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July 19, 2005
Monsoon Season Begins
Here are a few photos I snapped real quick right before the storm. Click the picture to see more.
Posted by Paul at 09:38 PM | Comments (2)
July 18, 2005
Escaping Heat?
Coffee doesn't have much of an effect in terms of waking you up once you've had a million cups during the work week. I tried drinking an additional coffee on the way to Jacks Canyon last Friday night, to stay awake but it didn't do anything for me. April and I were both exhausted. We bailed on the idea of driving all the way to Jacks to camp. My driving reaction time just wasn't good enough to deal with elk dodging on the dark road. So, we stayed at Motel 6 in Payson.
Our weekend objective was to escape the heat of Tucson and get away from hot stuff, like the neighborhood blaze that nearly burned down our house. Since I'm so honest I told the attendant at Motel 6 that we have a dog and they kindly said, "Sure we allow pets. But, we'll have to put you in a smoking room." After a night there I smelled like "that guy" who sits down next to you after a fresh smoke. I always had that luxury when I was in lecture, in college.
Anyway, we left Payson on Saturday morning and drove up to Jacks. Since we were in total coffee withdrawl we got to the rocks around 12PM, lazy and with nice pounding headaches. Getting to the crag so early allowed us enough time to get in 3, count em, 3 Jacks Canyon routes! With just three routes to brag about at least April can say she.....onsighted a 5.11a!!! Nice.
Once the afternoon monsoon lightning storm passed we surfaced from the canyon to see that several forest fires were starting to burn on the horizon. Wow! Actually, once you've been living in Arizona for a little while, you see one fire, you've seen them all. Forest rangers were on their way in to put out the blaze as we drove out.
Drove out? Yeah, we bailed. We decided to head back to Tucson. Not! Ha ha. That's not us. We stopped in Pine AZ and had dinner for starters. When we realized that there was a little cabin in the back that you could rent we couldn't resist. Check out our photos and you'll see, our weekend was all about chillin', relaxing and then climbing hard at Jacks on Sunday.
The fire that is in the photo above is the view from highway 87 coming into Phoenix from Jacks Canyon. We saw the amazing forest fire as we drove back on Sunday. As we left the cool temps and returned to THE DESERT BLAZE.
Posted by Paul at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2005
Neighborhood Blaze
I got a call from April at work today and she said, "I can't get home because the fire department has blocked off the main road to our house. Please leave work and meet me, I'm not sure but it looks like our house is on fire."
I hate the feeling inside when you hear something like that. It comes out of no where, obviously. It's not like you can expect that kind of stuff. I hurried out of work telling my co-workers, "Uh, I gotta run, I think my house is on fire." It was really weird. As soon as I got out of work I talked with April using our cell phones to get more details. My 35 minute commute was stressful as April described the thick black smoke, high winds and very hot summer temps over 100+ degrees that were all contributing to a brush fire that could potentially destroy our neighborhood.
By the time I was home and walking to our house from the back, through the wash, a plane flew over head and dumped some kind of red liquid/chemical. Then a helicopter came in and dumped something additional. I was really worried at that point because I've never seen a residential fire being fought by the air and ground together. I thought for sure our house was going to be destroyed. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction.
Our home and those surrounding it were technically evacuated, but the fire was still at a distance so we snuck to the house to grab Morgie.
Near 5:00PM the smoke started to decrease and we felt a little bit more comfortable. We spoke with the police and an officer let us know that the fire department managed to contain the blaze. It wasn't until about 8:15PM until we were allowed to return home.
So, a big thanks to the fire department for controlling the fire quickly and for saving our home. We are very thankful.
Here is the story from the Arizona Daily Star.
Posted by Paul at 09:29 PM | Comments (6)
July 13, 2005
Maple Canyon Summary
April and I think the pictures we all took throughout the 10 day Maple Canyon trip, best summarize, the loads of fun we had. We've included descriptions of each photo so spend time, relax and enjoy the slideshow. Click on any of the photos shown below to access the photo collection.
Sport route highlights and summary:
"Unknown" = 5.11a:
In the area called the "Pipeline" Vince and Tammy pointed out a super cool .11a that they had both done on a previous trip to Maple. Both April and Marcus managed to quickly send the line that was short, steep and classic. Hopefully, when a new guide comes out for the area we'll be able to figure out what it's called.
"Unknown" = 5.12a:
Congratulations Tammy for completing the line several climbs over from the .11a in the Pipeline. Tammy had previously worked the line but had to leave it as unfinished business on a past trip. She quickly remembered her sequence and sent the line with style. April will do the same when we return to Maple, considering she quickly lead up to the crux before getting stumped.
"The Lost Letter" = 5.11b
Marcus and Tammy get a lot of credit for both sending this line. It is a beautiful .11b in an area called the Maple Corridor. In working the line Tammy took a nice whip and tore her pants. We got a great picture of her right butt cheek too. But, after a few tries Tammy and Marcus both climbed the line and got the send.
"Zoaster Toaster" = 5.12a
"49" = 5.12b
"Lunchables" = 5.12b
"Ground Work" = 5.12b
"The Put Down" = 5.12c
My screwed up middle finger was definately feeling better on the trip so I climbed harder routes than I originally planned on climbing. But...I didn't plan on having any endurance. Somehow I pulled off the 5 climbs listed above, all on onsight. I guess I was psyched to see the Minimum wall and use my bouldering juice still left from Hueco.
