Wednesday, April 25, 2007
More Creatures We Have Met
Instead of posting again, we simply updated the creature menagerie. Check out the new lineup.
Red Rock Canyon
We’re here in Red Rock Canyon, and have been for 5 days. It’s a great place, with tons of climbing, perfect weather (most of the time) and some neat “attractions” nearby. The campground is situated just outside Las Vegas, between town and the Red Rock Canyon National Park. We’ve been to this park several times in the past for climbing, and always had great fun. Once you get used to the dramatic weather patterns (high winds mornings and evenings, with cold nights and hot days) you can find places in the park at almost any temperature you want.
To whet our appetites over the weekend when crowds were higher, we stayed out of the main park circus and hiked into the Calico Basin where some shorter, easier climbs exist. Hanmi continued her mojo by working a fun 5.7 for a while, learning how to deal with tricky placements without a solid stance and managing rope drag. I got a small meal of a mild 10 that had a “boulder start” – which means all the climb was in the first 5 moves. Red Rocks is notorious for the some climbs being a bit light, meaning the higher numbers are still easier compared to locations elsewhere. However, earlier in the week it was raining and snowing (sometimes without hitting the valley floor, which made for great curtains of rain that simply disappeared).
Yesterday, just to get a workout, I coaxed Han out to the front side to a short (45ft) crag called the Magic Bus. There, I ran up and down all the climbs, TR’ing ot leading whatever and even down climbing. They were 8’s and 10’s but they all felt rather easy, with some aesthetic moves on otherwise Smith-like faces. I got my heart pumping but they weren’t the best routes of the trip.
Las Vegas! Casinos! Every visit, we stop at the “Red Rocks Casino” and play a few games. The first year we made a few dollars, but this year was a bust. We skipped the weekend and hit it on the Sunday night, which was low energy and nobody at the table had any good streaks. Some dude next to us proceeded to lose about $1500 - he wasn’t in a good mood. I was content to lose what I brought, knowing that I could make it up when I get back.
Funny enough, the casino has a huge bowling alley and I played two games (159, 147) just to burn time while waiting for Han. The lanes are new and slick, but their ball selection is weak. I didn’t find grips or weights matched to really feel solid. By the end of the second game though, I thought climbing and bowling might be good combinations – both working the arm and fingers. I felt it.
The doggies have been having a great time. Their scrambling skill to the cliff bases is at an all-time high. Malo is hitting higher-angled stuff than ever, and Ellis can almost climb whatever we point her towards. On the ways home, they always get excited and climb best, whether up or down – they know when the food times are. Malo loves his full-body, balanced harness. When he feels me get ready to haul him, he leaps into a superman pose, holding it until he lands.
Yesterday we put them in the doggie daycare “evaluation” so that we could simply drop them off whenever we want. It worked out pretty well. Malo has a strong pack-animal sense (but certainly not Alpha-minded) – he holds his own when animals prod him. Ellis had a bit of separation anxiety but got over it (we were told). There were some fun dogs there, a friendly Boston Terrier and a huge black Great Dane stood out.
We’re spotted a ring-tailed cat, a few desert hares and one small coyote. We haven’t seen the desert tortoise rumored to be in the vicinity of the campground, but with these crowds I’m sure it didn’t stay long. So far, only one tourist has asked us about “this climbing thing” – pretty good. The dog celebrity continues, with people fawning over Ellis’s ears and Malo’s um, charm.
Today we went over to the Ragged Edges wall – which has some shorter classics. The route “Ragged Edges” itself is pretty great. There’s “Plan F” which we all thought was a good climb. Hanmi lead “Tonto” which she tells me is pretty easy. The routefinding was tricky though, which caused a bit of rope drag. She had to downclimb and pull some pieces. She has become quite a leader and while always progressing through the grades, is getting great experience with all the nuances about rope management and trad belay/rap stations.
