CALIFORNIA June 25-July 1

June 26

Brian again made us breakfast and then we tearfully departed from the generous man for the last time. Okay maybe there weren't any tears but seriously Brian was amazing and considering that we are 3 people on the road, living out of our tents ,running into a guy like that who is unselfishly willing to help us out is spectacular. So after the goodbyes we got an early start towards Yosemite and reached Camp 4 (the renowned rockclimbers campground) early enough to beat the line up and register at a site. For the record, this was the second time on our entire trip that we had to pay for camping- it was $5 a day per person (we only registered 2 people). Upon getting to the site I leanrt that the animals in the park were highly domesticated and it was forbidden to feed them, so naturally I fed the squirrels who took the food right out of my hand- this fascinated me for about an hour. While we were trying to figure out the plan for the next few days, bear in mind that we were completely intimidated by Yosemite's huge big walls and famous professional climbers...we ran into a climber from Ottawa, "Ottawa Doug." He informed us that there was some easy climbing just around the corner from Camp 4 and took us over there to show us around. Then he wanted to take us to another area, so we hopped in our vehicles and drove somewhere else. Then he wanted to show us a climb on El Cap that was doable- the 1st pitch of the nose is only a 5"7 so again we drove to another area. For all those non climbers out there reading this blog, El Capitan is an infamous wall at Yosemite, most climbs range from between 20 and 30 pitches of hard trad or aid routes. Basically one does not attempt this wall unless they are a pro, and many legendary climbers have been on it. It is the one wall that many young climbers dream about one day doing. On that note, Ottawa Doug informed us that he just finished a route on El Capitan which he solo aid climbed for 9 days. He took us over to El Cap and pointed out all the different routes, the famous pitches, and then other climbers on the wall whom he knew by name and could tell you their status down to the exact pitch they were on. Needless to say it pretty much felt like an honor to be in his presence, not to mention the fact that the day after he finished El Cap he took his time to show a couple of newbies around. After he showed us around he took us out to dinner at a buffet which was awesome, and even lent us his paper bag when we were done so we could stuff it full of dinner rolls and fries (breakfast the next day). He regaled us with many stories about his own adventures and told us about how a fellow climber once helped him out too and he never forgot it, so this was his way of giving back to the climbing community and inspiring a couple of young climbers. Basically the climbing community rocks!!!!

June 27-28

Following Doug's advice we headed over to Swan Slab where Elan led a trad 5'6 crack and then we toproped 3 other climbs. I discovered that Cracks are my new passion in life and I onsighted an awesome 5'9 that even Elan slipped up on (shhh). Afterwards we all took a much needed shower in a freezing cold river. The next day we ran into another amazing climber- Shawn from Korea- who spent the last 8 years putting up his own route on El Cap. Then we hiked a trail to the falls to check that out.

June 29

Elan and I woke up at 6:42am and made it to El Capitan meadow by 6:50 where Yugi and Hans were attempting to break the speed climbing record for the nose which was previously held by the Hubbar brothers. Basically this duo set their own record of climbing El Cap in 2 hours and 47 minutes. The Hubbar brothers beat their record with a time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, so now they are back to break it again. Another note to all those non climbers out there....It takes an average amazing climber maybe 2-3 days to climb El Capitan the Nose, it takes an Elite climber maybe around 11-13 hours. We got to see Hans and Yugi scale this wall in 2 hours and 47 minutes. It was incredible!! These guys flew up this wall, placing maybe one piece of protection per 40/50 feet, didn't slip up once, got the famous swing in only one try...a place where you actually have to do a pendulum swing from one section of the route to another....it was nothing less then fascinating to watch. unfortunately they didn't beat the record by 2 and a half minutes, however a few days later apparently they beat it soo Kudos to them.

Since the whole show was over by 9am we headed over to swan slab again and were joined by Dan who had no partners and wanted to climb. Elan trad climbed 3 routes that day and I trad climbed my first trad lead EVER woohoooo. I was pretty uncomfortable top roping the climb I later led because it was a weird crack. But nonetheless I did it!!! I ended up running the thing out by like 20 feet and I probably scared Elan but I was comfortable and thats what matters most I guess. I also realized I don't know very much about placing gear so I undertook learning everything I could learn about it immediately after.

