I’m currently at the Laundromat doing my first load on this journey that has cost me money, and boy is it ever; 2.50 a wash and “50 cents to start” for drying! I got a buck out of a machine that kept spitting quarters at me though, right on! Good thing being a dirtbag means you wear clothes over and over again. You put them in piles that are roughly categorized by activity, how many times you have worn them and stankiness. If it wasn’t for my sheets that I forgot to wash back at Mike’s, I could have gotten by with one load for just over two weeks. Not too shabby if I say so myself.
Just another week in paradise I guess. I sent my first V5, Serengeti, up at the Happies last weekend. I also sent my first 5.11 the other day in the Gorge, and it was an .11b at it! I can feel my skin is getting tougher and I’m getting stronger. My pants are fitting a little looser also, although I didn’t really have much to lose. I bought a pair of climbing shorts the other day, size 32 and they are still a bit big!
I’ve been climbing with Matt and then we have also been climbing with a Canadian named Ian. Ian is a medical resident up in Victoria, BC. I wish I had a picture of him; he looks just like Luigi, ya know, Mario’s brother! YUP, he’s got the mustache, green sweat shirt and a beret type hat! We have been mostly climbing down in the Gorge and that’s definitely been testing my endurance. It’s good for me though, boulder some and get strong, then climb some and get endurance. One day we were bouldering up at the Happies and ran into some guys from Truckee. Greg and Rob were their names and said they would love to put me on some sweet problems and routes up there along with mountain bike riding! I love this place, meeting all sorts of new people that are willing to help you out. Well that’s the climbing community for ya.
( Lake Tahoe from my moving truck)
Speaking of Truckee, I went up there on Sunday afternoon for my interview and a date. I met Lauren online though one of them dating websites ( I figure it costs a lot less to do that then try to pick up women at the bar). We met at the Casa Baeza, a quaint little Mexican joint with really good food. I found out quickly though that things are going to be pricey in Truckee. A smallish meal there with two Coronas cost me 18 bucks! That and gas was somewhere in the vicinity of $4.50. Anyway, we had a good time talking and I like her. She said she wants to try to climb and I said I’m more than willing to show a noob the ropes. I drove out to Boca for the night and slept in my truck. I got up early and went into town and had coffee with Lauren in the morning at a little coffee shop and used bookstore. I then went to my interview and rocked the socks off of it. I got the job and will be working 20 hours a week as a watercraft inspector. I will have to do some mild disinfecting of boats and try to get people to take surveys. It’s a completely voluntary program as of right now to keep invasive species out of the local watershed. I have paid training on April 27-29th. I haven’t heard of anything from Jay, my campground host manager as of late. The snow wasn’t too bad when I was at Boca and I assume that by the end of the month I will have training for that also. Until then, I’m just going to bum here in Bishop and crush the rock!
( Geese at Boca Resevoir)
I baked for the first time in my trailer the other night. It was a bit chilly and I figured I might as well heat up the place a little by baking. I baked a dozen and a half muffins. For some reason, the bottom always is slightly burnt and the top is done. I think the oven doesn’t circulate well enough and that next time I’m going to break down and buy them damn little muffin cup things. I just eat the tops and insides and they are quite a delicious break from oatmeal, which is my normal breakfast with raisins and brown sugar.
( A typical breakfast for me )
At the Gorge the other day, we were invited to “The Zoo” in town here. It’s a older gentleman’s house named Paul who has some climbers live there and invites all the local climbers and some people from the pit to have “Family Night” at his house every Wednesday. What a great place! It has a sick ass home built woody that is covered outside, a sauna, and everything inside is outdoor adventure related. It’s such a laid back place with cool people. It was Frank’s birthday and they had more people than normal I guess. All in all, there were probably 30 people there or so, including Kevin Jorgeson. I know only you climbers (the two of you) that will ever read this will think that you have heard of that name before. Think of Evilution V12 in the Buttermilks in the movie Progression. For you non-climbers, this guy does super hard bouldering at 40 feet plus! Think serious injury or death if you fall!
Ian went down to Red Rocks (Las Vegas) to climb with his girlfriend the other day and I think Matt and I are going to go down and join them for two days early next week. We are planning on doing a 6 pitch (400 foot roughly) .10c. I’ve never done a multi-pitch route but I feel that if we run through a couple small things that it will be just fine. There is a couple 2 pitch routes in the Gorge and I’m guessing we are going to try our hand at some easy ones there first. Matt’s car gets 30-something mpg so the trip is going to cost me less than 50 bucks and it will be an amazing experience. I’m excited!
I’ll be happy to making some money in a couple weeks and living this lifestyle the last couple weeks has made me think about what I really want to do with my life. I keep running into folks that had “normal” jobs, end up hating them, and return to living free. I ask them what about the future and they say that living now and enjoying themselves is all they care about. I can see that point and want to live that way, but I think to have a plan for later is also necessary. I'm kind of torn on what to do after my jobs are done in October. Part of me wants to just dirtbag it and love life, aka ski job, campground host in winter down south, etc. Part of me wants to actually have a career, but the problem with a career is that you are tied down and only get two weeks of vacation a year. America is so backwards on that, they don't realize that people would get more done if they weren't as stressed as work. If people had more time to do what they want, they could be more productive and more happy at work. We need to take a lesson from the Europeans here. If I could settle in a place like Bishop with inordinate amounts of outdoor activities to do, then I think I could handle it. I could get out and do a bouldering session after work and go somewhere new on the weekend. I don't know, we will see how the summer goes and decide then I guess.Until next time, keep your stick on the ice!
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