Cloud 9

Hi beautifuls. I hope y'all are having as wonderful of a day as I am. The sun is shining. The mountains are kissing the sky. I had my morning coffee. So this morning Aaron's parents (Roxanne and Chuck) flew into Seattle and I picked them up from the airport. They had a wonderful flight and were transported safely to the rental car agency and are currently getting settled in. Funny that I saw Aaron's parents before he did. Speaking of, he is taking his team from Amazon to hike Mount Si today. I wonder how that is going...

I was hanging out at South Lake Union Park and just taking photos of the plants. I took this photo and looked at it more closely and noticed the Space Needle chilling in the background. Turned out pretty well, eh?

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep their light. -Theodore Roethke

Before I delve into climbing and nature adventures, I think I should slow it down and tell y'all some other cool news. I had my first day of work at Starbucks and I can make a latte like a professional. I've never had a job in the food/beverage industry in high school, so it's all new and I'm learning a ton. Also, learning about making coffee beverages and different brews flavors and what food goes rather tastily with them meshes really, really well with my plant pathology knowledge of growing coffee and it's diseases. I'm beginning to know the entire process from planting coffee, disease management, harvest, drying, roasting, grinding, brewing, tastes, aromas, and techniques. I know that is exactly what y'all think when you go into Starbucks and order a grande vanilla latte. I just really like it when what seems like two totally opposite things fit together like puzzle pieces and suddenly you get a big picture but have all the tiny details as well. And the partners/coworkers there are hilarious! We are a bunch of sci-fi and fantasy movie/book nerds. Game of Thrones and Star Wars all the way. Oh, and to top if off, work is a mere 3 blocks from my apartments and I get a lot of free caffeine all day every day. Megan is happy.

Collect moments, not things.

Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but pictures. Kill nothing but time.

This is the creek that was right next to our campsite. So soothing to fall asleep to.

One more quick note. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes via whatever method you used! i felt very loved. And a huge shout-out to Anna for the English chocolate - I ate half of it already :)  Although she is 8 too many time zones away, we make a long distance friendship work very well. I promise you I am doing everything I can to save up money for a flight to London because it has been way way way too long since we've seen each other.

Sawtooth Ridge looking mighty fine in the clouds.

Needle Pass! 

Okay, so now the climbing/mountain/nature spiel. On Memorial Day Weekend, Aaron and I went to Olympic National Park to go do Mount Cruiser. After battling traffic, talking to a few rangers, and obtaining the correct permit, we were on our way. With heavy packs strapped to our backs, we set off on a 7.5 mile hike to where we were going to camp. We cruised the first four miles in an hour 15. Then we hiked the next 3.5 and gained roughly 2,500 feet. We set up camp, refilled our water from the creek, ate some oh so delicious freeze dried food, hung out, and fell asleep pretty early. Sunday is the funday.

Photo credit: Aaron Wait

I'm improving on my snow skills. Slowly. Surely.

So Sunday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and took off towards Glady's Divide. After another 2 miles and gaining 2,000 feet, we made it to Needle Pass. Thankfully we stopped to take a little break and looked around. The clouds had cleared just enough so we could make out where we were trying to go otherwise we may have walked right on by. We made our way across some talus and scree to get to the snow field. We put our crampons on and grabbed our ice axes and started up the kind of steep snow on the Pass. Miraculously, I didn't slip, fall, or stumble too much and made our way up the snow quickly. BUT, we did see bear paw-prints. Then we scrambled up some third/possiblyfourth class to gain the ridge. We made our way across towards Mount Cruiser by squeezing through some rocks (awkward photo to prove it), down a gulley, across a catwalk, and more third class. And BOOM we saw it through the clouds. Anyways, we got to the base of the climb, roped up and started our way to the summit. It was super easy climbing but it was exposed when you got up there. We were literally in a cloud. Cloud 9. You know, I thought that would have been the coolest thing ever when I was 5. At a wise age of 23, it's not what I imagined it would be. Anyways, the view from the summit was awesome! There were another 2 guys up there that we chatted with and rappelled with.

