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Video! Return to Yosemite

August 8th, 2021

posted by ARR

Posted in Bouldering, Videos, Yosemite-California |

Stellar Trip Indeed

August 7th, 2021

We climbed. We hiked. We climbed. We camped. We climbed. We climbed some more. And mama sent! (Which never happens in Yosemite). Photo log below. Video coming soon.

First send of the trip: *Warm Up Arete, v2*

*Slopers and Dopers, v4*. Last summer had to leave this one unfinished. This summer: crushed it.

Our campsite at Tuolumne Meadows Campground

A site right next to the river! Score again!

A heinous uphill trudge on a nonexistent trail in the late afternoon while in a Tuolumne heatwave results in no choice but a send of the classic *Booze Bottle, v6*.
…”cause we are NOT hiking all the way back up here again Dad.”

Rest day hunt for the best swimming hole ever

The ultra classic and ultra hard *Conquistadors, v8*. Paul will need to come back for this one.

My goal for the trip: Ian’s Prow, v6! Done!

Same day headed over to the Medlicott boulders. And Ivan ticks off a rad *Unnnamed v1* with a dyno!

Finishing this awesome sendage day off with a refreshing dip in Tenaya Lake. The boys found playmates.

While Paul and I enjoyed adult beverages in the evening sun. Long summer days are the best!

About 10 miles hiked this day in total. Worth it.

Another that Paul will need to come back for: *Detached, v8*. These Yosemite boulders are HARD!

Another to come back for: *Unnamed, v6*. Funny how there’s so many excellent boulder problems in Tuolumne without names.

A venture down into The Valley. Camped one night here next to “the loud boys” (two smaller boys next to us that must not ever sleep and clearly still need trained in volume adjustment)

Ivan climbs his first v2, an unnamed problem at the Curry boulders

This trip was put together piecemeal, with both Paul and I checking campsite availability nearly every day leading up to the trip. An open night at Bridalveil Campground came up so we grabbed it, even though it’s not near any climbing. Soooo worth it. The family deemed this campsite our favorite of the trip. And Taft Point was just a short drive and hike away.

Best campsite of the trip. Totally chill.

*The Giving Tree, v9*. Paul wanted soooo bad to repeat this, because it’s THAT good. Dang that first move though!

This place is really starting to grow on me

posted by ARR

Posted in Bouldering, Yosemite-California |

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Scored a campsite in Rock Creek en route to Tuolumne! And what’s more – it had just rained when we arrived. Now, this may not be exciting to most. But for us, pure heaven. “Mama! Walk through the grass! You can feel the wetness on your toes!” were Ivan’s exact words after he stepped out of the van and ran around.

posted by ARR

Posted in Bouldering, Route Climbing, Yosemite-California, Yosemite-California |

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The beginnings of a stellar trip

July 20th, 2021

First and foremost, all of our trips are stellar…for the record. But this one for sure is bound to be a little more special than most, as I’ve been suffering from a bit of cabin fever lately. Within the last couple month we’ve had fun plans shut down multiple times, keeping us homebound. First, our Pittsburgh climber buddies had to bail on a rendezvous with us here out west. Then we had a trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon canceled due to forest closure because of fire danger (which also shutdown all northern AZ options). Next we had to turn back on a trip to Hueco Tanks because of apocalyptic rainfall and flooding. And, we’ve bailed on Mt. Lemmon camping & climbing quite a few times because it was just too dang hot! On top of all that the “work from home” mandate still persists, which I am not at all a fan of. Our desert adobe with pool and personal climbing gym is sweet and all (don’t get me wrong here!) but I need to get out of this place before I go crazy!!! Time to bust this joint!

posted by ARR

Posted in Bouldering, Route Climbing, Yosemite-California, Yosemite-California |

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Happy 4th of July!

July 4th, 2021

Mother Nature’s show tonight. Good monsoons = good sunsets.

posted by ARR

Posted in Our Adobe |

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Daddy’s got big competition

July 3rd, 2021

Pommel circles

Handstand

posted by ARR

Posted in Gymnastics, Videos |

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Legit Monsoons

July 1st, 2021

Let me count all the ways last year was not good: lack of summer monsoons being just one item of many. No significant cloud formation even, let alone glorious drops of water falling from the sky.

….so you can imagine the excitement when this happened – the start of what is turning out to be a legit summer monsoon season. I kid you not, we heard hoots and hollers from afar when we ran out in it. (I even teared up a little bit).

posted by ARR

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A beautiful day for a run up Agua Caliente

June 29th, 2021

Ivan’s at “read to a dog”, Silas is at play date, and my 10am telecon is not for another 40 minutes. I got time. ;-)

posted by ARR

Posted in Running |

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Father’s Day Hike

June 27th, 2021

Mt. Wrightson: 9,456 feet, 10ish mile hike via the Old Baldy trail with over 4K feet of elevation gain. Well over 100 degrees this day but we hit the trail at 5:30am to beat the heat. Our buddy John joined us (a well deserved Father’s Day morning for this father of 4). Wrightson was a first for Ivan and I. Paul and Silas did it last summer. All participants were psyched start to finish. And the ladybugs on the summit were quite the special treat.