A quick recap here on some notable moments from this spring’s fun…
Paul ticking off Scream, v11. Impressive, as he did Scream Stand, v10 more than a decade ago, and was never able to even come close with this lower start.
Me staring down the lip that I want soooo bad on my send of Devil’s Butthole, v6. Finally! (Thank you, 5am 4×4’s before work, for literally three straight months so that I could have the endurance I needed for when the planets unexpectedly align themselves with the kids’ busy schedules, and I find myself sitting below this perfectly perfect mother-of-all-Hueco-jug-hauls with the opportunity to SEND. ☺️)
Ivan (ahem, I mean Paul, because he’s 18 and older), getting his Level 1 Rocket Certification. Which basically means no more baby model rockets anymore. We’re talkin’ legit high power rocketry now, people! Yeah!
Go big or go home
Silas having a wicked strong gymnastics season. Now a Level 9 gymnast, he qualified for Regionals and now Nationals too!
If you’re gonna yank the kid out of school for a gymnastics competition, you might as well tack on a climbing trip to Joshua Tree, right?!
Me warming up on False Hueco Traverse, v2. Dang, I forgot how beautiful this place is.
Paul running up the ultimate J-Tree classic White Rastafarian, v3
Frisbee on the rocks
Ivan smiling his way up Flintlock Dino, v0. This kid is always smiling when he’s sending.
Silas wanting his glory too….but barefoot! Rules don’t apply for this boy.
It’s winter. Which means it’s gymnastics competition season. This is the time of year that I find myself getting grumpy with all the running around to competitions (which are never in Tucson) and all the sitting inside gyms or sitting in the car driving to and from gyms on perfectly beautiful winter bouldering days. Inside sports should be a summertime activity! Says this Arizona mama, haha. But then I watch the kids do their thing on rings, pommel, floor, vault, parallel bars and the cringe-worthy high bar (high bar scares me) and I’m over it.
Silas crushing the rings. He placed second with this near-flawless routine. I mean, how can this NOT snap a mama out of her funk?
Winter also means it’s Science Fair season. And Ivan has been hard at work with what has become the most wildly successful science fair project of all science fair projects ever attempted in this household. Yes, we’ve had some real doozies over the years. Ivan’s project this year is “Can I design, build and fly a 3D-printed rocket better than the store-bought ones?” The answer is yes. Yes he can.
Design iterations from right to left, culminating in the GFFF (Giant Fun Fin Flyer – the big guy, far left)
Design iteration #2#3#5#6The GFFF. Flight success! Take that Estes!!
Ah our beloved mountain trails, which is another wonderful activity to partake in during the winter months. A trail day is grand when one doesn’t need to wake up at 4am to beat the heat!
Rincon Peak, 15 miles, 5k feet elevation gain. This hike is one we’d wanted to do for years, but didn’t dare take the Prius or Honda Fit down the “4 wheel drive recommended” road to the trailhead, especially when the start of said road is 1.5 hours from our house. Well for Christmas Santa talked us into dumping the Prius and getting a truck. This was the first hike we did in the new year, eager to test out the new truck on some rough terrain. Turns out, the road was all groomed and of ZERO challenge accessing the trailhead! What a letdown. Good thing the gnarly steep trail more than made up for it.
Bear Canyon, 10 miles, 1.2k feet elevation gain. Some mild little 4th class scrambling got us to this lunch spot with a view! Bear Canyon in the background.
Ivan on the way up to Cowhead Saddle, 18 miles, 3.4k feet elevation gain, just the two of us. Crushed it.
How do you make a moody 15 year old happy? Wake him before dawn, shove a banana down his throat, and set off on a 15 mile adventure. Just Silas and me on a thru-hike up Ventana Canyon, past The Window, and then over and down Esperero Canyon, 15.4 miles, 4.8k feet elevation gain. I struggled to keep up.
A 4 mile segment of the Arizona Trail. This was supposed to be a bouldering day at Priest Draw due to the kids having a gymnastics comp in Flagstaff. It snowed though and so the forest roads were a mess. We opted for this short hike instead and a Kilter Board session in the local gym.
Which brings me alas to bouldering. Like many winters of late, we don’t quite get outside on real rock as much as we (read: I) would prefer. But what matters most (and what I keep telling myself when I get grumpy) is this: when the opportunity presents itself, we go! We’re still going people! LET’S GO! 🤪
A v2 on the My Tan Boulder during a free window of a gymnastics comp in Las Vegas. Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
Contorted Lip Traverse, v3 on Hairpin Boulder. Tucson, Arizona
Paul attempting Scream, v11. Hueco Tanks, Texas. And sends Scream Stand, v10 again for good measure
Meanwhile I’m still hoping for a few back-to-back visits to Devil’s Butthole, v6 so I can finally string all these moves together and send! Hueco Tanks, Texas. My trainer on the home wall just isn’t enough! 😤
And that about sums up this year’s adventures thus far!
…requiring a trip to Las Vegas, where we made a short escape to Red Rocks between Silas’ competition on a Friday, and Ivan’s on a Sunday
Lucky for us, all other comps were in Phoenix this year
Which was good because both kiddos qualified for Regionals, with Silas making the Arizona All Star Team!
…and he has now also qualified for Western Nationals, which is next weekend
After over a dozen comps this winter/spring, I finally warmed up to the idea of hotel’n it to simplify all the driving back and forth to Phoenix. While the van will always hold the place of first class accommodations in my book, when there is no place to park it other than on pavement and after a disgusting experience of The Worst Hotel Room Ever in trying to save a buck, I finally was won over to the more comfortable option of a nice hotel. Alright, alright I’ll go with it! At least for just this chapter in life.
——-
In between comps we squeaked out some trail mileage, for my sanity
Chiva Falls in the nearby Rincon Mountains, 9 miles
Paul literally dragged me away from my work computer for this gorgeous evening run one super busy day amongst the chaos. A trailhead less than 10 minutes from the house is very convenient when life is in the blur state. And Paul is a good husband. 😊
Our desert babies delighted by the concept of mud puddles after a rainy day hike to Douglas Springs Campground, 12 miles, also in the Rincon Mountains
Douglas Springs Campground was fun, but taking the same trail past the backpackers campground and on to Cowhead Saddle at 18 miles round trip and 4k feet elevation gain is more fun, especially when it’s my birthday
—— And capping off our busy spring craziness:
A week at our favorite place on earth
No trip to Yosemite is complete without a little weather. And yes, those are snowflakes you see there whipping around
Ivan and I ignoring the rain and “warming up” on Unnamed Mantel, v1 on the Goodrich Boulder in Camp 4. Gotta work for these v1s baby! Love it!
Paul sends another highball classic on the Yosemite bouldering tick list, Cookie Monster, v7. Why must all the “classics” be highballs? 🙄
A rowdy game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza with Paul’s parents, who joined us for a good portion of the trip
Kids did a day with grandparents while Paul and I raced up Snow Creek trail. Only 10 miles covered in total, but the 3,000 foot elevation gain was only over 2-3 miles! It’s 4 days later as I write this and my booty is STILL sore!
Snow Creek! Yeah, really
Ivan on his favorite climb of the trip, Unnamed Face, v0 at the Bridalveil Boulders
Despite the last few months being packed full with everything *but* climbing, I managed to pull off a send of a problem I found last trip but didn’t have the juice to put together, Bionic Traverse, v5. Yes there was battle, and yes said battle destroyed any hope of sending anything else in this short one-week trip. But I did it gosh dang it! Sore booty and all!
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