned out we were looking on the wrong side of the road for the boulders, we did enjoy walking across what was essentially the inside of an old volcano.  Hopping back in the car, we headed a few minutes up the road to Saguaro National Park and took a short hike through the cacti before the rain hit.  An amazing place to walk for sure.

Emily and me channeling our inner cacti

Spines

Mama cactus hugging her babies

Ever had a cactus talk to you?

The rain that night changed our plans of going out for a walk the next day, so we made a stop at the San Xavier del Bac mission to tour the church and see if the weather improved.  Despite the small size of the church, the painting and sculpture inside was unbelievably detailed, and I could have spent hours more just trying to take everything in.  In yet another instance of good timing, it was time for lunch when we got out, and there just happened to be a fry bread stand nearby to take care of that for us.

San Xavier del Bac

Inside the church

Nativity

Prayers

The grotto

Even statues pray sometimes

On our way back up to Phoenix, we tried to make a stop to see Biosphere 2, only to find it closed due to the snow.  Instead, we found ourselves driving back down the access road taking pictures of cacti in the snow.  How often does that opportunity come along?

Cacti in the snow

A very confused cow

Emily's snowy cactus patch

Our last stop on the way up to Phoenix was at Casa Grande, the ruin of a Hohokam village with a very nicely put together museum.  We only had about half an hour, but I easily could have stopped there for 2-3 hours.

Casa Grande

On the drive up, Emily and her mom had been cryptically talking about the surprise they had for me when we met up with their cousins, which turned out to be a trip to Airworx, an indoor trampoline park.  So much fun!

We finished out the trip with incredible Irish food at Rula Bula, pasties and quarts of Guinness at Cornish Pasty Co., and the best Vietnamese food I've ever had at Cyclo.  Even if I knew the weather would be horrible, I would go to Phoenix just for the food!

Full of pasties and beer, we headed to a New Years Eve party, intending to leave early enough to get home before midnight.  We ended up celebrating the new year right as we pulled back into the driveway, and I headed off for a few hours of sleep while Emily and her mom celebrated in the hot tub with their cousin.  Another early flight and we found ourselves back in Baltimore, bags once again miraculously making the trip with us.

Here's to a great 2011!

2010 Wrap-up

While 2010 and I admittedly got off on the wrong foot, it's developed into a pretty amazing year overall, especially from a travel standpoint.  In the spring I spent a great weekend in Montreal for a friend's bachelor party, as well as a week out west visiting my brother with my mom and my wife, Emily.  We flew into Vegas, showed my mom as much of the strip as we could in a few hours, caught a few hours of sleep, spent a few hours bouldering at Red Rocks, then headed west to my brother's army base in the Mojave.  While it was too windy to climb during the beginning of the week, it did clear up for a couple days of bouldering and a day of trad/toproping before we left.  Most of the rock was some semi-crumbling volcanic scuff, by no means a destination, but there was a great peacefulness in knowing that it had probably never been climbed and might never be again.  Our own boulders for one perfect day, with nothing but memories and a few pictures to show that we had ever been there.

Me bouldering near Barstow, CA



Mom (Pennie Close) at Red Rocks

Emily's Red Rocks victory stance


One advantage to being a teacher is having the summers off.  While I usually choose to work summer school, I decided to take off this year for a trip to Africa that didn't end up working out.  Instead, I found myself taking a road trip out to Colorado to visit my sister Sara, and spend some time hiking and climbing around Rocky Mountain National Park with her and my mom.  Although much of our climbing days was simply stopping to play on trailside boulders that we encountered while hiking, we did get in a few bouldering sessions at Flagstaff, and visits to two bolted areas in or near the park.  Jurrasic Park, on Lily Mountain, was absolutely beautiful.  One of the most striking lines there was an amazing arete called Edge of Time.  Wow.

Mom (Pennie Close) near Lake Haiyaha



Mom, Sara, and me on top of Meadow Mountain

 

Sara in Jurassic Park

Me on Edge of Time

 

Orchid on the trail up to Lawn Lake

 
After coming back east for a friend's wedding, I had a few days at home before Emily and I hopped on a plane to Amsterdam.  It was my first time in Europe, not including our honeymoon in Ireland, and was an incredible trip.  We spent about a week and a half visiting assorted friends in the Netherlands and Belgium before catching a ride to France for two days in Paris and two in Fontainebleau.  Every country was a great experience, with friendly people, good food, good beer, and a sense of oldness that I've never really felt in the States.  I was especially surprised how comfortable I was in France, with all the stories I've heard about Americans not being well received.  Everywhere we went though, people were interested in starting conversation with us as travelers, and always helpful in getting us where we needed to be.  And although I usually don't like cities, standing on the hill outside Sacre Coeur it was impossible not to be impressed as couldn't see where the city stopped in any direction.  I will, however, advise travelers to Paris to not order the andouillette.  Pretty much a sausage made from chitlins and thrown on the grill, and the only time in my life that I can remember being unable to make myself finish unpleasant tasting food in a restaurant.  Four bites and I gave up, then happily helped Emily eat her raw beef.  DON'T get the andouillette!

Fontainebleau was also a destination that I would recommend to any traveler, whether or not they have any interest in climbing.  The town itself was pleasant, with our bed and breakfast located above a pedestrian street full of good restaurants.  A few hundred meters away was the Chateau de Fontainebleau, an old palace that was well worth the three or more hours we spent touring it.  And the forest itself...well, I don't think I can really do it justice.  Thousands of boulders scattered through a forest of evergreen and aspen-like trees, with a sandy ground that made me feel like the beach had suddenly landed in the middle of a Colorado forest.  And as for the climbing, it was the first time I could say for sure that a place was my favorite climbing area.  Not my favorite bouldering area, or toprope area, or sport or trad area, but the place I would choose without question if I could only climb in one area for the rest of my life.  And it would take a lifetime to climb everything there.


Amsterdam



Amsterdam from the canals

Belgian rooftops

Belgium, not Disney World



Obligatory Eiffel Tower shot

Me at Fontainebleau

Emily at Fontainebleau

Emily at Fontainebleau

Emily at Fontainebleau

Having managed to avoid the oppressive summer heat of home, I finished out the year with several great trips to Coopers Rock in WV, lots of bouldering down the road at Northwest Branch, my first real visit to Arizona, and Thanksgiving out in Vegas and California.  As I type, my little sis is in London on her way to South Africa, and from there sailing across the Atlantic with 5 Gyres.  Tomorrow, weather allowing, Emily and her mom and I are off to close out 2010 with a week in Arizona.   Life is pretty good.

Merry Christmas!