Tonight the girl from Ohio was introduced to the food that looks and feels like nothing else; the one that grows in the shallows of the Pacific Northwest. The Ohio native, Sarah, got her first taste of my kind of a perfect Saturday night. Raw oysters with lemon and cholula, pasta with a creme sauce, pepper, asparagus, two six-packs of beer. Most importantly is the endless variety of swing music to dance to: Ella, Frank and Tommy; singing and swinging the night away with great food, beer and terrific times. A great night!
"Um, I need more beer first I think"
Wait, dont you need to cook this shit first? It looks disgusting.
Really? Raw? But, I'M FROM OHIO!!!
YEEEEAAAH!!! Oysters kick ass! Where's my frickin beer?
Such a great night dancing and eating terrific food. I wish you all could have been here to share it with us. Well, not really the whole night. Heh. Cheers folks!
The "kids" outside my bedroom window before work the other day, and every day.
Every morning I wake up and hear the daily rustling of a doe and a pair of fawns gently grazing outside my open bedroom windows. In the afternoon I stop by the house and they greet me at the front door. They curl up and bed in the grass I left tall for them by the firepit every night. Last night Sarah and I were chatting and eating around the fire and the “kids” just wondered through, not paying us any attention. It’s really nice to have these things.
So this is just an aside, but it’s worthy of a blog post none the less.
Im home building a fire for the night and while gathering wood from the big pile, I notice some “buzzing”. On the back side of the ol’ pile there’s a fat paper wasp nest that I’ve never noticed (I have a fire almost every night…) No biggie, I’m a good seven feet from the thing, I’m just gonna chill and watch the hymeopteral comings and goings.
Then I hear this “bbbbzzzzzZZZTTTT” and a big fat bee lands on the sleeve of my hoodie. “Fucker, get off!”. I shake it off. Or do I? I keep watching the hive. After a second I look at my sleeve and the bastard is still there, so I finally shake the persistent bastard off. His reply is to adhere himself to the hood of my hoodie this time. WTF??
The scene was probably priceless if someone had been watching. Me, jumping around frantically pounding myself on the back with long tree branches destined to soon become bits of evening firelight.
I knocked the wasp off of my back, but undeterred he flew directly and with clear intent into my EYE and stung me! WHAT THE F*CK???? This little guy totally had my number and I was nowhere near his busy little home. Africanized little mofo…
So, now my eye is virtually swelled completely shut, both from the sting and the velocity with which I hit myself in the face as my attempt to either defend myself or exact retribution for being so painfully violated.
We’ll see if I start itching later. Lets hope I’ve not just developed a systemic autoimmune response to wasp venom.
And I got a gallon of gasoline and a five gallon bucket for that hive waiting for me. Who wants to come over for a FIRE!
No climbing today, everybody is ragged after three months of non-stop pull-ups, hairy approaches, missing toenails, rock rash and associated infections, tendonitis and my bum rotator cuff. I slept in until noon – something I haven’t done in many years. Today is a day for laundry (finally), lounging, yard work and dreaming of climbing. Why do I do this sort of thing to myself?
I’ m setting up my goals for next year from the Bulger List (the Bulgers, along with Beckey, put up most of the FAs in the North Cascades in the middle of the last century), one of which happens to be the peaks of Ragged Ridge. While researching depressing approach notes, scornful ascent difficulties and the always awkwardly introspective insights into why we do this thing, I ran upon this beautiful tidbit of wonderfully written prose; a soliloquy written under stone. Again, why do I do this sort of thing to myself:
This place is where the digitized rhythms of modernity; the Monday mornings, the “True Strength for America’s Future” bumper stickers, the Qwest Holiday Catalogs, are abstractions. This place is where my presence, along with its cargo of worries and joys, is largely irrelevant, although lighting a forest fire might change that. Here, I can finally step away from myself and become lost in a phantasmagoria of non-human scale. The stories here can last a hundred million years or the microsecond a serac takes to collapse. Here, the nearest star, gravitation, water, and a handful of simple rules that assemble leftover scraps of carbon into a pallet of infinite beauty and complexity are everything. Nothing here gives one flying fuck about me or my issues. It’s a place of grand indifference. I like it that way.
