Weeks 29-32: Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Canada

Woah it's August, and real life is an impending concern. Thankfully, it's not September yet.

So far -

Been stoked on climbing but also feeling a bit of burn out

Been thinking a lot about what to do with my life

Been happy meeting up with friends on the road

Been feeling like I'm on a good path

Been on this journey to nowhere and that's cool

Weeks 25-29: Australia, Oahu, California, Oregon, Montana ft. music

Sunrise over Hood

Finally back in the states after a round the world climbing trip. The past few months have been full of great rock climbing, catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, and exploring new places.

Weeks 12-24: Nepal, Thailand, China, DC, NRG, Hawaii..

Thailand beaches ain't bad

Writing this in Australia now, and am currently visiting family in Melbourne. The past few months have been such a whirlwind of experiences. From trekking in the Khumbu to graduating from Georgetown; I couldn't have imagined where I would be just a few months ago. 

Weeks 9-11: Morocco and France, Nepal tomorrow

In front of the Blue Gate - Fes, Morocco

Morocco was a mix of emotions. Joy to be in a beautiful country - full of unreal landscapes, a rich history, and intricate architecture; but also frustration, to be constantly harassed. Traveling with my friend Emily, you would think we would have strength in numbers, but no. As two women traveling in Morocco, it was annoying to say the least. Of course, I tried to make fun of the cat calls and continuous commentary (we dressed modestly too!); but it really made me hate cities. Thankfully, we jumped ship to the desert and the mountains.

Weeks 7-8: Spain

Another few weeks have gone by, and it's been a crazy adventure being out here in Spain. My friend Emily and I have gone on a mega road trip and almost circumnavigated the country.
We started in Barcelona, drove to El Chorro to climb, drove to Portugal/Beach day, drove to La Pedriza to climb, and finally are in Margalef/Siurana to climb. We will be taking off to Morocco next week to explore the desert and ocean.

I'm definitely glad to have checked out Spain because the whole country has so much to offer in terms of rock climbing, good food, great culture, and tons of history. Along our roadtrip, Emily and I made detours to check out Alhambra in Granada, Manzanares Castle, climbing gyms and of course eat authentic spanish food.

Weeks 4-6: Where did the time go?

Pollones and Piergiorgio

Week 4 - Can’t believe I’ve been here over a month now. This past week has been full of different backcountry adventures. Chris and I went to go attempt the Filo Norte route on Cerro Domo Blanco, but we decided to bail because we needed 2 ice tools, some steel crampons, and more stoke. The next day, my ankle was feeling a bit better and I decided that I wanted to go on a trail run. Little did I know that this trail run would morph into a 37 mile affair. I wanted to do the Los Huemules trek but realized 60 miles would be a bit ambitious for a day.

Week 3: Cumbres

Love at first sight

Another week in summer camp and life is pretty good. Sent Brian off after a great meal at la Senyera/Domo Blanco and he's back to the US for the season. Found a partner  - Tim - at the local climbing gym to get out to the mountains with and had a ridiculous weather window with a lot of sun and no winds. Tim and I went to go climb De L'S and Mojon Rojo. We initially wanted to climb two routes of De L'S  - Voie Fisher and Austriaca. We ended up off route at the start of the day and made it to pitch 3 in a chossy blank corner. This is where we realized Patagonia couldn't possibly be this sandbagged. I ended up lowering Tim to a knob we could rap off of and then down climbing this blank face corner thing whilst almost shitting my pants. Sent the down climb thank god. We got to the base of another route Cara Este at 12pm and decided we could probably make it up and down before nightfall. We summited around 3:30pm after climbing 450 meters and got back down to the base at 7:30pm (after getting our rope stuck and a few shorter raps). Still plenty of time to get down from the glacier and back to camp, given a 10pm sunset down here. 

The next day Tim's feet could not fit in his climbing shoes because of bad blisters. We decided to call off trying to get up D L'S again and instead scrambled up Mojon Rojo and scoped out the glacier crossing to different routes. What they don't tell you about 4th class scramble up Mojon Rojo is that the last 10 ft is the crux. There is definitely a V1-2 boulder problem at the summit - which I found hilarious. There are really no non-technical peaks down here when even the scrambles seem committing. After coming down, we moved our camp to the most scenic campsite I think I have ever stayed at - look at the video below. We jumped in the lake and it was by far one of the best decisions of the day. We were both sunburned after the day on the glacier without any winds/clouds. For me, it was a new sensation to wear shorts on a glacier, be mostly sunburned and step into ice cold crevasses. A good analogy for this feeling - it's like being burned alive on an ice cube; needless to say we basically ran down the mountain in the afternoon. Coming back to town post climb I found flowers, apple pie, brownies, and cookies waiting for me on the kitchen table. This just goes to show that Chris is a gem of a human being. 

A few more days of bad weather is in the forecast and I'm not sure yet where I will be for the next weather window, but I am pretty damn stoked and humbled to be here. What I didn't realize until this past trip was how big the mountains are here. The routes here are long and the approaches even longer; and the hardest part of the climbing here isn't getting up to the cumbre, it's getting yourself safely down. We got our ropes stuck twice and lucky for us they were easy scrambles to get back to the rap station. But just imagining how hard it would be to be rapping a massive route, with wind and weather coming in; it's easy to see how people die here. There's been a lot of accidents/deaths that have been taking place down here just in the past few weeks and I think it's essential to understand the seriousness of climbing in these mountains. I think we are all super stoked to climb and when there is good weather it's easier to make rash decisions without carefully examining/communicating the objective hazards of pursuing any route here. At the end of the day, the mountains will be here long after we're gone and if conditions aren't right there is no need to go up

Photo Drop:

Average rest day afternoons

Brian's send off at Domo!

Sunsets in town

Last pitch :)

In awe here

Tim on the de la S!

Sunburned or stoked?

Cumbre de Mojon Rojo

So damn beautiful

Best campsite yet

Coming home to this scene, thanks Chris!

Week 2: Summer Camp continues

Having a great time down here. Was initially pretty bummed about spraining my ankle on my second day here, but it's healing up nicely. It's nice getting in some fun summer camp activities - bouldering, slacklining, sport climbing, cooking, eating lots of pastries (facturas). Even got to "run" up Cerro Solo with Jason and Brian a few days ago. Now just resting a bit, before the next weather window. Hoping to get out to more mountains soon.

Photo drop:

Jason on the tyrol over the river

Layering up

Ridge traverse

Classic mountaineering

Little steep here

Fitz in the distance

Los chicos

Magical place

Cerro Solo

Post climb meal, lamb stew

Brownie @ the chocolateria

View from the chocolateria

Brian on the line

Jason the line magician

Brian warming up on a 7b+

Painting a bit here

Windy mountains

Chris and Brian full send