Time well spent and more Moderate Madness!

:) Pat Goodman 9/20/2010 1 Comment Edit

All I can say is that the climbing in Tuolumne and the High Sierra is STELLAR! It is embarrassing for me to admit never having climbed there before last week. That said, I decided to take advantage of an opportunity that allowed me three and a half days in the area and I thought the adventure would be heightened by climbing solo.

My focus was to just have fun and get some mileage in on some of the classic must-do moderates. To not bore anyone with a list lets just say my time was well spent! All in all I probly got in around 50 guidebook pitches, 25 miles on foot and met some really good folks.

Something I have noticed in the past while travelling with a partner or group of associates is one tends to create a bubble and miss out on special opportunities to meet strangers. For me the lasting memories of those strangers turned friends will outweigh those memories of scaling pitches. A special thanks to Zach for the inspiration,

Chad

, Clay and all the other members of the SCMA for letting me poach a parking spot at your campsite!

Gopro footage of the link-up day.

All went as planned; I sent some great routes, made new friends, talked product with the Hardwear crew and caught a cold…er, well that kinda sucked. I missed out on climbing Whitney and bouldering at Way Lake. But I got to relax and recoup at Noah and Siemey’s house near Tahoe…thanks a ton!

Ummm, the trees in NV grow really awful tasting fruit!

With the clock ticking (I gotta be in Charlotte, NC by Sept. 23^rd to catch a plane to the Nor’easter!) I blasted off from Nevada on the 16^th, after spending a liitle over twelve wonderful days in Cali. Next on the list was to visit my sister and her family in Montrose, CO, climb in the Black Canyon, ramble to Farmpit in NM visit, Mom, Grandma and Dad andddd crush my old summit speed record on Ship Rock via the Standard Route (IV 5.9+ A.0). Time to beat; 1hr 55min!

So, I got to visit with my sis, niece, nephew, uncles, aunts, cousin, dad, mom, grandma and managed to on-sight solo the Scenic Cruise (IV 5.10+) in the Black Canyon, again an area I have managed to not climb in before. Also dropped my new Gopro cam, f#*king hell, so no footage, but I do still have my other HD model. Bummer though, I was really looking forward to the wide angle lens on my new one, if anybody feels it necessary to reequip me that would be great!