- – -
I follow James up into the fog. This ethereal spirit softens the billions of tons of loose rock we pretend cannot possibly rain down upon us. We traverse Kimtah’s south side across several gullies, encountering a few stray cairns along the way…Several hundred feet below the summit, we emerge into the sunlight like the first amphibians. The jagged silhouettes of Mesahchie and Katsuk breach the vapor sea. This will be, by far, our most beautiful summit.
The four-by plunge! from George Hayduke on Vimeo.
A photodump of an epic day out with a second family. If only gangs new that people like my friends existed, there would be no violence in the world. We can only hope. A second family for sure! You can click on all images to enlarge and alternately visit Micah’s site for more images! This is just a photoupdate from the most recent post.
At the base of Bridal Veil Falls. I really am going gray aren't I? Maybe it's because I keep hauling so much shit up on long, steep approaches?
That’s a nice crashpad on my back, and a bottle of wine, a bunch of good food and a half-case of Oly on my front. It was a killer hike up! Ugh…
Nic bails from the temps into the 45 degree water of the most beautiful lake in the world. Later, Nic!
The weather was so damned hot that glacier melt water actually felt good to me. I absolutely hate cold water because my BMI is so small. I’m not well insulated and I’m like a cat when it comes to water if it’s cold. Fortunately, today was a different story…well, after jumping off a two-story boulder, there really isn’t much going back…
Nic, Erica and I swim like mad for the warmth of the sun after the big plunge!
We just sat on the rock, getting hot and randomly but frequently flinging ourselves into nothingness and the relief of ice-cold goodness for hours on end! What a magical place this is!!! Thank you Micah for suggesting it!
The first climb of the day*. Here I am sinking ring locks while soloing into the splitter thin hands crack on the 5.12c dive platform. *okay, I'm actually on my stomach and a little drunk...sue me.
The day was tytpified by hyjinx and mischief all over the place. Climbing? Who here climbs?? We’re just havin’ some FUN!
That is not a wine bottle in my hand and I am not having the time of my life and it is not hot as hell and this is actually a picture of us on the surface of Pluto. Psych!!!!
Frivolity was the name of the game and the theme for the day. We didn’t care about anything other than just living honestly and playing as hard as we could. We are such successful people!
First send of the day!!! After my second to last plunge (I had to plunge to get off this boulder) I sent the Lake Boulder (V.wet). A pretty sick line, goes up two grades: one for tennis shoes, one for dampness. My first V.12!!!!
We just kept diving and jumping and eating and drinking and farting…and climbing! Nic tried to send this Lake Boulder in bare feet but wasnt committed. I had the forethought to wear shoes and sent! VENGA!!!!! *chuckles*
After the sun went behind Index it was time to boulder hard. We trompsed around a little and found a plethora of problems. Erica sends hardcore here; lookin' fine on the sick line! So much fun!
After our beloved star had crossed behind the towering mass of granite we call Index, it was cool enough to boulder a little. We didn’t give a shit about grades, only fun. Erica really crushed when it came to the V.fun shit!
Nic gives everything he's got to the V.1/V.2 problem! Nice effort bro! (he he he)
Nic wowed us with his Sharma Scream as he struggled up the first problem. The scenery, the backdrop and the ambiance of the setting totally gave us the energy to be able to send such hard problems as this!!!
Me on the V.0 arete, What a magical place to be able to chill with a crew suffering from a killer vibe and climb under one of the most magnificent peaks in the northwest!
Lake Serene is a place with endless bouldering opportunities and I really feel like we were the second group up there. After Kelley, it felt right. We wanted to climb the place out!
Sara looks like she's ready to dyno all the way to the top; compressed spring-style. What great climbing!!!
We just sat and chilled and climbed and relaxed and drank beer and climbed some more and bonded. There isn’t a greater place on earth than this place in the company of these people! Family!
Speaking of more beer, Sara runs down to the lake to grab a couple fresh ones for us. Climb on!!!
Erica gets ready to send Greg’s Arete while Sara restocks the beer trough.
I smear really well after a few cold ones, perhaps I should bring a pint along on my next multipitch....Nah, maybe not. Erica is spotting me really well, too! *rib*
Without any pressure, or actually any desire to pay attention to grades or names or ticks, climbing became fun again. “Let’s just go up this thing” was the name of the game. A family sort of game…
Micah on the V.12 super-dyno pinscar crack to open hand crimp from a one hand mono on no feet. That guy is amazing!!!!!
