Drew's Words on Climbing and Love

"Stop asking the world what it needs. Instead ask yourself what makes you come alive because what the world really needs is people that have come alive."

The rocky mountains towered jaggedly over the town of Boulder as we rolled into Colorado. Winding through boulder canyon got us psyched on being in one of the world-renowned climbing areas! The towering rock walls paralleling the road had scattered colored dots high on the walls that meant one thing…climbers!

As we neared the town of Boulder, we noticed on the side of the road a striking rock feature, a boulder that jetted high out over the stream that wound down alongside the road. The proud boulder is newly familiar to the climbing world, with the hardest boulder problem on it, known as ‘The Game.’ We immediately pulled over, forged the river (we lost a couple axels, one oxen, and couple hundred pounds of meat along the way) and made our way to ‘The Game.’

This intimidating line starts low at the bottom of the boulder and works its way out along the obvious face. Put up recently by Daniel Woods, the route is rated at V16, and after admiring it until the sun set, it became apparent that this boulder problem was in fact, changing the world of bouldering.

The main downtown of Boulder reminded me of a larger SLO town, which was comforting to feel a bit of home! We relaxed in the downtown strip as the evening light faded away, while an old stand up piano in the middle of walkway, played by a local hipster, moved beautiful music into the night.

We were welcomed that night by a soon to be good friend, Carlo; and soon enough we went from homeless to a roof over our head! Carlo lives in boulder, and is a professional at what we love…rock climbing. We met up with him at a local, world-class climbing gym known as ‘The Spot.’ That night we climbed at the gym with local climbers, some of them professional!

The following day we made our way to a local climbing gym that was hosting a competition! Carlo had told us about the event, so we decided to go and support him, as well as watch the competition ensue. After watching climbers flock to the many new and exciting routes, Alex and I signed up to compete. We had a blast climbing on new routes with Colorado locals! We were fortunate enough as well to meet and watch professional climbers compete in the finals. It was the first time I had watched a legitimate climbing competition, and it was neat to see it on a professional scale.

You can check out the competition at the links below. The videos were put together by Jon Glassberg, whom we also were fortunate enough to befriend while in Colorado! The links to the videos and Jon’s website can be found below. Look closely in the videos, you might just see someone you recognize ;)

Qualifiers

Finals

http://jonglassberg.louderthan11.com/
Jon's Website

The following day we made our way to the newly developed bouldering area in Mt. Evans. Lincoln Lake bouldering, also known as ‘Wolverine Land’ is one of the newest and coolest alpine bouldering areas in Colorado. We seemed to have arrived in Boulder at the best time, when the Lincoln Lake boulders are becoming more popular and developed! We made our way up to the new climbing area with our new friends, Carlo, Jon, Daniel and Courtney. We all got to know one another as we made our way down the steep ravine walls towards the rock talus known as Wolverineland.

The talus field consists of a crumble-zone of massive boulders. The pearl white of the rock shelters numerous chasms of holds that make up the jigsaw boulder problems throughout the area. While some boulder problems hide within cave-like features, others tower high above the jagged rock.

Climbers scattered the surrounding boulders, and all the way up the canyon, the excitement of the new area could be seen as climbers emerged on the tops of boulders, and were again swallowed as they searched for new lines.

That evening, we climbed the new talus rock, and watched climbers try newly put-up routes, while climbers at the top of the game worked new V15 boulder problems. Seeing these climbers whom I have watched in countless movies, and have read about in magazines, were trying routes that have never been done, and were at the top difficulty in the world! Being a part of this futuristic climbing was more than inspiring, it was surreal. We watched well into the night as climbers swarmed the area, doing what they love, until the night swallowed up the last possibilities of seeing the rock. The climbers showed power within themselves that changed them in Wolverines howling at the boulders, attacking the problems as the moon shadowed holds strengthened their grip and psyche!

We made our way across the silhouettes of rock, and back up the massive ravine, deciding when we got to the top, that it was time for a beer. We made our way into town, where we shared an evening of food and beer, while sharing stories with the group of elite climbers, and more importantly, our new friends.

A new day in Colorado led to one of the most popular climbing areas in the world! This area is in the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), and is known as ‘Chaos Canyon.’ Carlo had invited to show me around the area, and get psyched on the famous routes.

We made our way through the beautiful Estes Park, and to the even more breathtaking RMNP. The winding road led us through the beautiful forests of the park.

A couple of miles up along a beautiful trail through thick trees and along beautiful lakes leads to the phenomenal Chaos Canyon. The scattering of boulders thickened as we made our way deeper into the canyon. The towering boulders create a beautiful maze in this alpine climbing wonderland. The chalk always gives away a boulder that is climbed, and the more we wandered into the talus, the chalk became a familiar entity. Carlo and I hopped from boulder to boulder as he pointed out to me the popular boulder problems in the area.

Green lichen created a beautiful tint of color amongst the cold dark feeling of the rock. As the sun set, the saturation of color livened the mystic beauty within the chaos.

A subtle sense of rightness complimented my overwhelming sense of happiness within the boulders of Chaos Canyon. I immediately felt a connection within this alpine canyon, and with the silence of the cool air moving calmly over the beautiful lake within the basin, I felt a strength and psyche within me I had never known before.

Carlo and I made our way to one of his longer standing projects known as ‘Freaks of the Industry.’ This boulder problem is a beautiful line that incorporates powerful movement mixed with controlled and delicate crimp strength. Beautiful flowers complimented the dark surrounding, while the crisp evening air cooled the rock and mixed the moisture to a perfect climbing condition.

The psyche was high as Carlo and I set up the cameras and padding, preparing to climb through this beautiful V13 problem. After one quick run through, Carlo sat at the base of the problem, his mind and fingertips running through the movement. He pulled onto the rock controlled, each movement more precise than the one before. He moved through the holds, making the route seem easy, and before we knew it, he was pulling over the top!

Watching Carlo climb through his project so smoothly and with such happiness made for an inspiring experience, one that I will never forget. Being a part of that climb was a reminder as to why I love climbing, and why I smile when I feel the rock under my fingers.

After Carlo sent ‘Freaks of the Industry,’ I decided that I needed to harness my immense amount of energy towards my own boulder. A nearby boulder shadowed a problem known conveniently as ‘Geeks of the Industry.’ This boulder problem attracted me immediately with the slight overhang, and absence of holds. I sat down and focused my energy into this beautiful problem. Night sunk in soon, and my headlamp focused onto the small, delicate holds. As I pulled onto the rock, the texture under my fingertips felt sticky, the best rock I have ever climbed on. The psyche created a strength within me that made the movement feel easy and beautiful. I moved carefully against the rock, and after a few tries, the subtle holds had me moving over the top!

Carlo and I moved back down the trail to the parking lot, smiling at our sends! I felt so fortunate to have a friend like Carlo. Within only a couple days, he had shown us genuine friendship, even though our climbing abilities differ significantly. I love the climbing community, where a recreational climber can be friends with a professional climber, and in the end, they enjoy each other’s company and energy, because they both love what they are doing; simply climbing on rocks.

That evening we enjoyed sleeping under the stars in a local park, woken up only by the misting of sprinklers haha. The next day was a dedicated rest day, and we made our way to some family friends of mine, Doug and Pam. Seeing Doug and Pam again after some years was exciting and refreshing, and I was so glad that Alex had the opportunity to meet them. My parents have been great friends with Doug and Pam since they were teenagers, so naturally I have known them for my whole life! We shared stories and laughs, and were so grateful at the amazing meals and beds we were given while we stayed in their beautiful home.

The following days in Boulder consisted of many trips up to The Park, where we wandered around Chaos Canyon, exploring the vast amount of world-class climbing. We also found out that we were to be sponsored by the famous sandals known as ‘Sanuk!’ Sanuk, which was ‘founded by a smile,’ makes some of the best sandals ever! The sandals are recycled and environmentally friendly, and the awesome people at Sanuk decided to sponsor our trip with some awesome sandals! Please check out the Sanuk website and all of their amazing products at www.sanuk.com

The nights in Boulder were replaced with park sleeping to sleeping under a roof when we met up with Alex's hometown friend, Rachel. Rachel was more than gracious to Alex and I, and our bum lifestyle. Rachel goes to the University of Colorado, and living in Boulder, was excited for us to stay with her! We are so gracious to Rachel and her awesome and beautiful roommates for letting us bum nights at their place where we relaxed, watched movies, and shared stories! Rachel even accompanied us one day up in RMNP to climb! It was great showing people around the area, and we climb with her well into the night.

One day in RMNP, we decided to explore the canyon, in search of the famous V15 known as Jade. The problem ‘Jade’ was put up a few years ago by Daniel Woods, and is one of the most popular and beautiful boulder problems in the world. We eventually found the ‘Green 45 Wall’ where Jade is hidden. The beautiful wall has intense green lichen on the perfect 45 degree rock. Only a few chalked holds give-away the gem that is Jade.

