Day 25

It was all about getting our climb on. Pumping as much vertical as our forearms could handle in a day. Smith Rock is a pretty gorgeous setting to climb in and the rock is perfect. (Sandstone/granite conglomerate I think).

Smith Rock Valley. Climbing Galore.

Little stones serve as little knobby holds everywhere (think plum pudding). Smith is the birthplace of sport climbing and is still forging into the future with over 1000 climbs being put up all over the park. Alex led a 5.8 to start everything then we went on a sending spree (by our standards).

Alex leading us off with a nice sport lead

My first climb was a 5.10a climb called Pop the Nubbin featuring those small knobby holds. I then lead the scariest sport climb (of my life anyways) a 5.9 named 9 gallon jugs that had a first bolt around 20 feet off the ground the crux was up to this bolt (scary stuff). We ate lunch of bowl-of-noodles and were revitalized. I lead another 5.10a named Phoenix that ran out the last 20 feet to the anchors and then a 5.10b was a bulging crux. Alex top-roped all these classic Smith climbs after my leads. It was sick!

Alex at the crux of the 10b after my lead

Our rack of draws, a tired Alex, and the beautiful crags of Smith

After our rock workout we stripped down and jumped in the river for a cleansing Mexican shower. We were exhausted and fell asleep after eating Rice-a-roni (inspired by San Fran).

We will be in Mt. Hood for the next week or so. Expect updates about boarding and good times with our friends Art and Zach.

Day 24

In transit mostly. 12 hours of driving in total. We drove through the historic Redwoods National Forest and saw these mammoth trees that grow right up against the ocean.

Scenery along the coast

Alex feeling inferior next to these mighty organic organisms

We traveled through Cali and made it to Oregon to see Crate Lake before the sun set.

Crater LakeBreath-taking

It was beautiful (almost romantic, just kidding). We tried to make it to a campground near Smith Rock before the sun set but highway patrol had other thoughts... but we made it eventually and found a great campsite with the rocks looming in the dusky night.

Day 23

Most of the day was wasted in rest but we did manage to make it to the Bashful Bull diner for a hearty breakfast.

I got a sundae. Alyse, bashfully, wanted some too.

We then packed our things and headed to the Haight-Ashbury festival on our way out of town.

Packing in the car for the festival

This is an annual festival that is something like the Hippie Mecca. The Grateful dead have their roots at the festival as did hallucinogenic drugs. These place was thick with the scene. Every beggar, band member, homeless, hula hooping, hippie "just living the dream" made their way here to celebrate themselves. It was a sight. Every drug under the sun sun was being solicited (as was promised by our dude Ed the day before) and their were street vendors for miles selling drug paraphernalia and tie-dye shirts. Marijuana wafted through the streets.

The scene was in full effect

Breathing fire, dancing, juggling, on bouncing stilts.

We took in the scene then moved on after getting a feel for the place. We had places to go, sights to see, rocks to climb, and boarding to be done.

The Golden Gate bridge with San Fran in the background

Highway 1 winded violently along the Norcal coast. We enyoyed the scenic drive but it was not good for making time. We camped at one of the thousands of secluded beachside campgrounds along the coast.

Beaches with rocks. Pretty

Day 22

The City. Not San Fran, or Frisco, or even San Franfrisco. The locals call this west coast port the city. Alex and I learned the hard way that we sounded like complete tourists referring to the town we were by our awkward terms of endearment. Thank God Alyse's friend and roommate Holly was from the city herself to let us know to not order Rice-a-roni at restaurants, or refer to Full house and the lovely Tanner family that lived there (although we joked about these things at all times in her presence).

Now that we have all these misconceptions cleared up I can discuss the zany adventures of socializing around the city. Alex and I first took a wake up swim in the Pacific because we just can't get close enough to hypothermia. We then went into the city... by trolley, of course... and ate some fancy thai food.

First time ever on a Trolley!

