Life on the Road- The Evolution from Then to Now: Part 2

A continuation of why I love road trips, living in vehicle, and how it all began!

Chelsea and I met during my first year of college.  Chelsea was a third year and she was one of the leaders on the Joshua Tree climbing trip I signed up for with some encouragement (and cash) from my mom.  My mom thought it would be good for me to meet some other climbers, I thought it would be good to have a ride to Joshua Tree.  After the trip we were acquaintances and I would say hello when I passed her working at the school climbing wall.  Towards the end of the year I asked her what plans she had for summer.  She informed me that she would be participating in the Cal Poly study abroad program in Peru.  "You should come," she suggested casually.  I cocked my head to the side, thought for a second, then replied, "ok."  By the end of the week my deposit was paid and I was getting ready to head to Peru for the summer.  I think Chelsea was a bit shocked by my quick decision, and maybe a little unsure when I asked her at one of the pre-trip meetings if she would like to be my roommate at a homestay with a Peruvian family in Cusco.  I was a shy freshmen and didn't know anyone else in the room, Chelsea knew a few others going but she politely agreed.  It was in Peru that we became fast friends and realized our unique compatibility as travel partners.  There are those you can spend 24/7 with in small spaces, stressful situations, and after extended periods without showers, and there are those that, although you may like them equally well, can only be tolerated in small doses.  Chelsea is one of the former.  

When we returned from Peru we signed up for Fall classes, although we may as well have not.  I had class on Tuesdays and Thursdays which left Thursday evening through Monday evening for climbing trips.  I don't even know what Chelsea's schedule was, but the car was always packed Thursday night and we were halfway up a route in Yosemite by the time people were headed to class on Friday.  We operated on a rotation- Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Bishop, Tahoe, repeat.  We didn't skip a beat.  Each weekend we were racking up the miles, caking on the dust, and climbing til our fingers bled.  It was that fall that I began trad climbing in earnest, thanks to Chelsea's influence.  Winter and Spring quarter passed in a similar fashion, and by the end of Spring quarter we knew we should stop bothering with pretending to care about school, and take a quarter off to climb.  We spent the summer in Tahoe, climbing nearly every day and when Fall rolled around and people packed their cars with books and linens to move back to school, we packed ours with cams, tents, ropes, and crashpads.  

The Fall of 2010 was one to be remembered.  We climbed in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.  We summited the Grand Teton on Chelsea's birthday, we met other inspiring road trippers, we placed cams, stacked pads, and clipped draws.  We baked in the sun, froze in the snow, were pummeled by the wind, sought shelter and dry rock in caves on rainy days.  We cooked Thanksgiving dinner on our tailgate by the Mammoth hot springs, and soaked our sore bodies after filling our bellies.  We realized that we could go where we wanted when we wanted.  We got used to the hum of our tires rolling down the road, the excitement and uncertainty of arriving in a new place., the satisfaction of cracking open a new guidebook, putting creases in the spine, wrinkling the pages and putting stars and checks next to routes that we loved.  'What could be better?' we thought.  Nothing came to mind.  

After that, the conversions began.  I needed to update my car to become a real road tripping dirtbag mobile.  First, I had my brother help me build a platform that rested on the back seats when they were folded down.  That way, I could take the platform out and still have a normal car with five seats.  When the platform was in, I could sleep comfortably on top of it while my gear was stowed underneath.  That was great for a while, until I decided I needed more space.  The section of two seats came out of the back.  That left one seat in the back that could be accessed when the platform was removed.  Just in case.  Eventually, all the back seats came out.  That was my final commitment to the road trip-mobile.  No back seats.  One passenger.  Lots of gear.  Comfortable sleeping.  From there, it was little improvements.  A cooking platform that folded out of the back and allowed for cooking under the tailgate.  Dinosaur print curtains to cover all the windows and keep it dark for sleeping.  A mesh screen that magneted to the roof of the car over the sunroof.  This allowed us to have air flow without bugs coming in.  The screen was one of my prouder ideas, and it worked out great until we forgot to remove it one morning and it blew off the top of the car while we were driving and was promptly run over and destroyed by a semi-truck.  

The CRV took us on many a wonderful road trip.  We amassed 140,000 miles on it in 5 years.   On one impressive trip last summer, we visited 29 states and 5 Canadian provinces in a 10 week, 12,000 mile whirlwind adventure.  We went to Kentucky for climbing, Tennessee for barbecue, Maine for lobster, New York to see the big city, New Brunswick for canoeing, Nova Scotia because why the hell not?  "Have you been to such and such a place?" some stranger would ask.  The answer was never 'no,' it was simply 'not yet,' and in most cases it became our next stop.  There were trips with others, Eric to Squamish, Ben to Joshua Tree, Alex to Bishop, a solo excursion for me to Minneapolis for a summer, but for the most part it was me, Chelsea, Titan and Star.  At night the four of us would crowd into the back of the car or into a tent and fall asleep thinking 'life is good.'  Recently the van was acquired (hence the Silas the Sprinter blog), and the road tripping has reached a whole new level of style.  It rocks. 

Most people enjoy road trips that come to an end.  They have a great time, but when it's all said and done they relish the thought of a warm shower, of sleeping in a real bed, sitting on their couch.   Sure, I've had moments, usually while epicing on a climb, or during a miserable stint of unending rain, where I've thought, "gee, I really wish I were just sitting on a couch watching a movie right now." or doing something similarly comfortable sounding, but the truth is, life on the road has become a way of life for me and I'm not sure there will ever be a time when I won't want to  hop in the car and go looking for an adventure.  When I'm in one place for too long I get antsy, restless, my thoughts drifting to pavement beneath my tires, the expansive vista that unfolds through my windshield, and the endless possibilities of where to go next.  

If road tripping were a career, I'd like to think I could be CEO, or at least somewhere in management.  In my travels, though, I always meet someone who has it more figured out, or who is doing it just a bit better.  There is no wrong way to get out there and do what you love, but there are ways to make it more financially feasible.  I haven't figured those ways out yet.  For now, it's work a seasonal or temporary job, stack some cash, hit the road til the cash runs out.  Repeat.  Sometimes the trips last for a while, sometimes they end much too quickly.  People like to say, "do it while you're young" or  "now is the time to do it" as if there will be a time when I'll suddenly grow out of my desire to be a bum living in a van and traveling to beautiful places and climbing awesome rocks, and I'll be ready to sit in a cubicle or do whatever it is that most people think you should do.  In reality, the present is always the time to do what you're passionate about.  Always.   

Life on the road opens you to so many possibilities.  You can truly go anywhere and do anything.  You get to witness so many amazing moments- gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, beautiful interactions between human beings, the unwavering happiness of a dirty and tired dog, stunning scenery, and the simplicity of happiness.  I love it.  And I think I"ll always love it.  What do you love?

Adventure On.  LP    

Joe's Valley

People often ask me where my favorite place to climb is.  I usually respond with an "Ahahaha, oh gee, well that's a tough question they're all so amazing and different.  Uh, I guess maybe Yosemite."  That's usually a satisfactory answer.  You really can't go wrong with that one- massive walls of immaculate granite, pristine setting, world class trad, sport and bouldering, waterfalls, very conveniently located to the Bay Area and San Luis Obispo, mangy deer, bold critters who try to steal your food, the list of merits goes on.  But today I was thinking I might have a new favorite, one that is more decidedly a favorite and less of a default answer.  

Similar to Yosemite, it is quite picturesque: middle of nowhere Utah, men in camo shooting guns and riding ATVs, mines and mining equipment, giant bobbing cricket rigs extracting oil/natural gas/some other substance from the earth at all hours of the day and night.  Ahh, bliss.  Those things are just small aspects of Joe's Valley that contribute to its character, and in their own way, make me like the place.  The actual reasons I love Joe's are the perfect sandstone- beautiful streaked rock with unique features and perfect and imaginative lines, the river flowing down the canyon, the varied types of trees dotting the hillsides, the freedom from regulation, and of course, the Food Ranch.  Honestly, just give me the Food Ranch and I'll be happy.  In all seriousness, I've never had a bad time climbing at Joe's, and I've been there quite a bit.  I can always get psyched there, the rock is more or less kind to your skin, and there are lots of great problems in my range of difficulty.  

