Final Post...OMG!

It's hard to believe it's all over?!  I can say that I'm glad I did it, and that I achieved a lot.  I was able to learn so much not only about climbing but myself.  Would I do it again?  I don't know. I have realized the place that climbing has in my life and largely where and what I want my life to be.  I can say that I'm a bit more at peace and definitely more happy.
I think that in a way I have reset my life, mentally.  It's been cool to go thru the process of letting go of so much. Stress, the past, who I am, etc.  I achieved a lot of the goals that I set out to do.  I still can't believe that I climbed El Cap!  I didn't go broke, thank god. France was awesome, and I learned ALOT!
Climbing is still so important to me.  However after doing it so much, I know that there are other things in my life that are also important.  That I have more to focus on, achieve, and be grateful for. I have a better understanding of who I am, what my faults are, what qualities I want to continue to work on.  New goals and aspirations that will breathe new life into my world.  I don't know if this trip was the source of being able to do that, but I know that it provided the opportunity for it.
I did improve as a climber. I learned how to mentally be stronger. I climbed in so many places and did so many routes that I have always wanted to do: Tahquitz, Epinephrine, The Nose, The Sierras, The Buttermilks, Font, Maple Canyon, Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday, The Vampire.  The list continues.  I want to thank my awesome partner Kristina; who helped me learn, provided support, and was a great companion.  I wish you well on the rest of your trip.
Where do I go from here....Well school starts Weds, MBA here I come.  i will be doing Team in Training.  I plan to climb a lot again, and hopefully help Matthew tick some of his goals:) I heart you. Learn how to write grants and hopefully make a difference in the world. Continue to improve as a person and a climber.
Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, I appreciate it.  Glad to be home, can't wait to get back in touch with everyone!

Fontainebleau!! and France

So France! I went to the following places: Paris, Font, Champagne, Normandy.  It was amazing, and I have always wanted to come this way.  I was glad to be able to make it work.  After a long ass flight and lay-over I landed in Paris.  The driving was terrifying, the scenery beautiful.  I was burnt from the time change and such, but made it to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower day one.  I had to take a nap in the grass some where and then again in the mini car that I had rented in a parking garage.  I hadn't found a place to stay yet.  Day two I went to the Louvre, Musse D'Orsey, Champs Elise, and Arc D'Triumph. I loved what I did there but I was ready to head out to the country and climb.

Notre Dame

Love locks over the river Seine

Do I really need to say what this is?!

The Louvre, amazing!

Arc de Triumph

Font, interesting.  It took a while to get acquainted to the area aka finding the boulders.  For those of you who have been to Hueco, you drive up and the place is right there.  Not so much in Font.  You drive up to this massive forest, and you can not see the boulders till you drive to the spot you are climbing at and walk in.  I was a bit frustrated and drove around after getting a camp spot.  I found some boulders and they kindly offered for me to join them.  They got me acquainted to the area and told me where some sports were.  I got to climb there for 4 days.  They have the problems on circuits, so the book just gave the list of problems, but not a star rating.  That made it tough, because you may have 50 problems in front of you, but only 10 or12 may be worth climbing.  It rained a lot those 4 days and I was forced to sleep in my mini car, because I had decided not to bring a tent.  At that point my thoughts about Font were undecided.  There were really good problems and then not good.  I decided to make my opinion after I came back.

Chateau de Fontainebleau, home of Napoleon

People that helped me find my way.

Beagle siting!

Off to Champagne, the land of Champagne!  I got to drink real Champagne (it is only real if it comes from this area, everything else is just sparkling wine).  They were very adamant about this as people have started calling non-champagne champagne.  I toured two wineries, walked the uber famous Avenue de Champagne, drove the country-side, and finished in Reims.  After touring the city I finally found Internet!  This had been a long battle, and I needed to take care of some bank things.

My rental, not a good sleeping area...ug.

From there it was off to Normandy and the Mont Saint Michel.  This is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.  It's a monastery set off in the ocean essentially.  I had a great time, despite having some bank issues and almost being stranded there.  My sister saved the day with Western Union, and I didn't have to spend the rest of my trip eating baguette and hating my life. I also toured the battle fields of WWII.  I drove the coast up to Omaha beach and saw the area where D-Day's main assault took place.  I also went to the cemetery, and emotionally lost it when I saw the mass of grave stones.  I cannot believe the bravery that these men had.  The thousands up to 5000 according to counts who were injured, missing, or lost their life.  The courage it took to storm that beach via a water-front assault is extraordinary.  God bless these men.

