Thesis Update: Number 1

My thesis has been started. I just thought you would like to know.

A few more pics

The rest of the weekend followed similar suite. Sleep in a tent, go climbing, go slack lining, sleep in a tent. I'm pretty sure I could have done this for SEVERAL more days.

Here are some more pictures from the great weekend!

Hexar on his way down from what appears a great lead with someone else in the background.

Here's The Group!
I look at this wall and wonder, how it's even possible to climb, it looks flat. It's possible! Maybe someday I'll do it cleanly (no falls!)
High Flying High Five!
That's me on the right, Nicole on the left. She beat me to the top.

Seattle Dreams Come True

Is the title a little dramatic? Perhaps, but it was a great Labor Day weekend. The first 3 things I packed for living in Seattle were my bike, rock climbing shoes, and tent. Up until just a few weeks ago, I had used my bike extensively (and continue to), but the tent and climbing shoes were rather lonely in the closet... until I met The Group.

For Labor Day weekend, The Group planned a 3 night camping and climbing trip to Skaha Bluffs near Penticton, British Columbia (that's in Canada!). After precisely 87 organizational emails, we were on the road for a 6 hour drive over the Cascade mountains and north into Canada.

Forty miles across the border and we neared our campsite. We drove right past all of the "sardine" campsites in the city, where everyone was packed like it was New York City, and on up into the hills. Our site put us twice as far from the rocks (an extra 12 min) but the extra space was completely worth it.

We settled in before sunset and headed out for dinner.

The next morning we headed out for a day of climbing. It was a quick and beautiful hike from the car to the base of the rocks, everyone with gear in tow.
Once we got to the rocks, there was a bit of confusion as to which routes to climb. For those interested in outdoor climbing, it is almost imperative to have a guide of the area you are climbing in. The guide has pictures of the routes along with the names (which can be entertaining), difficulty rating, and quality. Once again, see Kristina's Blog for more information on climbing terms.
We quickly got to climbing. Hexar, Michael, Abbie, and Kristina lead the way and strung a few ropes up for the group. We spent the next several hours going up and down the rocks... a beautiful day to spend outside.
After we were sufficiently fatigued from climbing, we headed to the nearby lake (where the sardine camping was located) for some slack lining, but not before "the guy with a blog" could snap a quick semi-group shot with his portable tripod.Slack lining consists of a nylon strap (like on your backpack) loosely strung between two trees. Participants then balance (or attempt to in my case) on the "slack line" and walk back and forth. Like most things simple, it's very addicting, with each attempt I was able to stand a bit longer. Hexar, the slackline master could walk forwards and backwards and almost could spin around!
The Group pulled together and cranked out some taco's and guacamole for dinner. Sarah (on the right) cranked out the guac, Nicole (in the white hat), chopped everything while Hexar manned the burners. Kristina... well... cleaned up! Everyone was hungry and the meal tasted great! While probably not the best meal anyone had ever had, it hit the spot. Nicole said it right "everything tastes great camping".

Day one, complete. More to come!

More Real Rock Climbering

The Group headed out again on Sunday for more climbing. This time to Exit 38, thus marking my 2nd time rock climbing. This time it was BETTER. I'm sure you might be thinking, how? We'll, the rocks had better grip and were taller! Much taller.

The wall that were climbed was about 100 feet tall, with routes that topped out at about 90 feet. Someone called my name after they finished lead climbing (thus the route was set up for top roping) indicating it was my turn. I started climbing, paused for a moment and was feeling pretty good. I continued for a bit longer until I realized I was getting a bit tired. I then looked down and noticed that I was really high up there. I then looked up and realized I had a LONG way to go!!! I wasn't even half way!

I continued to climb, saving my arm strength for as long as I could and taking "standing breaks", where your weight on your feet and your arms can rest. While you can always rest using the rope and harness, if you do that, to me the route doesn't count as a successful completion because you needed the rope to take a break.

