Happy 4th of July!

eric and i stayed close to home for the 4th of July, in an alpine kind of way. Lone peak is a beautiful granite cirque just south of salt lake. we can see the long ridgeline leading up to the cirque from out our back door. I've always wanted to go up there and climb, and we finally made it last weekend. It's not a hike i'm anxious to repeat. it was one of the toughest hikes i've ever done in my life. about 5 miles with over 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain- with some miles having less than 1,000 feet gain and some miles having more. some miles included hiking straight up a drainage ditch. no switchbacks to be found. it was tough. and then coming down we ran almost the whole trail. believe it or not, running was easier. although today (a day later) my quad muscles are sore to a light touch. the climbing was spectacular, the setting was stunning, and the company splendid!
we climbed 2 different routes in the cirque, both which topped out at different places. you could see the entire salt lake valley below, which is both neat and un-cool at the same time. for all that uphill (and downhill!) effort it'd be nice to not see any sign of civilization. but it was interesting to see the whole valley where we live that way too.






hiking out


happy to be back in the tent


squeaking across a snowfield towards the tent.
this trip had more mountaineering than i was comfortable with. 45 degree snow fields guarded the bases of all the routes, which without crampons, made for a very exciting approaches. eric kicked steps for me the whole way, which made it a lot easier but still a mental challenge to not think about sliding the whole way down and then flipping over backwards when you hit the boulderfield below...


learning to glissade


the descent


happy couple on the summit


on top of the world!!


classic.


high up on the 4th pitch of the Center thumb, 5.9


following eric on the Center Thumb


eek! snowfield!


waking up in the morning...


going to bed at night...


the campsite. we climbed the cliffs in the background.


beer donated by local climbing friend.


re-racking on the summit




preparing to lead the first pitch..


as soon as we reached the cirque and our campsite i promptly fell asleep on a rock.

summer stuff

Back yard BBQ Parties! Katie, Tracy and I:


Bike Commuting! my most favorite and needed part of the work day:

Climbing Trips

well somewhere in the past month or so i've been climbing! Indian Creek happened late this year- in mid May which is usually flaming hot down south. it was a fantastic trip, but all the pictures were taken with Liz's camera (that's what happens when eric doesn't come along!) and i don't have the pics to post. we also enjoyed climbing with our friends Dave and Allie, a new couple for tripping to the creek with!

I spent the next couple weeks after indian creek just trying to get in laps around salt lake climbing. i realized i had lost more strength than i thought. i just couldn't keep my arms above my head for very long (as evidenced by all the falls i took while in indian creek in may) so a few different partners, including Liz and Jamie, have helped me get my climbing arms back above me.

eric and i just went to a somewhat local climbing mecca in southern idaho called City of Rocks. it's only about 3 hours away, which makes it feel quite close. it's got a lifetime of granite climbing. infact, we were there almost exactly 1 year ago prior to my big hip surgery. so this was an important trip for me. i returned to some of the climbs i had done previously, and climbed them even better than i did before the surgery (no thanks to the surgery however. i think the real reason is that i've had all this time to sit around and think about climbing and not get to. so that when the opportunity finally arrived i was just so stoked to be out that i went on a sending spree. i, in fact, do not have increased range of motion at all in my hip. it's actually more restrictive than before due to the soft tissue issues - such as capsulitis and inflammation in general) i am not back to my pre-surgery flexibility (which was poor to begin with) and don't have better use of the hip. i experience more pain than i did before the surgery as well. BUT (and it's a big but!) i am hiking and climbing and for that i am so thankful, excited, and STOKED about. i'm not complaining anymore, i'm just climbing!!! here are some pics:



E and I on top of Morning glory Spire


and I packed my angry face to show the cold, windy, rainy weather when it showed up...



following Skyline on Morning glory spire



mmm, broccoli for dinner!!


Snakes and Ladders, run-out 5.9



the climb I'm most proud of for the weekend: Double Cracks, the sandbagged gold standard 5.10a in the City



hard to see the bird that i'm mimicking in this picture....



me: "Look Eric, Booty!! I LOVE free cams! and even better, it's a brand new #4 camalot- very expensive and coveted!"
Eric: "ya... i think it's those guys who just now rappelled down. you should probably give it back"
Me: Angry face!

it turned out alright though. i returned this cam only to find another one on a different climb later in the day.

