Thursday 15 December 2011

Still in Vegas!

If there is one thing that I will take with me from our stay here in Vegas, its that The House giveth and then The House taketh away….

It all started innocently enough.  We arrived in Red Rocks, Las Vegas quite a few weeks ago now, and spent a couple of stellar weeks climbing in Red Rocks Canyon. 
Thats me on Dark Shadows

A couple of guys helping to catch our rope with sticks so it doesn't fall into the creek below Dark Shadows.

We did this climb called Triassic Sands - it follows the crack in the centre of the wall.  We could barely feel our toes when we first started out!
What can I say about climbing at Red Rocks?  There is something here for everyone - face climbing, cracks, long climbs, short climbs, easy & hard climbs. 

And "everyone" seemed to be climbing in The Black Corridor, in The Calico Hills!
There is a huge amount of climbing here.  I think its a great all-round destination, but the climbs in the canyons (multi-pitches) are probably the best.  That said though, even on multi-star climbs, the rock can still feel a little insecure in places (thin, flaky holds, sandy feet etc).


Stoked to be at Red Rocks! First Creek Canyon in the background.
The view looking back down into Red Rock Canyon - its made up of at least twelve major climbing areas.
Whilst we were really lucky with the weather ie, it didn’t rain or snow, it was still icy cold when we were climbing in the shaded canyons.  Climbing feels a little harder when you cant feel your toes!  So while we did get a fair bit done here, we were limited to having to look to the more sunny areas towards the end of the trip. 

Petroglyph at The Valley of Fire
Does it really look like an elephant?
Does it really look like a tarantula?  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since then, the winter storms have started to roll in with increasing frequency & intensity.  There is now a light dusting of snow in some parts of the canyon and some accumulation on the peaks.
 
A snow storm descending on Red Rocks

After over 6 months of climbing, Mars’ elbow tendonitis had started to flare up again.  So rather than risk another injury, we decided to take some time off so that he could rest.  The deals for accommodation in Vegas have been sensational over the last couple of weeks.  So we took full advantage & stayed in a couple of gorgeous 4 star hotels for $45 a night.  This is when it all went off the rails…

View of the pool from our room at The Red Rock Casino

We’ve spent the last two weeks disoriented & dazed, wandering through an endless maze of bright flashing lights, slot machines and Blackjack tables.  Its like we’ve entered a parallel universe.  Time no longer exists.  There are no windows, no clocks and seemingly, no way out of the casino.   People around me are hypnotised by the chance to win the big one.  You can see the hope in their eyes…only to have it dashed again and again. 

The bright lights of The Strip

Somehow though, it felt like we were different.  Or should I say, Mars was different.  He won on nearly every game of Blackjack.  It was phenomenal!  Then, we both had a big winning streak, lasting a few days.  Somehow, we were beating The House!  Mars even tried his hand at the “Mega Bucks” slot machine – the chance to win $11m.  He won over $2,000 on that alone. 

Yay!
We were riding high!  The House went along with it too.  A couple of times, the pit boss arranged ‘dinner on the house’ for us.   What kindness!  But little did I know that it was all an evil ploy to keep us here as long as possible, to feed the gambling beast so that we would give back our winnings.  Instead, I looked on with pity to those who lost thousands and who then just kept putting on even bigger bets, hoping to win it all back in one hand. 
Then it all turned for us. 
I wasn’t so worried after losing a few times, that’s to be expected.  But then we both went days without winning anything.  Darkness descended.  The House was taking it all back!  Worried that my own motivations had resembled those of the most hardened gamblers (“I can win it back!”, “I just need to wait for the next winning streak”, “Just one more hand!”), I knew that it was time to get out.  I don’t gamble back home, yet there I was, that same deluded hope in my eyes.   
Luckily, we check out tomorrow – still in the black…just.    
To all of our family & friends; we hope you have a fantastic Christmas & New Years.  We will be thinking about you all this Christmas and wishing that we could be back home with you!   

Monday 7 November 2011

Fabulous Las Vegas!

Its five months in, so it's time to add a bit of glitz & glamour to this trip! 