Alex and I sat and admired the boulder in silence. The surrounding basin soaked in the beautiful reds and oranges into the rock as the sun set, and the green of Jade deepened with its intensity. An overwhelming sense of beauty and power moved in the air surrounding Jade, and we gave it the respect and admiration that it deserved. Below is a video of Daniel Woods climbing Jade. He was the first to climb the boulder problem.

Simply feeling the impossibly small holds on this difficult face had us hesitant to trying the famous problem. That soon changed as we were accompanied by a really nice guy named Nick. We soon realized that Nick had every intention of pulling onto Jade and overcoming the beautiful problem. He began trying the route, progressing quickly, getting us both psyched on Jade! It was really impressive to watch Nick work this problem that seemed such a Holy Grail to us. Something that was even more impressive was Nick’s character. Nick was a professional rock climber, yet as he tried this difficult problem, he consistently asked us to join him, genuinely wanting us to get in on the excitement. And knowing that we were not strong enough to pull onto this route, he gave us the same exciting support every time we pulled onto the rock! We all worked Jade, and although Alex and I barely made one move, our psyche and happiness flooded the valley!

We were soon accompanied by Carlo who was trying another route on the far end of the same boulder known as ‘Don’t Get Too Greedy.’ We watched as he closed in on his project, and cheered as he sent the route! Again, it was so inspiring to watch Carlo climb this powerful V13 route so effortlessly, and I immediately had to pull onto Jade again with my renewed sense of psyche! I pulled onto the small sharp holds, barely holding myself on as I lunged repeatedly for the next hold. Getting closer and closer as the air cooled and dried my fingertips, I pulled onto Jade until my fingertips split, and the blood caused me to slip off. And that is when we decided called it a night!

We hiked out with Nick that night, where he talked to us about what it was like to be at the top of climbing, and how sponsors, media, etc work. It was really nice to see the climbing world from a different perspective, and once again was a refreshing way to appreciate climbing. That night we stayed again with Doug and Pam, while I slept with excitement, because the following morning I would be picking up Kelly from the airport :)

The following morning, I was overwhelmed with excitement as we made our way to the Denver airport to pick up Kelly and her sister Jamee! Once again, Rachel was amazingly gracious to us by letting us use her car, which has more than two seats, and is not packed with ridiculous amounts of three-month-climbing-trip-stuff!

I tried to hold back smiling tears as we pulled up to the airport. Kelly, who I had not been able to kiss in three months, was in my arms again :) A huge breath of happiness soaked in as I held Kelly’s hand, my love.

“Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it’s one day further from the last time you saw each other, it’s one day closer to the next time you will.”

We shared stories and smiles with Kelly and Jamee as we made our way into Boulder for the day. After spreading love throughout Boulder, we were once again graciously invited to stay with Doug and Pam for the night!

The next few days that Kelly and Jamee were there were full of fun times as we explored Denver, Boulder, and of course, RMNP. We showed them where we climb, and we all climbed together! It was so nice to be out in nature with Kelly and Jamee, and spend time just enjoying the surrounding nature, instead of just becoming obsessed with the climbing.

We made our way along the lake of Chaos Canyon, where we just sat on the edge of a boulder and looked out over the water. A mixture of talking and silence moved out over the water, but mainly I was just happy to have my girl in my arms again :)

The lake was beautiful and peaceful. I thought of the many talks over the phone with Kelly during the summer, letters to a from, and the Skype sessions that teased us. Although the climbing trip was incredible, the missing piece was sitting next to me finally, and I held her close as happiness fell into place.

We spent a night in an official campground in the RMNP which was foreign to Alex and I, but exciting to have a nice place to sleep while Kelly and Jamee were there. It was great having the ladies join us on our adventures, and a good way of reminding us that it is a good thing to shower more often then we did haha. Their energy and love in the beautiful area had me appreciating again how fortunate we were to have embraced the many areas we had been blessed to explore.

After being in the wilderness of the RMNP, surrounded by world-class climbing, accompanied by some of my best friends, and being with Kelly, I felt complete. And although we had to depart from Kelly and Jamee, I was excited to see them again soon...at home.

The night before we left Boulder, and headed homeward, we were fortunate enough to be offered a place to stay with our new friends, Courtney and Daniel. That night, we were shown great hospitality as we all talked the night away about climbing. We shared many stories and adventures that we had, why we loved to climb, and took turns going through the ‘air-climbing’ motions as we talked about our favorite routes.

It was the perfect way to end the majority of our trip, full of climbing talk, with new friends, and genuine good times. We stayed up with Courtney and Daniel into the early morning, knowing full well that in a couple hours, we would be waking up, and making the long drive home to California.

On the long road back to California, it became a nice time to reflect on our trip. I began reminding myself of all the adventures we had gone on, and all of the incredible people we had met along the way.

It is a beautiful thing to share a passion in this world, and have others who understand and share that same passion. It is so easy to compare the love of something with someone who feels the same about it as you do. We did however meet people who did not share the passion of climbing with us, who could not comprehend why we did what we did, or what the appeal to climbing on rocks exactly was. And that is understandable! We all do things in life that no matter how deeply you explain your love for it, the other will not understand it. And that is okay.

We met people of all sorts, and as I said, some shared the love for climbing, while others did not. It amazed me however to meet the people who did not share that climbing love, but instead took the time to really try and see the beauty of it. I admire those individuals who truly listened and absorbed the intensity of climbing love we threw at them, and whether they understood or grasped it or not, they experienced the passion for something, for what we know as beauty. Here is a video that Alex put together that incorporates some of the bouldering excitement of the trip!

So often I found myself exploding with passion about climbing, and not taking time to learn about what the other person held as their passion. Throughout this trip I have learned to be open to others, to share in their passions, to listen and appreciate what they do, and why they do it. Having this attitude has helped me experience opportunities such as the lavender days, the smile days, and the days of just meeting new friends, learning of their past, and experiencing their life, if just for a moment.

Why not change the world through your eyes? Enjoy being who you are, and what makes you truly happy. Smile when you talk to someone about your love, your idea of love, or your passion to find that love. And also listen to other’s passions. They will show you a new love for something, a new way of loving something, a connection between two people who may not understand one another, but are taking one step closer to that understanding. One step closer to spreading love. Another way of making you smile.

There is such an immense amount of beauty and wonder that is itching to be explored. We need each other to come alive, and ignite the spark that illuminates happiness into the world!

“You don’t have to be tall to see the moon.”

peace. love. old friends and new friends and all those in between.

-drew

As we drove away from the mystic wonder-land of Squamish and back into the States, I knew I would be visiting the dark dense forest again sometime, but was excited for what lay ahead in our adventure! We started on what would be a fourteen-hour drive from green flood of trees to the vast beauty of the Boise, Idaho desert.

The road was long as we watched miles tick off of the GPS, as other miles rolled the odometer to new heights! The seemingly short drive consisted mainly of vast open land, with endless rolling hills of dry grass and spectacular skies meeting in the distance.

The clouds splotched the sky with a mixture of pure white to faded gray, as the blue polarized the fading distance traveled. With the windows down, our dirty feet kicked out against the warm wind rushing by. The music swayed us along the open winding road as the mountains faded into hills, and into flatness.

After the day faded to night, the long drive interrupted only by the occasional re-fuel, we arrived in Boise. The campground we stayed at hummed with the dull roar of generators from the city of motor-homes as we rolled out our sleeping bags onto a small patch of grass designated for us ‘tenty’ bums haha. As we fell asleep, exhausted from the long drive, I shut my eyes to the street lights, and my ears to the passing hwy cars, realizing that we were definitely not in Squamish anymore.

The following day was dedicated to the 27Crags topo image uploads and a lapse into the technology world. After catching up on the business, we did the necessary grocery catch-up, we made our way to a local neighborhood to eat our lunch. Sitting on a curb next to what we thought was a park, we were greeted by the homeowner of the patch of land in which we had made our picnic area. He ended up being a really nice guy, who sat down with us and asked us of our adventure as he shared stories of his own. That evening, we decided to keep up the lazy rest day, and went to see the movie, ‘Eat Pray Love.’

Strong recommendation: Go see Eat Pray Love! This movie was one of the most inspiring movies I have seen in a long time, and it was well done. And most of you know how annoyingly picky I am when it comes to movies haha. Eat Pray Love was the perfect way to reassure the beauty of our trip, and how necessary it is to learn to love yourself, so that you can in turn love the world. Absolutely beautiful, and an absolutely needed message-of-love for everyone. Go enjoy the movie :)

The following day we made our way to City of Rocks in Idaho. The desert flat-land became sparse with the scattering of civilization as we neared the vast land of City of Rocks. We made a quick lunch stop at a bizarre park in an even more bizarre town, where we made lunch while being stared down by two random dogs haha.

Dark clouds began to swirl in the sky once the paved road turned to dirt. Old weathered wood contraptions sunk into the hillsides, suggesting that we were on a sparsely seen roadway, and questioning the abilities of our GPS. The dust danced behind us as we made our way along the dirt road into the desert.

