Middle Palisade

I finally went back and climbed Middle Palisade. Two summers ago I walked all the way up to the base and then turned around and walked back down. A few things prevented me from climbing it then: less fitness, a late start, parking at the wrong trailhead, going the Croft way through soft moraine rather than a better way hopping over talus and slabs described on Summit Post.

A few notes: there are a couple of variations. One describes traversing under this giant red splotch, and you can avoid the glacier, but it looked "horrendously scary" as Drew put it. We ascended via the standard, or "Secor" chute. It was fine.

I think that this climb pushed my limits mentally about as much as I'd like, and that's given that everything went smoothly. The climb is awesome, but it's super exposed and goes on and on forever. There aren't really any rests from the exposure. I got a bit burned out on it.

On the way up some folks were coming down the talus and asked us if we'd seen a "tired and lonely looking climber". We hadn't. When we got back to Finger Lake on the way back to the car, a story emerged that a 60 year old guy had started up Norman Clyde the afternoon before and had not made it back to camp, so a search was called. We ran into a few SAR guys on the way out. The mountains don't fuck around, and I have little of what people could call mountain sense. I'm a Georgia girl who moved to the Central Valley of California. Mountains are like another planet to me. Snow on mountains is like another universe altogether. I love mountains, but I don't know if I'll ever be particularly comfortable. I'm ok with that.

Today, after doing a bit of research on the missing climber and turning up a story about a guy who died on Middle Palisade a few years ago (if you fall, you aren't going to stop til you hit the bottom), I have this weird feeling that I did something kind of stupid and dangerous and got away with it. I wonder if people who make a living doing scary shit ever feel that way.

I've now summited three 14,000+ peaks in the last 10 days (plus White Mountain a few years ago). This was the proudest. Langley was a walk-up, and Russell was a lot less exposed (which is strange, since you are on a ridge), and a shorter day overall. Not sure what I'll do next.

Photos (all taken with iphone):

 We started around 6:30am

 The mountain comes into view.

 I'm always the slowest. Even though I'm in pretty good hiking shape right now, and I generally pass people when I'm on my own, Drew and Pete are fast!

 Hard to believe that it's only going to be 3rd class!

 Finger Lake is gorgeous. And named after me of course. The Croft way says to skirt left around the lake and go through a bunch of gullies. DON'T GO THIS WAY. It sucks big time. Instead, go right and end up on a ridge. The footing is far more solid, made up of talus and slabs. 

 looking down on Finger Lake

 The intimidation factor grows.

 Still intimidating.

 What's this white stuff?

 One of the few intact glaciers in California. Wonder how long it's going to last. You can see the red rock in this shot.

 So much talus/moraine

 The left glacier is still in pretty good shape.

 Still intimidating. I was kind of gripped the whole time. The formation was awesome and improbable. Like Croft says in his description, it was a lot like a staircase of little ledges. The rock was very good...but the exposure!

 Looking up the chute. I wore a helmet. We were in a giant gully after all.

 The reward: 360 degree spectacular views

 Drew lounging at the summit.

 Looking down on the gendarme. We came up and descended on the right side. I'd recommend this way.

 on the way down.

 Probably the crux of the route: stepping onto the climb from the glacier. Nobody wants to punch through and get stuck in ice.

One of the most beautiful and inviting lakes I've ever seen on the way down. Margaritas at the Mobil proved more inviting and we didn't stop to enjoy it.

Twelve hours car to car.

It's all tripe to me.

I found myself at a table (still in Vegas at this point) last night where there some folks talking about climbing. Who they'd seen in the Valley, who blah blah ohmygod. Are the grades hard or soft at Red Rocks Imightblowmybrainsoutnow.

As I get older, I become more tolerant in some ways and less tolerant in others. One thing I'm less tolerant of now is talk about climbing. If you're talking about your personal experiences, that's great. If you're talking about the aforementioned subjects, I just can't bear it any more. I think I should accept this limitation about myself.