We are now in America’s playground, fabulous Las Vegas!!  That’s right, the home of sin, bright lights, high rollers, big hair & loads of cleavage!  The promised land where you can turn $100 into a million, or lose it all!

Its also home to some pretty fantastic climbing at a place called Red Rocks, which is really why we are here.

But that means that we’ve had to say good bye to Yosemite Valley earlier than expected.  How sad! Yosemite has easily been my most favourite place on the trip so far.  But with the weather starting to close in, it was difficult to keep climbing there.  So we’ve headed south to warmer temps, although you wouldn’t know it from the last few days.  The sad truth is that winter is on the way :(.  We did get some snow & colder weather in Yosemite a few weeks ago, but it only lasted a day or two. 
A dusting of snow on Half Dome
The colder weather gave us our first taste of what winter will be like living in the van - its gonna be COLD!  Luckily we have a furnace in the van....I hope it works!
Wintery conditions caused traffic jams in Yosemite with everyone trying to get out at the same time.
On the climbing front – Yosemite has been nothing short of spectacular! The rock is beautiful, the features are amazing and the climbing is incredibly demanding.  We climbed a huge range of grades & styles and its been great learning a whole new set of climbing skills - struggling!!  After a while, we just put the grades aside and had fun on some really great lines.  Unfortunately, i don't have pics of most of them because I'm usually belaying.
 
Mars leading the first pitch of Salathe/Freerider/Freeblast (10c), with The Nose above. 

Mars leading a crack/chimney/off-width thingy (10b??) at Chapel Wall.  He's way up there in the little cave...

HUGE Sequoia trees at Mariposa Grove...

More Sequoia trees at Mariposa Grove... 

View looking back down Yosemite Valley at dusk. 


Not what you'd normally see in the campground - a full-on tee-pee!  Complete with a buffalo skull inside.
Its definitely been a great first trip to Yosemite for me and I know Mars is super keen to come back and tick some more of the harder classics (he’ll definitely need a better climbing partner!).  He did get a chance to climb with one of our friends from back home, Graham, to do 18 pitches in a day, topped off by a 7 mile walk back to the car (west face route on El Cap).  In all, about a 20hr day – a huge achievement and importantly, a really fun (& safe) adventure.

Almost there!  Sort of....Graham leading one of pitches on West Face.

Mars on Thanksgiving Ledge - still a few pitches to go and the clouds are rolling in...the rain managed to hold off until the next day.  Good timing.

While the boys were living it up on the west face, Graham’s partner, Jacqui, & I spent a couple of fun days together doing a 14 mile hike up in Tuolumne Meadows to a place called Clouds Rest (9,900 feet)  - no pics avail, and climbing mega classics at Swan Slabs. 

So, as you might know, I’ve been keeping various tally’s on this trip so far.  Rattlesnake & bear sightings are two that I’ve been posting on FB. We've added quite significantly to the number of bear sightings whilst in Yosemite...i think its now at eight.  

This was taken from quite a long way away, so its hard to see just how big this guy was - he was a monster!  Taken at George Lake, Mammoth. 

This was taken the next day at the same lake, this time its mum & her two cubs scouting out the shore for fish.  The cubs were having a blast playfully running around and climbing up & down the tree's with fish in their mouths.  It was quite a sight to see them in their natural habitat.
But there is another tally that I am even more disturbed to be keeping.  Men exposing themselves – full frontal.  That tally is now at two (definitely no images available).  I get that in the outdoors a toilet isn’t always at the ready and guys can just pee anywhere they want, whatever.  But am I so vertically challenged that they just can’t see that I’m there???  I’ve gone from a rather polite “hey, I’m sitting right here, do-you-mind” kind of exclamation to a full on “you  f***ing freak – put it away!” kind of exclamation.  This second man was standing about 20m away from me (facing me, not behind a tree or anything), with "everything" out there, and his hands on his hips.  I’m not even sure he was relieving himself.  I think it was the hands on the hips that sent me over the edge.  I truly hope that this tally will not continue.  

In my last update, I mentioned my dismay at missing out on curries at Curry Village.  Well, I'm very pleased to report that I’ve had one kind promise for a curry when we get back home.  I’m hanging out for that one when I get back and I'm open to more offers.....