After miles with real hint that there was even a Town of Rocks in the nearby future, we decided that we would just see where it took us.

As the sunlight peered glances through the thickening clouds, a small sign came out of nowhere, pointing us down a new dirt road, that was to lead us to the City of Rocks. And sure enough, even though the flat rolling landscape gave no allusion of it, the towers of rock began to protrude from everywhere.

We rolled slowly through the skyscraper city of rocks, where distant climbers were window-washing the high-rise towers. Snapping tons of photos at the rocks had us in complete awe. As far as we could see, rocks covered the desert floor.

We eventually parked and began to explore the dense walls of rock. The features in the rock consisted of perpetual cracks on a bizarre mixture of sandstone, basalt and granite. I was so confused and in complete bewilderment as to how this area had randomly sprouted with the towers of rock, and why for miles surrounding it, there was barely a pebble to be found.

The City of Rocks was a different type of mystic area that was beautiful and unique in its own way. Completely separate from Squamish, yet the sense of wonder and awe related significantly.

The dark clouds began to let out the dry desert rain as we wandered through the desert land. We made our way up and easy free-soloish rock, to get a better perspective on the surrounding landscape. I love the desert, especially when it rains. The vastness of the dryness becomes beautiful when the compliment of rain gives the soft reminder of moisture and life, in such a seemingly dead place.

The dull light from the setting sun created a beautiful array of color dulled against the curtain of clouds as the rain began to fall harder. We decided that with the lack of proper trad gear needed to climb in the City of Rocks, we would press on to our next spot in Utah.

The seemingly endless roads alongside empty desert continued as the City of Rocks faded into the distance as we made our way towards Utah.

We stopped at the border of Utah and Idaho, where we ran around taking pictures and enjoying life as a small rainstorm hit.

The cool rain and dry desert air made for a refreshing feeling as I looked to the sky, feeling the rain, feeling the smile!

Another long drive had us pass through Salt Lake City, towards central Utah. Joe’s Valley near Orangeville, Utah was our next destination, and we arrived there in the darkest hour of night. The desert theme continued in Joe’s, but the landscape was a bit more lifted with mountainsides. As we drove in, the limited car headlight was enough to hint at the roadside boulders covering the mountainsides.

Joe’s Valley has been an area I have been extremely excited to visit ever since becoming a climber. The bouldering in Joe’s is known to be world class sandstone, with such a plethora of boulders, that if you could live off of sand, you would never leave! And when we woke the next morning, that is exactly what we found.

The hillsides were covered in ridiculous amounts of boulders, and mental notes of where we should climb became overwhelming, and so I just let my jaw drop. We made our way into the very small town of Orangeville where we visited the local library to check out the Joe’s Valley Bouldering Guidebook. Book in hand, we excitedly made our way back up into the mountains to do what we love most…climb!

Sure enough, the unique sandstone boulders were filled with beautiful boulder problems, and swarming the immense amount of psyche, we were solving problem after problem…no problem at all ;)

That evening we met a couple guys out in the boulder fields, who seemed to be the only other climbers in Joe’s. Summer time is definitely not the ideal conditions for Joe’s Valley, as the hot summer sun settles comfortably in the canyon, making for more difficult friction. Not really knowing what good conditions felt like, we were still more than excited to climb, but the heat explained the lack of fellow climbers.

The next morning we met up with the two other climbers in a different bouldering area. We chased the shade from problem to problem, making our way through the wild wild west. As the water faded, and the sun tagged us in our game of hide-and-seek, we left the boulder field.

Endless amounts of rock that have not even been touched yet covered the hillside, and prospect of new climbing routes is only at the lack of your exploration and climbing dedication. That evening, after the heat rolled out of the valley, we made our way back to the boulders.

A beautiful river cutting one of the canyons accompanied many riverside bouldering. We continued to ‘pull hard’ on the many problems, making our way up hard and beautiful routes. After topping out on one particular boulder that sat in the river, I realized that the enormous flat top could be a sweet camping spot. And so that night, that is exactly what it became!

We carried all of our cooking and sleeping gear, climbed up the riverside boulder, and made camp. Our tent perched strategically on a ‘comfortable’ part of the rock as we lounged in our crashpads, eating our gourmet spaghetti-o dinner, watching as the moon reflected off of the river below. Overwhelmed with the beautiful surrounding and opportunity, I stayed up late, sunk into my crashpad as I read my book, while my feet dangled over the boulder’s edge.

The next morning we made breakfast on the boulder, packed up, and moved onto bouldering!

We climbed again all day, rested in the heat, and wandered aimless into the boulder fields in the cool evenings.

One night, after realizing our cell phones had service, I pulled the car over in the middle of nowhere. Alex stayed in the car and talked the night away, as I walked down the dark weathered road. I flattened myself to the pavement, right down the worn double yellow line. I looked up at the night sky, and the beautiful stars above. I love to gaze at the stars, and find that some of my most fond memories are of different places I have been fortunate enough to star gaze from. The beautiful stars are so calming and humbling, placing me in a happy euphoric state. The stars also remind me of Kelly, and to that I thank the stars even more. I was so happy to talk to Kelly after days of no cell service, and thus not contact. I stared up at the stars as I lay on my back on the car-less road in the middle of the night. I fell in love with Kelly all over again as I imagined us star-gazing in San Luis Obispo on many a night. And for a moment, the long time and distance apart was no more. I am so excited to see her again :)

Due to the bizarre area, surreal amount of boulders, and intense psyche, time was jumbled. After what felt like many days of climbing, deep-talks, awesome sends, and ridiculous amounts of water, and no sign of another climber, we found ourselves moving on from Joe’s Valley, towards the ever popular Colorado.

As the desert once again faded, and trees took over as we moved towards Colorado, a new excitement flooded in. The trip was now coming towards an end, and the climbing and adventures in Colorado were just ahead!

Moving over many miles within a short amount of days from Squamish to Colorado, from trees to desert, the sense of wonder and beauty within new places was refreshing. Traveling from the different canvases of landscape had me painting a new appreciation for places that might not be exactly ‘beautiful.’

The beauty within the nature, within the person, within the moment are what make the smile, the wonder, the love. The feel of the wind while in the desert is different than when it moves through the trees. The color reflecting off of water and off of open desert are both beautiful and unique. I loved being in Squamish, and feeling the dark world of trees, shadows, and water surrounding the landscape, as clouds lingered overhead. I was initially bummed to leave Squamish, as I knew that the deserts would not be the same.

And the desert was definitely not the same at all. The open and dry area had me initially longing for Squamish, and the greenery. But as the sun soaked into the fading sunsets and sunrises, a new sense of wonder overcame me. It was beautiful to feel the breeze rolling over the hillsides during the warm days, to see fields of boulders streaked with black and tan color and uniquely carved features, and the enormous sky of stars that can only be seen when there are no trees around.

There is beauty all around us, and it takes only one long breath to look around and realize it. My great friend Angela Kramer is one of the most beautiful people I know. She has definitely changed my life, and our love for life reflected off of one another while in college together. Angela has recently started one of the best things someone can do. She is currently undergoing a 52 Week List, where each week is filled with a new goal. With each new week she proposes a new goal, big or small, simply trying something new. As the forest changed to desert for me, she is changing her perspectives on life experiences. It is a beautiful thing to do, and needless to say, an inspiring way to love the world. Please check out her blog at http://the52weeklist.blogspot.com/ and be inspired to try something new, move out of your comfort space, and see the beauty within the world around you!

Angela chilling at the top of Bishop's Peak in San Luis Obispo

Climbing is what Colorado is filled with, and with only weeks left within our trip, I am planning on not only climbing as much as possible, but experiencing as much as I can there. Thank you to everyone as always for the support along the way, and keep a look out for the adventures ahead!

Keep up the smiles, and go out tonight and look up at the stars. Enjoy their beauty. Really realize the immense amount of time and space that surround us, how small we really are in such an enormous universe…and then smile at the fact of how much of an impact we can make if we realize our beauty and the beauty surrounding us, and how easy it is to spread it :)

“Barns burnt down. Now I can see the moon.” -Masahide

Much love!

Drew

I have officially been Squamished! Dark clouds smothered the surrounding black and white streaked granite walls that watched powerfully over Squamish. The dark green trees at the base of the rocks grow all the way to the water’s edge of the Pacific Ocean, and it seems as if nothing can be more beautiful!

Ever since I began climbing, Squamish has always fascinated me, mainly due to the aesthetics of the area. And as we pulled into the campground that hid at the base of The Chief wall, the beauty of the area was even more spectacular in person. I always find myself loving the darker, ‘Tim Burton-ish,’ look to things; and with the glooming clouds blending in with the shade of the dense, dark green forest of Squamish, and the massive impending intimidation cast by The Chief wall seen lurking into the sky, I simply fell in love.