I got within an few feet of the top, my arms were on fire, the rope anchor was in sight, and I had NO WHERE to put my feet. Knowing my arms would give way soon and being so close, I threw all "climbing technique" out the window. I called down to my belay-er Gwendolyn "I'm going for it!", giving her warning that I may be falling soon! There I stood, 85 feet off the ground. I looked up and JUMPED, leaping for the next hand hold hoping it would provide a decent grip because if it doesn't, I'm gonna fall (only a few feet because of Gwendolyn's killer belay skills). My hand made perfect contact with the next hold and stuck like duct tape to itself! I made a last effort to pull my weight up, reached out and slapped the top of the rope and then joyfully relaxed into my harness, 90 feet off the ground!!! Incredible!

The afternoon continued into the evening with several other climbs up and down this wall of rock. We hiked back to the cars in the dark and headed back into town, with the real world facing us the next morning!

Enjoy a few pictures!

Rockstar Kristina lead roping with green shirted Jere lead belaying. Look at all that gear (including helmet... safety first!)!

My first repel, thanks to the instructional help of Kristina. Yes, it was awesome.
Tony and Kristina working their way up the 90 foot wall!
A look down at the two belay-ers!
The base of the wall!
My view from a little over half way up. Sorry for the blur, my hands were a bit shaky
This coming weekend, The Group is heading up to Skaha, British Columbia - a sport climbing mecca - for a 3 day camping and climbing excursion! Once again, more pictures to come!

Real Rock Climbing

Here it is! The day I've been waiting for... my first time real rock climbing! The Group decided (after approximately 53 reply-all emails) that they would be heading out to The Exits on Friday. I quickly found out what they meant by "the Exits". At exit 32 and 38 off of I-90 there are some pretty good rocks to climb and they are only about 30-45 minutes away from downtown Seattle. Not a bad gig.

I headed out straight after work to meet up in the parking lot. We then hiked about 7 minutes up to the wall through gorgeous Northwestern forest. And there we were, at the base of the first rock wall I will ever climb! We dropped our packs and started gearing up - harnesses, ropes, carabiners, chalk bags, and ATC's!

*For a complete definition of climbing terms that may be use in this post and in future, please refer to Kristina's blog post on climbing.

The climbing started with Old Brad (I'm new Brad) leading a nice route with a 5.10 difficulty rating. He descended from the top and look at me and said "your turn".

I handed him my camera and approached the rocks nervously - arms still a bit sore from the climbing two day prior. I shook out my arms one more time, conducted on last setup safety check and thought "here goes nothing!"

"On Belay," I called checking to make sure my belay buddy was ready. "Belay On," I heard back. "Climbing!" I announced. "Climb on!" came back. I put my hands on appropriate starting holds and stepped up onto the rock with my feet. I then shifted my glance from my feet to my hand and started the ascent.

It was amazing! There were so many different holds and so many different ways to climb the same route! I couldn't believe how many different natural rock formations fit your hand so well or how a very small lip could easily support your weight without slipping! With a few blunders and peeling off once, if I recall correctly, I made it to the top. It wasn't pretty, but it was FUN! Next route, I'll try to clean up a bit!

The routes were between 35 and 60 feet high! Looking at rock walls, I still find it hard to believe that someone, let alone me, could climb up the side (with proper safety equipment of course).
One group member, Abbie, brought her dog along, who apparently got pretty bored with all of our vertical ascending!

This was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had and look forward to the next opportunity climb, which come to find out, is sooner than I think. I couldn't thank The Group enough for including me on this adventure and future ones! Hello Exit 32 come Sunday! Stay tuned!

Climbering

I'm jumping ahead along my summer timeline, but this is worth it. I recently met a group of people who frequently go rock climbing and welcomed me to join them!

My first outing with "The Group" was to Marymoor Park, a large park in Seattle home to baseball diamonds, a velodrome, outdoor movies, big name concerts, and a man-made outdoor climbing wall. This manmade wall was a great warm up for me, it had been about 2 years since I climbed last (I don't count climbing at leadership camps such as Outward Bound or the Warren Center). This was also my first official time climbing outside!

The wall simulated real rock since it wasn't a flat wall with distinct holds like most indoor gyms. This presented a new challenge. Instead of knowing where you next hand must go (due to the clearly marked route), I had to feel around to see what I liked best. This meant I have to make sure I have a good hold before I start searching for the next hold because it can take longer than I expect!

The weather was once again beautiful and many people were out climbing!

Even kids!

Man Made Mountains!!!
My new climbing friends Kristina (on wall) and Gwendolyn (on belay). These girls can kick my butt climbing!