Then came the get down the snow time. Megan is not nearly as gracefully descending as she is ascending. I learned to self-arrest on the fly/slide thanks to Aaron calling up to me as I'm sliding down the slope getting snow in my pants. I was a very happy camper until that happened. Once we got back to the talus/scree my joy returned. We returned to camp, managed to get it all back in our packs and made the mad dash back to the truck. We were going to stay one more night and maybe do a short hike the next day but we decided Mexican and a bed sounded a little better. My quads would definitely agree with that decision. Anyways, Monday we lounged, ran some errands, and that's about it.

Mount Cruiser. 

The clouds were so cool. Totally disguising the peaks on one side and exposing the peaks on the other side.

Then Tuesday I turned the age nobody likes you. 23. Thanks Blink-182. Anyways, I had a nice relaxing day, enjoyed the beautiful weather, wandered around Eastlake/Capitol Hill by accident, and applied for plant pathology jobs. Then Aaron made me dinner of salmon, rice, and veggies and we watched The Hunger Games together. It was a lovely day.

As I said before, Roxanne and Chuck are here in Seattle! Yay visitors! So I best be going to finish up my odds and ends duties before we meet up this afternoon. Bye y'all. Enjoy the sun.

This view made it so worth it. We camped under the thick cloud cover in the top right corner. I love the Olympics.

As promised, the awkward photo squeezing through the rocks. More like a beached whale roll over the top.

Oh Here We Go Again

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night. Choose the appropriate one for wherever you are at this morning. For Anna, it's night. For me, afternoon. But for someone I never met and stumbled upon this blog, it may be morning. Whatever. You get the point.

I first started this blog for my family to read because I didn't live nearby. They followed my adventures starting in my last year at Wisconsin where I made Dean's List both semesters, traveled to Guatemala with a plant pathology class, flew over to England to see my dearest friend, Anna, and graduate with a B.S. in Plant Pathology in a short 3 years. Then they witnessed my 1000 mile journey to Raleigh, North Carolina where I started graduate school at NC State, my love for climbing begin, develop, and become my rock (haha, oh puns), and woke up with me at 3 am and go to bed at 11pm after a full day of research. They journeyed through my happiest moments in life even though we lived in different time zones. They understood why I put graduate school on pause as I went to pursue other dreams. My family was a part of my life as I drove from Raleigh back to Elkhart Lake with Kati car packed as many of belongings as I could fit. 

Reason One to come visit me in Seattle: We have a view of the Olympics from our living room and bedroom. The sunset behind them is one of the most beautiful sights imaginable. This is a view of the Olympics over the Puget Sound.

 They smiled as they knew I was going on a trip of a lifetime and doing what made me happy instead of being shoved by what society deems as "necessary to be successful." They traveled to Red Rocks, Nevada as I lead my first trad climb ever! They followed me to Bishop, California where I climbed my hardest boulder problem ever! They journeyed with me to Yosemite, California where I climbed 2 of the 50 Classics of North America and learned how to crack climb. They followed me to Seattle, WA where I dealt with the novelties of moving across the country for the second time. They felt my stress as I applied for jobs, received smashed belongings in the mail, scrambled to pay bills since I was jobless, and figure out life. They felt my anxiety on my first day of work where I tried desperately to make friends or at the least have my coworkers like me (I'm very clearly not from here...). They felt my anguish as I morphed into a weekend warrior. They could sense my joy as I climbed my hardest trad climb with little difficulty. They try to understand my frustration of traffic on I-5 (it's downtown Chicago but 37x worse - yes, that's a rough estimate). 

Then new people started reading my blog and they couldn't decipher my tone. Was I serious or joking but using a serious tone? Is she really that dramatic? They don't understand my ramblings or my sarcasm. Nothing better than moving across the country and knowing one person. Nothing better than having to test the waters to see if you can truly be your silly self around new people. Thankfully, people in the south are as endearing as you think they will be. I discovered that my quirks and slight social awkwardness would bring me friends immediately. Hence how Dane and Patrick became my immediate friends/climbing buddies. Hence how I wiggled my way into the hearts of my future coworkers. Hence how 80% of TRC members are my friends (the other 20% I just haven't met). TRC is the kind of gym where you can bust out your best dance moves and all they see is a person who is thoroughly enjoying themselves. TRC is the kind of gym where you can ride the struggle bus on a climb and the person next to you on the wall cheers you on (or rides the same bus and laughs with you). I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I miss TRC and all of the members and employees so gosh darn much. I really truly love y'all with every bit of my heart. You took the northerner in as one of you.