The Chief is the main Grand Wall that overlooks the town of Squamish. With giant streaks of black ingrained into the pearly white of the massive, 1300ft rock face, the area is shadowed with inspiration.

The main campground that is tucked at the base of the chief would house us for the following climbing days. The campground was extremely nice, with beautiful camping spots winding through the forest floor, and a parking lot full of weathered vehicles that were plastered with familiar stickers, suggesting only that they too were climbers!

The area swarmed with all types of chalk-handed individuals, from all over the world, and nobody thought twice when a group of people walked by with the mattress sized crashpad on their backs. A community message board was set up near the entrance of the camp, where tons of paper containing the latest climbs, requests for climbing partners, and used gear advertisements cluttered the board. I noticed a grouping of large wooden poles protruding from the ground near one of the community cooking areas, soon realizing they were there specifically for slacklining (a popular pastime for climbers, where you balance across a nylon ‘slacked line’). Climbers began their friendly ‘hellos’ and ‘where are you froms,’ and Squamish, I could tell already, was a place I could stay for a very long time.

We explored the small town of Squamish a bit, and stared longingly at the endless walls of rock that covered the backdrop. Soon enough we were back in camp, crashpads packed with the necessary climbing shoes, chalk, and water, as we made our way into the woods.

Ten degrees of temperature drop accompanied ten shades of darkness the deeper we made our way through the towering trees and into the boulder field. Sure enough, through the fallen trees, branches, and mossy swarms, the familiar chalky handprints guided us to the forest boulders. The ground below my feet sank slightly with each step due to the enormous build-up of moss and bark, and from it emerged all types of beautiful boulders.

We walked around, simply exploring the vast area, hoping across boulder after boulder, getting deeper and deeper into the forest, building a more and more intense psych! The maze of boulders was overwhelming, and without wanting to waste anytime, we started climbing boulder problem after boulder problem!

The rough granite rock posses a unique style of climbing, where slopey holds are stuck with precise footwork, and a strong shoulder and core balance. Being that this style is far from me, I was both excited to climb on it to get better at it, as well as search for the best ‘crimpy’ line I could find!

The excitement continued in Squamish when two of Alex’s friends from back home drove up to visit with us in Squamish! Rachel and Rebekah are two awesome ladies from Alex’s home town, who not only brought their light-hearted and fun attitude, but enough food to make my jaw hurt when I smiled from the sight of it! Both Rachel and Rebekah joined us everyday on our obsessive need to climb, taking pictures, hanging out, and of course, climbing!

The hometown-love continued as I made my way to Vancouver, where I would pick up one of my best climbing partners and friends, Kent! As I drove away from Squamish, and into the business of Vancouver, I was already anxious to get Kent and be back in the Squamish dreamland.

Days followed with beautiful climbing. We made our way to a crag called ‘Smoke Bluffs’ that is literally tucked around homes along a hillside. The style of climbing that populated mainly in this area is ‘trad climbing.’ Trad climbing consists mainly of climbing where there are significant enough features in the rock to place ‘pro.’ Pro, or climbing protection, consists of a wide variety of gear that can be strategically placed in a crack to protect the climber if they fall. Trad climbing is the oldest style of free-climbing, and most of the popular ascents seen in Yosemite on the enormous and powerful big-walls are only climbable using trad techniques.

We found ourselves at a classic route in the area called ‘Penny Lane.’ This easier route follows an obvious crack, splitting high into sky. Since Alex had never climbed the trad-style, we decided this would be a perfect time to learn. Kent and I geared him up the appropriate equipment needed to climb this splitter crack, while we jabbed random tips and techniques, cam-ming trad into his psyche!

Alex led the route beautifully with no falls, and learned a new appreciation to the foreign climbing style. With this new found respect and curiosity, the climbing world is literally seen from new heights ;)

The days proceeded with bouldering of all sorts throughout the forest, meeting new people from around the world. Broken English makes me appreciate the effort of foreigners who can understand us English-only folk, while we just expect them too. I need to learn more languages of all types! We climbed a famous boulder problem known as ‘Worm World Cave,’ where we met a group of French climbers. We shared crashpads, spots, laughs, and cheers during the climbing session!

One day, we decided to find the infamous sport route in the area, ‘Dreamcatcher.’ As we wandered deeper into the forest, we found the backside of an enormous rock. The blank face had been graphed with sequential routes made from drilled holes. The man-made routes had perfect finger holds, interrupted by plastic gym holds drilled strategically into the rock. The blank wall would have previously been un-climbable, but due to a drill, and too much time, the rock was unperfected, and permanently changed from the way Mother Nature intended it. It was a bizarre feeling to see the scarring to this massive rock, and how the face of this beautiful wall was damaged.

As we rounded the lower northern wall of the boulder, we crawled through a rock-fallen cave, and to the base of the beautiful line, ‘Dreamcatcher.’ The route stood silently over our heads as we followed the chalked line of holds up an impressive slab that introduced the main act. From the slab, a technical ‘dyno,’ where all points of your body release from the rock as you lunge for a higher hold, leads to an overhanging and slopey rail. The sloper rail follows a unique striation formed from the rock, and consists of many technical and physical movements to the upper technical wall.

I stood in awe at the route I had known so well. Dreamcatcher had me in a trance as I made my way underneath of it, exploring every possible view and angle of the route. The proud line is a beautiful vision in climbing. Being the hardest sport climb in all of Squamish, and the hardest climbed route I had ever seen in person, an unnerving inspiration drew me into the rock.

I have never experienced such a force of wonder before. I carefully climbed to the start of the route, where I tucked myself onto a small ledge. Looking up, the powerful overhang became such an unreal concept. I envisioned a climber moving along the line, how each movement and balance must be understood to execute each precise movement.

Dreamcatcher was more than just a hard route to me; it was a reassured happiness within me that understood the love of why I climb. I sat on that ledge for a long while, absorbing the fantastic power that this rock possessed. Feeling the difficult starting moves, I decided that this route deserved a respect I could not yet posses as a climber. The strength and metal movement needed to step up proudly to climb this route was something I aspire to.

I posted this in the last blog, but here is the video of Chris Sharma climbing Dreamcatcher:

Dreamcatcher made me realize my future of climbing, and the mental strength and balance needed to obtain the mutual respect that Mother Nature invites within a route such as this.

Being inspired and humbled was a continual theme for Squamish. One day we decided to hike up to another very popular route in the area, and the hardest crack climb in the world, ‘Cobra Crack.’ After miles of extremely steep trails, I not only had an appreciation for the trail workers who must have put in hundreds of hours creating the staircases and trails to the top of The Chief, but also for the climbers who put in countless hours and seasons hiking up the trail to the Cobra Crack with all of their climbing gear, which is not so light at all.

Walking up to the Cobra Crack was again…inspiring. Not being a crack climber, every time I see a crack, it looks difficult. The Cobra Crack however, looked impossible. The beautiful overhanging face squeezed a thin crack that waved gently up the overhang.

Seeing the route climbed in the movie ‘First Ascent,’ I knew that it was possible, but still seeing it in person was an intimidating and scary line that demanded respect. I felt that any moment, the cobra might strike.

After gawking at the Cobra Crack, we made our way back down the trail where we wished a safe farewell to Rachel and Rebekah, while Kent and I decided to hike to the top of the mountains. We headed through beautiful forest, accompanied only by the beautiful silence of the swaying trees. The top of the mountain range consisted of three distinct peaks.

Kent and I made our way across all three, meeting cool people, and even witnessing a marriage proposal from a French couple! The last peak was unique in that there were rebar rungs acting as a ladder to the top.

Kent and I ran all the way down the trail, rock hopping, and having a great time. Kent is my outdoor amigo. We always know that no matter what, either one of us is always down for an adventure. Kent and I met freshman year in the dorms, where we lived right next to one another. After discovering that we wanted to make the most of college, we made extreme efforts to soak up any and every adventure we could. Mountain bike riding, hiking, climbing on Cal Poly buildings, camping, beach surfing / skimboarding / bodyboarding, offroading, etc. We have always had a great time together, and have always understood the intensity at which we will go when exploring the wonderful world of extreme sports.

Once we began climbing, Kent, Mike, Greg and I were a quad of obsessive rock pullers. We all made our way through the courses of gym climbing, Yosemite wandering, Bishop bouldering, and many many more adventures!

Since we began climbing, we have been pushing the limits together, exploring many routes across California. Having Kent in Squamish, and hiking to the three peaks was an awesome realization that I have one of the best friends in the world! Kent and I will always be able to explore the world in an extreme way, knowing that we have each other’s backs, and that we will always have a great time. I know that I can always trust Kent whenever we seem to get into sticky situations (refer to the Lover’s Leap blog post haha), and that instead of worrying, we just make it happen, making a possibly scary situation into a fun time.

