Thursday, August 21, 2014

"Tickled" is the only way to describe it.

I have two-year old son, and one of my favorite things in this world is tickling him. His laugh is adorable, and the joy in his laughter is unmistakable. It is the kind of innocent, head-tossed-back, happy-to-be-alive-in-this-exact-time-and-place, sound that comes out of us with less and less frequency as we age. An "I-do-not-care-who-sees-or-hears" joy that cannot possibly be self-aware. I tell you this because as I briefly sat alone at the top of Gill's Buttress last night, the sun low on the western horizon, the valley below lit as if from within by the late-evening glow, I felt this feeling. I did not laugh out loud, but I felt tickled.

Monday, August 18, 2014

A Rad Weekend of Climbing in Wisconsin!

I had a great weekend climbing in Wisconsin this past weekend! It started on Saturday with a trip to Hillbilly Hollow. I met Justin, Matthew and Brittany in the parking lot and we headed back to the cliff.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Fun little Tuesday night

Last night was the perfect way to ease back into the climbing saddle. The weather was perfect and I got to meet a pair of new friends from Connecticut. I pulled into the CCC lot, where Liz and Matt were waiting for me. They were up for a quick run on some of the local classic moderates.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Psyched!

I'm heading out to the Lake today to meet some visiting climbers from CT. Whenever people from out of the area post on MountainProject.com that they're looking for a partner in the area I try to meet up with them and show them around. So far my policy has paid off pretty well and I've met a bunch of cool new folks, and I think those folks have gotten a good look at the Lake and had a good time as well. It's nice to climb with people from outside the DL bubble, and extending some hospitality is usually met with an offer to do the same - building the network I guess.

I'm extra psyched today because it's been a couple of weeks since I've been climbing. I decided I needed a little break after the Live Your Dream (thanks for the grant American Alpine Club and The North Face!) trip, but I'm chomping at the bit to get back on the stone. I'll get a summary and some more photos of that trip up soon, but I want to get my trip report in to the AAC before I post some long-winded account of the trip here. Here's a few photos from the trip to hold you over: