No Power

My coworker, Ryan, enjoying our "lunch" break

If you hadn't heard there is big fire just a few miles from Yosemite Valley right now. Its bad enough that we have to deal with all the smoke and ash, but worse still, we have no electricity. Apparently the fire was burning through an area where all the power lines crossed so PG & E shut down the power about 5 days ago now. 

What this means for me...no cooking, no light, no hot water, and no electronics (I'm writing this in the Ahwahnee because they have a generator). Oh, and our refrigerator doesn't work, of course, so both my roommate and I have lost around $100 dollars in food. Normally all of this would be that big of a deal, its like camping right? WRONG! All of my camping gear is in Davis and I work nights so I'm somewhat dependent on electricity. 

I've never wanted to leave Yosemite as much as I want to right now. In fact, as soon as my shift is over at 4am tomorrow I'm hitting the road. Then I'll just be crossing my fingers that the power will be back on by next Wednesday.

Only the roaches will survive!

Break Time

It seems that a lot of people are concerned that I'm not climbing enough these days. Kevin in Colorado is crushing rocks and wants me to do likewise. I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't have the time to access the rocks in cooler climates right now. Peter needs a partner, but I am working nights again so I have less opportunities for night sessions (and days are just out of the question). John and Alan are on a road trip and want me to join them because they aren't speaking to each other and they require a mediator. I'd love to guys but I have job. Ho-hum... Actually, after sending my summer projects I feel quite content to take a little break and let my body recover. I'm psyched for fall and I'll be ready for it when it comes, this break is just the calm before the storm.

Here are some unrelated pictures I thought I'd share. There is one other that I agreed to post because of the warm feeling it makes in Peter's heart, but I thought too many of my faithful readers would suffer from a severe gag reflex after seeing it. So I'm sparing you for now. 

 

Squirrels

Went to Donner today on just a few hours of sleep.  Definitely was lacking in energy and drive but Peter inspired me with his efforts on "Midnight Train" at the Saddle boulders so I warmed up and had some goes at "The Real Deal." It went really well considering conditions were crap and I hadn't climbed in a week. Still, you can only fall on the last move so many times before it gets a bit tedious. 

 

Fran hard at work

In lieu of some climbing media, here is a video of one of the things I did at work last week. The clip will detail one part of the story that the picture above begins.

Glen Aulin

After a terrific 4th of July weekend I was sent into the backcountry for a bear patrol at the Glen Aulin high sierra camp. Not much happened back there except for some serious chillin', which was a nice change from all the Valley shifts.  I did scope out a bunch of beautiful unclimbed walls and boulders. 

I haven't climbed since last Saturday when I took Sarah up on Lembert Dome in Tuolumne. I'm jonesing for a fix so Peter and I are going up Donner today despite the open wounds on the bottom of my foot. I earned myself several foot flappers running after a bear barefoot yesterday morning. Brilliant.

Some pics

Minor Milestone

A quick media-less update. Last night at 1:20 in the morning I finished off the Le Conte roof by climbing "Narcissus". I nearly blew it on the rock-over move at the top, which would have had some serious consequences. "Narcissus" also became my 500th boulder problem here in Yosemite. Meaningless, I know, but kinda cool nonetheless.

Headed to Mammoth tonight for some fourth of July fun. Maybe climb in Tuolumne on the way home Saturday.

Underwhelming Video

Sorry for the lack of media lately. This deficiency is mostly due to the fact that I've been climbing at night and usually alone, thus the boom and stadium lights have been left at home. I did, however, send one of the problems coming out of the Le Conte roof on Sunday. For the uninitiated, "Goldmund" and "Narcissus" share the same crux opening sequence but then diverge after leaving the roof. "Goldmund" finishes up "Prowess," while Narcissus goes up "Rabbit Habit." I went back to the roof last night and came agonizingly close to sending, falling two holds from the top of Narcissus. 

I don't have any sending footage, nor do I have any footage of the near send. Instead, I have footage of Peter and I flailing on our two very different projects. Enjoy.

I may go back to the roof tomorrow night, but the rest of the weekend will be spent doing mostly non-climbing related things. What a novel idea.

Also, congratulations are in order for Peter, the new father. May Guss grow up to have bigger balls than you. Cheers!