It is a beautiful thing to share a passion for climbing with one of my best friends, and I am so thankful whenever Kent and I get to climb together. We feed off of each other’s psyche, and drive to explore! As we made our way to the bottom of The Chief trail, exhausted from running down, Kent found a small swimming pool in the river that paralleled the trail. I went for a swim, and it was a beautiful way to end the day.

One day we made our way to boulder problem known as ‘Sunshine and Lollipops.’ A high boulder with a terrible landing. We were climbing with a couple guys we had met previously, Francis and Charles. These guys were from Quebec, and had a fun-loving attitude, keeping the climbing quirky and fun. The fun sunshine happiness vibe turned drastically to darkness as I made my way up the route. At the top, I needed only to top out, but as my hands greased on the blank face, I knew I was coming off. As I toppled backwards, a quick jumble of pain made me realize that I had smacked into a tree, stepped on someone, and slammed into the pads. I quickly turned around to find Alex with blood dripping from his nose, hand gripping his shoulder, and a slight wobble of his head to match his eyes. I quickly went into medic-mode and treated him for shock and possible concussion. After sometime, Alex was on his feet, and a bit dazed. Reality struck, making bouldering a very real thing.

Alex was totally fine, but it was a good reminder to be safe. Alex and I pride ourselves on our spotting skills, knowing full well that as a ‘spotter,’ it is your sole purpose to keep your climber safe. And with that fall, I knew full well that I not only could trust Alex with keeping me safe, but that he would do whatever it took to make that happen. I am so thankful to be climbing with someone who has the same ideals of safety that makes climbing fun and possible. Our lives are in each other’s hands, and it is beautiful to know that we can trust one another.

The next day we climbed again with Charles. Apparently we didn’t scare him away with the fall, and he was in fact more excited to climb with us ‘expert spotters.’ ;) We made our way to a classic route in the area known as ‘The Fuzz.’ The Fuzz is a difficult boulder problem involving powerful movement with intricate core strength and balanced foot placements. Charles and The Fuzz was of an epic battle. Charles was visiting from Quebec for ten days. And for those ten days Charles put in countless attempts on The Fuzz, seeing no send. With literally fifteen minutes before he had to leave for Quebec, we threw the pads down under The Fuzz, one last go. Charles stepped up, and my psyche went crazy. I love watching a project go down, and we all wanted nothing more than for Charles to accomplish his project, something more than just climbing a rock. A few immediate falls made for a mental drop, but we kept the psyche alive, not letting him stop until he gave it his all.

The energy swarmed the problem as Charles sat down to try it one last time. He moved quickly, going through the motions. Strong movements put him to the last move where he reached powerfully to the last hold. Success! Cheers and shouting flooded the valley, as Charles sat atop his now completed project, a huge smile on his face. After he got to the bottom, we shared excitement and love that is climbing, and friendship. Charles sending The Fuzz was not only an accomplishment for him, but an accomplishment for all of us. First barely knowing each other, we were now a family, a trusted circle of friends, a surge of overall happiness. We all walked back to camp with exuberant smiles and psyche!

After saying cheers to Charles, we decided to feed off of the psyche and continue to climb. We made our way to the six-pitch trad route known as ‘Rock On.’ The six-pitch route, meaning there are six separate lengths of rope needed to climb to the top, followed a unique crack that had many style variations. A beautiful and classic line.

Kent went into beast mode, gearing up to lead the route. He made his way up each pitch beautifully and controlled, as Alex and I followed him up. A finishing line of amazing 5.10 pitches, we were at the top, where cheers to Kent leading the way was not only impressive, but inspiring. Kent is awesome with trad, and it seems as if no difficulty or intimidating line stops his confidence.

As we rappelled down, Kent held onto his smile, as if there was nothing else in the world at that moment.

As I touched the ground and unclipped from the rope, I was greeted by Alex Honnold. Alex is a professional climber, whom I have had the pleasure of climbing with previously in Yosemite Valley. He is incredibly strong, with an even stronger mental state. Pure confidence with himself and his skill, Alex simply threw his shoes on, we exchanged a few words, and he made his way up the route we had just finished. The only catch? He had no rope, no gear, absolutely no source of protection besides the mental confidence he possess. He quickly made his way up the route, smooth and controlled. No room for error. As Alex and Kent accompanied me at the base, we watched carefully as Alex made his way up Rock On, free soloed. He topped out perfectly. And in what took us about two hours to complete, Alex Honnold had completed in less than ten minutes. Absolutely pure climbing. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely beautiful. But don’t worry, not inspiring enough to do it myself :)

A great day full of awesome climbing, new friends, and a new appreciation for the sport we love so dearly was celebrated at the local climber scene, Brewpub. Delicious fries and cold homebrewed beer had us reminiscing the Squamish trip, and Kent’s last night with us.

The following day, Alex and I dedicated a much needed rest day, by chilling in town. But as everyone knows I can’t sit still for long, and I soon found myself with camera in hand as I simply started walking from the town and into the mountains. I walked peacefully by myself through the Smoke Bluff rocks, where I explored new climbing walls, and making sure to cross every possible trail through the woods. When I reached the top, I found a bench that overlooked Squamish. On it, a plaque read, ‘There is no time like the present. Sit down. Enjoy the view.’ And so I did :)

Making my way back down the trail, I noticed a familiar face who was teaching an elderly couple how to crack climb. The familiar face was the professional rock climber, and Canada local, Sonnie Trotter. Sonnie Trotter is the man who sent the classic Cobra Crack, of which I mentioned previously. Seeing him in person was super inspiring, and I decided that I had to say hi. Exchanging words with the couple about our climbing adventure made a fun conversation with new friends, one of which was Sonnie. I simply told Sonnie about how his climbing was inspiring, and how his attitude towards it was exactly what the world needed. He was an extremely nice guy who let me be star-struck haha. It was neat to meet such an incredible climber, who was not only a great person, but who humbly loved what he did. He did not climb for fame or popularity. He climbed because that is what he loved. He didn’t need others to push him. He was as strong as he was because he dedicated himself to his passion, and that was all he needed. From a professional to a recreational climber, we shared the passion, and with a huge gap of skill, we shared the love. Ahhh climbing :)

Here is a video of Sonnie Trotter Climbing the Cobra Crack:

High on life, I hurriedly made my way into town. As I crossed the last intersection before meeting up with Alex at the coffee-house, I met yet another life-changing experience. A group of four people with the word ‘SMILE’ accompanied by a smiley face painted on their stomachs were on the hwy intersection holding up a sign that said, ‘Got SMILE!?’

Okay…off goes my shirt as I tell them to paint me up! I soon had a large SMILE with a smiley on my chest, while my back read, ‘Smile Back!’ We all got to know one another as we jumped around on the corner, sending big smiles, and receiving smiles back by the many cars driving by. ‘Life is great!’ was a reoccurring shout out as we all laughed with excitement with the love we were spreading. It felt so good to simply stop and smile. Simple as that. Giving happiness.

I quickly got Alex. The Lavender Boys were back at it! After an hour and a half, jaws sore, and happiness through the roof, we all parted ways, overcome with joy at the love we had shared, and the strangers that were now good friends, with a memory I will never forget! Alex and I walked proudly through camp with our shirts off, getting glances and shout outs from fellow climbers saying, ‘I saw you guys on the hwy! You made my day, and gave me a big smile!’

And so Alex and I were back as the lone climbing bums with dried painted smiles on our bodies….but not for long. At our campsite, we met Jackie. Jackie was immediately one of the coolest lady climbers we had met! She is from Seattle, and was on a lone-vacation to Squamish, doing what she loved, climbing. She came there solo, figuring to simply meet new people, and climb with them, an easy thing to do in the open-minded climbing community. And so that is what we did.

We bouldered with Jackie that night. We searched around, trading turns and spots and psyche as we all made our way up new problems. As the forest got darker, I decided it was time to try a project I had been working on since arriving in Squamish. The slightly overhanging face was blank, besides the small incut crimps that blended into the rock. I immediately fell in love with this route the first time I got on it. After climbing the slopey, strong boulders that make up Squamish, this one problem was the pearl in the shell of boulders.

Delicate movements, focused breathing, and calm slow placements make for a balanced dance against the rock. This is my style. I am in awe with the human body, as you slowly pull yourself up a rock, on holds that seem non-existent. The technical movement, the proper placement of hand to hold, and breathing with intense awareness made a progress up the subtle face. As dark sunk into the trees, I pulled on my shoes for one last go. I decided that I needed to climb with the love I always had. Dancing swiftly up the holds I knew so well, I let out one final breath as I reached for the crux hold, a balance intensive move. A quick lock of the fingers and I felt myself pull over the lip. A rush of blood to the head and a huge smile had me shouting happiness! I love when the movement feels easy, like a dance. The beauty of that movement renewed the love I know within climbing, deep within my body.

The next day followed with some fun trad climbing at the Smoke Bluffs with immense psyche! Great laughs and talks while we climbed was a great way to learn more about Jackie as we shared in the climbing love.