There were some harder problems we all tried…and, um..failed on. It’s going next time!!! It’s a PROJECT now!
Nic throws a nice dyno on the V.0 arete. Way to get up it man!!! Wait, it was monkey bars.....
Ha ha! so much fun!
Nic going for the crimp over the lip on The High Life. Not sure what it would go at the way we did it, but Kelley started lower.
We wanted to keep climbing all night, but about 5:30, the thunder jumped over the lip of Mt. Index and pretty much made us all it’s bitch. Time to run home from the neighborhood bully: high voltage electricity!
four-fifths of the Serene crew. Me, Nic, Erica and Sara, all soaking wet from the storm. Wait, where's the good looking guy with all those muscles?
We pretty much ran down the 4 miles of trail to the trailhead away from the threat of being deep-fried by lightning. When we got to the car the rain had stopped, but the hunger had totally set in!
There's the fifth man, the big dog, the man with the plan! Micah wows us all with his jazz hands before going to get bad mexican food.
What a great trip. totally free of any expectation, all pressure and any need to perform in any way. It was pure fun, relaxation and beauty wrapped up in a nice package! thanks Micah for suggesting it! You’re the MAN, bro!
It’s unanimous. This was a great day – far exceeding any other trip and our wildest expectations. Last week, as Micah and I were hiking up to Bob’s Area we came up with the idea that we’d go spend a week relaxing, maybe go for a nice hike – maybe somewhere Micah had always dreamed of. Like, say…Maybe Lake Serene under phenomenal Mt. Index. Yeah! Just the two of us with the lake, a good hike, some beers and of course the great bouldering.
The imposing 2,500 ft of Index massif as the sun set behind it at 2:30 pm as seen from our appartment-complex-sized diving platform. I think I see a good trad pitch or two up there...
But we couldn’t do it without Nic. And then we couldn’t also do it without Erica. Eventually it became a free for all and the entire group was expected to come. Plus, it was supposed to be 101 today, and what better way to escape the heat? In the end, with people working and everything, the Serene crew consisted of Sara, Erica, Nic, Micah and myself.
We got to the trailhead at 10-ish after the 2 hour drive to Index and got to work crawling the four miles and 2100 vertical feet up to Lake Serene. I had told Micah that I wanted to climb, even though it was an R&R trip, and that I’d haul the crashpad all the way up. I also smuggled 35 pounds of beer and wine, and 6 extra pounds of food along with water. I was loaded down, but made it none the less – well, a little less hydrated maybe.
Sara and Erica just getting to the lake. The sigh of relief as you realize that "this up shit" is over.
Once at the lake, we hooped and hollered so loud we scared all the other people out of the swayle and had the place to ourselves. We’d seen the video of Kelly Sheridan and crew bouldering and doing backflips off a massive boulder roughly the size of a small cargo ship, which we found and high-tailed it to straight away. This was a good spot.
Once there, Nic didn’t waste a second before getting some Greg Luganis style half gainers in which resulted in a rather chest-popping, heart-stopping and otherwise monumental belly flop. From 20 feet into glacier water, that had to hurt.
Nothing a beer wont cure!
The 'family' chills, some of us wet, some even wetter, in the 100 degree heat on our magnificently massive rock perch.
We spent a few hours diving, jumping, swimming, eating, drinking beer, drinking wine, telling funny stories, getting naked (you know who you are…), I even got in the first climb of the day – and I bet Kelly never sent it (you have to jump off a 20 foot boulder and swim to climb the 18 foot boulder out in the lake). The sun receded behind the majestic-as-all-get-out Mt. Index at 2:30 so it was now getting cooler and time to climb.
We grabbed the pad I’d hauled up and our shoes and found some cool problems straight away (I’m stealing pics I took from other people’s cameras for this post…) We all worked to warm up on a cool V.1/2 and Sara got a great redpoint on her first-in-a-long-time outdoor boulder. Next I found a really fun V.0 arete that had some variations to it that we all worked and Nic was excited about a V.3 roof-ish problem that he and Micah sent but was too much for my injured elbow (yeah, on the D.L. again…) right about then we got jumped.