Barfy Boise

I recently returned from a trip to Boise, Idaho to visit with my sister after the birth of her new baby son, Seth. I always forget how much energy children require- i was exhausted after only a few hours. The kids are really great though, and I enjoy watching them grow up. My mom was up there too to help take care of the chitlens and miranda, as she had a c-section. so i got to visit with lots of family! the visit was going swimmingly, until i caught some stomach virus/flu bug thing the night before i was supposed to leave. i spent the night throwing up and feeling quite ill. strange thing is, this happened last time i was up there in february. now i can't help but associate visiting the kiddos with barfing. i told miranda the next time i visit i am going on a complete fast for the duration of the visit. that way if i get the crud again i won't have anything to throw up. it still was a good trip, just ended in a not so good way. i guess this was the second Barf Fest 2010, the first being in february. thanks nephews and neice, i don't want another invitation.




me and seth, pre-barf

the Month of May

may is a great month in salt lake. the weather alternate between crisp dry air and rain- both of which i love. the wisteria plant blooms in our front yard, as do all the tulips and random other plants. the green returns to the mountains and the valley. it's a good time. it's also my birthday month, which makes it my favorite. i celebrated my birthday in Indian creek, as we are having a cooler than usual spring, it is still good climbing weather in southern utah. eric didn't get to come on the trip, which means i didn't have a camera to take pics. my friend Liz took some though, so i'll post if i can steal her camera. before the trip though, i had a 4-Square birthday party. very fun.
the hip is coming along- nearly pain free!. the quad muscle has settled down... i am back!







the beautiful wisteria blooms! this vine grows across the front of our house- i love it!



my friend Jamie threw me a 4-Square birthday party. it was a total blast and brought back all those grade school egos...


plannig out perfect square....


drawing out the perfect square..




nice moves kids!

May Powder

we had a fantastic powder dump at the beginning of may...at least 30 inches in 3 days. eric and i got out on May 1 for a short, but epic tour. it was hard to believe i was skiing down fresh powder when just 2 days earlier i was climbing in a tank top in the sunshine! i've never seen a snow dump like this in may before. it was great!

Red Rocks 2010

My friend Jamie and i spent a week in the desert outside of Las Vegas climbing at a national rec area called Red Rock Canyon. It's beautiful down there and only 6 hours away from salt lake! the first couple days were windy, cold, rainy, and even a bit snowy. we did some 'urban hiking' down the las vegas strip, which was more mentally taxing than any of the climbing we did! we did get in 4 perfectly sunny days of climbing and had a blast. ye ole' hip actually did quite well. my body is still figuring out how to manuever- feels like i got the tires changed and haven't quite figured out how to use them. i'm still struggling against some limited range of motion and quite a bit of residual pain in my quad muscle. i hope these are just time things though. my head is in a really good place for climbing, and the trip felt like a huge success.

of course the images are in reverse order, but you get the idea.


sad b/c it's leaving time


the pink tourist bus- they pack them in here like clowns and then off load at every scenic view..it's quite funny to watch them all pile out of this bright, pink bus


yummy mac'n'cheese with sausage dinner


There is a sign at one of the stops on the scenic loop that goes around the rec area that explains rock climbing and protection and ropes etc. the title of the sign is "cliff dancers". i was just busting one of the many dancing moves we climbers do....
??

Pasta Primavera dinner!


Herd of Mountain goats- about 10 of them! i was literally just saying how much i wanted to see this animal when we suprised a herd of them on the trail. they are amazing creatures!


Top of Olive Oil.


Teen Girl Squad goes rock climbing!


mmm quesadilla dinner! yum!


Quincy, the camp cat.


Jamie and I at the top of Birdland- we did actually climb!


stopping in to apply makeup in Sephora on the strip. no climbing trip is complete without a makeup store stop.


giant moss ball in the Belaggio... i don't understand...


a telling sign during our urban hike


can't climb when it looks like this...


it's rolling in..


our first evening meal. we ate so well we took pictures of every meal


the new dining room...and sleeping room...and do everything in room b/c it's the only place that blocks out the wind...