This trip started with a snowstorm and a few days of festering in the van while the rock dried.  We met up with Kevin again and he and I went out and scoped out some problems while Chelsea went on a six mile run in a blizzard.  On our reconassiance mission Kevin and I ran into our good friends Trevor, Jake, and Mackenzie.  Sweet!  The whole trip was filled with the coming and going of a great crew of friends, which kept things fun.  We met some other sprinter dwellers too, including Autumn from Georgia and Jesse from Canada.

Our first day on the rock was a little lackluster after a bit too much eating and sleeping during the storm.  After that, things began to pick up.  Chelsea sent an old project from a previous trip and I started working on Chips, something I had looked at on a previous trip and deemed too hard for me.  After a session and a half of working out the beta, I sent Chips on my first go  of my third day on it.  Progression! I think Chips may be one of my favorite boulder problems I've ever done.  The moves felt so cool and perfect when I did it, like it had been made just for me.

Another definite sign of improvement for me was sending Dirty Harry.  It represented a conquering of a mental block for me.  The crux was towards the top of this fairly tall boulder, and the fact that I was able to commit and finish the problem was exciting to me, especially after taking a huge fall from the top.  It's great having encouraging friends like Kevin who say things like, "if you don't commit to this move, I'm going to punch you in the face."  Thanks Kevin!

The whole time we were in Joe's was pure fun.  We sent some old projects and checked out a ton of new things.  I was loving the shit of van life, making delicious food, sleeping 12 hours a night, hanging out with amazing people, and climbing awesome rocks.  What could be better?  So maybe I do have a favorite place to climb, and maybe it is Joe's Valley.  With so much rock out there that I have yet to climb, there are still plenty of opportunities for me to find a new favorite, but Joe's will always be a special place to me, and always somewhere I look forward to returning to.   

Adventure On.  LP     

        

Life on the Road- The Evolution from Then to Now: Part 1

The first time I ever climbed outside was with my friend Kelsey.  She had seen my flailing around in the gym and taken me under her wing, guided me, and helped me become a better climber.  Eventually she deemed I was ready to try the real stuff.  I borrowed my dad's Audi, I had heard the road to Castle Rock was a windy one, and thought his sporty car would handle the curves well.  I picked up Kelsey, who was shocked, although she didn't tell me until months later, that I was belting out an off-key version of the  Kelly Clarkson song that was pounding out of the fancy Bose speakers.  I passed the drive this way, winding around turns, singing loudly, excited for my first outdoor climbing experience.  The actual climbing experience turned out to be pretty uneventful.  We had one tiny crashpad, Kelsey showed me a few easy climbs, and we quickly grew cold and decided to go eat.  On the way home, Kelsey's head bobbed a bit more, she mouthed a few words of the familiar songs, and a bond began to form.  This bond, now as familiar to me as the back of my hand, was foreign at the time, but it would shape my next decade tremendously.  The bond that forms between the road, the rocks, and the people by our sides had planted a seed in my young, 17 year old mind.  

The first time I drove a good, long distance to go climbing was right after I had graduated high school when my boyfriend and I decided to go up to Oregon and climb at Smith Rock for a week.  We loaded up my CRV with all sorts of stuff.  We drove, sang along to the radio, marveled at the beautiful scenery unfolding before us.  We set up a six-person tent for the two of us, inflated a queen-size air mattress and camped in style.  We grilled up steak and made mashed potatoes on the camp stove we had borrowed from our good friend.  I remember looking at that stove, seeing all the dings, little pocks of rust on the green exterior, small signs of years of use, and thinking, "wow, this stove, like the friend I borrowed it from, has been a lot of places."  And that was one of those moments, a little flicker of inspiration, the awareness of something inconsequential like dirt on a stove, that ignites something inside you, that nudges you, and makes you say, "I too shall go many places."  