While at the Smoke Bluffs, we also randomly ran into a guy we met in Smith Rock! Mark and his daughter, Aja, were making their way to Squamish around the time we would be there, so we invited them to join us. Mark, not quite sure if we were serious, didn’t contact us. A quick glance as we passed one another in Squamish made for a quick reunion, followed by us offering to climb with him once again! Mark was really excited, and even though we were already an extra day in, Mark coaxed us into staying an extra day (Not too hard to do while in Squamish). Haha. Later that day we finally met the baristas at the coffee joint we had been at. We found out that they too were climbers, and naturally after they got off work, we joined together to boulder in the forest. Again, an amazing time meeting new people, and the girls were amazing!

The following morning we met at the base of The Chief where Alex and I decided we would take Mark and Jackie up the route, Rock On! Being that Kent had the led the route previously, it was a new experience for Alex and I as we all four made our way up the route. Beaming smiles and attitudes shed from Mark and Jackie as we made our way up! The climb ended with a victory shot at the top, followed by an awesome rappel.

After getting to the cars, we decided to celebrate with lunch at the Brewpub, where Mark graciously became one of our sponsors (Thanks for lunch Mark ;). We had great talks, shared jokes, and decided that the day wasn’t quite yet finished with climbing. We made our way back to the rocks where we topped off the day with another amazing climb.

Mark was one of the best people we have had the luxury of climbing with. He is older, with a family, and a new lover of rock climbing! It was great to spend time up on the rock with Mark, generations of difference in the climbing world, yet sharing the same passion while learning of life stories and adventures, learning more about myself, and new perspectives on life. Climbing the tree to love the world.

That night was bittersweet, as we knew the next morning we would have to say goodbye to Squamish. Making dinner one last time in the parking lot, where we and all of the other climbers made dinner, we reminisced of the time we had spent in such a majestic place. The following morning we woke up a good friend we had met in Squamish, Jeremy. Jeremy is from LA, and with an incredible personality, would make any person feel welcome and at home in this thing we call life. We had the privilege to become great friends with Jeremy and his crew throughout our time in Squamish. Jeremy is a professional photographer in LA, and thus becomes a professional photographer of the climbing world. Jeremy is one of the kindest, whole-hearted, genuinely giving individuals I have ever met. Being that he will be in Southern California for the end of our adventure, we are beyond excited to get to climb with him again!

Leaving Squamish was not too sad, as I knew one day I would be back. The world seemed to revolve around there. The world condensed into Squamish, and we got to love it all. There was a Japanese guy who we met that must have been in his 60s, but bouldered with the best of us. With literally no English, and we with no Japanese, simply communicated with what we both knew best…climbing. Through waving of the arms, air-climbing holds, a multitude of strained climbing faces, pointing, twisting, and smiling, we made it through, sending each problem; the problem of the boulder, the problem of the communication, the problem of awkwardness, and sent it to happiness, to understanding, to love.

The world continued to join us from language barriers to age differences. The amount of climbers varied just as much as the age did. We met climbers much younger than us, and climbers much older than us. The younger generations show us possibility, older climbers humble us with their unique sense of adventure. One late night at the coffee shop, we were introduced to Leroy, and old-time climber who had moved to Squamish years ago, simply to climb. After sharing stories of routes we had been up, and hearing the many stories of his climbs, I had to ask how old he was. Good thing I was sitting as he replied with a proud ’72 years old.’ Amazing, inspiring. Again a huge age difference, and again the same understanding of climbing, of passion, of love. Simple and pure, no matter the age, we climb rocks, and there is an unsaid love that can only be understood when you feel the texture under your fingertips.

And the other main difference we united with is skill. The climbing world is constantly astonishing me with the amount of skill that people produce. A climber who you would think is not that strong, climbs harder than you could ever imagine. Having the opportunity to climb and watch professional climbers whom we knew so well and admired was inspiring. Climbing, while a much stronger climber shouts with immense enthusiasm, ‘Yeah! Get it!’ As you work your problem, that they did on their first try, is something else. That is a respect I have not experienced outside of the climbing world. It is beautiful to be able to get excited for climbers working their project, no matter the difficulty, because once again, we are simply climbing on rocks.

And that is the story of Squamish. The story that there is so much more to a place. Within the beauty of Squamish, we met a world that made us smile.

Leaning against the cool rock, high up on a small ledge, making our way up a beautiful route known as Rock On, Mark smiles gently as he points. Following his direction, I look out on the mysterious streaked wall across the dark canyon. A small warmth of light poured over the rock near my face, illuminating a small orange leaf, gently swaying back and forth in the slight breeze, kissing the rock as it made its way into the canyon below. So simple. Such is beauty.

Smile in your heart, smile in your body, and let it pour out to the world around you.

'Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.' -American Beauty

Much love, many smiles,

drew

-A big thanks to Jeremy Pangilinan, Liz Keller, and Megan Booth for some of the amazing photos in this blog!

I climbed the tree to love the world. Again I find myself staring at my arm and reflecting on the simplicity in life, and to remain humble. I slowly examine my arms, noticing the small scratches, remembering which boulder decided to make its mark as I moved through ‘the problem.’

I slowly squeeze the tips of my fingers and feel the hard calluses that have formed due to the repeated abuse I introduce every time I hug closely to the next boulder problem.

Bouldering is a unique style of climbing, where each route, known as a ‘problem,’ consists of literally climbing on a boulder. Boulders can range from being four feet off the ground, to well over fifty; yet as long as it is a boulder, a stand-alone rock that is removed from a cliff, it is considered a boulder. That being said, bouldering is done without the safety of a rope. Instead, a boulderer carries what is called a ‘crashpad.’ Comforting right? Haha. A crashpad is basically a big hunk of dense foam that can fold up to be carried like a light backpack, and then unfolded to a typical size of four feet by five feet when you reach your designated boulder, and then cushions your fall once you are rejected by the boulder problem.

Bouldering the famous 'Evilution' problem in the Buttermilks, Bishop, California

A boulderer carrying this spongebob-like cube usually receives questions from non-climbers like, ‘Why are you carrying your bed with you!?’, ‘How much stuff are you carrying in there!?’, ‘Is that a small house!?’, ‘That must be SOOO heavy!’, ‘That’s a stupid backpack design!’ and so forth. To which I usually respond happily…’yes. ‘

Alex and I in the Buttermilks, Bishop, California with our crashpads

A crash pad is in fact NOT a small house, but a mental comforter, an ankle-breaker-saver, a protector from mean boulder problems. Along with a crash pad, a boulderer usually carries two more necessary items, their chalk to dry out their already-ghastly hands, and their holy-jeez-these-are-way-too-tight-climbing shoes. And with only that, the purity of bouldering is born.

With bouldering, since the climb is typically under ten total movements (opposed to the seventy-plus movements in sport climbing), the climbing is much more technically dense. Each move when bouldering can be a show stopper, a mental and physical crux; finding that sometimes you can’t even pull yourself off of the ground.

Photo of a climbing hold in some random climbing store.

Placement of the crashpad is a crucial technique when bouldering, where anticipated falls must be well calculated to protect the potential fall. Next is the lathering of chalk, grinding it into the pores of your hands; since dry hands allow for better grip to rock, and the more chalk, the more gecko-like you become. And lastly are the shoes. A boulderer, due to the technicality of the bouldering, has extremely tight shoes that allow for maximal sensitivity to the rock edges, making any slight obtrusion in the rock a possible foot-hold; or at-least that’s what we tell ourselves while we wince from the loss of blood flow to the feet :)

Here is a picture of me bouldering. This route is really easy, and you can see the crashpad below. The boulder problem is called, 'Played Like a Poop Butt,' and naturally I needed to climb it :)

Sitting closely to the boulder becomes an intimate experience as you slowly search the face of the rock, imagining every possible movement, and every possible hold. Starting sitting down is a typical fashion for bouldering. And then the fun begins. Each movement becomes a precise, choreographed flow in the bouldering dance. The fluidity and balance make bouldering, technical, inspiring, rewarding, and humbling. Passion and peace flow through me when I boulder, and nothing feels more right. Each movement is intimate, closing the world off to the realization of your own breath, your strength within, clarity in your mind.

"May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being. May you walk through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life." – Apache Blessing

Bouldering is what we did in Leavenworth, and I’m pretty sure, another reason I fell in love with the place. The Icicle Road that winds from the town of Leavenworth into the surrounding towering mountains cuts strategically along the river’s edge, leading deep into dense tress, and dense nature, exposing hints of rock, flirting with every climber.

This is a tough boulder problem called 'Dangle'

The bouldering is scattered along the edge of the road, hidden only by an opaque hue of dark-green trees and leaves. After fighting off the Amazon, bizarrely annoying flys, and steep terrain, the markings of chalk welcome you to the boulder.