Reason Two: Seattle is a beautiful city. It's clean and smells pretty good for being as big as it is. I mean, Starbucks originated here, there's Pike Place, Space Needle, The Sound, ferries, expensive but delicious places to eat, and lots of lakes.

Anyways, sorry for the dialogue. Sometimes people can be frustrating and I just have to shake it off like T. Swift. And yes, I like that song. It's fun to dance to. I will happily turn up the volume and sing out of tune as I inch along I-5 towards work. Man am I easily sidetracked today! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get out and climb last weekend because I was scheduled full shifts both days. But I was working for the SBP 4th anniversary party which made the time go by super fast. So nothing cool to talk about really. It's work. Although it's at a climbing gym so that's always at least a little fun.

Last night, Aaron and I went to Exit 32 and climbed at the World Wall. We warmed up on what felt like a very brutal 5.10c (Girls in the Gym). I say brutal because I usually don't warm up on hard 10s especially when it's my second time at this specific crag where I'm learning how to climb on the type of rock. Then Aaron red-pointed (still not entirely sure what that really means...) Hang Them Out to Dry a 5.12a (maybe 12b?). He kept saying that his hangboarding routine is paying off. He has fingers and tendons of steel. Anyways, then I gave it a go and fared fairly well. We were both impressed at my performance! By the way, this was my second 5.12 I've ever touched outside so making it up about halfway was a huge accomplishment! I will admit, I had to jug through one section because I couldn't quite figure out how to make a move (after struggling for 15 minutes and denying I wanted a boost). Anyways, it was a cool climb and I'd be totally psyched to try it again once I get some training on.

Reason Three: Do I even need to say it? Mount freaking Rainier! I'm not even going to explain this one.

Oh oh oh! I don't really remember what weekend this was but Aaron and I hiked Mount Si and climbed the haystack via the southface direct (or something like that) to the summit! I had my new fancy pack (well, it was new and fancy in Yosemite) filled with the trad rack, my shoes and chalk, food, and water. It wasn't the lightest pack I've ever carried but I have had heavier. Anyways, we had a 4 mile, 3500ft gain hike until the climb. My quads are the strongest they've ever been, I promise you. Wall sits are nothing nowadays. Anyways, we cruised up the trail, climbed the chossy route, had a quick snack and headed back down. For the brief amount of time we were in the sun, I managed to get a wicked sunburn. I'm still peeling like an orange.

So, yup. That's all for now. I have some very exciting news about my birthday weekend. Well, actually it's Memorial Day Weekend but my birthday is next Tuesday so I'm going to say it's my birthday weekend. I'm not going to tell you the news now goofballs! But it does involve mountains... 

Not Entirely Broke

Hello you beautiful sentient beings! I hope you are having a wonderful day. It is currently sunny and in the 60s. Can't really wish for more than that eh? So anyways, we've begun to fall into a routine. It is nice and only slightly boring. Come on. Who honestly wants to do the same things every day? Well, maybe you do but I don't. I like a little diversity thrown in with the routine. Anyways, I have absolutely no idea where I was going with this. I'm not even going to apologize because I've been up since 4:51 am (my time) to get to work. 

Missing Madison....

So, this blog will be rather short and sweet! I got my first paycheck so yay! I hate to say it, but my first paycheck wasn't as big as Aaron's first paycheck so yay him! So, when he got paid, we went out shopping so he could finally get his relaxin' chair. We bought his chair at Consign Design and looked for a TV stand/table there but didn't find one we loved. So we had dinner at a local Chinese place and then headed south to Renton to hit up Target, Ikea, Kohl's, Home Depot, and some other place. We ended getting a TV stand/table at Ikea (heavy sucker) and bought a tree painting at Kohl's. WHAT?! Megan getting a tree painting? Who would have thought? Now all I need is a frame for the elephant art Aaron got me when he was bouldering in South Africa!! Oh, and he so nicely bought me a bike (which I will eventually be able to pay him back for)! Now, I can go for bike rides when he wants to relax after work and I am revving to go.