That trip was great, and it did inspire me, and make me want to get out and climb more.  Soon I took a trip to Thailand, and spent time climbing in the paradise of Tonsai.  The following summer, my first real climbing road trip would take place at age 19.  My friend Jen decided to move to Colorado.  No sooner had she told me, than I was volunteering to accompany her on the drive.  "I'll go with you!" I had said excitedly.  "We can stop and climb in all sorts of places on the way!"  It didn't matter that it was the middle of July, and that we would be driving through the desert.  We were psyched and we began planning.

Looking back on that trip, I wonder how we accomplished anything, how we ever found any of the climbing areas we were looking for, how we didn't starve.  At the time though, it was the adventure of a lifetime.  We were on a budget.  We didn't use the A/C so we could get better gas mileage, even when we drove through the sweltering heat of Nevada and Utah.  We bought food before we left- a few Clif Bars, some dried fruit, and a jar of peanut butter.  Those snacks would sustain us through four states and six climbing areas.  When we were hungry, we would get out a spoon, dip it into our jar of peanut butter, have a scoop, and go back to driving or climbing.  

We didn't have any maps, just a faulty GPS, and a few old guidebooks.  Somehow, we made it from one place to the next.  From Big Chief in Truckee to Maple Canyon, to Joe's Valley and on to Rifle.  From Rifle to Boulder.  In Boulder to Clear Creek and the Flagstaff Boulders.  We had the time of our lives.  The joy of the open road had fully affected us and we were giddy with the freedom that came with it.  We experienced the now familiar, then quite foreign, dilemma of finding somewhere to sleep.  On a particularly long drive from Joe's to Rifle, we stopped at an information center to ask about camping.  The women suggested we sleep at the dog park at the end of the road.  We ran back to the car, holding our breaths, containing our laughter until we had shut the doors and driven out of the parking lot.  Then we erupted, tears rolling down our cheeks, laughing as we got back on the highway and continued driving into the night.  

It was cemented then.  The Climbing Road Trip.  It had become a full-blown thing, something I needed as much as food or water.  I had experienced the intriguing tastes of it with Kelsey, with Tim, and then got a full entree of it with Jen, and by the end of that summer of 2008, I was hooked.  In the upcoming years, I would face a few difficulties in fulfilling this insatiable desire to get out, to drive, to climb, to make connections with whatever wonderful human being was in the passenger seat.  I went away to college and suddenly knew no one, had no climbing partners, I lost my greatest climbing partner, Tim, in 2010.  Slowly though, I started making connections in my new home.  I met Ben and we made a journey to Joshua Tree for spring break where I did my first trad lead.  I met Ian, Casey, Lisa, Alex, Eric and Trevor.  Most importantly I met Chelsea.  The perfect road trip co-pilot, who had the same drop everything, let's hit the road attitude as me.  And then a new era began.  

Moe's Valley

Moe's Valley is in St. George, Utah, a mere two hours from Las Vegas.  We arrived there with plans to stay a few days and try to put some projects to rest that we had started on a previous trip.  Moe's is a great little area, very laid back, with some high quality sandstone and lots of moderates.  We spent a week walking the red dusty trails and sampling some really stellar climbs.

I had my eye on Underwhelmed, a really cool V6 that follows a horizontal roof out to an arete.  I was able to do all the moves except for one.  I must have tried that single move at least 30 times in one session, but still was not able to stick it.  Nevertheless, I was happy with the links I made on the problem and the fact that I got all the other moves figured out.  The climb is kind of my anti-style, big powerful moves, versus the more techy climbs I usually favor.