We spent many hours searching, wandering through endless gorilla infested forests for bouldering. The golf-ball sized piranha birds made us a bit leery at first, but were relieved that they only attacked locals and very small rocks. Barely avoiding the R.O.U.S. (Rodents-Of-Unusual-Size) led us to a cave where we hung out with the Goonies for a bit. Alex got a bite taken out of his crashpad from an angry pumpkin after not doing the proper hop-scotch technique over the lava coals, while I only lost my left hand. Some flying monkeys took all of our stuff which wasn’t very nice, but they gave us some magic beans instead. We ate the beans, which only gave us magical gas, so that wasn’t THAT exciting after all.

Just kidding… we just went bouldering.

One day we made our way to a local crag that our friend Logan told us about that had climbing over the river! Not only was this route over the water, but the river had formed in such a perfect way that the water below the climb was deep enough to jump in/fall in. This type of climbing is known as deep-water soloing. Deep water soloing literally consists of climbing up tall rock routes, with only the protection of the deep water below you if you fall!

Below is a video of an example of more extreme deep water soloing. Not quite what we did, but an example of what can be done over water!

Chris Sharma on 'Es Pontas' 5.15b

The days in Leavenworth, although not nearly as warm as Smith Rock, definitely had their sweat-inducing temperatures. Naturally, jumping into a cool river water sounded perfect, and before we knew it, we were chalking up to climb the route over the river below. The route, although not too difficult, causes an unpredicted and subconscious mental barrier the higher you go. Fifty feet off of the water below would allow for a safe recovery if there were a fall, but we decided to not test it, and just climb the route first go!

This is me on the deep-water solo route, the river rushing below!

After climbing down and getting over the jittery ‘piano leg,’ we spent time jumping into the water off of a twenty-five foot ledge. The water was a refreshing, and well-needed break from climbing, and a new kind of heart-pounding exercise.

The rest of our time in Leavenworth consisted of late-night searching of free camping (which we found!), coughsneakingcough into local hotel pools and hot-tubs, coffee houses, walks through the town, movies on our laptops while making dinner in the local park, running in and away from sprinklers, star gazing, reading, music-bumpin, and of course, lots of bouldering.

Leaving Leavenworth was an abrupt happening one morning, and before we knew it, the small Austrian town was at our backs, and we found ourselves cruising through the beautiful Cascade mountains alongside a spectacular rive,r flowing the opposite way. Dark clouds brought warm rain that had me smiling. We made our way to the popular and historic climbing area known as Index. Index is an extremely small town that is tucked tightly against enormous vertical rock walls. Not having proper ‘trad’ climbing gear, and being sketched out by the local scene, we decided to keep rolling through. This led us along a road in which we did not know the destination, but that was engulfed with beauty. And with that, we made our way along the scenic, tree-swallowed road towards Seattle.

The tunnel of deep-green trees shaded the road as we stuck our heads out the window, cranked up appropriate music, cranked-down the speed to twenty mph, and closed our eyes as we drove. Just kidding, mine were open. The drive was peaceful, beautiful, and mind-cleansing. Just what we needed before we entered the beautiful city of Seattle!

Seattle greeted us with the big-city scene, and it was exciting! We drove through the main space-needle-touristy areas, and kept driving until we found a place to park for free. From there we wandered on foot through Seattle, finding numerous hole-in-the-wall coffee shops scattered against a beautiful silhouette of the city landscape.

I called a friend who I knew from Cal Poly, and who I worked with at Poly Escapes, my buddy Fran! Fran graduated about a year ago from Cal Poly and is currently working and living in Seattle. We made our way to her place and hung out with her, Jon (another friend and climber from Poly), and her roommates. Another co-worker from Poly Escapes, Courtney, is in the area for the summer, and she too joined us at Fran’s place! It was great to see friends, and feel a glimpse of SLO again :)

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” –Audrey Hepburn

That evening, Courtney and her family graciously invited us to stay at their home for the night! The home was just outside Seattle, on a small lake! We walked out on the silhouetted dock, surrounded by a blend of the black sky above, and the black water reflecting the sky, below. We talked and laughed as we made ripples along the surface of the black glass lake. Courtney and her brother, Rory, decided to jump in the lake, where I quickly followed. The lake was perfect, another much needed mental cleansing. The water was warm and the sky reflected stars as I floated on my back, and swam into the night.

That morning, after having the luxury of a bed, was greeted by more of Courtney’s amazing family, as we ate a delicious breakfast prepared by her dad! After, we packed our things and made our way into Seattle, dedicating the day to city exploration and a finger-tip-abuse vacation.

The day started at the first and largest REI store, and after a large loss of time, we managed to break away and explore the rest of the city!

Looking up at the Space Needle

The space needle was even more magnificent in person, and the Pike’s Place Fish Market was a fun way to watch a three-foot fish slip through the air, through the catcher’s hands, and into a tourist! Sweet!

A Sustainable Rain-Drain Idea

The first Starbucks was obviously calling us Cali-kids, and we were pleasantly surprised to an amazing a-cappella group (I think they were called 'A Moment in Time') singing the classic, ‘Lean On Me!’ just outside. Check the video out below!

A quick tour of the massively impressive public library,

and then we found ourselves at a coffee shop before heading back to Fran’s for the night.

A picture of random graffiti art in the city.

Fran invited us to stay at her place that night, where I found tons of old friends from Cal Poly who were there to celebrate Fran’s birthday! We reminisced of days at Poly, and shared stories of our current adventures! It was a great night of friends and smiles. A great time in a beautiful city. A much needed break for the sad looking finger-tips.

And today. Today we left Seattle, and drove north to Squamish. After countless hours of watching climbing videos from Squamish, I knew I would love this place. The drive was cloudy and rainy and perfect. When we crossed into Canada and got closer to Squamish, I got more and more excited as the towers of trees and rocks surrounded.

Squamish is even more beautiful than I had imagined, and I am so happy to be here. Of all the destinations on our trip, Squamish has been my main desire, and it is already filling my high hopes! We found our way to a local campground just at the base of an enormous crag, where each site is littered with climbing gear, crashpads, and hippy climbers! My friend Kent, who you might remember in previous writings, is coming to visit us here for a week, which I am so excited for! Also, a couple friends of Alex are joining us for some time in Squamish as well!

Driving into Squamish

I am excited to explore the love in Squamish, and see world class climbing routes, hopefully world class climbers, and get lost in the beauty of the fog, rock, and trees. Check out the video below of professional rock climber, Chris Sharma, climb an extremely difficult route called 'Dreamcatcher,' that is here in Squamish!

I am looking back already on our adventure so far, and am overwhelmed at how beautiful it has been! It is so amazing to see such beautiful places, and explore in a world that is just hours away. We have shared tons of stories so far with new and old friends, experienced new perspectives of travels, and are soaking in as much as we can. So little time seems to be a reoccurring thought. With all that we have seen, it is overwhelming to think that there is still so much world out there, so many sparks that need to be ignited!I hope I can make my way through this world, experiencing all that I can, and climbing that tree to love the world, to see the world, to bring passion to the world.

A quote of love and life...

"What we’re doing, you see, we’re just fumbling for matches in the dark. If you’re lucky, you might eventually just strike the right one.”

Much love. Many smiles. Positive vibes.

-Drew

Happiness was exactly what welcomed us back to Smith Rock after we left Portland. Smith Rock already felt like home to us, with quick trips back to Green Plow Coffee, and jumping back onto our familiar ‘project’ routes.

This time however, we had family with us! Alex’s family, Bob, Wendy, and his younger sister Michela, came to Bend (just south of Smith Rock) to vacation, and visit with us! They graciously let us sleep on couches at the rental place, while feeding us home-cooked meals and sipping on exquisite Biale Vineyards vino as we exchanged stories and laughs!

I am so thankful for the Biale family, and the love and welcoming they have shown me. It is a true blessing to be so immediately comfortable with a family of such great people, allowing me to feel not-so-distant from my own. Thank you Bob, Wendy, and Michela for sharing so much love. Also, I would like to point out that while Michela and I made some of the best chocolate chip cookies (two nights in a row) we sat on the kitchen floor in front of the oven as they cooked, allowing the dim oven light to tease our taste buds as the cookies inflated with goodness, reminding me of baking with my family, and my sister and I watching the cookies rise just the same :)

The next couple days we showed the Biale family what we had been up to in Smith Rock, and took them down into the canyon for some climbing. Hesitant at first, but completely stoked, each member of the Biale family made their way up the wall! It was amazing to watch as these first-time climbers made their way beautifully up the classic Smith routes! Bob even made his way up a 5.10 rated route, where he had Alex and I cracking up as he threw out heel hooks, knee-bars, toe hooks, and rests,as he chalked up like a pro! I understand now where Alex gets his drive, as I watched his dad push through a tough route, determination seeping all over the wall! Impressive to say the least! We even set up a ‘Mini-Monkey Swing’ for Michela, so awesome!

Bob on '9 Gallon Buckets'

Near the rental place in Bend, Alex and I wandered nearby through rock piles, in search of some bouldering. We found and established new boulders, and even got to put up some ‘first ascents’! A random thunderstorm placed us down under an overhanging boulder, allowing some time to smell the freshness of the nature around us, and giving our worn fingers a break.