We got jumped by one of the most massive and active thunderstorms I have ever experienced – and I’ve been through a few (including the 1980 eruption of St. Helens). All I remember saying was “Guys, we need to go, RIGHT NOW!” to which I heard the reply “No effing shit man!”. What had taken us a good 30 minutes to get to we reduced to ten minutes in retreat in the face of catastrophic electrocution. The four mile hike out became a slow jog down some very, very steep terrain in a torrential downpour. This was certainly not an unwelcomed phenomenon on a day like this – giant ice-cold raindrops soaking my bare body in the oppressively humid heat and making the downclimb more like the tropical Mexican rainforest I’ve spent so much time in. It really reminded me of my years in Mexico! The entire time there wasn’t a moment – a single instant – where there was not thunder rolling in the cloud above us. Quite impressive and reminiscent of my childhood.
The soaking wet Serene crew at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. What are you guys looking and pointing at? Naked people? Micah??
Once at the car the rain finally tapered off and we headed to find some place to eat. A word of caution to hungry eaters on SR2, avoid La Hacienda in Sultan, WA. Don’t waste your time, money or gastrointestinal integrity. We laughed and sang and ate and fiercely loved one another like close family from 7:00am this morning until 11:30 tonight. Life is about this shit people. Get out of your cubicles!
And you know it’s been a good day when you get home and pull empty crushed beer cans out of your pocket that you didnt realize had been there all day. It was a good day!
I sent my project. What’s a guy supposed to do after he spends a couple of weeks pulling his own arms out of their sockets? He goes sailing with a great old friend named Charley.
Yours truly at the helm sailing around Bainbridge Island and gettin' some rays.
Today was a much needed and phenomenal rest day for me. I haven’t sailed in a few years, but I got around 6 hours of tacking and jibing in today. One of my best friends, Ian, and I used to sail his dad’s 25 foot Laser in the Willow Grove sailboat races every Tuesday. We had a terrific time always and I have boatloads of memories and stories about it.
Today Charley and I just sat out in the water, let the wind decide where we were going to go and plain had a guy’s day on the water with some fabulous food, great beer and a burning hot sun.
Charley is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met, and he takes a purdy good photo, too.
Today was fun in the sun with the whole fam damily. It went smooth, but a little tension remains. I am okay with that and will continue to put forth effort.
The real story is yesterday, which was banner for quite a few people. First, Melody stepped up boldly and totally hiked her first outdoor lead on a wicked-tall 5.6 slab with a cruxy start. I was catching her and only after she got to the chains (smooth as silk, by the way) and back on dirt did she reveal it was her first lead! I was so devastated that I couldn’t have cheered her on more for her first! Nice job Melody! It’s always quite an accomplishment to make your first clean lead – and for her to totally step-up and own it yesterday, without even calling it out to us, was quite a humbling thing to experience. This girl is a serious champ and I hope to get to know her better. On top of this, Micah finished off Shock-let, the project he was working on in the picture on this post. Friggin killer effort bro! Man, I love good, honest, pure people!
Also, Laura hiked Steep Street (5.11a) for her second .11a of the year. Great count and terrific effort Laura! I’m really getting to groove with this crew and I’m really hoping that Dom and Laura can become really good friends because they are such good, simple, terrific people. I really am finding that I like them a lot.
Melody cranking a wicked 5.9 slab (shudder) that sends you whipping into the void on a fall. No thanks, but props to the bold!
Life is wonderful. Every day is a blissful experience of self-discovery and awakening.
Well, at the beginning of this post I said that the “real story was yesterday”. I might have lied since the whole story hasn’t been written yet. Tomorrow I pick Nic up after church and meet Micah at Mt. Washington for a FULL day of climbing. I think the 8-ball calls that everyone will send in record numbers tomorrow.
Happy Fourth of July. Let the Fifth of July be reconciled, because the Fifth owes me a few favors!
Mantra for tomorrow: Let ego, pretension and identity abide for grace, power of will and humility. Oh yeah, and HAVE FUN!
So, it’s the 4th of July. Yay! Independence day, in more ways than one.
