“I think that it could have been the water I made the Lemonade with last night. It came out of the creek by my house. Sometimes it gives me the shits – whatever it is just the shits” said Troy. “Oh, that must be it”, I responded. Near the top of Mt. Sir Donald, I was starting to shut down. My guts were inside out, my breathing was labored, and I didn’t have much strength. I felt like I was coming down with some sort of South American water bug. Most of the descent was in front of us. We had about a dozen rappels and 4,500 ft of walking downhill back to the car. Oddly, I could still see the humor in my situation despite my level of suffering.
I really wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or not, so I made the extra effort to back everything up and go slow. On my first rappel, I had to stop a few times and rest. My theory was to reach deep, and just keep going, slowly and eventually I be off the mountain and back at home in bed. Slowly, but surely we made it down.
I think that the NW Ridge of Sir Donald is certainly a classic , despite my passing a water born bug, or whatever was happening to me. Most of the rock is awesome, the route finding almost non-existent, and the scenery is unbelievable. It was an excellent day to most likely wrap up the alpine season for me.
The NW Ridge of Sir Donald
Looking across to Saphire Col, the Dome, and Mt. Bonney
Troy Grant having fun.
Looking south across the Illicilleweat and Deville glaciers from the Summit of Mt. Sir Donald
Skateboarding has always been a key staple in my life. I started when I was a little kid and 25 years later I enjoy it more than ever. Mostly I like to ride pools and vert. The interior of British Columbia is the land of mountains, snowboarding and climbing, not skateboarding. Skating in BC, is like snowboarding in Manitoba or Kansas. After a week of climbing in the Sierra, I spent a week in the Bay area skating. I ended up at Santa Cruz, Portrero, Rooselvelt, Pacifica, and Lake Cunningham. The parks in California are a bit different than most places in the west. Most parks are closed in the morning and evening, are protected by fences, and have staff that look after them. They feel more private than public. The bonus is they are clean. The architecture is typically different as well. In California, the good parks have a classic pool often with tile, nice coping, and vert. I really like riding those. Figuring out a way to live cheap and dirt bag is challenging in the Bay area. There are few places to camp and clean up.
I like skating a variety of stuff and within an hour drive you can hit up pretty much anything you want. The steep streets of S.F. are great, the parks offer great pools, the locals are pretty cool. With only a week, I didn’t hit up any backyard pools, but from what I’m told it is going off right now due to vacancies from foreclosures. The Lake Cunningham park is my favorite. I ended up there most evening, because it has a bunch of pools that can keep a visitor busy for a long time. I was treated to a Wednesday night session, with a bunch of guys that rip, including Cab. For me that session, was the best I’ve had in sometime.
Heaven.
Hello. This full pipe is so much fun.
Endless lines.
Santa Cruz has a great park. It is one of my favorite places in the Bay area to hang out.
The Lake Cunningham Skull Bowl is one of my favorite pools ever.
I love hanging out in the Sierra. Unlike BC, or the Cascades, the weather is usually bomber, for the most part there are no mosquitoes, there is no bushwacking, backcountry and car camping are as easy as it gets, and the mountains are granite. Life is easy.
For the past week Al Jones and I climbed some classic routes in the High Sierra and Tuolumne. Nothing to hard, or long – we just had fun.
The standard route on Fairview is pretty classic.
The classic Cathedral Peak. Easy and fun.
Al Jones hiking up to the North Ridge of Mt. Conness
We were psyched to be in the Whitney zone for the first time. We climbed the East Buttress of Whitney and planned to get up Mt. Russell, but we left due to T-storms. I got pretty inspired by the Keeler Needle and the Mitheral Dihedral on Russell. Next time.