The other climb I wanted to do was Sichuan Peppercorn, V5, and possibly Kung-Pao, the V6 that traverses into the 5.  I decided to figure out Sichuan Peppercorn first and then try to do the additional moves at the start.  The features on this climb are so unique and I kept finding myself doing a right knee-bar, which put me in a natural body position to bring my right hand up to a positive crimp.  Unfortunately I needed my left hand there.  The knee-bar was so cool and I wanted to use it so bad, but eventually I had to train myself out of using it and go up left hand.  After a few sessions I sent the problem.  I then did the moves on Kung Pao, and went almost to the top of the problem, moves I had done so many times on Sichuan, but I ran out of gas before I could top out.  I was still psyched to have Sichuan Peppercorn in the bag though!

Chelsea did numerous really cool V3s and made good progress on some 4s.  The days passed by lazily as we enjoyed the sun during the day, and took the dogs on evening runs once the temperatures cooled down.  We ate well, got lots of sleep, and met some cool crusher kids from Salt Lake City.  After a week in Moe's, we woke up to a sudden downpour, lightning, and hail.  We jumped in the van and headed out, of the Valley, not wanting to test Silas' ability to climb the steep dirt hill once it became mud.  A few errands in town, and we set our sights east towards Joe's Valley, where we are currently residing and waiting for a storm to pass so we can get out on the rock!

Adventure On. LP

Red Rocks- Part 2

After enduring a dishearteningly long day at the mechanic, the van was (hopefully) in tip-top shape and we were able to focus on climbing again.  Unfortunately, the friends we had made in Red Rocks were all slated to hit the road in a few days.  Their departure made us antsy, not to mention that we were no longer splitting the cost of the overpriced campsite, and we started talking about moving on.  Before we could leave, we hoped to send a few more climbs.  

It was another incredibly warm day at the Kraft Boulders, when Chelsea and I headed out to the end of the canyon to try to finish her project, Monkey Bars, and mine, Monkey Bar Traverse.  We waited until later in the day for the temps to cool down and started putting in some effort.  We were both feeling a little low energy.  I still hadn't stuck the last hard move on the traverse, and decided I needed to focus on figuring that sequence out before taking burns from the start.  I had been trying to make a huge jump move to a precise incut hold.  I pretty quickly determined that after doing the traverse there was no way I was going to be able to make a powerful, long move like that.  I set out to find new beta.  I figured out a new sequence, that involved a match which made the next move much smaller and fairly easy with solid feet.  After a few more tries from the start, I sent the problem!  The send go again felt wonderfully smooth, and I stood on top of the boulder feeling elated.

After I sent, Chelsea was feeling the psych and jump on her project, Monkey Bars.  Before we knew it, she was topping out.  The moves that had been hard before flowed well, and Chelsea executed each sequence perfectly.  Solid day!  We decided to spend two more days in Red Rocks and see if we could complete a few more things. 

The following day we hiked back out to Oak Creek Canyon so I could try to do All Nightmare Long.  I jumped on from the start and got about halfway through the problem.  The problem is powerful, and definitely at my limit, so after each try I had to rest for 20-30 minutes before I felt strong enough to give it another go.  I had the moves totally dialed, all I had to do was execute.  On my best go, I made it almost to the top, to the moves that should have been easy, and popped off for some unknown reason.  I had been feeling incredibly good up to that point and I'm still not sure quite what went wrong.  Unfortunately, I was completely gassed after that attempt and couldn't summon enough strength to send the problem.  It was a great learning experience, however, and it was awesome to project something at my physical limit and see myself make progression on it.

On our last day, we went back out to Kraft.  Chelsea quickly put down Potato Chips, a climb that she had been unable to start at the beginning of our time in Red Rocks.  I decided to give the Pearl one last attempt.  I had tried it briefly on two previous days, and honestly wasn't a huge fan of the movement.  The climb gets 3 stars, the highest quality rating in the book, which is surprisingly stingy in doling out stars, but I wasn't feeling the quality as much as I was feeling pain from the sharp left hand pocket that you start from.  

My first few attempts were really awful.  Then the rock cooled down a bit and i started making progress.  Soon, I was matching the good crimp and going for the huge jug.  Not too long after I stuck the jug and took it to the top.  I was glad to have this one under my belt so I wouldn't have to try it any more!  With that, our climbing in Red Rocks was wrapped up.  There is endless more climbing to be explored, and we will definitely be back in the future.  But the time had come for us to hit the road again and see what was around the next bend.

