Skipping out early on Friday afternoon, Kristin and I picked up Moira and headed east on I84 towards Leavenworth looking forward to a couple of days of climbing. This was our first trip of the year to Der Bavarian Crackville, and we were definitely feeling the anticipation of climbing on granite for the first time in several months.
We woke up on Saturday morning at about 5 am and left for Snow Creek Wall. Kristin had never climbed Outer Space, so that was the main objective for the weekend. The last time we hung out with Doug and Moira, we tried the same route and got a late start, getting stuck behind several slow parties at Two Tree Ledge. After rapping off, we started up Champagne, only to get lost high up on the wall wondering where the hell the route went. That led to a late night of rappelling in the dark, which we were hoping to avoid this time around.
The early start helped, and we were racking up around 8-ish.
Snow Creek Wall was looking good on the hike in.
I was lucky enough to spend my weekend in the lovely Tieton River valley with Nate, Stephanie and Melanie. The flowers are just starting to bloom as spring creeps up from the shrub steppe into the forest. We spent Saturday at The Bend, shivering through a cool morning and then basking in the afternoon light. We climbed several of the cracks on the West Side, including Salmon Song, Treatment Bound, Sugar Kicks and Ambient Domain.
The highlight was definitely shooting Stephanie on lead on Hallowed Ground, 5.9.
Its been a few weeks since Kristin and I returned from El Potrero Chico, and hardly an hour has gone by that I haven't thought back on this amazing trip. Two-thousand foot walls of limestone, 700 routes, 15-minute approaches, $8 bottles of tequila, $5 camping, and $1 36-ounce beers. The numbers all add up!
I spent a day out at Trout Creek last weekend. The light never really cooperated because of some haze. I got a couple of decent shots, but the colors of the stone set against the sky don't really pop like they usually do up there during the late afternoon. I love this place but the next day I always feel like I got spit out of a meatgrinder.
We're off the Potrero Chico tonight! Sun, bolts and limestone.
I just discovered mapmyride.com, which is an on-line mapping tool that tracks your bike rides. Let's see how it works. Here's the ride I took this afternoon:
Galactic The Roseland Theater Portland, Oregon February 27, 2010
Halloween weekend 1998, I found myself in Las Vegas surrounded by a bunch of freaky kids who traveled from all corners of the country to see Phish dress up in a musical costume. I can't remember who came up with the idea, but I flew down there with my buddies Jason and Gene from Portland and landed a room in the giant neon green MGM Grand.
On Halloween night, Phish dressed up in the Velvet Undeground's Loaded and the Oh Sweet Nuthin just about blew my mind (check it out). The show let out but the party wasn't over. We had tickets to this up and coming young funk band from New Orleans that was supposed to play until dawn. Galactic brought the heat, and since then I've been catching them off and on when I can, mostly down in New Orleans for Jazz Fest. 12 years later and they're still at it, having become a main stay in the New Orleans scene. Collaborating with the young guns and the old timers, they've bridged the generations and updated the cajun funk sound for the 21st century.
Check out some footage from last year.
Last weekend Galactic rolled through town on a tour that will pretty much land them in New Orleans just on time for Jazz Fest. Kristin and I decided at the last minute to check them out, and we're glad we did.
The show was good, but if you compare the first two clips you can tell they were feeling the crowd more in their hometown venue. We still enjoyed our little taste of Nawlins here in Portland, and we're looking forward to a little more cajun love later this Spring. Will you be there?
We couldn't get 'er done without the generous support of our sponsors. They take our money, give us nothing and have no idea we exist. Here's to their support of the climbing community!