Watch out for the bus!

The only other cool things that happened were a birthday party on Saturday and climbing at Index on Sunday. Patrick and Eugene (other Amazonians) had a get together for their birthdays! I only knew Aaron and the birthday men so I met tons of people which is always nice when you first move to a city! We had drinks and food (even had veggie burgers for me) and more drinks. Then the birthday men played a game to see who could set up a game of ladder golf the fastest (although they've each had a few drinks in them). That was highly entertaining!

Sunday, Aaron and I went out to Index for some trad climbing. Unfortunately it was really busy there and we couldn't get on a route that we really wanted to. But we did get on Japanese Gardens (to the first set of anchors) which Aaron was psyched on. The first pitch goes at 5.10a so it was a good lead for Aaron. Then I had a go at it and it was sweet. Yes, I struggled to get out some of Aaron's pro especially a nut that was placed just barely ever so slightly out of my reach. I was kind of leg-barring / body jamming myself into the rock and twisting around and reaching as high as I'm physically capable of and still took almost 10 minutes to get it out. Either way, it was an awesome climb and I want to do it again.

Index, WA in winter. Can't wait!

Then Aaron and I got on Tatoosh which I believe they call a 5.10b. Aaron lead this climb and I followed on up. We had an experience with the rope not being long enough but we managed. There was a group of older men with tons of experience spitting off beta for the route and climbing in general and Seattle stuff. They were highly entertaining (most of the time). Tatoosh was another good climb which I thankfully didn't have to take out the gear. Oh, and just saying, I totally have the strongest shoulders/back/arms I've ever had my whole entire life and climbing Tatoosh proved I really needed them. I am the Layback Queen. And Aaron is the Fingerjam King.

Reasons to Date a Climber

Hey hey cuties! Sorry for not posting lately! No, I haven't been that busy; I just kept forgetting. In my defense, I was reading a really, really, really, really, really good book and looking for plant pathology jobs. That's about it. I've been working a few shifts at SBP and exploring Seattle a little at a time. Also, my last box I have been waiting forever for arrived empty. That's right. EMPTY. Cute. Now I get to figure that out and wait some more.

Anyways, the more fun part of my life. Two weekends ago, Aaron, Travis, Patrick, Eugene and I went bouldering at Leavenworth. Yeah, I spent my weekend with a bunch of geeky computer dudes ;)  By the way, this was Travis's third time climbing ever. On Saturday, we warmed up on some slabs and taught Travis a little about bouldering. I hopped on Lovage (V3) and got reminded that I need to work on my heel-hooks. I worked out a few of the moves so next time I can send (hopefully). I also ran into a few of the people I work with at SBP. I saw Holly, Jason, and Meredith! Then we went over to a V6 or 7 (Aaron will correct me if I'm wrong) for Aaron to do. I tried it for fun but I'll just say that the first move is a little out of my reach. Literally a little out of my reach. Anyways, it was fun. The next day we went over to Drugstore Cowboy (V3) and Patrick sent! I was super close but couldn't quite pull off the top-out. Next time.

Leavenworth!

Then we hung out by Sunny and Steep (V2) and Funny and Cheap (V4) for awhile. Finally we got burnt out. No really. Sun-burnt. Wow, I am full of puns today. So we got sick of the sun and hung out in the shade drinking a few beers. All the boys were psyched on slab (why? why not overhangs?) so I had the job of sitting atop a boulder looking cute and holding their beers while they climbed. Eugene and Patrick climbed up this dirty crack that looked oh so climbable. They called it 'Moss in My Crack.'

