Reason #5,673 why I'm stupid

I'm beginning to think that this blog is mostly about how I'm an idiot. I'd say retarded, but given that is no longer pc, I'll go with the more positive term of "special needs".

I went to Bishop Thursday night to hang out with the adorable Jackson girls + Lauren.  Jeff was in town so I went over to Andrew's house to hang out with him and his Denver/Fort Collins friends and drink a beer and watch a horrible Lisa Rands video.  The video only lent support to my general policy of "no climbing videos."  They are bad bad bad. I guess they're not that bad if you put them on mute and play your own music, but who has the energy for that?

ANYWAY, the next morning we drove out to the Buttermilks and I followed the boys up the "ridge solo" behind the Iron Man Traverse.  It's like 5.3 or something. That went all fine and dandy until the down climb where I attempted to "sack up" and jump across a small chasm to another boulder.  I've faced these situations before and always been kind of chicken, so this time I was going to go for it.  I went for it alright. As it turns out, the boulder is steep and grainy where my feet landed.  Instead of the sick pro-sticky rubber landing I was hoping for, my feet flew out from under me and I had a Vertical Limit moment where I snagged the boulder just in time to avoid sliding down the glacier to my death. Just kidding. But I WAS just hanging on to the top of the boulder with my hands.  It scared the shit out of the boys.  They just stared at me, though I think I heard an "oh shit!"

Something was definitely wrong with my ankle, and I had to take a moment to assess how fucked up it really was. You know how it takes you a minute sometimes to realize how injured you really are?  Yeah, that's what it was like.

I bailed on the rest of the "official downclimb and instead walked down through some boulders and met up with them on the other side.  I did get to watch this crazy skier dude do some flips off of a rock and land in the sandy gully. Seriously. It was CRAZY. and AWESOME.

So actually my ankle didn't feel that bad and I kept climbing a little and wandering around the buttermilks with the Jackson girls, who were immensely adorable and entertaining.  I forgot what it was like to be a beginner and TRY SO HARD.  It's inspiring.

We were done by about noon...the ankle was hurting and the Jacksons were tired.  So we wandered into town, went shopping at Wilson's, and then drove out to see the pupfish, where I cracked the front bumper of my car because we drove the right wheel through a ditch that I didn't see. Another notch in the stupid belt.

Either way, the fish were great and it was hot and sunny, so we drove back to the park and Maki came by and chatted, and then we got beer at Whiskey Creek. After that we moved over to Maki's to hang out with her and James and Stu.  I brought James his favorite cookies - cherry chocolate chip, so I was stoked to give them to him (and celebrate that Maki got into grad school and James sent his project!) It was a good trip.

At that point I was definitely limping pretty badly, but I still held out hope for climbing in the gorge Saturday.  Though this hope was definitely fading quickly. Maki gave me an ace bandage and some 800mg ibuprofen.  People were starting to dote on me, and look concerned, which was kind of nice and kind of went against my denial that I'd really done my ankle in. I think it's because I'm limping pretty badly and generally just look pathetic.  It's hard to walk for sure.

I also realized that I must have slammed my hip into the wall because I have a big bruise on my right hip bone.  And lots of scratches on my forearm.  I'm glad I stuck it with my hands at least!

Fast forward to this afternoon and I'm home. It would have been stupid to try to hike a pack down into the gorge and climb.  I'm going to Europe in two weeks and sorry all you gorge lovers - the gorge ain't worth it.

My ankle isn't that swollen, so I think it will feel better in a few days, but it still hurts like a BITCH.  I do wish that I had crutches though.  I might go to student health and rent them or something.  I can walk around, but it's damn slow and it hurts.

Sunsh is coming over to dote on me tonight and help me grocery shop and do shit around the house, and Karrigan looked for crutches for me, but to no avail.  It's times like these when I realize that I have generous and giving friends, and it warms my heart.

Hopefully it feels better in a few days. I really think that it will.  Super bad ankle sprains always swell up dramatically, and that's not happening. I may have just hyperextended it.

Jeff - this is ALL YOUR FAULT!! But it was still great to see you :)