"Captain Bullet" = 5.13a/b
Vince and I worked on this one for a couple days. Since we were both lacking the endurance to do it quickly we had to work out the precise footwork and technique in order to save energy and complete the bouldery crux. Unfortunately I can't say that we sent as a team. I got the redpoint after figuring out some critical beta and Vince came soooooooooo close. He definately gets credit for trying really really really hard. ha ha. Wait until we post the video of his attempts. They are crazy! He'll send next try.
"Min Meditation" = 5.10c
April and Marcus casually onsighted this climb near the end of our trip. In fact, they did this one last. The climb is very technical and has a tree close by which you think if you fall you'll hit. That's not the case but it messes with your mind. With this climb April proved that she is gaining the confidence in leading and is ready to really crank it up in the next few weekends and go for her goal of 5.12. For Marcus, this was his hardest onsight to date. Definately another stellar climb.
"49" = 5.12b
Every year on some guy's birthday he bolts a new line. 49 is one of his lines which is a beautiful climb on the Minimum wall that basically stays at the same overhanging angle for almost 90 feet. Vince can now say that he sent the line with perfect style after just a few tries. Nice job man! And, he sent after working Captian Bullet with me for days, tired from all the effort and in front of an intimidating crowd of super strong girl climbers. Everyone was impressed!
"Lunchables" = 5.12b
Right next to 49 was a climb called Lunchables which Tammy picked, worked and sent. Nice! I didn't think she was going to do it at first. I thought she got sucked in because it looked so stellar. I climbed the line myself and thought it was tricky and exposed. I never thought I'd hear the sending scream come from Tammy's mouth. But I did. And I heard it from a crag far far away. This was a new level for Tammy and a great trip highlight to talk about.
"Zoaster Toaster" = 5.12a
Even though April and Marcus didn't send this one they both lead it and made it to the anchors. If you see this route you'd know why it was a trip highlight to just get to the top. It is an ultimate classic, steep climb which goes about 80 feet up the Minimum wall. As you climb and place your feet you get quick glimpses of the insane amount of air below. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. Way to keep the lead head together guys!
I could probably keep writing until my fingers tweak out but I'm not. I can't possibly convey how much fun we had over the 10 day trip. Enjoy our photos and go to Maple Canyon. It is AWESOME!!!! I know we'll be going back.
Posted by Paul at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
From Maple to Tucson
We're back.
We spent like 16 hrs. traveling today. It was totally worth it! The climbing at Maple Canyon was...uh...STELLARRRRRRRR!!! I really feel like we just went on a true vacation because I can't remember when we started out. It seems soooo long ago. Over the next few days we'll have pictures, video and the full trip report with highlights up. For now, April and I are going to sleep and recover and try to get back into the routine of...work. :-(
Posted by Paul at 11:27 PM | Comments (4)
July 04, 2005
Cobble Pullin' at Maple
Everyday we (April, I, Vince, Tammy, Marcus, Morgan, and Senga) rush. We are always in a hurry and have a million things to do. Now, it's time to put things in slow motion because we are on vacation! On Thursday night we left Tucson, well after loading up on coffee and driving back across town to get our iPod, which we forgot. Eventually we were off, heading through Phoenix, loading up on more coffee and reaching our first nights destination of Priest's Draw (near Flagstaff). We set up camp around 1:30AM. I was way too wired on coffee so I stayed up trying to take some pictures of the star filled sky. It was incredible. I think I captured some good pictures for just having our little digital with us. We'll post them all when we return.
Friday was spent driving all day. We stopped at the Sunset Crater National Monument outside of Flagstaff and walked through a pretty unique lava flow. After about an hour we got back on the road. We made stops all along the Arizona, Utah border. The scenery along the entire drive (89) was beautiful. The sky was mostly hazy due to fires in AZ and Utah but made for interesting photos. Our estimate of getting to Maple by about 5PM was way off. Our actual arrival time was like 11PM. All the sites were filled so we set up in a clearing knowing that we'd probably get yelled at in the morning. "Who cares, it's 4th of July weekend," we justified.
On Saturday when we woke a couple of park hosts yelled at us and mentioned we couldn't camp where we were camping. No big deal because we found a free camping site up the road and let them know our plan. ha ha. The whole ordeal only cost us about 6 bucks. Oh well, we didn't care. After a few hours we were off to the climbs...
We'll have to compose a huge summary of the climbing but in short Maple Canyon is super fun and very different than any other place in the country. We spent two days so far getting used to the climbing but we are already on fire, sending and ticking off tons of climbs. My finger is feeling good (knock on wood) after ticking 22 routes in two days. Ha ha. I can't resist. Everyone else has huge numbers of climbs beneath their belts too. Of the 5 of us (humans) we have a nice rotation between who belays and who climbs.
Notable sends to date are Marcus ticking off his second 5.11 at the Pipeline and Paul's send of this 5.12c also at the Pipeline (sorry, no names on these yet...I guess they've been recently bolted). Notable whips to date is Tammy's air on the Lost Letter (5.11b) at the Maple Corridor....during which she ripped a gaping hole in the ass of her pants....ha!
Today is a rest day. We're in Salt Lake right now - getting our coffee fix at Starbucks. We're planning on heading up to see the ski slopes and checking out some of the surrounding canyons. Then tomorrow - back to business. Awwwe yeah.
Posted by Paul at 01:53 PM | Comments (1)