Stars, Bars, and Shot Up Cars

Other possible titles for this post:
1. Star Search
2. Starrosis - an inflammation of the star seeking frontal lobe.


Right Fork in the Morning.


As I lay in my tent staring at the star strutted night sky devoid of any clouds I couldn't help but truly feeling the magic that lies in Joe's Valley. It's more than just the gorgeous black and tan streaked boulders, the turquoise laden river, or the marvelous sunrises and easy going pace of life in the valley. It's something intangible that you could never over experience, and always find hard to communicate in words. In short Joe's Valley is magical.


The first of many "freak outs"

The C A M R. post dirt road short cut. Now at 198,000 miles and still building character!

Friday morning Garvin and I strapped up and did the long drive into Joe’s Valley, not getting lost once; but nearly running out of gas twice. We made the mistake of stopping in Grand Junction to grab food and booze before heading into the land of Mormon, 3.2 beer, and Sandstone. We drove in circles attempting to find grocery stores, in place we only found super targets and liquor barns.

Garvin on The Comedian

Finally we arrive at our destination, and quickly made our way to Man Size Area to relieve the itchiness of our fingers, and soothe the sweating of our palms with chalk. We began our reintroduction to the area by climbing the tallest face we could find, a gorgeous highball named Michelangelo; undeniably a work of art. We also played around on a few moderates before running into a friend from the South, Jill. A pleasant surprise to say the least because we ended up spending the rest of the weekend with her, her friend, Anna, and the Canadian staying in a movable aqua “loaf of bread” (read van), Ira. All was well in the world.

Ira and Jill

Katy, Garvin’s girlfriend, was to meet us there Friday evening, but due to complications arrived late in the evening. However it did provide us with entertainment…as we began to get further into the bottle of Chossy Rossi, we also began to dance at every car that passed our campsite.

Saturday, we got on a really cool problem called Worst Case Scenario. Jill sent with impeccable style.

Photo by Katy Scott.

Sunday saw ascents of the remaining proj’s and the long journey back home. Beat and broken, the trip was a huge success, and now I have dreams of returning as soon as possible.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

My new Favorite Photo.

Katy excited about squeezing out her bananas

Garvin coming up with something mischievous

Katy over the water on The Angler

Shot Up Slug Bug

Sundays @ Chaos

We got the alpine start in order to avoid the crowds, but also to snag one of the parking spots at the Bear Lake Parking Lot. To our dismay the clouds burst open and spew its watery opinion upon our arrival at the park. we quietly waited at the pavilion waiting for the storm to pass, or at least a calm to the barrage of rain so that we could make the hike to Chaos Canyon. A few short minutes later we were greeted by blue bird skies, the blessing of old rangers and a timely patch of sunshine. Much needed rays of vitamin D to jump start our weary heartbroken souls.
We made our way into Chaos only to find the potato chip boulder soaked and hopes of our day lost, luckily we were a resilient crew vehemently pushing on into the unknown weather patterns of the Rockies. We parked our pads and derrieres under an unknown overhung problem near the beginning of the talus field and explored the definition of chillin'
Anxiously I perused lower chaos in hopes of finding dry holds, sunny weather, and good vibes. My expectations were exceeded when I came upon a dry Autobot and Mcala (sp?). We seshed....hard. The day turned out to be a gorgeous one, and we were the suckers for coming out early. None the less, I always enjoy the solitude and early morning crispness of Chaos Canyon before the hung over zombies come out to play, and pollute with noise.
A special congratulations goes to Garvin for sending his first 9, Handicapps, to Charlie for his first foray into the canyon, and to Jessica for making serious headway on her super proj.

End of the day cheese sesh by Lake Haiyaha.

Jessica

Matt

Crushtown, population: 1 (Jessica on Mcala)

Charlie getting gangsta' on Mcala. Almost magical framing on the photo.

The Roots.

Matt on Mcala.

R.I.Px (tks Tony)

On Friday, I participated in an elective surgery known as Lasik. Now this "surgery" only takes a few fleeting moments, but under the laser it feels like a lifetime. Luckily my Somalian Dr., Dr. Ali straight hooked it up. And contrary to popular belief he was well fed. (I profusely apologize for my stereotyping so save yourself time on the hate mail). They asked me, "Said, are you anxious, would you like a Valium?"
At this point I had no reservations about the procedure, and I'm not usually one to pop pills. Well immediately afterwords they gave me paperwork to sign which states all the risks and possible sideffects of Lasik.

You may completely lose vision.
Corneal Abrasion.
Loss of Night Vision.
Halos.
You may be attacked by man eating tigers of the Sonderbon.

To say the least I became anxious, and immediately asked for the Valium.
They numbed my eyes with some crazy drops, gave me a stress ball that took the shape of an eyeball with cornea, iris, and all and told me not to blink.

The ticking of the laser, the cutting of the corneal flap, and the claustaphobic nature got my heart racing. I was extremely uncomfortable, and didn't understand a word of my 3 surgeons as they went on with their eye jargon.

But in the end it was all worth it solely for the cool sunglasses they gave me.

What does a dyslexic pirate say?

RAAAAAAAAAAAA!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Boulder Canyon & The Park

I have zero excuses for the lack of updates recently. Here are some of the best photos to go along with the recent adventures.



Funniest Upper Chaos Landscape photography..ever



Chris self repel at Easter Rock

Lil' Morning stretch.


Ian crushing.

F#@k em up F#@k em up GO C - U !!!!

I recently received my Septemeber 2008 Alumni newsletter from the University of Colorado at Boulder. The headlining article is about CU's beloved mascot Ralphie. It laid out the illustrious history of Ralphie, which I won't bore you non CU fans with, but also had a tidbit about Ralphie V, the newest buffalo to stampede across Folsom Field. In her first running, the Spring game in Boulder, she bowled over 1 of her handlers, and of the other 4, only 1 was fast enough to hang on to her. The video is here.

Phun With Paint

I know these aren't great. But its the best I can do with paint and without photoshop. Ian, Nikki, Mike and I went to Rifle, then Independence pass this weekend. This was certainly a highlight of the trip. We all sent this highball named Jaws with one pad. Mike and Ian gave it the true flash, I got it second go. Here are the photos of this send. Unfortunately my battery ran out of juice mid sequence of Ian's go, but look for a post shortly regarding the rest of this amazing weekend. I'm tired. But not tired enough to untie her. ;).

Mike on Jaws # 1

Mike on Jaws #2