Tomorrow finds Dom, Laura, Micah and I at Little Si for project work and then later at Nevermind Wall for more project work (I’ve got some lead falls to take!). Saturday calls for a holiday visit with the family, not sure how that will go but I’m going into it with a light heart and open mind. Sunday finds Nick, Micah and myself at Bob’s Area, The Actual Cave and others for a complete day of lead climbing on some unexplored rock.
I am currently nursing a pissed-off bicep at the shoulder, pulled supinator bracioradialis tendon and a really inflamed palmar sheath on my left. My right feels okay but weak from yesterday at the quarry. I tried to take today as a rest day, but pulled a lap in the gym to keep the rhythm going. I’ve also got this terrible pain between my right posterior latissimus and deltoid which takes me to the ground every morning when I brush my teeth. It’s the same as the squelching pain I used to feel from spending too much time in the drops on my bike (like, 100 miles +). I dunno what it is, but it better shut-the-fuck-up in a hurry.
The mantra for this weekend: Seek balance, grace and purity in the face of rage, desperation and defeat: be a vertical ballerina.
My great friend Jora called me out of the blue tonight. I am so PSYCHED that she’s working her dream! not many people other than my closest friends get to do that it seems. So many people I teach get a degree , but they end up flapping patties somewhere. Jora’s picked up a dream position at the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory! While Jora was never my student (we were students together), It was so good to talk with such a good old friend, someone whose friendship I value and I miss constantly. I’ll be sure to post pictures of her August wedding on here. Good on you girl for making the most of everything you worked for! I’m very proud of you!
Too bad Tiffany isn’t around to share the excitement. I’ll always remember the barbecues and good times after beers overlooking the sound on evenings after hot summer days. Such a good time. Cheers!
I’m amazed sometimes by the totall successes of some of my students as well. Morgan, who was in INS a few years ago, has found her path. Sometimes you just wish you could give them a huge high-five across the Atlantic, but you know they dont need it. Check out this amazing woman’s blog.
My really good friend Nic lounging in one of the belay seats before he worked his project.
Whoda thunk that less then 20 minutes from my home is a killer little sport crag that has weekly open climbs that I can be at by 2pm every week – and is populated with really cool, nice, fun and interesting people? I mean, where the hell have I been all these years?
Today, I was actually able to get away from work (yay summer!) for one of Dom’s invites to “The Quarry”; a large, old sandstone quarry that a popular climber, Off_White as he’s known on CC.com, owns. It was my first time climbing in a long time without Micah, but I had to go and see what all the fuss was about. That, and I just had to go climb. Micah had told me that the rock was virtually barren, the routes were all run-out and that the routefinding was beyond cryptic. I was a little sketched before I left, but what the hell – I’m just here to have fun and experience life at its most precious with other people who understand what I’m talking about.
I got to Dom and Laura’s and we hung out and waited for Erica and Chaz. Chaz was driving and Erica emerged first. We introduced ourselves and, feeling like a fool I just gawked at her. I was trying to place where I’d seen her before, but I couldn’t. Turns out that she’s a TESC graduate – yeah, familiar. Chaz showed up and we packed his Rubasu with our gear and bolted for Tenino.
On the way, conversation was lively but labored, but that’s okay. I learned that Nic would be there and for that I was excited to see him (very excited!). We got to the crag and there was only one car there.
Most of the crew: Chaz, Sierra, Erica, Jimmy, Andrew and Dom. Laura is just pulling onto the route.
Hiking in, “Off” wasn’t there yet, but two old vets, Ed and Duke were working an 11d. Dom set a rope up Hercules, 10b, which I sent straight away. It was super fun and Laura catches well. I kept trying to tell the crew that I didn’t want beta – that I’m trying to climb pure and that I’ll find my own way. It’s more important for me to redpoint after falls rather than with beta cheats – but that I really want to onsight stuff lately. They did their best, though I found myself having to crawl into corners of the rock and cover my ears while someone else was working a route I wanted to work next. Meh, whatev, I was having fun and that was the most important thing.
