September Bliss

September is by far the best month of the year. The scorching temperatures of summer are on their way out, the mosquitoes have died down, tourists are dwindling, the leaves are turning color, there is limited rainfall, and alpine climbing is at it's best.

In celebration of September 2008, Nick Storm and I went to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The base elevation of the meadows is around 9,000 feet, and the peaks rise in excess of 13,000 feet. I flew out on September 15th; Nick picked me up in Reno and we headed South.


The climbing in Tuolumne is amazing! There are dozens of exposed granite domes that begin somewhat steep at the base and round out as you climb higher. The rock is peppered with crystalline knobs that make for good hand and foot holds. But the best part is that there is easy access to the peaks of the high sierra. We climbed one of those peaks, Mt. Conness, despite the four hour hike in.


This is what we climbed:
West Crack on Daff Dome (5.9, III, 5 pitches)
Southwest Face of Mt. Conness (5.10c, IV, 10 pitches)
South Crack on Stately Pleasure Dome (5.8, III, 6 pitches)
Aqua Knobby on Pywiack Dome (5.9, III, 4 pitches)
Bear's Reach at Lover's Leap (5.7, II)

Climbing with Nick was awesome. He's getting ready to go to New Zealand to work for NOLS for 9 months. This little trip was a way of getting some climbing in before he departs. We enjoyed each others' company, talked about what it would be like to be Ron Kauk, what the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is, and reminisced about college years.


On Thursday night we headed to Lovers Leap near South Lake Tahoe. Friday morning we climbed Bear's Reach, which is one of my all-time favorite climbs. The climbing is a slightly physical and extraordinarily positive. All sorts of jamcracks and liebacks. I wish there was a 5.10 version of it somewhere.

Have fun in NZ, Nick! We'll miss you!

Thought Salad

Last week I re-labeled two six packs of Pacifico with my own label called, Back to School Brew. I didn't have any extra time on my hands, I just wanted to make myself laugh. It only took 5 minutes to make the labels out of scratch paper and tape them on. I guess I thought the beer and the extra laugh would come in handy at the start of the year. I felt pretty stressed about going back. To my surprise it is week 2 and it's flown by. My teaching has become intuitive in some ways and I seem to float around observing all the learning that's going on in the classroom. I still have a few Back to School Brews in the fridge. I hear this is one of the last summer-like weekends we can expect so I bet I'll finish the beers in my hammock on Sunday afternoon.

I went on a really great ride the other day (early, before the storm came in). I didn't step off the bike start to finish...a very satisfying ride. I was so psyched -partly because I was listening to a sweet tune on my shuffle, and partly because my bod just felt good, but I rode around the last bend too quickly, hit some gravel and smacked the ground hard on my right side. I put my head between my legs before I could fade to black and waited for my heart rate to slow. I heard a huddle of voices around me asking, "are you ok?" Gus didn't seem to care...he was off in the near-by stream lapping it up. I limped away cursing the injuries and wishing I had some hard alcohol. An oatmeal bath and 800mg of IBU later, I was feeling alright. Now I've got sweet scabs and bruises to show my students which always increases my stock. (I think I started my first year at Realms with similar injuries due to a skateboarding accident!)

I am so looking forward to fall. The smell changes, the light changes, the air is crisp so you throw on a cozy scarf and drink coffee bundled on the front steps in the morning. You kick leaves and collect a few really gorgeous ones. You begin to see your breath when you exhale. I'll make stews and drink wine on Sundays. The weather is cool enough to go on rides mid-day. Yes!

Looking forward to having Nate home. I've missed the man so much.

Jess

Wind River Mountaineering Seminar

In late August I taught a mountaineering seminar for NOLS in the Wind Rivers with Josh Beckner. Nick Storm was able to come in for a couple days to help teach as well. It's a dream working with two folks on this contract.


Seminars are designed for NOLS instructors to increase their technical skills in different arenas. This one, being a mountaineering seminar, gave folks a chance to practice ice, snow, and rock climbing skills. There were 10 participants.


Over the 11 days, we climbed many different routes, from snow couliours on Fremont Peak to rock routes on Ellingwood Peak to a whole-course ascent of Gannett Peak.

The seminar was rescue-intensive, and nearly every day we were able to focus on rescue skills to some extent.