Mont Saint Michel, almost the end of my trip...

Area around the Mont Saint Michel and jelly-fish that didn't make it thru the tide.

Omaha beach, one of the D-Day landings.

US Omaha beach cemetery, may they rest in piece for the price they paid.

Point du Hoc, one of the craziest assaults made by rangers.

Coast around Point du Hoc. Gives you an idea of what they scaled.

After making a stop off at Versailles and seeing the exorbitant wealth that sent France into guillotine madness, I returned to Font.  This time, the skies were clear, I knew where to go, and the climbing was much better.  I got worked hard-core the first day bouldering and had to muster myself for the next 2 days.  I will say that Font is a special place, and yes my friends there are slopers!  I don't know if I would go back.  I don't think that I would.  I got to spend 7 days total climbing there.  I felt good about that.

Versailles, home to the world famous Marie Antoinette.

Grounds of the palace, even I got tired walking around this place, huge! Also a UNESCO world heritage site.

How they mark the boulder problems in font, circuit one's that is. It provides the number and color of difficulty.

Awesome v1 prob

I got schooled on this boulder!

I got back up to the airport the next day with a 3am start, shoot me.  It was a long trip back with flight delays and waiting on the run-way.  Matthew graciously picked me back up from the airport.  I was thrilled to see him an be home at last.

Utah sporty sport

So after going to Male Canyon, we headed to the Uintas (pronounced Wintas) to do some alpine sport climbing.   If there is such a thing:)  At any rate, it's fairly moderate there, only up to 5.12 and not tons of 12's.  None the less the climbing was beautiful.  The rock is quartzite, and forms these horizontal cracks and ledges.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there:(
I wouldn't recommend taking a trip there. It was fun and the climbing was cool, but there just isn't enough to really make a trip of it.  The mosquitoes were awful too!  We had to eat in the car to keep from being attacked by the swarms, yes swarms of them.  The other thing is that there are few areas that are really developed.  We went to this one spot in the guidebook that is supposed to be awesome called Stone Garden.  I'm sure it is, but the directions that were given in the book were not correct and we ended up at some crag we didn't know.  As well,  the routes are soft.  Some are true to the grade, but many had to be down graded.  For instance we did an 11c that had been down graded from 12. Fair for 11c, hard, but def not 12.
I got to see a moose there, I miss them from Alaska.  Also went for a really pretty run.  From there we headed to American Fork.  Hard limestone sport climbing.  Also the last destination before I head back to CO.....
American Fork, definitely the land of hard sport climbing.  I got worked man.  I think that the climbing is super fun, overhanging and pretty juggy.  I think it's better than Rifle, and I am prepared to feel the heat for  that comment.  I just think that the routes climb better.  Yes there is still polish and such, but I think that's true for limestone that gets climbed often anywhere. I finally got to see Matt and Chui again.  I missed them both very much.  Matthew kindly drove out to pick me up and return me to CO.  Although I didn't climb my best at AF, I am definitely getting in good sport shape.  Consistently climbing the hardest sport grades that I have climbed.  I am really enjoying it after so much trad climbing. The simplicity of clipping bolts is great.
Although I have one more stop in France, this is the end of my trip in the States.  Hard to believe after so much climbing!

Maple Canyon! Pebble Pulling Paradise!

I am so excited to have made it out to Maple Canyon!  I got in three days of awesome climbing.  For those new to this area, it is a land of cobbles and matrix (the stuff that cements the cobbles and stuff together).  I realized that I have gotten a little weak!  Need to get strong again to pull-down hard!  I got to climb in Box Canyon and also attempted a fair number of 11's while I was there.  I was psyched about that.

Box Canyon

Box Canyon

I also got my wallet stolen!  When we drove in to get gas, I left my wallet on the hood (bad place).  Make a long story short I realized it a day later.  We went back to the gas station as they said it had been found.  Well after watching video footage, it turns out that an employee to it!  I got the wallet back, all cash gone, she got arrested, and had to cancel all credit cards.  Let me tell you that makes it tricky to travel!  At any rate, the manager there was awesome, def a road trip story for the campfire Joe!!

