The Way Up

Some of you may know that I spent a great deal of the 2014 season climbing in the Land of Giants: Bishop, CA. More specifically, I committed myself to climbing  only  in the Buttermilks, an intimidating and breathtaking place where I learned the value of perseverance and was often humbled by challenging, technical highballs that forced me to face my fears and build the mental fortitude to overcome them. And when I say that I only climbed in the Milks, I mean that – not once did I venture into the tablelands. Contrary to popular belief, my choice to stay in the Milks was not because I dislike the Happies or the Sads, but because I wanted to turn the Milks into my home crag, which is something I’d never had before. I wanted to learn all of its intricacies, to live and breath its history, to acquaint myself with a community of like-minded climbers, and to hone my skills in a place that is frequently described as world-class by the climbing community. The Land of Giants - ...

This wouldn't be an adventure blog if I didn't actually recap my adventures, right??? Once a year a few friends and I get together and go on a prolonged camping/hiking trip to somewhere amazing. Last year we hiked the South Kaibab Trail at the Grand Canyon, a 16 mile hike with a total of 4,000 feet elevation gain. We took our time, camped out at the bottom, and slept under the stars. It was a surreal experience and one that I'll likely never forget. This year we decided to go to Zion National Park in Utah, a place many of my friends have dubbed the most beautiful in the world, where we adventured for 5 days and spent some time getting to know the locals. In total we did three hikes: The Narrows, Angel's Landing, and Kolob Canyon. On day 1 we hopped on the 11am shuttle bus at Watchman Campground, which sits at the south end of the park, and took the bus all the way up to the Temple of Sinawava stop at the northern end of the park - a ride that takes ab...