Ice season has arrived!!!

The weekend started out with a relatively late night in LA before heading home to get a few hours of sleep. I needed to be in Simi Valley by 8 o'clock on Saturday morning for Tatum's Gymnastics State Championships. A 5am phone call woke me with the news that the freeways between home and the competition were closed due to fires. After scanning the news and checking on what roads were still open, I found an alternate route that I hoped would work. Thankfully it did, and despite the smoke filled valley I made it in plenty of time and had a great morning watching Tatum perform!

After making it back home I packed for the trip to Whitney Ice Falls. Carlos fought the same traffic and detours to make it to my place late afternoon and we were on our way north. After a quick dinner at the Pizza Factory in Lone Pine, we met up with our other friends at the Lone Pine Campgrounds. They had been to the ice falls earlier in the day and had great news about conditions. We were psyched! As we relaxed by the campfire before getting some sleep, we sharpened tools and crampons, anxious for morning and some ice!


We hit the trail at 7 Sunday morning and made it to the falls at 10. I led the first climb of the day and set up an anchor above the second step using screws. Carlos then got in his first ever ice climb, top roping the same line! Once he finished with the climb, he lowered off and we pulled the rope so I could get in another lead. After Carlos followed that line we top roped some other lines from the same anchor and by then the day had come to a close. We hiked out as the sun set and made it back to the car right as darkness really set in.





Carlos had a great day and definitely is psyched to do some more ice climbing! Pretty awesome day in the mountains and totally excited to get back on some ice!

Pulling on plastic

I really haven't been climbing much lately. An odd day here or there. A couple of weeks ago I was able to get three partial days of climbing in at different areas. I guess I still get out more than many people, but I'm still not climbing as much as I want to. As the days get shorter and my work days seem to get longer, climbing outside after work hasn't really been an option lately. So I've been making the drive to Rockreation in LA. Not a bad gym, but the drive pretty much sucks and I would much rather climb outside. But given the lack of other options and after a couple of weeks of making regular appearances and paying the daily rate, I finally decided last week to get a membership. Of course that means I now don't have a choice - I must make the drive and make use of the membership dues I'm paying! But that's a good thing...at least that's what I'm telling myself. After a day in Joshua Tree a couple of weeks ago, I definitely realized that I can't come off the couch and climb as hard as I was a few months ago. We'll see how well this thing works out over the long haul! Hopefully I'll see some progress this weekend in Joshua Tree!

How's the weather in Arizona?

So where does one go when the forecast is horrible for just about everywhere? I guess its Arizona. My climbing partner and I had tentative plans to go to Yosemite, but as the weekend approached the plan began looking pretty sketchy due to the forecast for heavy rain (and the fact that we hadn't reserved a campsite in time). With everywhere from Vegas to the Pacific coast looking about the same, we started to look at Phoenix. With only a 20% chance of thunderstorms, it seemed like the best option. So after a late start we were rocketing along the I-10 on the way to Arizona. That is until I got pulled over about 15 miles this side of the border. CHP was lying in wait and got me and the guy who I was following. Progress slowed a bit after that, but we still made good time.

We had decided to head for the Superstition Mountains and had a few choices for what we would climb. After getting very little sleep because I had driven the entire way there, I decided I wasn't totally psyched about a long approach and heavy packs filled with the rack and rope. So we decided on a class 3 route up Superstition Peak. We chose to head up via Hieroglyphic Canyon, a route that follows the Lost Gold Mine Trail for a bit before heading up into the canyon. You basically stayed on good trail until you gained the ridge to head for the summit.

Despite the fact that the parking lot was busy all morning, we didn't see anyone along the trail as we headed up. Storm clouds could be seen in the distance, but for most of the climb the day was just about perfect. Overcast skies and temps were just right. Some light rain fell while we sat on the summit, and thunder could be heard way off in the distance, but other than that it worked out well. We enjoyed quite a bit of scrambling along the way to the summit, not always taking the easiest route but definitely having fun.

For the descent we chose a different route, one that took us down a gully that would allow us to enter the canyon further up than we had on the approach and would let us see more of the area. One of the things I hadn't considered when I decided on this descent route was the number of evil cacti that sit in your way as you try to descend a brush choked gully. Needless to say, my sleep deprived state didn't help matters and it was a long walk back to the car! Darkness hit us right about the time we found the trail leading out of the canyon but it didn't slow our progress as route finding was pretty obvious. We were glad to see some petroglyphs on the way out as this was one of the reasons we chose that route. We also saw a couple of rattlesnakes right along the trail. The first one began rattling as we approached, but the second one didn't alert us to its presence until right after we had walked by it. We heard a few others along the way but these were further off of the trail. We made it back to the trailhead not long after regaining the trail and headed into town to get a much needed meal!

The next day we slept in a bit and then headed to Pinnacle Peak, a small park just north of Phoenix. We climbed the namesake formation and had a great morning. After that it was lunch with some of my partner's family and then the long drive back to Cali. Not a bad weekend!

Back into the mountains

Aside from a couple of days in Tuolumne, it had been a while since I had done anything in the Sierra. Luckily I had a chance to get back into the mountains due to a last minute change of plans. As I left Tatum's gymnastics competition in Burbank at about 9 o'clock Saturday night, I got a message from my climbing partner that she had to cancel our plans to climb at Tahquitz the next day. No problem. After thinking through several options, I decided to head north to get into something. As I drove home to pack up the car, I had pretty much decided on Mt Langley. After being weathered out by a snow storm on Mt Langley during a winter attempt on the North Face a couple of years ago, I had been wanting to get back to do a route on that side of the mountain. But having seen photos that a friend shared from his trip up the standard hiking route I decided that it might not be a bad way to enjoy a day in the mountains.