Fast forward one week and now we are in Vantage. Aaron, Travis, and I got our trad and sport on. When I was racking up, I showed Travis the gear, the idea behind passive and active pro and blah blah blah. Anyways, we hiked on over to the Sunshine Wall and hopped on Throbbing Gristle (5.9). I experienced forearm pump for the first time in months. Then we did Strokin' the Chicken (5.6) and I drilled my elbow which made my hand and fingers go numb. Hey, at least my pulleys weren't hurting, right? Anyways, after that, Aaron and I toproped Stems and Seeds (5.11a). Aaron sent it pretty easily so I was like 'Yeah, I can do that!' Well, the two parallel crack had my monkey arms stretched to the max and there were times I couldn't span the distance at all to stem. I worked my way up for awhile and then called it quits. To wrap up, Aaron lead Sinsemilla (5.10c) which was another stem route. I am very proud to say that this was one of the hardest trad climbs I've ever done!! I was so psyched - I made it over halfway before I fell. Okay, so maybe I'm not the next professional climber but this is huge for me. Maybe I can convince Aaron to go back and I can TR it a few more times and then maybe possibly try leading it? I'll buy you a hangboard if you say yes. 

So I have no idea who this is but this is basically what you do for a long time. I wanted to be one inch taller sooo bad.

So, I noticed the other day that if I'm wearing a T-shirt or tank-top, nobody bothers to see if I need help carrying a very heavy package while fighting with a door. But if I'm covered up it's "Oh, sweetheart. Let me help you. That box is so big for someone so small." And that's usually when the box is a whopping 5 pounds. So guys, here are some reasons you should date a girl who is a climber - not one of those girls who "goes to a climbing gym" and lifts the 3 pound dumbbells and doesn't break a sweat.

1. Moving furniture is much easier when your woman can help you heft a sofa up a flight of stairs and hold the door open while trying to play tetris with the doorway and not pinch her fingers. Or yours.

2. You can mime beta of this super sick problem you flashed the other day and she understands just how tough it was to lock-off on that super small crimp and gun for the sloper that was baking in the sun.

3. She owns leggings. Fess up, she looks smoking in them. Especially while climbing and you're spotting her.

4. You have someone to go climbing with all the time. Plus, she's a cute climbing partner.

5. Need motivation to climb harder? Suddenly that Vdoubledigits you've been projecting seems totally attainable.

6. If you run out of chalk, there is a second chalk bag nearby.

7. Now you don't have to carry the rope, trad rack, shoes, food, jacket, draws, slings, tape, chalk, more food, batteries, headlamp, and whatever else you put in your pack by yourself.

8. She'll come up with a bunch of jokes and puns about nuts while climbing trad with you. Laugh, even if it's not funny, because she can't stand on the good feet or use the good hands to take out the darn nut you placed (a little too well) out of her reach on the good holds.

 9. You'll have a soft catch if you take a fall while leading your newest sport project. If not, don't yell at her because your life is in her hands and in reality she just saved your life.

10. Her core workout is a contender with yours. Or puts yours to shame. It's okay. You can do more pull-ups than her. Your manliness isn't in jeopardy. 

Happens to me all the time. 

Alright, that was fun. Anyways, I need to get back to searching for plant pathology jobs. Yay.

Settling in Seattle

It's a blue jean sky in Seattle. I can also see the mountains as I type this blog. What a beautiful view. It's okay to be jealous or feel the need to come see it yourself. You know what makes it even better? Getting hired! I will be working floor staff at Seattle Bouldering Project (SBP) until I can find a job in my field. Speaking of, I made it through the first round and my application and resume got passed onto the hiring manager at Plant Health Care Inc. At this company, I can put my degree and research experience to good use so please cross your fingers, or whatever it is you do. 

View from our apartment!

 Anyways, the biggest news I have is that I got to Skype Anna finally!!!! I skyped her back when I was in Bishop or something crazy long ago like that! Everything is going well with her and we are planning a time for her to come visit me in Seattle :)  After that, it is definitely my turn to go visit her in London. Where are you savings account when I need you? I'm going to speak on Anna's behalf and tell my family she says "Hi" because she is my closest friend. Now I'll speak on my family's behalf and tell Anna they say "Hi" back. Mind-reader.

I love spring! You get beautiful colors like this and a breath of new life!

So now that I spoiled my biggest most exciting news I had to tell you, I'll get onto the boring stuff. Disclaimer: the days have been kind of blurring together lately so I don't know when all this stuff happened but I know it was in the past 10 days. Somewhere along the line, Aaron and I went to Goodwill and scored on some cheap (still in good condition) furniture. We got a couch, dresser, and two nightstands (which function as a second dresser for each of us). Then we got a table and chairs (looks pretty schnazy) and an endtable for the living room. All we need is a TV stand and lazyboy for Aaron.