Only hours were left in our time at Smith Rock, and the 5.13a project, Churning in the Wake, had still yet to see a clean ascent. Making our way to the crag, I could see that Alex was more focused than usual, and was in a perfect mindset to send the route we had tried so many times. After a quick warm-up, we tied in, absorbed some Biale family love, and Alex stepped up to the route.

Quick and easy movements halfway up the wall showed that he knew it well, and was strong to pull through the ‘no-rest’ route. As I let more and more rope out, Alex focused in. Ten feet below the final anchor point, he made smooth, methodical movements, strong and controlled. With a few quick shouts of encouragement, silence struck as we watched him pull the last move, reaching delicately to the last hold. Clipping the rope to the anchor point had cheers echoing through the canyon.

Alex slumped into his harness, swaying with a smile, conquering not only his first 5.13, finishing a project that was started when we first arrived in Smith, and completing the most classic 5.13 in Smith Rock, he did it in perfect style. Churning in Bliss.

Pulling through with strength and focus is how climbing routes are sent. I learned that my grandma was diagnosed with cancer, where strength and focus are also needed for success. I decided that I would show my strength and focus, and encouragement for my grandmother, by shaving my head. When I told Alex what I was going to do, he simply said ‘I will too’ without hesitation. I love Alex’s love for life, appreciation for life, and am so thankful that one morning in Smith, he stood by me as we shaved our heads, for something much more important. Shaving our heads was the least we could do to show our support for my grandmother, and all other cancer patients. We love you grandma, and are sending you our strength.

I love you Grandma and Grandpa!

With the immense amount of routes, and climbs yet to be discovered, it was a bittersweet ending of our time in Smith Rock. Yet needless to say, we were excited for our next home, and our next adventures!

Driving further north from Smith Rock to Leavenworth, Washington was full of another desolate drive, where we were kept wondering when the next town lay ahead! (Did you enjoy all of the 'W' words in that last sentence? You're welcome)

Come to find out, we passed only two small sketchy towns during our six hours on the road, and made the evolution of barren desert land to lush forest as we neared the promising Evergreen State.

Making our way through winding roads walled by tall trees, large jagged mountains began to show their face over the tips of the forest wall. The small town of Leavenworth had us questioning if our GPS had accidentally led us to a small European town in the Alps. Small Bavarian style buildings tucked together to create the quaint and beautiful town of Leavenworth. This small alpine village is nestled among the towering Cascade Mountains, creating a removed and cultured feeling.

We made our way through the town, Willkommen to Leavenworth on carved wooden signs made me think of when I visited my family in Germany! Sure enough, the smell of sizzling brats from the outdoor Munchen Haus beer garden was enough to perfect the ‘Sound of Music’ atmosphere. And to top it off, an old man in authentic lederhosen played authentic Bavarian tunes through the streets with an old accordion and huge smile on his face.

Fresh mountain air mixed perfectly with the Dutch architecture that housed restaurants with outdoor dining, as we watched couples share dinner over candlelight on the upper deck of rooftops. Leavenworth was unexpected, and completely magical.

For my amazing Oma and Opa

Night consumed the evening as we made our way to a local park. The park, just off of the main road, was a perfect spot to chill on the cool lawn and watch a movie. Yet after the movie finished, we realized we were at a loss of where we would sleep that night! Unfamiliar with the area, unwilling to pay for accommodation, and deciding that we needed some good ‘epic adventure stories,’ we grabbed our sleeping bags and a tarp, and started scoping out a place to crash for the night!

Laughing as we found a small shadowy area next to a wood pile on the outskirts of the park, we threw down the tarp, and our sleeping bags on top! A bit curious as to how the night would unfold, we talked and laughed as late-night park goers spotted us in the dark, dumbfounded as much as we were as to why we were there! Beautiful stars above, and cushiony grass underneath made for a seemingly comfortable night. And then the pitter-patter of rain changed that.

As I looked out from my sleeping bag, the cool rain tapped at my face. The sky immediately lit up as lighting struck, followed closely by the deep crackling of thunder above. Being too tired to move, and to in love with the thunderstorm, I let the rain slightly soak my sleeping bag as I watched the storm ensue.

My eyes wavered open and closed with the beat of the thunder, and as the rain hit harder I decided that maybe letting our sleeping bags become a soggy mess might not be a good idea. Waking Alex, we quickly took the tarp from underneath of us, laid our sleeping bags down, and pulled the tarp over us like a comforter. The tarp plastered against my face as the tapping of rain hit my tarp-face, while the condensation from my breath competed with the overall moisture in the air.

The rain eventually settled, and I tossed the tarp off of my face sauna. The clouds silhouetted against the moon, and the storm became beautiful in a new way. Again, I fell off to sleep, only to be awoken again at around 4:30am to the attack of a sprinkle, super-soaking our hideout. We quickly fell upwards and grabbed our stuff, moved to the center of the park at fell asleep, truly bums :)

Waking to the small town, we immediately made our way to climbing! The winding Icicle Road led us through old homes and winding hills. Boulders scattered along the roadside, where the rush of a beautiful river echoed below.

We climbed over all kinds of granite boulders, explored nearby hills, snacked on our meals (Clif Bars), and loved the outdoors all over again.

The surrounding peaks are full of climbing history and beauty.

As we made our way to a new area, we met our soon to be great friends, Logan and Natasha. They too were climbing in ‘The Forestland Boulders,’ and being locals, showed us the area! We met a bunch of other climbers in the area, but we were all soon driven away by a sudden rainstorm, warning from the thunderheads above!

Logan and Natasha invited to show us to their local coffee shop, Redbird Café! The hippy style, climber run, low-key shop was a nice, subtle place to relax after climbing. We sipped on coffeeish drinks as the rain slowly subsided. Logan and Natasha invited to show us around to more areas, and we soon found ourselves in a new bouldering area, where Logan showed us the perfect boulder to climb on during the rain. A huge cave was graffitied with chalk, where endless holds led to endless route possibilities, and endless fun! Soon other climbers who had the same idea came to the cave, and we all hung out under the overhang as the rain fell outside.

After leaving the cave with bloody fingertips (a definite stopper for the day), Natasha invited us for dinner! Near the parking lot were picnic tables where we combined ingredients, stoves, and drinks to make a delicious meal! Natasha cooked up and amazing tortilla soup, where we sat and ate out of pots, soup cans, and stove containers, and shared life adventures! Logan and Natasha are already life-long friends, and amazing people!

Later that night, Alex and I decided we needed to continue the trend of unique sleeping spots. After being turned down by hotel pools and spas, we began our search for that nights sleeping quarters. We found ourselves wandering through a local hotel, where big comfy couches called our names. Trying to not seem obvious, we fell asleep in the lobby, hoping that the night staff would assume we were staying in the hotel, and simply fell asleep.

Unfortunately, around 1am, the night staff caught on, and ‘asked’ us to leave. Dang! Haha. We pulled into the parking lot of the park, looked around, and tiredness decided that we would sleep in the car. Okay. Sure. Constant maneuvering and pillow placements consumed the night, until the sun woke us up, and the very comfortable night’s sleep was over.

We made our way to the Redbird Café where we finished some topos and emails. Inspired by the night’s sleep, I wrote out an email and sent it to every local hotel, asking if there were any open rooms for the night. Any offers? We shall see! The day followed with climbing along the Icicle Rd. again. We met more cool people, and climbed more amazingly beautiful boulders!

At the end of our climbing day, we were overwhelmed with kindness, and soon found out that a local hotel unquestioningly offered us a nights stay! The Adventure Inn, known for their love of outdoor adventure amazingly and kindly offered us a place to stay for the night! Overwhelmed and speechless, we found our way to our own suite, where two king beds, flatscreen tv, and a shower awaited!

I am currently sitting on a couch in the Adventure Inn, still shocked that I am here! We are so grateful of their kindness and housing for the night. If you are ever in Leavenworth, please check out the beautiful Adventure Inn at http://www.adventureinnleavenworth.com/
Goes to show that there are people out there who are genuinely good people, and who give willingly, and life is happy. Simple as that.

We are loving Leavenworth, and are so excited to continue our search for new and amazing bouldering! The next few days are hopefully involving more climbing with Logan and Natasha, deep-water soloing, bouldering in Goldbar, climbing in Index, and loving in the beautiful town of Leavenworth! After that we plan on spending at-least a day in Seattle, and heading to Squamish soon thereafter.

As always, thank you to everyone who supports us, who reads our blogs, and helps spread the love of climbing and our adventure! Of course, thank you to all of our sponsors! We have been meeting climbers who are aware and a part of 27Crags, before we even mention it. It is an exciting feeling to be recognized as the ‘27Crags Sponsored Climbing Bums!’

Much love and words on climbing coming soon!

Peace. love. adventure inn. adventure in life. strength in life.

-Drew