Ferry Ride From Sausalito to San Francisco
Powell-Mason Cable Car Line
San Francisco, leaving you can be such a drag. Family vacay in C A ended yesterday.
One morning the ‘rents and I rode cable cars. A charming experience.
Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness Backpacking
3 days outside with my friend Brian and his dog Max. These are from the first day, where we camped at Rainbow Lake.
Asheville in the Summer
A little while ago I was in Asheville for a little while. This is what it looked like sometimes.
The Magnetic Fields – Take Ecstasy With Me
Originally appeared on their 1994 album “Holiday” with songwriter Stephin Merrit singing. Here Susan Anway sings. She was the vocalist for the first two Magnetic Fields records, Distant Plastic Trees (1991) and The Wayward Bus (1992) .
This version appears on the 1999 album “Merge On”, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their Durham, NC based record label, Merge Records.
Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing
A song by The Magnetic Fields. Specifically, the one and only Stephin Merritt. Beautiful.
Washington Column Day 2
You wake up in the morning hundreds of feet above the valley floor. Your day will consist of climbing. Your decision making energy is entirely directed towards climbing. For a brief period of time it is a simpler existence that reminds me of a main reason why I enjoy bike touring so much. Your objectives are clear.
Climbing Washington Column: Day 1
Finally the weather cleared and we headed out with our German friends Simon and Lawrence, to climb Washington Column.
I got to lead a pitch of 5.10 to skip a bit of a line that had formed at the second pitch. Definitely felt adventurous. I also did my first ever pitch of aid climbing in a pretty epic setting.
It was awesome to be climbing with Cole, who has quite a bit more big wall experience and the patience to teach the rest of us goobers.
More Cold Yosemite and Some Aid Climbing
The next day was cold, cloudy, and raining again. After a lazy morning we went out to practice aid climbing. Aid climbing involves carrying ladders made out of webbing to stand on and allows you to get up sections that would be almost impossible to free climb.
Our plan was to climb the south face of Washington Column as soon as the weather improved, which requires aiding.