Adventure On. LP 

Red Rocks

After a little hiatus from van life, we were packed back up and on our way to Red Rocks.  Much to my dismay, my fingers decided to start peeling the day before we left for the desert.  Not to worry, we planned to spend the month of February exploring the sandstone boulders of Southern Nevada, so there would be plenty of time to build up a good layer of skin again.  The drive to Las Vegas was a little time consuming, but Silas was running smoothly and we were psyched to open up the 400-page guidebook and start picking out projects.  We arrived late in the evening to the Red Rock Canyon campground, and met up with Kevin, who we had met in Bishop.  We parked our Sprinter next to his and went to bed dreaming of perfect rock and lots of sending.  We had both previously been sport climbing in Red Rocks, but this would be our first time bouldering.  Although we are intrigued by the vast options for high quality trad climbing, we would be focusing on the boulders this trip so that our four-legged friends could accompany us.  

We spent our first week climbing at the Kraft Boulders.  This is the most highly concentrated area of boulders in Red Rocks, and also home to many classic lines.  As is typical for me, I got boulder ADD, and started trying tons of climbs without finishing any.  I kept adding things to my list of projects, I couldn't help myself- there was so much to try!  A few days after we got here, our friends Danny and Jules came into town.  It was great to spend the day bouldering with them before they headed out to Joshua Tree and then back to Bishop.  We ventured into Gateway Canyon, where I climbed one of my favorite lines of the trip so far, Pork Chop.  Pork Chop is hands down one of the coolest looking boulders I have ever seen, and the features lent themselves to a tricky and committing, yet fun and rewarding couple of climbs.  Chelsea and I have our eye on a couple of key projects at the Kraft that we hope to put down this coming week!

Eventually it was time for us to check out some new areas.  We hopped into Kevin's Sprinter and headed out to Oak Creek Canyon.  As we experienced in Bishop, Red Rocks is going through an unseasonably warm winter.  We have had temperatures in the high 70's for the past few days, and our trip out to Oak Creek was definitely a warm one.  We had our eyes on some classic lines, such as Blood Trails, a unique V5 that navigates a tricky arete.  The climb was baking in the sun and it took Kevin and I a decent amount of time and chalk to work out beta that would allow us to send.  Kevin sent first and I knew I had to follow suit to keep the send train going.  It took me probably another 10 tries, a bit of frustration, and a mini-meltdown before I was able to fire it.  On the send go everything felt perfect and I topped out the boulder feeling quite jubilant!  I was really happy to have sent such a classic line.  

We made our way up canyon a bit to another beautiful line, All Nightmare Long, an amazingly varied V6.  The climb starts on some crimps, then makes a huge move out to a two (or three) finger pocket.  You then do a burly cross move to some really unique pocket/sloper/dish things, with no footholds.  Then you gain a really positive side pull, match hands, and get your right foot really high.  Leaning hard on the left hand, and pressing hard on the right foot, you float out to a far crimp, cross to a good edge, cut your feet and swing them over to a ledge, and then top out on fairly good holds.  Kevin sent quickly.  I was a little doubtful about my ability to do the climb, especially given the huge reach out to the pocket.  I tried the move with my feet on the ground and my face was practically touching the wall.  Regardless, I started working the moves with encouragement from Chelsea and Kevin.  I flashed the second half of the problem and then went to work on the beginning.  I found if I committed 100% to the move out to the pocket, that I could stick it.  Soon enough, I had done all the moves in two overlapping pieces.  Now time to link!  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before I was able to put everything together. (Womp, womp, that was rather anti-climactic wasn't it?)  I can't wait to go back to this climb and go for the send.