We climbed with a great fellow Loren, who needed partners for his trip and was glad to take a “slow day” with us. Originally, we planned to split up and I’d climb a multipitch with Loren, but Han felt good enough to join in. So, we brought the whole family and just cragged 1 or 2 pitches. Thanks again, Loren. We’ll meet up again to do “Chicken Eruptus” soon!
Poisoned!
Somewhere along the trip, Hanmi caught some poison oak. It began on her knee and slowly spread around, then to the other knee, then torso, then even a minute amount to her face. Yuck. I didn’t catch it, but I’ve had it badly in the past. She went through all the standard phases of frustration about the spreading, washing everything, restless sleep and a myriad of creams and ointments to ease the itching.
Then one morning, I woke up and she was grumbling and I took a look at her knees. Holy shit they were aggravated! So after a bit of haggling about “one more day” to see if the attack would turn the corner and ease up, we went to the local clinic and she got a shot and some oral prednisone. Voila! The swelling is down and everyone’s demeanor is better. We think it’s on her shoes and shoelaces because that’s what seems to trigger it. Funny enough, we both walked through the same meadow of it in CA, but I haven’t caught it. Oh well. It’s on the way out now, but for several days now, it’s been a bunch of Mr. Yuck faces.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Kitch Factor Five, Captn
Rosie has been adorned. The collection is ever-growing, and not all of it is welcome. The more prevalent is the dust. Yellow from certain areas, red from others, brown from yet others: mud, several missing pieces of tire, a large dent in the roof from a rock and a growing crack in the windshield. Everything still works fine though. Rosie is a trooper. Well, she’s an element actually (groan). She can hold everything we pack, along with dogs and leave enough room to shuffle the things while we reach for the thing “at the bottom” that is inevitably the most needed at the moment.
We decided to document our travels with cheesy other pieces of kitch as well. Although it pains me to convulsions to walk through a shop of ugly “local art” – once in a while we indeed browse the most backwater places we can find. Although most of the things we see have “Made in China” stamped on the bottom (local art?), we have chosen a rare few to leave the shelf and adventure along with us as part of our new group.
Our kitch so far:
“Bell” – heavy metallic bobble ladybug, acquired from a dusty stop along the 40 from Mohave. She is adorned with small silver ring found on a picnic table outside Prescott, AZ. She makes a tinkling sound when we drive over extremely bumpy roads – letting us know that we’re in adventurous territory, or off-track!
“Green” – Ceramic turtle, also from the stop in Mohave. He likes to take it easy. Doesn’t say much. Until he was taped down, he was unusually fast for a tortoise, darting left and right along the dashboard, and once in a while jumping into our laps, kinda like a pug.
“The Brain” – Hollow ceramic iconic cow skull. Acquired when we filled the tires back up on a stop along Route 66 outside Flagstaff, AZ. Hasn’t made an impression yet, but I’m sure he/she has a lot of good ideas brewing. Mess with the brain and you get the horns.
“The Faith” – Our token piece of Christian kitch to let believers know that our car isn’t to be messed with – or Jesus will strike you down like a testosterone-fueled marine cadet. It’s also been rumored to help avoid traffic tickets in the more religious communities in Utah.
We decided to document our travels with cheesy other pieces of kitch as well. Although it pains me to convulsions to walk through a shop of ugly “local art” – once in a while we indeed browse the most backwater places we can find. Although most of the things we see have “Made in China” stamped on the bottom (local art?), we have chosen a rare few to leave the shelf and adventure along with us as part of our new group.
Our kitch so far:
“Bell” – heavy metallic bobble ladybug, acquired from a dusty stop along the 40 from Mohave. She is adorned with small silver ring found on a picnic table outside Prescott, AZ. She makes a tinkling sound when we drive over extremely bumpy roads – letting us know that we’re in adventurous territory, or off-track!
“Green” – Ceramic turtle, also from the stop in Mohave. He likes to take it easy. Doesn’t say much. Until he was taped down, he was unusually fast for a tortoise, darting left and right along the dashboard, and once in a while jumping into our laps, kinda like a pug.
