Fire destroys that which feeds it. - Simone Weil

As most everyone knows, Mt Humphreys has been burning for the last week. It started last Sunday when some campers failed to extinguish their camp fire. This photo was taken the first day just one block east of my house.
This photo was also taken the first day by someone hiking up the east side of the mountain only to summit to the site of the west side on the mountain burning. I took this photo from his blog where he has many more amazing photos. Just click on the photo below and it will take you to his blog.


So at this time the fire is pretty well under control, with mop up operations still underway. I guess things could have been worse, but most of the east side of the mountain burned, along with a lot of the trail that I was running on as training for the Imogene race. If all goes well they say that people will be allowed back on the mountain by July 21.

When in doubt, go BIG

June 19th and 20th, the team heads back to the Enchanted Tower. We all have high aspirations but we are feeling fit and ready to send.
On Saturday after warming up, Kim and I start working our projects before they go into the sun for the afternoon. Unfortunately neither of us sent in the morning, but we decided to give them one more try in the evening after the sun had set. This strategy proved successful for me at least as I sent the 115' long "Ripped Van Winkle" with the last bits of light left in the day!

Jeff pulling into the second half of "Ripped Van Winkle"
Sunday morning we were up bright and early again, and Kim was highly motivated as usual. This time it did pay off and she sent her route "David" first try of the day.

After Kim's send, we headed over to the Frog Prince wall where our friend from Salt Lake City, Elizabeth, decided she wanted to climb the short, yet extremely steep and powerful, "Frog Prince". After a quick session to learn the moves, she made short work of that route!
And so was the end of another trip to the Land of Enchantment.....but.......to be continued.........

Interdisaplinary Programs

XKCD
I always knew I wanted to be a Physics major. They get to do the best experiments.
There is a link to this website over on the right side of the blog under "My Blog List". I know I talk about it regularly so more of you should check it out.

The Enchantment Continues....

We returned to New Mexico and the Enchanted Tower this past weekend for more long, steep, pocket pulling. Kim and I decided to get on "Zee Wicked Witch" 12c, one of the 35m routes on the front side of the tower. Essentially 2 routes stacked on top of each other because of the Jack Daniels pit stop, rest, in the middle of the wall, this routes provides a good 20 minutes of time on the rock.
Both Kim and I sent the route in short time and then we moved onto another link-up, "Ripped-Van-Winkle" 12d. This route combines the first half of Goliath, with the second half of Zee Wicked. It provides a harder first pitch, no rest, and the same hard crux finish as the previous route. There was no quick send here but it is one big step closer to sending Goliath!
After the long weekend of climbing we stopped at our favorite Pie shop in Pie Town, NM, for a tasty treat before the long ride home. What a great way to finish the weekend!

and Happy Birthday J-Mo!!

Ribs, Running, and Rock Climbing

Summer is in full swing and there is lots of activity going on.
Jonathan and I recently did an 11.7 mile run up and around the dry lakes of Mt Elden. It was really great and it felt pretty fast (at least for me). I do think that I need to start getting higher on the mountain to train at elevation more for Imogene.


Saturday I went up to the Peaks sport climbing area for the first time. Sam and Kim were in on the action. The rock in Dacite, which I have almost no experience climbing, so it was an educational day but still a lot of fun. Kim and I did some warm up and attempted some 12's, and Sam gave one of the several unsent projects a try.

And then there are the recovery days. Ribs, Ribs, and Ribs. 4 consecutive days this week. Yes I am a little worried that I will lose to much weight with all the running , but really I just LOVE RIBS! Nothing fuels the fires like Pork!

"Watch Yer Topknot"

I am of course quoting the great movie "Jeremiah Johnson". Just goes to show that tough men throughout history have been sporting the 'Topknot'!
But I digress , the holiday weekend of Memorial Day came upon us and along with some new recruits we headed to New Mexico and The Enchanted Tower. We were not the only crew with that idea but the days were long and I think everyone got in enough climbing to satisfy that urge.

Of the crew of mountain men, and women, was Jonathan. Another high energy addition to the crew.



Jonathan on Grendel
And then there was Hillary. New to the sport climbing game, but check out that Topknot. She's a natural!!
And then we have the Warrior Elite. Check out Kim sending "Shipwrecked" 12c. It used to be 12d but somewhere along the line got downgraded. It's not like the mono's got less mono-ie.
Look Ma, I can use photoshop!

I really like this next shot because of the rope. Kim can throw that rope out when I need it with ninja-like speed and Samurai reflexes. That's one awesome belayer!

Cherry Picking

Sam, Ana, Travis, and I went out to Cherry Canyon and I had them show me around. There are actually a lot of good problems there, the only problem is that all of the problems are so hard that they are a problem for me. We had a great time though and Travis took some really good photos of the days action.