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 - ...

I was restocking product at my seasonal job with Patagonia this afternoon when the weight of 2014 came crashing down upon me. The emotions I felt were so overwhelming, I had to hold back tears of grief, of sorrow, of joy… All of these feelings I’d been holding inside of me for what seemed like an eternity, too stubborn and proud to let them out. I have survived , I told myself, and I will continue to survive. By God, I still hope that I’m right. To tell the truth, this last year has been one of the hardest years of my life. In 2014 I let myself get stuck in a destructive relationship, experienced my hardest breakup yet, worked within a company that I felt did not appreciate my voice or my experience, and was laid off from my job just before the holidays. The world felt like it was falling from beneath my feet, and every time I tried to re-lay the foundation it would just crumble apart again. I tried not to let these hardships that I knew would serve as important learning experien...

Well, well, well... It's nice to be back old friends. I know I've been gone for a while and honestly, it's because I've been trying to figure life out since graduating back in May (it hasn't been easy). So here I am to tell you that one of my resolutions for 2014 is to try and post more frequently on this blog. Now, a lot of things have changed since my last post which means that I'm totally revamping this blog and giving it a new name which I plan on revealing to you shortly. ;) But first I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone. It's not a big deal, it's just a little tradition I have every time I ring in a new year. On the eve of the new year I generally come up with a... title for the year. 2013 was called "Back In The Saddle," which started as me planning on horseback riding a LOT but that turned into something else entirely. Reflecting back on 2013 "Back In The Saddle" has become a term for picking myself...

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...