“The Brain” – Hollow ceramic iconic cow skull. Acquired when we filled the tires back up on a stop along Route 66 outside Flagstaff, AZ. Hasn’t made an impression yet, but I’m sure he/she has a lot of good ideas brewing. Mess with the brain and you get the horns.
“The Faith” – Our token piece of Christian kitch to let believers know that our car isn’t to be messed with – or Jesus will strike you down like a testosterone-fueled marine cadet. It’s also been rumored to help avoid traffic tickets in the more religious communities in Utah.
Gear Lineup
For those keeping score at home, we thought it’d be cute at the end of a short day to demonstrate the gear. Although Rosie carries quite a bit more, here’s lineup of the day walk-along gear:
Hanmi and I carry about 1.5 standard trad racks when planning to hit an unknown crag. We don’t carry the largest sizes, but in the small hands/large fingers we have a bit of overlap. Also included is a bag of slings, rap slings, a small emergency pack, food (no dog food), guidebooks, 4 liters of water, shoes, helmets, a rope (sometimes two if we want to hit 2 pitches at once) and some rescue gear – which all adds up to maybe 30 lbs per pack. Dogs for scale (they actually just wanted some of Rachel Ray’s yummy Wheat Thins).
Our tent is a heavier expedition-style 4 season 2-man tent. It has a full fly which we use more often than not. We’ve sometimes broken it down to just 2 poles and the tent for short backpacking trips – which is about 5lbs, a tolerable weight.
The desert camping has typical high winds in the mornings and evenings. Our last tent had the door torn open on such a night, so we beefed up on this tent. It is super calm inside on even the stormiest of nights. The two vestibules get lots of use for shoes, packs and stuff. There are lots of great pockets to hold your pocket junk, headlamps, etc. The doggies fit inside well and we’re all pretty cozy.
We lay down two thermarest-style pads, then some 30-degree sleeping bags with extra silk liners. I also have my woulbie (flannel sheet) which I use more often than zipping up the sleeping bag. We use stuff-sacks filled with clothes as pillows and sometimes covered with a fleece. All of this overnight gear fits in about 1 backpack and weighs about 30 lbs.
The doggies Malo and Ellis have a small sleeping bag to themselves, which they sometimes use. We’ve also gotten them a doggie bed to ride in the car (it helps keep them comfortable atop all the boxes and gear. It also makes a nice loafing pad for me in the morning sun.
Hanmi and I carry about 1.5 standard trad racks when planning to hit an unknown crag. We don’t carry the largest sizes, but in the small hands/large fingers we have a bit of overlap. Also included is a bag of slings, rap slings, a small emergency pack, food (no dog food), guidebooks, 4 liters of water, shoes, helmets, a rope (sometimes two if we want to hit 2 pitches at once) and some rescue gear – which all adds up to maybe 30 lbs per pack. Dogs for scale (they actually just wanted some of Rachel Ray’s yummy Wheat Thins).
Our tent is a heavier expedition-style 4 season 2-man tent. It has a full fly which we use more often than not. We’ve sometimes broken it down to just 2 poles and the tent for short backpacking trips – which is about 5lbs, a tolerable weight.
The desert camping has typical high winds in the mornings and evenings. Our last tent had the door torn open on such a night, so we beefed up on this tent. It is super calm inside on even the stormiest of nights. The two vestibules get lots of use for shoes, packs and stuff. There are lots of great pockets to hold your pocket junk, headlamps, etc. The doggies fit inside well and we’re all pretty cozy.
We lay down two thermarest-style pads, then some 30-degree sleeping bags with extra silk liners. I also have my woulbie (flannel sheet) which I use more often than zipping up the sleeping bag. We use stuff-sacks filled with clothes as pillows and sometimes covered with a fleece. All of this overnight gear fits in about 1 backpack and weighs about 30 lbs.
The doggies Malo and Ellis have a small sleeping bag to themselves, which they sometimes use. We’ve also gotten them a doggie bed to ride in the car (it helps keep them comfortable atop all the boxes and gear. It also makes a nice loafing pad for me in the morning sun.
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