Yesterday, Chelsea and I went to another new spot, Willow Creek.  Chelsea put in solid effort and sent Brown Round Crack, a nice V3.  She then sent Peruvian Flake, a V2 slab that required trusting the feet, not what gets Chelsea psyched, but she styled it!  Today, Kevin and I went back out to Willow to check out a two-star (out of 3) V7.  It was honestly kind of a choss pile.  After watching Kevin do the moves I knew there was no way I could even stick the first move.  Instead, I tried another climb and took an awkward fall from like 2 inches off the ground and tweaked my ankle.  Nice!  Thankfully, tomorrow is a rest day.  We have to take Silas in to get a new EGR (I think) valve, a rather expensive endeavor that puts a bit of a negative prognosis on the longevity of our trip (we'll climb til we run out of money.  Which won't take long).  Nonetheless, I'll be happy to have Silas running smoothly and hopefully have that nagging check engine light turn off for a while.  Til next time!

Adventure on. LP

Bishop

In January, the time had finally come for Chelsea and I to quit our respective jobs and set out for a few months of climbing and adventure.  Sticking to my usual strategy of procrastination, I chose to wait until a week before departure to really crack down on getting the van completed.  As the days until our departure ticked away, I checked things off of my to do list and the van began to look less like an unwelcoming metal box and more like a cozy home.  I was still completing little projects up until the moment we left, but the van was deemed worthy for our 10 day trail trip.  We planned to head to Bishop, readjust to road life, and see what things in the van needed tweaking.  Then we would head back to the Bay Area/Auburn so Chelsea could attend a bridal shower and so I could take a trip to New York with my boyfriend, Arsalan and then celebrate my birthday with family.  Any additional work would be done on the van and then we would hit the road again for a couple months in the sandstone paradises of Red Rocks, Moe's Valley, Joe's Valley, and possibly Indian Creek.  

We made a quick stop at my brother, Mike's, house in San Luis Obispo where we installed our solar panels and interior lighting.  We chose to mount two Goal Zero Boulder 30 solar panels to the roof and hook them up to a Goal Zero Yeti 400 generator.  The panels collect energy from the sun and charge the generator, which can then be used to power and charge computers, phones, lights and cameras.  The installation went smoothly and the following day we arrived in Bishop.  

Two of our friends, Danny and Giuliana had moved to Bishop for the winter season and we met up with them in the Happies.  It was great to get our skin warmed up on the rock and we saw some exciting flashes of Rene, V5, and Highbrow, V7 by Danny.  We were treated to a delicious dinner cooked by Jules and then it was time to spend the night in the van.  The four of us (me, Chelsea, Titan and Star) got situated and had a nice cozy night.  

The next week and a half was filled with lots of climbing.  We went to the Gorge, the Pollengrains, the Buttermilks, Pocketopia, and the Sads.  The temperatures were unusually high, which made our motivation to try hard a little lacking.  We did enjoy soaking up the sun, lazy as it made us.  Our rest days were filled with exploratory hikes that led us to great views and interesting rock formations.  It felt good to try a bunch of new climbs, and to visit a few old projects.  I was really psyched to send Perfectly Chicken, a V5 that had shut me down on a previous trip.  Chelsea sent Green Wall Essential, a nemesis climb that she had fallen from years previous and hurt her ankle.  It was great for her to conquer the climb this time.  During a holiday weekend, we ventured north to check out a new-to-us area, Pocketopia, and had a great time pulling on sharp pockets and avoiding the crowds.  We also experienced our coldest night there, during which all the water in the van froze.   

All in all, the van performed great.  We made a list of little things that needed to be done, and supplies that could be useful to have.  Towards the end of the trip we met Kevin, a fellow Sprinter-dweller who was also headed to Red Rocks in February.  We made plans to meet up in Nevada, checked out each other's vans, and lamented the task of driving the washboard roads to the Buttermilks and the Tablelands, an experience akin to being inside a box with all your belongings and having that box be bounced down a flight of stairs.  

Bishop is a fabulous place, filled with world class climbing.  It had been a few seasons since we had been there last, due to living out of state, and it was wonderful to be back.  We left with raw skin, lots of new projects, and a sense of excitement for the next leg of our trip.  

Adventure on. LP