we lived

...in case you were concerned

yosemite

ok. technically a town outside of yosemite called lee vinning. But still, in the region. Plus, yosemite is crowded at the campground. Anyway. this was only shortly after I hurt my leg, so climbing was officially out. by dr's orders. So we only did one. a quick little 5.6 that was only 7 pitches, with one little section of chimney and one little section of offwidth.

my leg still hurts, and I can't seem to figure out why??

then we toured yosemite park on our beach cruisers. and went up to the base of el cap, touched it actually. Can I just tell you, that cliff is MASSIVE. it goes forever. and you just look at it, and can't even begin to imagine climbing it. it is way way out of my league. But then kalebs bike got a flat tire, and we had to walk back into the chaos that is a national park, and then we left.

Now we are in bishop ca, the place where chris sharma practices. it is pretty amazing. But after two months of trad climbing, my sport technique it a little off. So I had some issues. and my fingers are totally destroyed right now. (your welcome for typing, it is painful)

We met a couple of weird climbing people today. A boy and a girl. but not a couple? she called kaleb my boyfriend. I decided I liked the sound of that, so he is now my boyfriend (you know less permanent) They were some strange people. I think we may climb again with them tomorrow. It is nice having someone to talk to, and later about. Kaleb thinks they may end up being serial killers, who just wait for hippie climbers on road trips to kill. I'm ok with that, as long as there is someone to talk to. he also (from behind my shoulder) says that he doesn't want to talk to me either, and will also take his chances.

that is pretty much all that is all with us.

Oh wait no, so we drove all the way here from lee vinning, and went up a really long dirt road, and found a camping spot beside a river. then we went to the supermarket. and when we came back we found a ticket on the trailer step that said, "if you are here tonight there will be a $150 fine" from park services. Well, that sent kaleb into a bit of a tissy fit. and as I was re-packing the trailer to re-move our selves. he was stomping around outside yelling about the man and how the man is the reason this world is...hmm...fuckedup... and at one point, to prove his point of the nonsense reason for park rangers, he tried to dump our garbage. a move rendered totally anticlimactic as only one lone beer can fell out.

laughing was the only option.

ahhh tahoe

35 days
30 different climbs
My new trad skills
Ks new free soling skills
A long overdue visit from family
A longer overdue visit from friends
2 sets of brits
Countless movie rentals from strawberry lodge
And a continuing knack for not paying for parking

I shall miss you.

day 5

….still injured. And it seems my language is also suffering.

I decided it was time to see a professional. He said I was fine---without even the offer of good drugs—and to not climb. What the hell does he know?

day 6
…climbed corrugation corner, 5.7, 500ft. A little tough since I only used three limbs, and k’s massive run outs. Um….50 ft between pieces on the 3rd pitch, nicely done gangster. In other news, we have officially been evicted. A nice park ranger informed us that we were 14 days past our 14 day camping limit and could we kindly move. Well, clearly he isn’t a climber.

day 7
Yosemite

I am finally not scared

I finally feel like I can climb, pull hard, and propel myself up the cliff side. Yesterday I did. Then I fell. I was climbing strong all day; the warm up was a snap, so I did it twice. The next climb, a 10 something was more difficult, and yet I still was able to work it out, climb it clean. The third and 11 something was amazing, hard and cruxy. Big moves to tiny incuts in the rock. The first time I took twice. Managed to finish it, but was unsatisfied with the climb. So I tried again. finally through the crux, but still on splayed out holds, I reached for something solid. But my left foot was hanging in the void. Not touching the rock, and while I knew that this was a problem, while I tried, failing to get that foot onto something, I reached high above for the next hold anyway.

I missed it.

Then I fell. Explosive and painful. I closed my eyes in an automatic response to suddenly being airborne. Only opening them after I hit, jolted back, and slammed against the rock. My right foot hit against the rock, slamming it full force, and the jolt screamed up my leg, through my calf and into my thigh. Then I couldn’t climb again. I only hope the damn thing isn’t broken. That would blow.

Meanwhile, kaleb has developed a new affinity to free soloing.