So, tomorrow we leave the comfort of the Red Rock Casino (a visit which has now paid for itself, thanks to the Black Jack tables) and head back out into the cold & wonderful outdoors. 

Much love to all of our family & friends xxx

Saturday 24 September 2011

From Squamish to Yosemite - Sept 2011

We’ve made it to Yosemite Valley!  This blog comes to you live from deep within The Valley at Curry Village.  Unfortunately, the name has nothing to do with food (I was excited to be camping in such close proximity to a place called Curry Village – but no curries to be found!). 

As i write this, squirrels have made it into the Curry Village lounge where i am and are preparing to smack down over some bagel scraps.  Ahh, the serenity.

Since my last blog update we’ve travelled many miles (well over 6,000 miles on the trip so far).  We made a 3 day journey down from Squamish in Canada to San Francisco, California and finally took some time out to see some of the sights along the way.  We checked out Mt St Helens, which was pretty cool.  I especially liked the local sense of humour – the sign farewelling visitors said “Thanks for visiting Mt St Helens – we hope you had a blast”.  Comic gold.  We also took a whole 20 mins to check out the amazing Redwoods in California.  I was truly blown away (not literally, but one could imagine a scenario whereby that could happen in these forests!) by the size & scale of these trees that grow to be over 2,000 years old.  We also had a sneaky stop at Petaluma just outside of the Napa Valley.

Made it to San Fran where we picked up Chris & Alyssa.  It’s great to be sharing this journey with them - I'm often in fits of crying laughter around them.  We spent a couple of nights camping just outside of SF in the most idyllic gum tree forest.  Felt just like home! 

Once C+A got their van sorted (so quick!), we headed back out to Lovers Leap.   It didn’t take long before we were in the thick of it!  Well, actually, I took particular offence to an anonymous note that was posted on the campground noticeboard accusing us of reserving campsite spots for people that weren’t there, which of course we did not.  Feeling quite enraged by this gross injustice, I confronted the one tosser who had made similar comments to us a few days earlier.  I think I managed to get the message across that maybe he should have just asked us first, rather than make wildly inaccurate and very public accusations!  OK, I’m off the soap box now.

We didn’t spend too much time in Lovers Leap.  The weather was forecast to close in with thunderstorms everyday, so we spent a rather nomadic two weeks filling in time before Yosemite.  We ended up spending most our time in Mammoth Lakes, Bishop and higher up in the Sierras.  Between hail, thunderstorms and being set upon by wasps, we didn’t get a whole lot of climbing done there either.  We did get back out to Owens River Gorge and ticked some more of the obvious classics.  The real highlights were trout fishing at Lake Sabrina and getting to enjoy the fruits of Mars’ fishing prowess on the barbie!  Such simple pleasures!  It was beautiful (& cold) up at these alpine lakes and some funny local characters made our day there super fun. 
We then headed back down for some bouldering at The Buttermilks.  We rocked up quite late one night, well after dark, & took advantage of the free camping.  We parked our vans off the main dirt road leading to bouldering area.  The bright moonlight revealed a wide plateau surrounded by enormous peaks and no other signs of life. We were all super stoked at finding the free camping.  But my sleep was light & a little tortured – I couldn’t help think about scenes from the movie Wolf Creek – would we be abducted by the local crazy just waiting in the bushes for tourists like us? The shriek of a pack of coyotes in the distance did nothing to soothe these thoughts.  Luckily we made it through the night to enjoy some fantastic bouldering over the next few days. 
With the weather clearing up, we headed back up into the ether to Tuolumne Meadows at 9,000ft.  This place has a bit of a reputation for scary & run out climbing, so I was a little nervous going there.  We avoided anything scary and enjoyed what is probably (along with the Valley) one of the most beautiful places we’ve been to yet.  The granite domes at Tuolumne are just amazing – they are such intriguing formations and make for some great climbing.  Hopefully we make it back there to spend some more time exploring.
That brings us to the present day.  We’ve been climbing in the Valley for about a week now (our plan is to stay here for 8 weeks, pending good weather) and managed to tick a few classics routes as we get used to the rock and wait for the weather to cool down a little.  I have to admit that I was totally sh*t scared of coming here.  This is the home of the climbing hard man & woman, so I had no place being here.  But that feeling pretty much disappeared when we arrived in The Valley.  I almost cried (truly!) when Mars & I completed our first climb of over 680ft – I enjoyed it that much.  The climbing is mostly cracks & slabs – perfect for those of us who are vertically challenged!  Now we are setting our eyes on some bigger objectives (still lower grades) to make the most of what this beautiful valley has to offer.  We took some time one evening to watch climbers bivvy overnight on the big walls – until then, I didn’t have any desire to spend a night on a small ledge secured by a few locking carabiners.  But maybe I could be convinced....
Hoping all our friends & family are well.  Given that we’re settled here for a while, it shouldn’t be too long between updates this time.  Hope you enjoy the pics xx