Weather doesn't look good tomorrow, so not sure what the plan is.  Maybe the Uinta's?  Friday I get to meet up with my amazing boyfriend in American Fork.  I'll spend three days there and then head back to Denver.  I'll hang with Matthew for a few days and then fly to FRANCE!!! Heading to Fountainbleau! Going to try to crush some boulders and take in French culture.  Hope everyone is doing great.  Miss you all and can't wait to hang-out again!

Family Visit

I was really glad to get home and see family.  I was able to see both sisters and parents.  We don't get together very much.  The bummer was that this was also an eye opener with news that my Dad had Pancreatic Lymphoma.  I was terribly upset by this since he was diagnosed last year with Hairy Cell Leukemia.  I have decided that I will most certainly race again for Team in Training.  I am very grateful that it is treatable with chemo (sp?) and maybe radiation.  However there are so many who are not in the same boat.  I have great respect for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  They do much to promote research and a search for a cure.  I sure hope that some of the money I will be raising in the Winter/Spring will benefit that mission.  I will pass along information when I get home about how to donate.

It' a bit of an earth shaker when you go from running around in the mountain to making daily visits to the hospital.  It is very hard to see someone you love so much in pain or not at 100%.  My dad was amazingly strong.  I have great respect for him. Life is a roller-coaster.  I was able to stay until my Dad got out of the hospital and then an extra day.  I was thrilled to see the quick recovery that he made after surgery.  I don't know when they will start chemo treatments.

Why do our parents have to get old? Why do people we love and care for have to suffer? Why do things work out the way they do?

This was the only picture that I took while home. That's Truman, the best beagle ever.

More Sierras Adventures, Whitney and Russell

Mount Whitney, Kheeler Needle, and company

On the approach, Whit in the background.

The lake that we got water out of everyday. Sometimes had to use an ice axe to get water in the morning.

Me, the bear vault, and my rations.

 It was great to be out in the mountains again.   Got to get out and get on Western Front, Mount Russell and East Buttress, Mount Whitney.  What a beautiful area it is back there.  Very interesting experience to be out there and see all types of people.  It was four days total in the back-country.  Day one, walk in; day two Mount Russell, day three Mount Whitney, and 4 walk-out.  Each peak taps in at over 14,000.
 Russell was awesome!  It was the hardest alpine route I have done so far at 10c.  The crux pitch was hard for me flaring finger crack, almost on-sighted, but had to take once.  I was still happy with it.  Kristina did great up high on another tough pitch. Said to be the best pitch on Mount Russell.  Here are some photos.

On-top of Russell after Western Front, great day, great route!

Mount Russell

 Mount Whitney was great much easier at 5.7.  It had a lot of lower 5th class with 5.6 or 5.7 sections or moves on it.  Nonetheless it was a fun day with a great view off the summit.  Here are some cool pics.

Loved these flowers, they were everywhere on the mountain.

On the route.

Cool rock on the route.

Mount Whit

Benchmark at summit, one of six.

Yay,  summit.

 Headed to see the family tomorrow.  Really excited about that.  Should be great to see everyone and relax for a bit.

Cardinal Pinnacle and the Real Buttermilks

  We decided to do a double header today.  A 5 star route called West Face, 10a was the first objective.  Once again, the rain was threatening.  We managed to knock the route out fairly quickly.  Really cool and very fun.

Cardinal Pinnacle, the biggest pointy thing.

  After that, we took a break.  Did a little snacking, reading, and napping.  It was pretty nice. Not too often do you get to be in a world-class setting like the Buttermilks, and have the luxury of time to wait out the heat to climb.  The only bummer was that the road was flooded.  Not a problem, we decided to do the last 1.5 ish miles on foot.  For all you pebble wrestlers out there, this is a world class strikingly beautiful area.  I would love to come back here.  The climbing is great (hard), the scenery amazing, and the landings soft for the most part.  It turned into a late night, getting home around 11ish.

The Buttermilkies.

The world-class Ironman Traverse, bad-ass problem. I'm only half an Ironman, couldn't make it all the way.

Last problem of the day, the Hero Roof. Cause everyone needs to be a hero! Probably the best V0 I've done.

   The next day turned into a local sport cragging area, and the following day we went to Patricia Bowel.  Cool cracks to be had there.  Now it's off to try to get a Whitney permit and try to get back into the back-country.ss