We enjoyed climbing, talking, and sitting around eating our brown bag dinner. I made several 'friends' outside of "The Group" with the large pan of rice crispy treats that I brought to share. It was a great day knocking off my climbing rust! I have a long way to go, but it's coming back quickly... it needs to come back quickly because my next climb will be on real rocks in two days! More pictures to come... much more!!!

Jason Visits!

My college buddy Jason came in for a weekend, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! Despite some flight delays, we had a very enjoyable fun filled weekend.

We started by heading up north to Mulkiteo where I had a volunteer event. After the event, we headed to the local beach for lunch at Ivar's and enjoyed the view.

On the pier, people were crab fishing. They had fishing poles with this cage on the end. They would cast the cage into the water and swiftly pull up some crab!

We returned to the city and headed over to Seattle Center for one of my favorite games... bocce ball. It was a beautiful afternoon to throw 3 lbs balls around the open fields.

We ate dinner at Peso's, a great mexican restaurant with an incredibly intricate bar. They ALWAYS have good music playing as well.

On Sunday, we explored Seward park. This park one of many located within the city limits of Seattle, yet you feel like you are very far away!

In the afternoon, we went paddle boarding. It looked pretty interesting, and it was a lot of fun to go out into the middle of Lake Union, but I'm not sure that I would do it again. Next activity on that lake... kayaking!

Come visit Seattle when it's beautiful while you can!!! The rain is coming!

Another bike ride

No Mercer Island yet, but here are some shots from a different ride. I went down to the water front near downtown Seattle like I usually do, but this time I had my camera with me.

Here's a shot of Pier 70 where MTV's The Real World: Seattle took place back in 1998! Not quite as cool as it looked on TV.

Here's the water fountain near Pier 70. There is a statue of a boy concealed by the water spraying high into the air.
A beautiful sunset.
The view south!
I found these clouds to be intriguing. To me, each row of clouds looked like it had the profile of a wing.
Ahh, the sunset again. But here's a good example of beach and saltwater with a mountain backdrop.

Gardenteering!

I volunteered at another Seattle Works event. This one was at a local food pantry garden. The garden grows a bunch of great food for the local pantry. And to think I always thought that food pantries only had non-perishable goods.

It was fun to get into a garden, pull some weeds and do some weed eating. It reminded me very much of growing up with a garden in the backyard... only this one was MUCH bigger.

We worked in crews and headed down the rows of beans pulling weeds. Pretty basic work but it needed it!
Action shot!

Biking Around

Most days afterwork, I head home and either jump on my bike for a ride or throw on my running shoes for a jog. Each time I head out, I try to take a different route, exploring a different part of the city. It helps me learn where I live (I like to know my area) and find things that many people don't know about... like hidden gardens or great views. Sometimes I'll even take my camera and snap a few shots. Here's some pictures from one of those trips.

I set out for Discovery Park, a park seated nicely on Puget Sound near the Magnolia area of Seattle. I had been there before on my bike, but didn't realize there was a lighthouse out on the western most point. My trek out to the point lead me down a very steep hill... VERY steep. I briefly let off my brakes and hit 41 mph before I even realized it!!! We'll just say that was a lot of fun on the way back.

I got out there and jumped off my bike to walk the remaining yards down the sandy trail to the lighthouse. The house itself wasn't quite as tall as I was expecting, but nice no-the-less.

The Puget Sound is one of the few areas that I'm aware of where when sitting on a salt water beach and looking out across the water you see mountains! And if you look to the south, you can see Mount Rainier as in this picture... look closely where the green coast on the left descends into the water in the middle, there is a faint outline of Rainier in the background.
On my way back, I stopped at the Chittenden Locks, famous for the fish ladder built opposite of the locks. Here is a picture of the locks:
And here's the fish ladder. Apparently, salmon smell the fresh water and are attracted to it. They then swim up these various ladder rungs until they are on the freshwater side of the dam.

Here's the dam! The white tubes are how fish go back to the ocean. The tubes have sensors in them for tracking/counting fish to study migration habits. Kinda cool!

As you can see, it was a great day for a ride. I think I put in about 23 miles that day! Someday soon I plan to ride around Mercer Island, that should clock in at around 30 miles... we'll save it for a weekend.