Usually I'm pretty good about getting things packed and hitting the road. I know where everything is, and it just works. That is until the phone rings...and I decide to jump online to help out a friend who needs some info and can't get to a computer. 11:30 PM hits and I'm finally out the door. A Java Monster and Mountain Dew later, I'm at the trailhead, daypack ready for an early departure, and I'm finally ready to get some sleep in the back of the Pathfinder at 2:30 in the morning.

5 AM. Is that really my alarm? I hit the snooze and hope it doesn't work. Five minutes later and I'm hearing that annoying alarm again. I tell myself that this just isn't going to happen but convince myself to set the alarm for 6 and see how I'm feeling then. Something wakes me up a little before 6 and as I'm trying to go back to sleep I tell myself that I'm much better off sleeping in, taking it easy, and maybe going for a short dayhike whenever I decided to get out of bed. After all, afternoon thunderstorms are in the forecast, so it was a pretty easy argument! That is until I realize its another hiker in the car next to me throwing on his pack and hitting the trail. OK, so maybe I should just get up and go. As I roll out of the sleeping bag I realize I'm still not totally convinced. After a quick breakfast of Pop Tarts and another Java Monster I hit the trail at 6:30 AM.

The hike really was spectacular. Fall colors were everywhere as I approached Cottonwood Lakes on my way to Old Army Pass. The lack of summer crowds was entirely welcome! The slog up Old Army Pass followed a trail the entire way and from there the way to the summit was obvious from all of the traffic along this route. At 11:30 I was on top of Mt Langley, just over 14,ooo ft high. After taking the obligatory photos from the summit, it was back to the car for me. A casual pace got me back at right about 2:30 PM as the afternoon thunderstorms moved in. I had passed a few people along the way, but for the most part had the entire place to myself. Not a bad way to spend a day in the mountains!

The Last Season

"There are times occasionally in life when great changes occur and then nothing is ever the same again. Things never stay just the same, any time. Change seems to be one of the few certainties in life. Just as well. But while we look forward eagerly to what is to come, we can thoughtfully appreciate the good that has been and what we have at the moment." - Esther Morgenson

Just finished a book that a good friend gave to me - The Last Season, the story of Randy Morgenson. Randy was a backcountry ranger who disappeared while on patrol in SEKI National Park back in 1996. No more info on the book, but it was excellent! The reviews I had read about it ahead of time were right on. I highly recommend it.

So if you've actually been following the "day in the life" blog from its beginning, you probably noticed that "change" has been on my mind a bit. The quote above is from The Last Season and it definitely struck a nerve when I read it...I've been so anxious for change in my life that now that it has finally happened, I've wondered if at any point I'd regret making the decisions I've made. Well at this point, I can certainly say that there are no regrets at this point. I've been able to witness several situations already that have improved greatly since I committed to the way things currently are, and I couldn't be more pleased. While things certainly won't be perfect for a bit, the improvement just over the past two months has been pretty awesome. But enough about that for now...

I've been in the new apartment for almost two weeks now. It has taken a bit of getting used to after living in a house for the past ten years or so. Not bad, though. Just need to remember I have neighbors on the other side of the wall and below me! I believe the moving is done. Some things are left in the garage at the house, but I think most of them will be sold off at an upcoming yard sale. We'll see how that goes, because the other option is to get a storage unit. Not something I'm exactly eager to do right now. I've also met each of my attached neighbors in my apartment building over the past week and a half, and they've all been quite friendly. This may not seem odd to some, but after almost five years in the house, I still hadn't met more than a handful of our neighbors! Its actually kind of nice to know who is living beside you!

I also finally got out climbing again last night....well kind of...went to the climbing gym in LA. Not the type of climbing I truly enjoy, but at least I got a good workout in. I'm meeting a friend there again tonight, so two nights of climbing this week! Woo hoo! Or something like that...hopefully I'll make it to Tahquitz this weekend for some real fun! And maybe then I'll have some new photos to post!

The move

It was a very busy weekend. Change in my life continued this past weekend as I moved into a new apartment. The boys got their first look at the place on Saturday and said "wow this place is small." Funny how 6 year olds can catch onto things! But small is good. It's my own place, and that more than makes up for its lack of space, a garage, and a yard. After two full days of moving, almost all of my stuff was out of the house and into the apartment by Sunday evening. Of course I didn't sleep much this weekend, but its not like that's a new phenomenon! A few bigger items got moved last night and I finally cleaned the refrigerator that a good friend hooked me up with. Pretty awesome to get to use a fridge for awhile, since I definitely don't want to make a big purchase like that right now. There is enough that I need to get.

Sunday night I took a break from arranging things in the apartment and headed to the store to pick up a few things that I needed around the house. A full shopping cart later, I was heading back to the apartment. I did manage to find some good deals, like the $35 vacuum cleaner and the futon that was on sale. I've been looking for either a sleeper sofa or a futon, and the price was right on the futon, so that's the route I took.

All in all, the place is coming along nicely. Hopefully by this weekend I'll actually have the place presentable, but we'll see what the next few nights have in store for me!

One of these days I'll get some photos posted, but that is kind of on the backburner for now...

Change is here

For those that have been closely involved in my life for the past several years, it has been pretty obvious that change in my life has been pretty much inevitable. Well change has begun. A new job is one step forward. Last Thursday was my final day at the old job and Monday I began a new adventure with a new company. While not the same type of adventures that Justin and Ira are enjoying right now, I'm actually looking forward to getting to work in the new job and hopefully enjoying the challenge of being the new guy again!