In all, I sent three routes clean: a 10a and two 10b’s (I think). I worked on something pretty tricky that I couldn’t get clean at first, an 11b that had me hanging (Dom said that nobody ever hikes it – fuck, was he right!) called Squirt Theory. I hold a vendetta for this pitch and I couldn’t get back on it tonight and am bummed about it. Oh well. Nic got me on his 12d project that I could barely start the crux of. He tried to send tonight, but it didn’t go when he dryfired on the crux. It’ll go for sure next time as Nic is a truly awesome climber. My crew wanted to get home early, so we left at 7:45 so they could play games, but I got in a few good burns at the quarry and I’ll definitely be back next Wednesday night for much more fun!!! Hopefully I’ll get micah to come.
Nic, working on the redpoint of his project, Legends 5.12d.
They invited me to play games with them tonight, which may have been fun to hang with Dom, Laura, Chaz, Erica and whomever else showed up. I felt a little like we were still in the “feel-out” stage of our communal relationship so I declined. I’m not into games that much anyway. While I missed having Micah around for his moral support and our enduring friendship, it was nice to climb with other people tonight. Not nice in the way that I wasn’t with Micah, but rather that I’m more a diverse and competent climber to be able to get out with other people and climb competitively and strongly – basically to be able to hold my own in a new group, which I was able to do with other climbers today.
Erica, before the big throw.
I’m so PSYCHED that every Wednesday I get to go to a LOCAL crag and get some!!! Jimmy was there, and I got to reconnect with an old student, Sierra who works at the gym. I met Off_White, which was cool of course, and I met a half dozen other regulars who will see me regularly again.
Now all I need to do is get my nephew up on some of this stuff for some real honest fun.
The weather reports called for rain all weekend, and even though Micah and I were going to head out for the weekend we didnt. He said that World Wall was so wet on Friday that it was weeping from the rain so we decided to do a little preventative maintenance to our home gym instead.
Yesterday I spent the day stripping! Stripping each and every hold off the walls of the climbing gym, hauling them downstairs and loading them in the dishwasher to de-chalk/grease/dirt/herpes them. It actually was a lot of fun to have the entire CRC to ourselves with the entire world of screaming children, overweight mother or gumby locked outside. We joked and pulled holds all day.
Today, we hauled them all back up to the gym, piled them in a sea of holds in the middle of the room and began setting routes. There’s so much creativity behind setting good routes; it requires that you have a vision for the crux, a pleasant method for getting to the crux and a resolution from the crux that leaves the climber with a sense of accomplishment. The moves must also be classic, difficult and at the same time it doesn’t beat on you – but most of all, it has to be fun!
In all, we set 19 routes between us. The count goes at:
Birds on the Horizon V2
Unnamed V0
$99.00 Suit V2-
The Reach V2-
Darkness V2+
Chipmunk Rage V4
Nice Jugs V0
Highball V1
Lean Back V1
Spinach V0
Courtney Love V1+
Grape Nerds V2+
Priapism V1
Ride the Bull V1+
The Distal End V2
Legionella V0
To the Moon, Alice V0
Hammerstroke V1
As you can see, most of the creativity behind setting routes is in naming them. Routes 13-19 were set by mio. In total, we spent almost 18 hours so far, with probably 5-8 hours left. The great part about it is that I actually climbed pretty hard for 15 or so hours this weekend. Granted, it wasnt outside – but I’ve had enough sun for June already. Micah has awarded me the “No Skin Left” annual award for my kind donation in melanoma research…
The flash makes it look much less dark, and it's not from socks - it's from boots!
Now I’m off for home and a good dose of Jungle Juice and a good dose of, well…Dosage IV and V!
I wanted to share this with you. I really dig Andrew Burr’s photography – he really captures the form of climbing culture with his lens the same way I see it. It’s not all about the climbing, its about the culture. I really think you should view his blog. I say view because it’s much more a photojourney than a written testimony of anything. It’s really rather stunning!
Also, a couple of posts ago I was revelling the fact of my century mark at Muir. I tried to count all the people who’ve traveled there with me. The count is:
Entertained by my place? Shoot me an email to say hi. gk.dasso [at] gmail [dot] com
One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly.
Neitzsche
He is richest whose needs are least. Thoreau daily favorite.
As a climber, you must always cultivate movement.
Peter Beal
I was forced to choose: be a vet or be a climber. I chose the mountains. Ed Viesturs
I don't climb to stare death in the face. Death just isn't in the equation for me. I want to climb more. Unless I die, then of course, dying is in the equation suddenly. If I don't die, there's always the cool scars. Me, on climbing
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