Bishop Redux and Other Happenings

Two weeks later, Matt, Isabelle, Ngoc and myself were back out on the east side for another too-good-to-resist weekend of bouldering. Day 1 started off with some sharp warmups at the Sad Boulders and a send of Molly (v5), a problem that I came nowhere close to sending a year and a half ago, by yours truly. We then all migrated to the Death Star Cave where Matt and I flashed Anti-Hero (v5) and Isabelle and Ngoc put in great work sessions on the same. Unfortunately Izzy suffered a painful pulley strain on her tenth go or so. NOOOOO!!! She'll be back to clean up this problem on her next trip. Also noteworthy, Matt and I put in some work on Beefcake (v10) which is pretty futuristic for at least myself, but we did manage to do pretty much all of the moves.

Day two we busted out to the 'Milks and Matt sent High Plains Drifter (v7) on 5th go or so. Wow that is a full value boulder problem! Movement, height, rock quality, oh my. I got heartbreakingly close to the send, and will DEFINITELY clean it up next time.

As if that wasn't enough, we then jetted back out to the Sads @ 3PM to give Ngoc a few burns on Anti-Hero. She sent on her first go of the day!! We had to force her to take a few laps to get in some video footage and snapshots.

Big thanks for Matt and Isabelle for the funtastic weekend. You two cats are great climbing/eating/driving buddies.

Rewind a week or so: Ngoc and I had a great afternoon with Ashley, who we only get to see rarely these days. We had a little fun up @ Stoneface park before heading to Mark's bday party in our anti-theme green shirts. We're such rebels. Great to see you Ash!

Mickey's Beach

To escape the HEAT WAVE this past Sunday, the Team packed up and headed out to Mickey's and Stinson beach for some bouldering, sun, and plenty of nude-watching. After warming up on some of the Orange Buddha eliminates, Matt made a terrific quick send of the Orange Buddha Arete (v8), the prize of the Orange Buddha boulder. I managed to hit all the moves, but the full send eluded me this time. Isabelle also put in a lot of work on Orange Pleasure (v5), getting close enough to the send to taste it. I think Isabelle and I both have unfinished business at Mickey's.

Ngoc was still (smartly) going easy on her hand and ankle. She did get onto some of the Orange Buddha eliminates, and reports that her finger is healing strongly. Phew!

The shots below were much more of a group effort this time. I like this format a lot, selfishly, because it means there are many more photos of meee! Enjoy

Bishop

Ngoc, Isabelle, Matt and myself made a mid spring pilgrimage to Bishop this weekend for an action packed few days of sending.  We spent a days each at the Happy Boulders, the Pollen Grains, and the 'Milks proper.  Lots of action was had, but unfortunately Ngoc strained a muscle in her hand on day one and had to suffer through watching the rest of us work our projects for the weekend.  Poor Ngoc!  Nonetheless, she handled it like a pro, managing to stay positive and bounce our collective energy back at us.  What a trooper!

We also met up with Danica and Jesse & co. on day 2 at the Pollen grains and had a great day exploring new territory.  As I write this they are probably still in the east side gnawing their fingers on pockets and granite crystals!

Noteworthy sends: The Hulk, Gleaner, Hand to Hand Combat Traverse, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Iron Man Traverse, and the Rib Direct Sit Start.

Peep the slideshow for some of our trip's visual candy.

Yesterday was my 27th birthday proper, and the final day in a birthday weekend to out shine all birthday weekends. Ngoc planned a mini-vacation for us that involved some oceanfront bouldering at Goat Rock State Park, a grand dinner experience at Cyrus (more details on that over at The Disagreeable Recipe), and a day of wine tasting in the Russian River Valley.

Next weekend is Bishop! We're giddy in anticipation. Look out for MANY more photos in the coming weeks.