Thursday 18 August 2011

In Canada!

Holy smokes how time flies! We've been on the road for nearly three months now and its been filled with heaps of climbing, meeting some great new friends & loads of fun adventures.  Just getting into Canada was a big adventure! Mars was nearly taken in by the border security guys. They asked me whether I had any firearms on board the van and I reached over and grabbed Mars' arm and said, "just these cannons!". That boy is getting stronger!

Since my last update, we've spent several weeks climbing at Smith Rock (Oregon), Skaha (Canada) and we are now nearing the end of five weeks in Squamish.  This blog update comes to you live from the public library in beautiful downtown Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. 

I'm loving Canada a lot.  Simply gorgeous/stunning/dramatic/majestic landscape.  The campground and bouldering are in these amazing forests that get beautiful shafts of sunlight through the canopy.  To top it all off, we are surrounded by the most beautiful snow capped mountains.  Not even the pics do this place justice.  The only downside are the powerlines right near the campground. 

I've been through here a couple of times before, but driving into Squamish as a climber, I was in awe of the first views of The Chief.  I'll quickly add that I was/still am a little intimidated by the sheer scale of the walls.  They are long, steep and some look particularly featureless.  Up close, its a shock to realise that some walls ARE featureless!  Its been quite the slab climbing education - no holds for hands or feet, just friction.  Luckily, the friction on the rock is mostly good and a quick goggle of "slab climbing technique" has made all the difference!!  Still, its quite weird to think halfway up a climb "how the hell am I staying on this??".  For the climbers: we did get quite the treat and got to see Alex Honnold and several of his buddies in action out at Cheakamus Canyon.  They definitely climb hard.  I think they set a new record for a speed ascent of The Grand Wall as well.

I think we've settled into the simplicity of life on the road pretty well.  The only big decisions are what to climb for that day and what to make for dinner.  Thinking about how simple life is, I did realise that we did in fact have four (yes, four) different cheeses in our little fridge.  Not so simple, eh?  But a life without deadlines, alarm clocks/watches, TV and phone calls is just brilliant!  Its not so brilliant when the propane runs out right in the middle of cooking dinner though.

Finally, of course, there is the climbing.  Far too much detail to go into, so will let the pics do the talking.  In the three months we've been on the road we managed to climb ourselves into a bit of a heap, so we finally took a brief three day "holiday from the holiday" up at Whistler, which was fun.

We leave Canada next week and make our way back down to San Fran to pick up the other half of this climbing troupe - Chris & Alyssa. No doubt the peace & wilderness experience will be destroyed (in a good way) and my next blog update is likely to be coming to you from jail with those two around.

I'll post pics separately until i work out how to link the two :(




Sunday 19 June 2011

On the road!

This post is coming to you live from Starbucks in beautiful South Lake Tahoe CA. 

Gotta love Starbucks - free wi-fi + a double espresso mocha decaf frappucino with whipped cream and car-mel (not free). Mmmmm.  Just missing the bacon & maple syrup.

So much has been happening!

We've spent at least a week out of our first two weeks in the US at Joshua Tree National Park.  Yep, we've been climbing when we should have been out looking for vans.  But its all turned out for the best - we got more climbing done than we thought we could in the first few weeks (weather has been sensational) AND we got an awesome van!  Its a 2002 VW Eurovan with a poptop (sleeps 4 - snug!!), cooker, fridge & shower (note: "shower" is a hose attached to the back of the van).  I love it nonetheless.  I was so excited when we got it that i couldn't sleep on the first night.  We can't get any good radio stations, but the feeling you get when you drive this guy is just awesome.



