Tag Archives: Washington State

Jun4

22, 23 & 24 April, 2016 – Climbing in Vantage again!

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22, 23 & 24 April, 2016 – Climbing in Vantage again!
Thursday through Sunday, 21 – 24-April-2016
So, I’d talked with some of the interns at work about climbing.  They were curious – they’d been in the gym a time or three, but hadn’t ever gotten a chance to climb outside.  Well!  That?  That we just couldn’t allow.  My NUHOC leader exploded from it’s hiding place, and I planned out a trip for us all.  
To Smith, originally… but then Smith was rained out.  So instead of driving South, we drove North – to Vantage, where Sarah, Dave and I had climbed a few weekends earlier…
Thursday:
Since I’ve got Friday off, thanks to the whole 9/80 work schedule, I take Thursday evening slowly.  Sarah’s starting her Wilderness First Responder class this weekend, so I take the time to relax with her, and hang out with Ollie.
Friday:
Sarah heads to WFR, I climb at the gym early morning for a bit of a preparation workout, before taking some more time to relax and chill with Ollie before heading out to Hood River.  Get some stuff done around the house.  It’s chill and nice.  Meet up with Dave ~6:00, and hit the road to… Vantage!  Drive late into the evening, find a parking spot that doesn’t rip the bottom out of my car, and sleep!  Note: we forgot Dave’s tent… so he sleeps out under the stars while Ollie and I crash in my ultralight tent.
Saturday:
Climb time!  Meet up with Interns A and B, AKA Jon and Sam (A and B change, depending on who’s farthest away.  Yes, we’re annoying).  We climb!  Tons of routes… don’t know all their names, but I do know… meh.  Who cares, honestly?  We have fun!  A quick synopsis is as follows:
Pre-Lunch, 4 climbs.
Sport line up the arete, face variant of arete, move anchor for 5.10b face, save gear for army guy.
Rest & lunch
Post-lunch, 2 routes, one twice.
Route near chimney, overhang, overhang again
Post-lunch rest… then two more routes!
Same route that I saved gear on, Jon’s first lead on a slab!
Basically, we took it easy… and I still got a solid 9 climbs in.  The rest didn’t re-do as many, but we still totaled out at… ohh, 30+ routes.  Short routes, but still.  Go us.
Ohh, and also.  Before we get to the photo gallery… there’s one thing that should be mentioned.  Sarah was in class this weekend – not able to come with us.  This marked the second weekend that we were apart… since we started dating almost 8 months ago.  So… it was special.  As a keepsake, Sarah gave me a little figurine of Rarity, from My Little Pony… she got it ages ago, and it’s near and dear to her heart.  She asked that I take pictures of it with me on the trip, so… I’m not one to refuse a request like that.
So that’s why there’s a cute little pony in my pictures.
Dinner for the night is canned Chili… which is kind of sad, but it’s what happens when four guys go camping together.  We’re not creative.
Then we chop up some firewood with my awesome battleaxe (see pictures of it in the firelight), and just relax and hang out!
One quick adventure does occur that evening; Dave gets to play First Responder when we hear a small creature (a child) screaming bloody murder.  Turns out she tripped over a tent-line, and only scraped up her knee.  But still – by the time we learn that fact we’re already over there, so help is offered and medical kits and presented.  None are used or accepted… but people are grateful none-the-less.  Dave feels good for being able to offer, and I feel good for dragging us over to make sure everything’s okay.
Then?  Sleeeeeeep…. with so much dust stuffed into the tent that I feel like I’m eating a desert.  Seriously.  It was WINDY  that day… and my tent is designed against rain and snow.  Not a full-power dust storm.  So… I eat dirt, and sleep.
Sunday:
Up early, and start the drive back.  Ollie does well, and we find ourselves in Hood River not too late.  A good weekend.
Aug31

My birthday weekend! The fourth weekend that I’m in Hood River, Oregon, and the West Coast! — Saturday: Ribs and climbing

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My birthday weekend! The fourth weekend that I’m in Hood River, Oregon, and the West Coast! — Saturday: Ribs and climbing

Saturday, 11-July-2015

Waking up happens! Then heading for Breakfast!

Yes, it was a capital “B” for Breakfast, since it was pretty large and definitely excellent. We hit up a not-so-small place right by my house that I’d been eyeing since I first started moving… it labeled itself as a pancake house, and I was curious exactly what that meant, in regards to delicious breakfasts…

Turns out – it means that they have excellent pancakes. I know, I know… I should have known. But I don’t like assuming things until I have empirical evidence. And that evidence took the form of three monstrous pancakes covered in bacon and strawberry jam.

That’s right. Bacon pancakes with strawberry jam. And that’s not even counting Brian’s omlette-with-three-pancakes meal.

The car’s already packed, so we roll out to Horsethief Butte, the climbing spot that I’ve been scouting out earlier in the week. And since Brian is around, we don’t need to stick to the short climbs anymore – my trad rack is on my harness and Brian is giving me a belay almost as soon as we get there, and we’re exploring the routes…

ROCK CLIMBING!

  • What I’m calling “the entrance arrete” – 5.9/5.10, trad, Ben leads… partially. I finished up the first section, but after that it got a little too committing for me – so I lowered off, and we walked around to build an anchor. Then proceeded to crush it on top rope.
  • Middle Canyon routes – 5.easy, maybe as high as 5.6? All on trad, with Ben leading. These are fun routes, though no real technical difficulty. A few spicy moves make it fun, and the gear placements are definitely enjoyable. It sort of reminds me of Hammond Pond, back in Boston. The climbs are clean and solid, and there’s a ton of variants that can be done.

We climb ’till a little after noon hits, and then head back toward Hood to start the ribs cooking. We stick to my old-school recipe, and sauce them up before tossing them into the oven.

And now… we wait. But waiting is boring, so we head into town and explore a bit. Checking out the wind surfers and kite boarders, jumping in the water… you know, the usual. Because everywhere has huge populations of kite boarders, right?

The goal of the evening is hosting a dinner party – not a big one, but a small one for myself, Brian, and the folks who’d hosted me at the Airbnb rental when I first came to Hood River. We’d gotten along quite well, and so they’d made me promise to keep in touch as I got settled into town. I figured that a birthday dinner party would be ideal, and an especially good chance to show off my cooking skills!

So… I show off my cooking skillz. Everyone shows up around 7:00, and we relax and eat and chat and have a good time. The drink of the night is a Moscow Mule, which somehow goes super well with Ribs and cornbread and veggies. And Alexandra brings along raspberry tart, which is completely amazing and disappears quite quickly.

The rest of the night is chilling – chatting some more ’till they head out, then Brian and I light a fire out in the pit out back, and sip beers and poke fires ’till we get bored.