June 30

We went over to swan slab one last time and Elan led his first multi pitch trad climb which was awesome. It was about 3 pitches but we did it in 4 because we clearly can't read directions right and got the belay stations mixed up. On the last pitch Elan couldn't find the end and had to run it out 20 feet on a slab climb which he couldn't down climb hoping that he was going the right way- thank god he was. On the descent we started following a trail which didn't look to much like a trail, but have no fear we learnt our lesson and turned around right away and go back on track. Later that night we all discovered how much fun gin rummy was and were entertained for hours before bed. As well we accidentally left our food out and apparently a bear came right up to our site and started going through our food but somehow Elan and I missed the whole thing so in our mind it never happened.

July 1

Today we went to an area called Manure Pile Buttress and Elan led a 5.7 climb called after 6 (the first pitch). While I was belaying Elan a massive brown bear and her little cub came within 60 feet of me. For some reason I did not feel any fear whatsoever but instead I was completely awed (although I did have an escape route planned just in case something went wrong which involved Simul-climbing like Hans and Yugi on El Cap). Anyways back to after 6.....So Elan led this climb that even I had an extremely difficult time top roping. It was totally polished, and you could even see Cam marks within in the crack from places that people took falls. Elan climbed up and down-climbed the crux 6 to 8 times and nearly fell. When we were finished with this climb we decided to call it a day. We both experienced enough at Yosemite National Park (for now) and decided that we were fulfilled enough to leave.

We toured the park afterwards, took the shuttle around the entire place, caught a documentary movie about the park, and headed over to mirror lake. We took the off road trail instead of the paved road and although it was only supposed to be a mile until we reached mirror lake we walked for over an hour. Once the trail started getting sketchy and we reached an area full of hundreds of bumblebees, we turned around and headed back. When we went over to the paved section apparently what we were looking for was not a lake after all, but a little pool, so we went totally out of the way again. The path we followed however was actually beautiful and less traveled so it was the one time we were content with the fact that we were lost. Mirror Lake/ Pool was actually pretty cool because the reflection of half dome could clearly be seen in it. We concluded our last day at Yosemite Park completely satisfied with all that we have seen and done.

CALIFORNIA June 20- June 25

Friday June 20th
We arrived in L.A around 8pm and headed off to North Hollywood to reunite with Ryan who we couldn't get a hold of because he was partying at Venice beach. So we roamed around an all Mexican area while waiting for him that was littered with shopping carts where people stared at us because they were wondering what 2 white people were doing there. After cooking our meal on the street we met up with Ryan and drove around a bit checking out Rodeo drive, Beverly Hills, and the intersection where Britney Spears got booked drunk driving. Then went back to his friends place, had a little jam session and passed out.

June 21
We went over to one of Peter Frampton's house's- the one in L.A- to hang out with his son (you know the song...OO Baby I love your way..)- everyone has to do the celebrity thing while in L.A obviously. Then we found out we had to leave Ryan's friends house because he had to deal with some girlfriend issues soo we went to Venice beach thinking perhaps we can find some place on the beach to crash but apparently they fine you $100 if you get caught so yet again we slept in the car that night. Before that however we got to test out the ocean waters, play around for a bit, and splurge on a meal at one of the restaurants.

June 22
The plan was to get some surfing in at the beach so while Elan and Ryan went off to figure out the surfboard situation I fell asleep on the beach and ended up with a first degree burn. They came back without any surfboards but equipped with 2 bodyboards which they got to play with while I sat sulking in the shade reading War and Peace. That night I had a terribly uncomfortable sleep in the car because of my burn and was pretty unhappy/ grumpy.

June 23
I woke up in a lot of pain and yet again sat sulking in the shade reading War and Peace while Elan and Ryan got to surf (they rented boards). Apparently they had a lot of fun and even got up a few times but I didn't get to see any of that because my nose was in a book. On a positive note I am almost done reading it because I had so much free time on my hands and it was by far the best book I ever read and I highly recommend it to anyone. In the mean time Elan and Ryan worked the current which kept taking them further north and the lifeguard yelled at them to go south. Thinking they didn't understand her because they weren't moving she accused them angrily of being from the west coast and not understanding which way south was. In reality they knew, but they just had a difficult time fighting the current. Refusing to sleep in the car again we packed up and headed for Yosemite. We didn't make it however and ended up pulling over somewhere and camping that night in the bushes while our car was hidden behind a mound of dirt.

