Joe's Valley...Again

I once again felt the need to scratch the Joe's Valley itch, and went on an impromptu adventure with Frank, Emily, and some other new friends. Here are the pics. You can find more pics of the trip here.



Frank on Jitterbug Perfume

Matt on Resident Evil Stand


Adam on Resident Evil

Isaac on Spam

Frank on Big Boy

Annie on Big Boy

Dylan feeling out The Comedian Sit

I may never be a Germ Free Adolescent

Anyone who has known me for the last 3 years, also knows of my harrowing tale with the Germ Free Boulder. On a fateful November day, I stepped up anxious to climb this front range classic with the knowledge that the giants of early Colorado bouldering had ascended this line before me. John Sherman and John Gill are a few names that come to mind. As the session progressed so did my uneasiness and anxiety. Egged on by my friends, I commited to the movements, that is of course until I looked down. Struggling to find my breath, feeling the lack of chalk on my hands, I moved to the next hold. I did not make it, and fell hard. The 5 pads and spotters did not do much for my angle of descent. One hairline fracture later, and that was the last day of climbing for almost 12 months, and the first day of Das BooT.

3 years later I returned to this boulder. Still Uneasy. Still Anxious.

At this point I wish I could relay the story of victory and accomplishment, but for me that doesn't seem to be the nature of bouldering. It is filled with more days of crushing defeat than plain crushing, but that is why it is a sport for the headstrong and the will of the heart. In short I will be returning soon to this boulder...Ultimatly to conquer my fear, but also to climb in the footprints of the greats.

Regardless, Matt, Katy, and I had a great day. Perfect temps, good laughs, and stout sandbagged problems. As always, they were followed by beers. And now the pics....


Matt working out the move on the right sit start of GF.

Matt flailing with a foolish face.

Katy allowing me the pleasure of her portrait.

Crossing the river is always a debauchle. Hilarity usually ensues.

Mt Evans

Fall has most certainly arrived. The Aspens are changing their colors, and Mt Evans looks nothing like it used to earlier in the season. Frank and I went out on a weekday, and basically had Area A all to ourselves.

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.

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

Road Trips are Epic

Denver to Chicago to Knoxville to St Louis to Denver in 5 days. Lets just say I don't want to be in the drivers seat of a car for the next couple of days. It was good to catch up with old friends, not a beat was missed. We spent 14 hours straight to get to Chicago, it was not so bad seeing how we split it up into 4 shifts. We then forced Bob to stay up the majority of the evening playing Durak, the Russian drinking games until an hour before he had to be at work. What else are friends for?
Chicago is an interesting city, a solid mix between the concrete jungles known as the Burroughs of NYC, and the park infested cities on the west coast like San Diego. The one thing I did not do was experience the deep dish while I was there.
Aldo and I continued to Knoxville, while John left on a plane for Denver. The solo mission ensued where exorbitant amounts of coffee, beef jerky and small conversations with gas station attendants were consumed. Indeed, it does get lonely on the road, but not enough to be caught dead in a rest stop with no doors on the stall.

Aldo and John in Denver.

Chicago

John and Aldo at a local bar in Chicago. There was money from many different countries tacked to the wall including Peru, Switzerland and Germany.



On the way to Knoxville.

A Lovely Day to Leave

I leave for Colorado in less than a week, and as a result I have been working intensely hard, but I've also been playing hard, procrastinating my chores of cleaning and packing for my move back out west. I feel as though I must take advantage of the wilderness in E Tennessee before my time in this place is up. Too little too late as usual, but that's my style.

Today Sarah, Taryn, Joanna, and I went to Great Smoky Mountain National Park and hiked up one of the most popular trails: Ramsay-Cascade Trail. It was a wonderful trip, 4.2 miles up a grueling hill, and 4.2 miles back down. The girls ran me at a hard pace, and I had much difficulty keeping up. Those Blue Ridgers are hardcore!


the victory picture


Messing around with shutter and aperture. I opened her up on this one.




I like the first one best, but thought it would be nice to see all 3.