Leaving the trolley underground... back into the light

It was just the 4 of us (Alex, Alyse, Holly, me) roaming the streets of San Fran and heading to a party with all Alyse's architectural engineering co-workers (some married, some with kids?, but most in late 20's early 30's). Not the typical party scene for a couple young (just me) college kids from Penn State. Alex and I quickly decided we were going to either make or break this party and did the zaniest college stunts we could think of to maybe help these people with real lives and jobs relive their times at their alma-maters. I should also let it be known that I wore a shirt with a picture of myself on it. But told everyone it was of my little brother. People were scared to ask me about it.

Alyse and Holly. Throwing peace signs. We would do that and say "keep it green." I'm not sure why.

Ulin(in pink) the party's accomadating host, PSU alum, and legendary partier back in the day and one of his cohorts

Mayhem ensued. Beers were drank (speedbeers even), shots were taken, and Goldschlager was chugged. Alex and I met our dude named Ed (we think that's his name, but for the story's sake Ed it is) with an ailing code addiction. This guy loved to party. When I mentioned shotgunning a beer at the party this guy was way into it. Somehow all the dudes had found each other at the party.

Ed paying the price for trying to keep up with a college kid. Me looking on in disgust.

By this time the ice had been way broken and the normal working people started to talk with us even. Alex and I played around on the Bowflex for a while (doing backflips on the lat pull-down bar with all the resistance on) and then we bounced for some food.

Mild chip addiction. 5 pounds wrapped in swaddling plastic

Oh yeah, and this other girl at the party was an intern like Alyse. Her name was Jaime, she was from Nebraska, and I was way into her.

Working my magic. I think she was buying it.

Things get fuzzy after we left the party but I made it back to Alyse's by trolley in time to pass out.

Ashamed. But my little brother looks like a kid at Christmas.

Day 21

We awoke to the friendly voice of a park ranger telling us we were not allowed to camp in the lot without paying. He was a nice old man though and was just doing his job. Alex and i repacked our car and went back to Yosemite Valley to climb on the small rocks. Bouldering in The Valley is world class and way less of a production than Big Wall climbing.

Barefoot Bouldering

San Fran

Not the Golden Gate

After climbing, we made our way to San Francisco to meet Alex's fellow Penn State Architectural Engineer, Alyse, for the Penguins game. She is from Pittsburgh and a pretty huge hockey fan. Crosby and the gang took care of business in "Hockeytown" and the San Francisco bar we were at was generally stoked. Alyse and I got a little frisky with a couple of Red Wings fans, but they backed down on account of my huge biceps and strong core. We returned to Alyse's to set up camp. We topped the night off with a swim in the famously warm Pacific Ocean.

Outside Alyse's. Ocean at the end of the road

Day 20

Another day of soul boarding. Bluebird, warm, and epic. I was starting to feel pretty loose again after finally getting back in the rhythm of riding. The jumps were nice and firm in the morning and then they started getting sloppy later in the day so we hit up the rail scene. I could do all my stunts again! Summer snowboarding, yum! we ate pitas in the way out of town and drove to Yosemite National Park.

Ashburys+ beaded Croakies=scene

We made it in with our annual National Park pass for about 10 minutes before a cop pulled me over for speeding. I got off with a warning but while he was checking my id we saw a big coyote.

Pigs

Onward we went to Yosemite Valley, the heart of the park. The rock is simply amazing here. Towering granite slabs over 3,000 tall. We took pictures of half dome, El Capitan, and cathedral peak. Itching to get out of our car we hiked/ climbed to the base of El Cap. It was hard enough to make it through the endless scree slope with no gear let alone a full trad rack that the climbers have to carry. We stood beneath The Nose of El Cap, just staring at all 34 pitches of finger splitting crack climbs. There were 2 parties on the wall that appeared as tiny specks on the huge wall.