I ran into my ex a few months back and hearing him talk, I couldn't believe that I ever was (pretended to be?) interested in the drivel pouring from his mouth. Was I a different person? Was I just coping? Was I really interested? I think I was...but I'm not sure.

I suppose we change a lot in our 20s. I was climbing with a group of girls at the Stratocaster wall yesterday and we were talking about whether your 20s or 30s are better. The consensus (among the 30 year olds, yes a biased sample) was that your 30s are better. I'd have to agree. As a relevant example, I remember in my 20s I would climb with people just because I wanted to climb. I'm way more picky now, and it has led to wonderful times and friends - and a hell of a lot less suffering. The women I climb with (and the men) are some of my closest friends. And yet we really don't spend a lot of time talking about climbing.  Climbing I suppose is just a starting point. Something in common to spend time doing together.

During the conversation about whether or not your 20s or 30s are better, I said "I think your 30s are better because you adjust your expectations about life".  A guy who I'd just met said "wow that's really sad." I thought for a moment and said "You could look at it that way, but why fight for what will never be? I don't want to fight my whole life. I think that, while you can mourn what will never be, you can also appreciate that lowering your expectations or being content with what you have is really beautiful in a way." Isn't that how we all want to be when we're in a rocking chair on a porch in our 90s? Content? Not to say that I don't want to be doing as much as I can for my whole life, but I would also like to feel satisfied and content with what I have been able to accomplish.

I ran into an old friend (?) last night (at the same table with the climbing spray), and he asked me "so what else is going on in your life?" I said..."well apparently I'm really accomplished...I'm finishing my PhD, starting a post-doc, and teach at a community college.  It's kind of weird." And in that moment it really did feel weird. How did I even get here? Shouldn't I have suffered more somehow? Or felt like it was all impossible at some point? I've suffered (as we all have in our own ways), but not in accomplishing the things that go on the CV...oddly those were the easier things that happened in the last 6 years.

I'm proud of what I've done so far - no regrets.  It feels damned good. Now if I could just cross a few things on my mile-long to-do list. Sigh.

Las Vegas

People talk a lot of shit about Las Vegas. "It's so gross...blah blah blah."  I'd never argue with this, there are definitely aspects of the gross here, but for some reason I really like Vegas. That said, living somewhere and visiting somewhere are completely different. I might feel differently if I moved here.

Crista and Jarrett have completely rolled out the red carpet for me. I feel humbled by their generosity. They've put up with me hanging out in their house, chauffeured and guided me around to the different crags, taken me out to dinner (and even a show!), and have been generally awesome hosts.  I hope someday I can repay the favors.

I've gotten to do some other fun things while I'm here, like visit the NDOW offices and dig through their archives looking for information about tui chub in their region. If you don't know anything about agencies or fish, the former sentence is going to be like Greek to you. All you need to know is that I've satisfied the other interests I have while in Vegas. We (Crista and I) also visited the Moapa Valley Wildlife Refuge, which is nearly finished but not yet open to the public. I'm totally a desert fish VIP here. I am so cool. Heh.

Let's see - as far as climbing goes, I've spent two days at Arrow Canyon, which is near Moapa, and I'll be spending my third day at Red Rocks today at the Stratocaster Wall. I enjoy climbing with Crista because she tries hard as hell, is stronger than me, and is also shorter than me. I really have no excuses. Plus she puts me on all the routes that she likes, and can give me beta when I ask. Seriously, she's practically guiding me around here. She'll even hang draws and poof holds. Pretty funny, and hey, I'm not too proud to accept that kind of help.

I've done a couple of .12s, flashed a couple of .11+s (that used to be .12s dammit!) and done a ton of other 5.11s. After flailing at Jailhouse ("I'm going to Flailhouse for the Dreadpoint"), it's a great vacation.  I don't even want to try anything harder. I can fall all over the place at my home crag. I prefer to do some actual climbing when I'm on vacation.