June 24
We drove to the region just outside Yosemite to look for free camping because once inside the park that was non existent. Obviously we couldn't find what we were looking for but in the process we met Brian who told us to come by his A.A meeting when it was over and he would give us a place to stay. So we headed over to the A.A meeting, chatted it up with a bunch of hippies who reminisced about the good old days, and then headed over to Brians house which he had built himself over the period of 9 years. His house was absolutely incredible and he let us sleep in the master bedroom. Brian is one of those rare human beings who truly believes in doing good things for other people. Although he didn't have too much himself his philosophy in life was to give whatever he could to anyone else in need.

June 25
Brian woke us up with coffee and prepared us breakfast which was awesome and we headed down to Yosemite national Park. Before we really got into the Park however we were distracted by a grove that was home to the legendary Sequoia trees. We spent the rest of the day hiking the well manicured trails that guided us through a forest of these massive 3000 year old red trees. After living in the desert for a month I can't even describe to you how refreshing it was to smell a forest of rich aged trees. We decided to leave Yosemite for the next day and instead took the remaining hours of light to enjoy the forest, frolic, swim, and have a little picnic time. Thus we went back to Brian's for another night.

ARIZONA June 13- June 20

June 13
With Ryan gone the little Honda Civic had room to spare which meant less bottom outs and less packing time because we no longer had to tetris piece the gear into the car using a shabby diagram for consultation. Thus, with a lighter car, and more feet space, we left Las Vegas and continued our adventure to Arizona.

Before making it to Phoenix we stopped at the Hoover Dam- totally not worth it even though transformers hyped it up---Megatron is no longer in the building. Then we went four hours out of the way to check out the Grand Canyon which was incredible and totally worth it. Unfortunately we rushed through the Grand Canyon because it was already getting dark - after Hoover Damn Elan and I pulled over at a convenient store and napped for a few hours (keep in mind the 6:00am wake up call that the parking lot attendants gave us that morning). Finally we pulled into my dad's place in Phoenix around 11ish that night and saw something we hadn't seen for a long long time....a bed.

June 14-15
Because we chose the least practical time to go to Arizona to climb- the summer- it meant no climbing for us in Phoenix. By mid day the heat was sweltering, it was hard to breath, the elderly were advised to stay at home, and we thanked god that Elan's parents fixed the air conditioning (thank you!!!) because the temperature rose to about 115 (around 40 something celsius for all you Canadians out there that don't understand Fahrenheit). So we took another vacation and played in the pool all day, hung out with my dad, ate some good meals, and ran some errands...oh yah and we got to shower a few times which as great to.

June 16
We left Phoenix and headed even further south down to Tuscon where our destination was Mount Lemmon which had surprisingly beautiful weather because of its higher elevation. At the bottom of the mountain was a cactus dessert but by the time you got to the top there was a ski resort- it is said that the geological distance between the top and the bottom is comparable to driving from Mexico to Canada. Tonight we camped out at a well groomed campground that required fees which obviously we never paid.

June 17
Today we got lost trying to find free parking (what else is new) and parked instead at a parking lot where we refused to pay again. We went to a popular crag called Munchkin Land and worked a few routes. The climbing here is granite but it's very crimpy so it took some getting used to. Later we went back to our car which had a ticket on it that gave us the "opportunity" to pay but didn't require it..soo we chose not to take the opportunity. Later we saw two movies for the price of 1 (The Happening and The Incredible Hulk). And we ended our night at the same campground which we refused to pay for again. Pretty much a typical day in the life of a dirtbag.

June 18-20
Went to a crag called Ridgeline and did 4 amazing routes- 1 with a beautiful top out. Almost got lost getting to this one to even though their were cairns pointing the way and a detailed approach description in the guidebook. Next day was a rest day and we saw 3 movies for the price of 1 (Sex and the City, Narnia, Don't mess with the Zohan). Next day after that we woke up with the intention of going to fortress wall (an awesome looking crag with tonz of multi pitch sport routes) but when we realized the approach was 45 minutes we backed out considering how much room there is for getting lost again. Once we cut out Fortress Wall we decided that we had enough of Mount Lemmon and that it was time to move on to California. So just like that we packed up and headed for L.A.

Quotes
Elan while climbing: "So then I put my foot on nothing, and it worked...it was amazing"
Elan to Sam while climbing: "Control your breathing...think like the Hulk"