"The Van".  We don't even have plates yet, so we have the dealer labels on it called "poptop heaven"!!
Mars below a climb called Dung Fu - named after the bats that chill out in the cave/off-width at the top
 
The Mofo's at J-Tree! As you can see my 'fluro' tan is still in full force.

More cracks at Joshua Tree - "White Lightening".  Met an Aussie guy at the base of this climb.  Its amazing the people that you meet in the most remote locations.

Classic Joshua Tree.  Apparently there is a booming drug business here.  Who woulda thought.

Our travels have taken us north from Joshua Tree to find some cooler temps. We stopped in at Bishop CA. Its definitely a boulderers dream, but the climbing there is pretty adventurous too. We also stopped in at Owens River Gorge. It was a super hot day and we completely messed up the walk in and ended up boulder hopping at the base of canyon for about an hour rather than doing the leisurely 10min walk in. 

The view of Owens River Gorge from the top.
Some of the really amazing rock architecture at Owens.  Actually, most of the top part of the cliff looked like it was about to fall down at any moment!  Yes, we wear helmuts.


And now at beautiful Lake Tahoe - surrounded by the majesty of snow capped mountains and lush pine forests.   

This is where we are climbing at the moment - "Lovers Leap".  We did a climb on this cliff (you're up about 450 ft before you even start) that goes up the corner just left of centre on this cliff.  It was just a little exciting! There is still a little bit of snow around at the base of some of the cliffs too.  And the odd Rattlesnake.  Yep, we've seen a baby one - assume the rest of the family wasn't far away :(

Awwwww.  Some happy Mofo's at the top of 'Bears Reach' at Lovers Leap on Mars' birthday. 

Mars is doing a sensational job of leading my ass up some great classic climbs and I've had the pleasure of leading him up lower grade almost-not-worthy climbs :) 

Hope all is well with our family & friends!





Wednesday 11 May 2011

Getting Ready

Holy cow, its the first post!  This trip has been planned for so long, that i wasn't sure it would actually happen.  

Ok, what its all about is going on the big adventure of a lifetime - the infamous gap year!  We're going climbing at some of the best places in Nth America & hopefully Europe (if time permits).  I'm planning to share the awesome experiences from life on the road, and what I don't have, I'll make up for sure!

With access to a wide variety of global experts, I'll also share links on music, the economy (ours, US & Europe) and anything cool or funny that I happen to see.  I'm mostly going to post pics of our travels but I just won't be able to resist a few bad puns.  Lets face it, you'll be missing the Dad-jokes too!!

Anyway, this first post comes to you live from Natimuk, Victoria 3409.  A beautiful town of over 500 people near one of the best climbing cliffs in Australia, Mt Arapiles.  Its amazing here and home to many a climbing hard man & woman (I don't fall into either of these categories).  
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Our house in Natimuk
So how do the vertically challenged prepare for such a gruelling climbing road-trip?  Training, training, training!  But, its unfortunately pouring with rain at the moment, so there is no climbing being done at all.  But on the positive side, its freed me up to lounge around like a good dirt-bag climber should, so getting lots of good practice at that before i go.  Also, lifting jugs of beer will help build my finger strength, right?  But on the serious side, we will be doing a couple of days of rope mgt and rescue with a friend of ours before we go.  Best to be safe.  As soon as the weather clears, we'll be back out there climbing too.
Mt Arapiles - the view over to The Bluffs
Given that I have all this new found 'head space', i also thought that i should put it to good, rather than evil.  I'm preparing a list of all time classic books to read while I am away (there is no way we can climb every day).  What needs to go on the list?  Let me know some of your fave books that you think are 'must reads'.

So whats left to do?  We've got the Rock & Road Guide to Nth American climbing, so we've started ticking off the must see crags.  There is so much to do!  Just need to pack for the trip now.  Item number one to be packed?  The hairdryer of course!