Love Hurts

I wanted to post some more photos of the Grand Teton experience and make mention of Joe Griffin. I'm pretty sure that there were times that Joe thought I had drug him up the mountain in order to weaken him and kill him. It wasn't true. For the record, I'm not sure Joseph Griffin is mortal. You can weaken him, but his will is unbreakable.

I took some of these pictures, some were taken by Joe, and others by willing parties at the summit.Joe's hairy toes gave their nails for him that day. Summers had minimal blistering compared to last year. My feet were a little tender on the bottom.


L to R this time: Hardass, Smirker, and lip biter. This view looks south toward the Middle Teton, and Mexico.


from right to left: A big smirk, Stone-cold determination, and some clown that escaped the circus.


One rather sketchy traverse.


You see the determination in his soul? And Table Rock in the background?


Once again, quite the mountain man. I think it's the beanie.
I think I look like quite the mountain man.


Summers and I nearing Wall Street. (how many wallstreets are there in the world?)


A little blurry, but I look skinny in that shirt.

TETON

Click on the pictures. They get bigger.

This one's for you Dad.

My dad hates snakes.

Click the pics

I really do canyoneer

Well, I take a lot more pictures when I'm canyoneering anyway. I met Summers and his lovely wife on their way back from working in Florida for the summer. There will be more pictures of this, but the first canyon had a 2 stage, 300 foot rappel. Very exciting. It had beautiful sandstone and all that jazz with a lot of exciting adventure. I'd done the second canyon before, so although exciting and adventurous, it didn't make me quite as googly as the first.

Just for some perspective, that is a 120 foot rappel. Pictures of the 300 footer will be up later.

I really do climb

I don't take a lot of pictures when I'm climbing, but Alex had his camera the last time we went up to broads fork. So far this year, I've red pointed (completed on lead w/out falling) at least 46 different routes. I'm trying to track down a few more that I've probably done that were forgotten before I started making the list, or just slipped through the cracks.

I don't even know the name of the climb I'm on in the picture, but it's a fun one.

Here's the list

Here's me. It was a high-gravity day. (That just means I was struggling up stuff that should have been easy.

OR Show

Click on the picture for an explanation of all the sweet goodies that I picked up at the Outdoor Retailers Show this week. I had to pay for most of it, of course, they don't just give those cams away. They're usually around $50 each. I bought 19.

Did we expect these things to change by waking up and suddenly there they are?

Just wanted to say that life isn't easy. To those who keep doing what they believe in, you rock. To those who are trying to find themselves, their purpose, or just the guts to go out and live the life they know they want, keep swimming.

Woah, Sorry! a.k.a. She makes the sign of a teaspoon, he makes the sign of a wave.

Well, here's the deal. I was out a computer and I was wondering how I was going to "blog in the wild". (Rarely in the course of history has any man taken so much crap for any four words.) Anyway, I bought me a machine to type on and organize my photographs. Unfortunately, I'm having some format issues, so most of my photos are not yet back up. Don't worry. We always have my flickr account.

Another reason the week has been short on blogs was my lack of activity. When all you do is rock climb, that's really all there is to write about. I needed something different, something more. I found it tonight. I guess I re-found it tonight. In fact, I unearthed several things I love today.

1. Paul Simon - Graceland. If you don't own this album, go buy it. I did. I have several times, and it's worth it every time. A symbiosis of radical African Beats, Cajun funk, synthesized and natural tones, it warms the soul and soothes the savage beast. My parents bought this album when it came out . . . 1987? Let me check on that. Nope, 1986. Anyway, it was the same time that they bought the Taurus station wagon. "You can Call me Al" was obviously an instant hit, even when I was just 6 meager years old. "Under African Skies" touched me, but in a totally non-Michael Jackson sort of way. When my parents wouldn't play it in the car casette player, I'd put it in a little battery operated unit in the back. That tape got switched out every once in a while with Toto's Toto - IV.
That album (Graceland) was purchase at least a half dozen time over the next 20 years. The tape would get eaten, the CD would get scratched, the files would get corrupted, and I am yet to have a problem dropping another $10-16 to get a new one. I've been with out it's sweet melodies for about a year now, and today I couldn't stand it anymore. Poor as I am, I opted for the remastered version on iTunes. You should too. $9.99 well spent. "Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake"

2. Mt. Olympus and more specifically, hiking.
I've let myself go a little this year. Summers is going to smoke me all the way up the Grand Teton. There's no doubt about that. I'm weak. Tonight I was going to go for one of those "I've got to get into shape fast" jogs. Instead, I was drawn to the Mt. Olympus trail head and after chugging a cold 32 oz. of lemon lime Gatorade, I started up the trail. It was a mix between jogging and fast hiking and it felt good like a long lost friend. Why haven't I been hiking this summer? It was starting to rain, and I didn't get going until 8pm so I was only able to complete 2.00 sweaty miles measured to an accuracy of 18 feet (thanks Garmin) before turning back. It took almost 40 minutes to go up, and it took about 26 to come back down. That trail is easy enough, but it doesn't lack in elevation gain.

Here's the picture I took with my special google earth camera:

Go do the things you enjoy! Go do them today. Remember the things you love and don't let work, pride, money, or responsibility get in the way. I'll see you on the trail/rock, at the concert, in the park, or where ever this crazy life takes us.