I'm half looking forward to getting back and half not. I'm going to be buried under a pile of work when I get back, and I'm not excited about it. I'm already looking forward to May when the smelt and school will be done. Definitely hitting the road.

I suck at blogging

But it's because I'm really busy!

OK - I'm watching trashy tv - True Blood. It is gloriously trashy.

I just got back from Bishop last night, and had a great trip! Climbed with Crista and James...I LOVE climbing new things. I don't get to do that very much in the winter time...I'm chained to Jailhouse.

One of my students gave me pot fudge. I'd love to post this on FB, but it seems like a poor career move...so instead I'll put it on my blog which nobody reads.

I had a blitz of cookie making today - salted browned butter rice krispy treats, Christina Tosi's corn cookies, green tea shortbread, whisky caramel marshmallow and bacon bark, and gruyere and hazelnut crackers. It was a successful day all in all, and I hope the recipients enjoy everything!

I saw something new in the Bishop area - the red canyon and chidago petroglyphs. Plus I got to show Crista and James the pupfish - and they are still there, which is always a relief.

I'm hoping to go to Las Vegas for a week and a half after the New Year - I'm so excited about my new girl posse! Climbing with girls is the shit. I love it.

So that's the short version of the last month or so. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging regularly.

Damn it feels good

I mentioned that I did a couple of .12ds at Column recently, but I finished up a third at Donner today: Bronco.  The other ones were cool, but this one is a lot more meaningful. I worked it a bit last fall and fell at the top twice before it dumped snow.  Last Thursday I went to Donner for the first time since then, worked out the moves again, gave it another go, and vowed to come back.  Jackson and I were pretty lazy over the weekend (plus weekend crowds suck), so we went back up there today and I did it second go.

Total surprise, and it felt SO GOOD.  I haven't felt that good after a send in a long time!  Theres's something to be said for being attached to a route.  I was definitely attached to that one.

Another cool thing was that I did it in good style.  I fucked up a few things, hung in there, and then fired the crux.  It felt great.  And NOW (not after the sends at Column), I'm allowing myself to think "wow-I'm really fit right now."  Finally... a little bit of confidence.  I'll take it.  I'll also say this - endurance and ability to recover goes a long way.  I could completely get my heart rate down at every rest, and oh boy do I ever find rests.  Awesome.

New occurrences

So yesterday it occurred to me that I have three jobs. THREE. That's too many jobs. Granted, I don't have to work all three jobs every day, but at least every week.

1. Teaching (I had my first class Saturday)
2. Fish and Wildlife Service (winding down)
3. Graduate student/post-doctoral researcher.

Yes. I am busy. Hence the lack of blogging lately.

So far the teaching is going well, though of course it's too early to tell. The student seem excited and bright and engaged. I'm so informal that one thing I worry about is having them forget who's boss. Gotta be a bit more of a hard-ass I think.

Also I went into the field:

View Larger Map

Gmaps makes it difficult (or I haven't figured out how) to make the route go along dirt roads, but this is the general route.  It was AWESOME. I live for this shit. Meeting biologists and going to random out-of-the way places. Love love love.

Here are some photos:

 Hay Corral Spring on Lockes Ranch

 Crenichthys nevadae (Railroad Valley springfish)

 Lockes Ranch is adjacent to Black Rock Station (not the same as Black Rock City of Burning Man fame)

 Old ranch houses at Green Springs

 More Green Springs

 Railroad Valley springfish in tequila (I need to start bringing ethanol with me everywhere I go)

 We slaughter bass after they slaughter native fishes, then we inspect their stomachs to see what they are eating.

 Fish Creek Springs tui chub

 Shoshone Pond Natural Area, a reserve for the Pahrump poolfish.

 Catching the Pahrump poolfish in a tiny ditch.

Pahrump poolfish  - endangered.