El Capitan

We saw a huge 8-point whitetail buck in velvet beneath el cap

Half Dome

Yosemite Falls

Cathedral Peak

It was dark by the time we made it back from our car and all the park's campgrounds were full. We headed out to find camping somewhere and ended up sleeping on the pavement of a campground parking lot.

Day 19

We left Bishop's bumpy Buttermilk road behind to do some snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain. Mammoth is a resort known for its terrain parks (huge jumps and big jibs) and it was a real treat to ride it in June due to the snowpack of the Sierras. The mountain still had a ton of snow and the park was still in great shape.

Driving up to the mountain

Mammoth lodge with the slopes in the background

They had a full-size half pipe, 2 kickers, a loooong flat box, and a solid down rail. It was a sick setup that we played around on all day. Awesome times! We bro'ed out with the liftie, Chris at the bottom of each run. He told us about some local hot springs that we could soak in and camp at. After boarding Alex and I went to discover these pools. After exploring every dirt road in the foothills of Mammoth lakes, getting cheap gas in a town with an official population of 13 and a half, and finally finding some springs that you had to pay to use, we drove back to Mammoth to camp.

Welcome to Benton hot Springs

Sierra Sunset

Day 18

Oatmeal and granola gave us the energy to hit the bouldering scene hard as the sun started to heat up the arid land. I did some extreme ankle taping and we headed into the endless granite boulder fields. We climbed some tough stuff thanks to the grit of the granite (not sure the ratings w/o a guidebook but felt V2-ish?) We bouldered until our fingers were nearly bleeding raw.




There is some ridiculous stuff out there (45+ free solo boulders going at like V12. unreal.) that we just gawked at and smiled.

Backside of Ambrosia

That was enough activity for the day. We checked out Sabrina Lake tucked away in the Sierra Nevadas and I fished Bishop Creek.


It was a beautiful trout fishery, but I think its good name precedes itself and the fish are well-pressured by hungry anglers. We bathed in this nearly frozen waterway as well (no real shower in nearly a week.) Town held delicious pizza and wi-fi for us. We plan to return to camp for a fire and sleep. Mammoth tomorrow for more boarding!

Day 17

Dawn in Zion is something everyone should witness. The colors and textures the rising sun highlights on the rock is striking. I watched the hues morph as I iced my swollen ankle on a picnic table.
Alex soon awoke too with our hundreds of neighbors at the packed campground already getting rowdy. Another day on the run as we packed and left Zion for a more wholesome place… Las Vegas. We sadly passed by the world-renowned sport climbing of the Virgin River Gorge and Red Rocks, NV but we are slightly pressed for time and I don’t mind having reason to fly into Vegas for another visit. We approached the city form the east and headed straight for the strip. We got some zany pictures of all the commotion. The delicate suggestions of nude dudes and chicks popped out everywhere.



Wild times. We tried our luck at the slots ($4 dollars worth), ate cheap sandwiches at a food court, snuck into a ritzy hotel pool to scope some babes (which we hadn’t seen in weeks), and even tied to swing a cheap room at the plush Encore hotel and casino. A couple dollars less but 10 prostitute trading cards more we left with little else to speak of (“what happens in Vegas….”).

Just one more dollar! Please!

The next 100 miles or so were spent regretting and trying to justify our decision to leave Sin City so quickly, a true representation of our unwavering morality. We crossed through some plains of Nevada then dove into the eastern Sierras of California. We passed through a bristlecone pine forest, home to the oldest living organisms in the world (some of the trees up to 4,500 years old.) The dusty roads of this desert dissolved behind us and we finally made it to Bishop, CA. Probably seems an unlikely destination to most, but climbers know it to be the highball bouldering capital of America. We set up a lovely campsite in the shadow of the Sierras, still covered in snow, and next to the mammoth boulders of the Buttermilk Area. We watched Chris Sharma and friends kill it in Bishop and elsewhere in his featured film King Lines.

Sierras in the background

A BIG boulder field