Aaron's boxes arrived awhile ago and I'm still playing the waiting game for a box. It is somewhere between Des Moines, IA and here. I WANT MY BOX (especially because it has some art pieces (kick butt gift from Aaron is in there) and all of my plant pathology books). I WANT MY BOX. But I did find girl scout cookies in a box so that will hold off my anger for a day because that's how long it will take to finish them. I have most of my stuff so that's good but I still am waiting, rather impatiently, for my other box. I'd post pictures of the apartment but it is kind of a disaster zone (at least there are no legos to step on, right?) with half unpacked boxes everywhere.

Also, one day we climbed at Index! We did a route called Godzilla! We also climbed at Little Si sometime last week. My fingertips are super calloused now and it is weird to touch things! The climbing was awesome, and really close, so we can hop over there after work sometimes :) So here, have some pictures. I am going to practice for interviews and unpack the rest of the boxes. I know there is something else I need to do too but I can't think of it at the moment... oh well.

Granite Goddess

What's up y'all? I feel like I've been trying to accomplish a never-ending 'to-do' list and feeling like a caged tiger in this apartment! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our apartment but job hunting isn't the most fun thing I've ever done! Anyways, so last post I left off on a Friday rest day for me (I've had a lot of those, huh? I thought Friday nights were supposed to be riveting and having fun? Hmm...guess I'm not a college kid anymore).

Reflection of Yosemite Falls in Merced River via Swinging Bridge.

So Friday. I thought I was going on a nice little hike to Mirror Lake. Well, what was supposed to be a nice little 6 mile hike through the Valley turned out to be way longer and involved a bus back. One of the signs must have gotten turned so the arrow wasn't pointing the correct way because I ended up nowhere near Mirror Lake. After much question-asking, looking at maps, and wandering off a trail, I found the trailhead and I walked the easy mile to the lake. Hate to break it to ya, but it wasn't really a lake. Anyways, the walls looked awesome and I hung out there for a little while and relaxed.

Mirror Lake!

Saturday, I took Blair's advice and warmed up the legs by taking a 10ish mile, 3200 ft gain hike to Glacier Peak. On the way to the trail head, I walked over swinging bridge and was rewarded with a stunning view of Lower Yosemite Falls reflecting in the Merced River. I continued to the trail head and decided I was going to see how fast I could do the 4.6 mile hike. As it turns out, I was actually faster than Blair (the calf muscle endurance extraordinaire). It took me a short 1 hour 49 minutes. Yes, I'm bragging but if you would have been on the trip, you would know that I'm usually the one who would be lagging a zipcode behind if they didn't slow down and wait for me tripping over everything possible. Anyways, on the hike up, I saw a rainbow in the mist of Upper Yosemite Falls! It was super duper cool! Oh, and by the way, the summit of Glacier Peak is to die for. Like holy moly. Go there. You can see the Valley stretch on and on, get amazing views of Royal Arches, Washington Column, Half Dome and even El Cap. Don't worry, I'll post lots of photos!

Far left: Roayl Arches
To the right of the arches: Washington Column
Far right: Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls!

 Sunday, believe it or not, my legs and hips were a little tired (as were Rudy and Aaron) so we rested in the morning. Unfortunately, Rudy had to go back home so we said our goodbyes. Then Aaron and Blair put their off-width skills to the test climbing Generator Crack. Can't say they made it look super appealing but it was entertaining to watch at least!

Monday, Aaron and I took a 16.6 mile, 3700 ft gain hike to the top of El Cap (via Eagle Peak). We started on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail and then looped back behind some peaks and had a fairly easy rest of the hike to get to the summit. We saw only 4 people once we got off the main trail (peace) and made quick time to the summit. We had lunch atop El Cap and then hiked back to camp. Tuesday, I lead the most awkward 5.6 there is in all of Yosemite (Swan Slab Gulley). Once I got past the awkward section, it was super easy but I had awful rope drag that felt like I was dragging an elephant behind me.

Please forgive the greasy dirtbag look. Now we have motivation to actually climb El Cap and take another #summitselfie

Wednesday, we had to saw goodbye to the granite goddess. We dropped Blair off at the airport so he could go to graduate school recruitment and then Aaron and I headed for the Redwoods. We ninja-camped and on Thursday took two nice little hikes and saw the BIGGEST TREES I've ever seen. Here are some of the most intelligent things we said:

"That's a big tree!"
"This tree is even bigger!"
"This has to be the biggest tree we've seen!"
"Whoa."
"I can't fit the whole tree in the photo!"
"Now that's a big tree!"
"This is definitely the biggest tree!"
"The tree is huge!"

Imagine that! Plantgirl hugging a tree!

We stayed the night at the Hyatt in Portland. Unfortunately, my family members Peter and Alissa were busy and have their house being renovated so we weren't able to hang out. It all worked out because Aaron and I left Portland early to get to Seattle to start the apartment hunt. We walked by one place and just shook our heads 'no.' The second place was really expensive for a pretty small place. The third place was just right! <-- If that isn't Goldilocks and the Three Bears, then I'll be darned. Good thing my ma, pa, and Brett did a good job teaching me questions to ask and what to look for in an apartment because Irina (the property manager) knew that once we saw the view from the apartment we'd be sold. I peaked in the bathroom, noted the storage space, checked over the kitchen and cabinet space, found the washer and dryer, sized up the bedroom and living room, and THEN went to see the view. A lake view in the city! We can even see mountains! I liked the apartment before I saw the view but was head over heels once I saw it. I could tell by the smile on Aaron's face that he was also sold on the apartment (95% view maybe? :)  ) Anyways, we told Irina we wanted the apartment, signed the lease, bought renter's insurance, and went to go get a cashier's check.

By the way, the tree is bigger than the picture makes it seem.

Saturday at 10am, the place was officially ours! We dropped our meager belongings on the floor and gazed at our view (maybe drooled a little?) Then started the task of furnishing our apartment. First stop was Target to get cleaning supplies, a vacuum, a coffeemaker, garbage stuff, and whatever other odds-n-ends we needed. We also went bed shopping and found one we loved but found out we couldn't get it until Wednesday. That was a little of a bummer but I guess we were used to camping so it wasn't too bad to camp out in an apartment! We also went to a used furniture store and bought an end table and table for the living room / dining room area. 

And before I bore you to death with the riveting details of getting settled into Seattle, I will stop writing this blog post. For those of you who may actually be interested, another one will be coming soon :)  As of now, it is way past your bedtime and is nearing mine. On that note, I'll kiss the stars goodnight and dream of Yosemite and the granite goddess....

Crack Withdrawals

Title got your attention, eh? Well, just to clarify, crack withdrawals has nothing to do with drugs and all to do with crack climbing in Yosemite. Unfortunately, the climbing trip has come to an end, I am in Seattle job-hunting, and I don't wake up and roll out of a tent. I know it's been long since I've posted so I'll break it up into a few posts to not overwhelm y'all. But man do I want some cracks to climb (says the sport climber).

So we left off on a Friday, a rest day. Nothing fancy, just resting. Saturday, we woke up and went to go conquer Midnight Lightning. After a few attempts at the scary top-out, Aaron sent! After awhile, we went over to my project: Bear Hug Arete. I made some progress and played around with a bunch of heel-hooks. Fun time but no send. No biggie. We had an early night because tomorrow on Sunday...

Vernal Falls via Mist Trail on our approach to Snake Dike

 ...we woke up before the sun, ate breakfast in the dark, all three of us got into the Tacoma, drove over to Happy Isles, spilled out of the Tacoma, sorted gear which really means stuffing as much stuff as we could into as little as we could, and started off on the 6 mile, 2300 foot gain approach to Snake Dike (5.7 R) on Half Dome. We left with the perfect amount of light and didn't even need our headlamps anymore! We cruised up the first few miles and were rewarded with a great view of Vernal Falls. Then we continued up what seemed like a stair-master you couldn't turn off, we made it to the top of Nevada Falls. Were we near the base of the climb yet? NO. A few more miles, past Lost Lake, and cairn following on my favorite: 3rd/4th class slab, and then some. No we were at the base of the climb. By the way, I climbed in my puffy (it was cold). Anyways, Aaron lead the pitches and Blair and I followed and cleaned. The first pitch had a friction slab traverse (yay!), the second pitch was another traverse, and the third pitch you had to go to the correct bolt or you found yourself on something harder than you were bargaining for. The next pitches were 5.4 R and 5.3R climbing on dikes where the longest runout was about 75ft! At the top of the climb (800ish ft), we unroped and did what the book called: THIRD CLASS SLABS FOREVER. And let me tell you, it is third class slabs forever. You gain another 1000ish feet. Now, if you ever want to contemplate the meaning of life and how much you value it, just go do third class slabs forever on the top of half dome. Everytime I looked back to make sure Blair and I were staggered, I'd just so happen to see the edge of the slabs slope off to a drop-off and I'd get scared all over again. Aaron has some "hilarious" photos proving how scared I was which I'm sure y'all will get the honor of seeing. But, we did make it to the top and descended the cables. Since we weren't tired or anything, we had a 9 mile hike back to the truck (which we did in like 2.5 hours because PIZZA). We survived and I don't think I'll ever be scared of slabs ever ever ever ever. 13 hours later we made it back!

Blair and I hanging out at the belay station close to the top of Snake Dike. Awesome view!

Monday, I noticed my finger and other parts of my hand were super swollen and had painfully itchy bumps on them. So I rested (you know, I mean did you read what I did yesterday?). Aaron's friend Rudy arrived today!

Tuesday, I went to the doctor. One of my fingers was so swollen I could barely bend it. So I sat in the doctor's office and had 3 people scrutinize my hands. They couldn't figure out what it was. They decided it was some sort of allergic reaction to a plant or animal bite and put me on a steroid for treatment. Talk about eyes being bigger than your stomach. The first few days I was ravenous and ate twice as much as normal. Then I always felt hungry no matter what I just ate. Then I stopped being able to sleep through the night and was up for an hour or two at 3am. To be honest, I can't really remember what the guys did today...oops. I took a hike to Mirror Lake to keep my mind off my fingers and was rewarded with this view:

It's not much of a lake anymore. They used to use sandbags to keep the water backed up and create a lake but now they let the water flow naturally so it's more of a little creek but still beautiful.

Wednesday, I still took it easy because the steroid was still kicking in. I rested for most of the morning and Blair convinced us to go do Bishop's Terrace (5.8). Aaron lead the climb and Blair and I followed. It was a pretty sweet climb with double finger cracks near the top! This was also a test run for my hands to see if they would hold up for another classic route with Rudy and Aaron tomorrow. The boys went to go practice aid climbing on a boulder. Next time I'll learn. Next time.

Summit of Half Dome! Amazing climb, amazing people, amazing views.

Thursday, Rudy, Aaron, and I got up early to go lay down the law on East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock (5.9, 11 pitches) another 50 Classics of North America. Rudy and Aaron swung pitches and I did my best to climb fast despite my finger (finger jams = NO, handjams = just as painful). There was a traverse on one of the pitches and I took a nice little swing and jammed my most painfully swollen finger pretty good. That put a damper on things but I kept on climbing (through tears at one point). One of the pitches Aaron lead was a 5.9 A0 bolt ladder which had the bolts strategically placed an inch out of my reach. So that was kind of a bummer but I was able to haul myself up and continue cruising. Oh, did I mention that we had a STUNNING view of El Cap for the first half of the climb?! I'll have to find some pictures and show y'all. When we reached the top of the climb, we ate a little, unroped, and started the descent on exposed ledges which turned into a pretty good trail. We had three rappels in a cold, wet gully and then scrambled on down to the base, grabbed our packs, and aimed for camp. We found Blair on the way to pizza and picked him up.

It's okay to drool while looking at El Cap from East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock!

Friday, was a rest day for me as Rudy and Aaron left to go do South Face of Washington Column (an aid route). I also discovered I really like sorting gear and sizing up cams from different brands to get a feel for what is what. I did a lot of lazing around and read my book. Good day.

And I will leave you with that for now! Enjoy the pictures, and the rest of my climbing trip will be posted shortly. Once I find a little more time, I'll post pictures of our new apartment!!

After a 6 mile approach to Snake Dike, I got to enjoy this view for a little while :)