iDylLwiLd CLiMbiNG!!

Before starting triathlons I was pretty serious about climbing. My home away from home back in MN was Vertical Endeavors, the local gym. Last summer brought my first season of true outdoor climbing, basically every weekend. So after leaving the close knit group of MN climbers for the beaches of San Diego, climbing had been put on hold for a while. I missed it so much, that I decided to find a partner on rockclimbing.com and take a trip to the small mountain town of Idyllwild, CA to climb the famous Suicide Rock and Tahquitz. I left Wednesday night, made it there, set up camp and crashed.

Day one we did some crack climbing, which of course I do my best to fake, by laybacking the entire way up. So much for forcing myself to hand jam. Included was a 5.10b finger to hand crack. Hard. We also did a 3 pitch slab climb. I heart slab. I led the first and 3rd pitch. I wish I would've brought my camera up because the view at the top was amazing! (I forgot my camera case at home.) On the way down we saw one of the most exposed overhanging routes I've ever seen. Shaped almost like the top of a bird's beak, it was beautiful. I was feeling pretty exhausted(regretting the morning run, why'd I bring those running shoes again?) but craving a cider. We went to a local pizza place which was even better with an ice cold Woodchuck Pear Cider. Yum, my favorite.

Day two brought a longer, steeper, more horrific approach with a harder, taller, 3 pitch crack climb called open book. Apparently is a 3 star climb, but I wasn't impressed. Neither was my right side, after friction'ing my way up. We took a different descent trail, which ended up not really being a trail, more so a skree field with fine pebbles that love to get caught in my Chacos. By the time we finally made it down I was so exhausted I think my legs forgot how to walk. Highlight of the trip was the mountain stream at the bottom. Oh my goodness it has never felt so good to wash my feet in super cold fresh water. I seriously felt like Jesus was washing my feet it was such a moving experience. For our 4th of July dinner we had Chinese. We shared the best homemade won ton soup I've ever had and I also got some shrimp fried rice. We headed back to camp where I packed up and drove back to San Diego. I couldn't sleep in my sleeping bag another night being as filthy as I was.

Overall, as much as I complained, it was a great trip. It really made me miss the sport and that kind of outdoor activity. I almost forgot how amazing camping under the stars in total darkness and silence truly is. Not to mention the great exercise from hiking at elevation. (Tahquitz tops out around 8000 ft.)

I made it back in time to head to the beach with Bethany for some fireworks. The rest of the weekend brought some sewing, scrapbooking and rock band with Ben. I got a 96% on Medium on the drums! Club race this Saturday and swimmer relay member at the Carlsbad tri on Sunday.