In other news, for the required spray about rock climbing, I've finished two .12ds at Column of the Giants - Contortionist and Spin Doctor - in three weeks...hopefully the crag isn't soft and they are legit and I'm actually feeling fit.  We'll see. I started on a .13a called Hey Ladies that is pretty fun, but chossy and a bit scary (like most of the crag).  Just a couple more days up there, so hopefully I can finish it up before I start going to Donner to finish up some stuff.

Adorable!

I wrote my first email to my students and two have already responded. Check this out:

Wow I am so excited. I have always wanted to work with fish and help sustain them. I am 3 classes from graduation and I feel like I have been waiting my whole life to take this class. and another: Awesome!!! I'm so excited.  This is my first class that is actually toward my major and I'm oozing with enthusiasm. So cute, and it makes me pretty excited. I hope that I can be a good teacher! Oh yeah I sent my project. blah blah blah. I did it 2nd try 2nd day on, which just shows you that I was strong enough but totally botched it the previous like, 7 times.  wtf.

Column column column

I think this is probably one of my first summer sport-climbing seasons ever.  I've been going to Column of the Giants every weekend for the past month or so.  It's such a pile of choss.  It's a pile of choss sitting on a mountain of choss.  But it's OUR pile of choss, so that makes it fun!

It's even chossier than Jailhouse and Gold Wall.

I KNOW!

Damn the problem with not blogging very much is that a lot happens and I don't write about it.  Like my sampling trip to North Fork Cottonwood Creek.  And my very strange hookup with the random hippie guy in Mammoth.  And Ethan and Cuz staying over in Davis after going to a few grad school bbqs with me Thursday night.  They are both so adorable.  It's all good stuff and it's all worth a separate blog post.  Overall the trend has been fun + busy...which I'll take!

random hippie guy in NFCC

I seem to have a new optimism about the people I hang out with lately (and the people I'm meeting and people in general).  I hope that teaching my class (which starts the 20th!) doesn't bring me down.  I'm having fun riding this high as long as I can.

always looking for mushrooms. 

field clothes are so hot.

Now hopefully today I can send one of the three freakin' .12ds that I'm falling at the end of.  I need to finish some routes.

Mushrooms!

I'm so excited about another mushroom season - this time morels.  I went up towards Marysville last weekend with Ben (of the pig-ass-shooting fame) and his wife Summer. We'd located a fire around some random lake in Yuba county. We found the fire ok and pulled over and got out of the car. Within the first half hour we found a really good flush of morels - which was great because none of us had ever found any before.  They were in a north-facing drainage.  After we collected the shrooms, we wandered around for another three hours or so and found nothing. The first flush gave us some false confidence I guess.

The first two nights I sauteed some with bacon and arugula and ate them over penne with some shaved parmesan. Man that was good.  Last night I decided to try something different, so I made "pizzettas":

I forgot to turn off the auto-white balance.  Whatever.  The pizzas were really good, and the dough was thin and crispy.

After we found the mushrooms, we stopped and bought some eggs from someone with very cute chickens.  Chickens are so great. I mean, look at them:

Great, right?  By the way, if you have any affection for chickens whatsoever you should watch the PBS documentary "The Natural History of Chickens."  It's hysterical and you won't regret it. It's all on youtube, but I can't embed.  Here's part 1/6. Just watch it. Trust.

Hmm...other than that, I'm trying to bribe/harass/cajole/beg my friend in El Portal to take me to the spot where he found a bunch of morels. If he doesn't, then all of the photos that he sent me via his phone of the morels he found will just make him a mean mean person.

Oh. right. rock climbing. Had a fucking great day at Gold Wall last Saturday - I feel fitter than ever...still. I wonder how long it will last. I'm going back with Addison again Friday. Hopefully I will send Golden Showers. It's a great route, but it hurts my shoulder a bit. You can see why here:

High gaston = shoulder distress

However, don't I look goooooooood?  Just kidding, but this photo is so funny: