The CragBaby

Hanging out in Venice, Italy with Warren and Joe.

For the past six years, I have taken either a foreign vacation or temporarily moved to a new U.S. destination. I have always gone solo, except for the 2007 trip where I met up with one of my dear Irish friends. The line up has included:

• 2002 - Denali Park, Alaska - I moved to Denali for a four month stint in order to earn money for school by waiting tables. However, unlike most folks, I worked only 5 days per week (equaling at least a 50 hour work week) and spent the weekends backpacking through the beautiful park. I saw tons of wildlife (bears, caribou, wolves, moose, mosquitoes of unbelievable size), fished in Valdez (caught my first and only salmon) but most surprisingly somehow caught a glimpse of Denali every weekend. I absolutely love Alaska. Seriously a breathtaking, wonderful place that has a very special place in my heart.
• 2003 - Europe - I backpacked around for six weeks hitting up parts of England, Scottland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. It was the typical whirlwind American trip, but real fun and the fist time out of the country on my own. I met a good handful of dear friends, such as this rockstar and a couple of these rockstars.
• 2004 - Chicago - I took a semester off school to go intern on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. What an eye-opening, learning experience! At first I was unsure if I would like the city as I am an avid outdoorsy girl. Yet, it was quickly evident, upon moving there, that Chicago is a fantastic city with a superb arts scene, restaurants and of course sports. Go cubs!
• 2005 - China - I spent a month backpacking through China. Yes, I did this trip alone as well. It was a hard “vacation” due to major cultural differences and being continually sick … but fun none-the-less. I met a couple of very dear friends who I ended up traveling with for about 2.5 of the 4 weeks, plus had the chance to do a little climbing in Yangshuo.
• 2006 - Ireland - The China trip was quite exhausting, so I decided to go to a place in 2006 where I could at least speak the language. I was in the country for 2.5 weeks and had such a superb visit. Ireland is one of the friendliest countries as people continually offered to help me out, chat over a pint, etc. I also met a superb group of climbers, two of which I have become good friends with and who I often reference on this blog as HIP #1 and HIP #2. One of the main highlights was my birthday. As many of you know, my birthday is a BIG DEAL to me. This year I was hanging out with the fantastic crew of climbers, climbing in the Burren over my birthday weekend. I felt so lucky.
• 2007 - Thailand - This trip was the first trip where I met up with and traveled with a friend, HIP #1. We met in Bangkok and immediately traveled to Tonsai, where we spent the majority of our 2.5 week vacation. Tonsai might have been the best vacation yet because I was in a climber’s paradise surrounded by handfuls of beautiful beaches, enjoying all of it with one of my best friends.

This year I am traveling with my friend and current room mate Shaft. We are heading up to Squamish next Friday and will be gone until the 22nd. We are actually driving (gulp) as it is quite a bit cheaper and it will allow us to stop along the way (perhaps to visit some friends of mine in Seattle, stop to check out Rainier or possibly even stop in Oregon to climb…all still up in the air though). I am real excited as I feel in dire need of a vacation.

If you have traveled to Squamish, I would be real interested in chatting with you about your beta on climbs, places to camp, activities for rest days, etc. Feel free to post up in the comments or send an email to wasatchgirl at gmail.com.

I rarely post the same information, let alone the same post, on both the Wasatch Girl and the Crag Baby. I like to keep the sites distinctly different, but make an exception on certain occasions. I consider this to be one of those occasions. Here is the last post from the Wasatch Girl .

As many of you local readers and twitter-ers already know, one of the fellow technologist in the area, Phil Burns , learned this past week that his 22-month-old daughter, Serenity, has leukemia. Incredibly heart breaking news, but with the upside that she has immediately started chemotherapy and should be able to survive. His previous business partner, Jesse Stay , has created the Chip In Widget where donations are directly deposited into the Burns’ paypal account. The goal has been increased to raise $1,000 by June 23 and Jeff Barr has committed to donate an extra 15% to the final amount. I have integrated the Chip In Widget on both of my blogs on the right hand column.

I have gotten to know Phil through a handful of his startups and by following his online presence. He is a good guy willing to take the continual risk of being an entrepreneur in order to provide innovation to many. I would urge you to help him out in this time of need.

For the past couple climbing seasons I have strived to travel out of the Salt Lake area frequently to explore the dozen+ other crags within a 5 hour driving radius. This year is quite different. I realized that I am in my 5th year of climbing and have yet to explore numerous lines right here in Salt Lake City. I will definitely get out of town on occasion, but am pretty psyched on checking out all that the local crags have to offer.

A couple weeks back Shaft and I headed up to the S-Curves with the sole goal of hitting up a handful of the lines we had never tried. The S-Curves are in Big Cottonwood Canyon located, unsurprisingly, at the huge curve in the road that resembles an S. The crags in this area include the Pile, New Cliche and the Lower and Upper S-Curves.

The above pic shows the view of the lower S-Curves from the road. The big roof houses three lines, none of which I have ever done: Dog Eat Dog (three star 5.13d that is the front picture of the Wasatch Guide), S-Curve Overhang (two star 5.11c) and High Life (two star 5.12c). The first pitch to all three of these climbs is a 5.4 trad line. Hmmm… I didn’t realize this until writing this post. I should definitely go check out the 11c.

The S-Curves can be quite deceiving. For instance, Ionic Binding is a 5.9+ on the lower wall that I often use as a warm-up yet have never climbed without getting a flash pump. There is the poorly bolted 5.11a, Megalopolis, that I have only hopped on once and never returned, noting in my book “pretty burly!” And then there is Madison Avenue, 5.10d, that I have ran twice and still described in my book “weird holds.” Basically, you just never know what you are going to get.

Shaft at the top of Geronimo, hanging out on a fantastic belay ledge. Across canyon snow still lingered with the Millstone being completely covered.

This particular day Shaft and I only had a couple hours so did a lap on Clean Underwear (5.9) and Geronimo (5.8) and then did a couple laps each on the upper pitch of Geronimo named High Dive (5.11b). High Dive was extremely fun, resembling a Black Monday, but with more traverse rather than vertical moves. Most of the holds were huge jugs with a cruxy and crimpy little top out finish. Fun, fun, fun! The book gave this climb one star, but I would up that to at least two.

Me real smiley at the top of Geronimo.

I absolutely love craigslist . Where else can one find such quality posts?

Yep, free lawn flamingos… one with a bullet hole in the back. I am gnome-less but these babies could still be mine! Sarcasm aside, I actually thought about picking these up to have them waiting in the yard when Shaft came home. He he he… it would have been so funny.

Favorite line of the post: "Diapers are often used as contraceptive devices, though I accept no responsibility for any accidents or unwanted pregnancies."

Poor Snowman. Poor, poor snowman.

For continual entertainment subscribe to Best of Craigslist or the Missed Connection feed. Funnily enough, Shaft has known two people referenced in Missed Connections.

Little Cottonwood Canyon houses numerous boulders and routes, most of which on granite rock. The majority of the routes are traditional lines with a few sport routes (one of which being All Chalk and No Action) with boulders sprinkled throughout the whole canyon. The canyon rock is known for its small features that are superb when the temps are in the 40 - 55 degree fahrenheit range, but can be nearly impossible at warmer temps, making the grades often feel sandbagged.

A couple weeks back, Shaft and I ran up to the Five Mile area as I am working smiley left. The funny thing is I almost topped out this project last summer at a night bouldering session (the least likely time to climb in LCC) but am struggling to get off the main rail with the optimal temps. Argh.

Smiley Left beta. It actually looks as if a foot hold fell off; however, I am pretty positive it was a foot hold I wasn’t using. Oh well… I will use it as an excuse anyway. He he he.. just kidding. =)

Shaft on the warm up slab.

Shaft on the Surfboard.

With this erractic weather, LCC season (especially as of last weekend) was over as the temperatures soared into the 90s. Thankfully a storm has blown in allowing me to hop on some boulders with Katie, Shaft and new friend JR on Monday. Perhaps this storm will allow LCC season to last just a tid-bit longer.

I like to try and support the local entrepreneur, especially considering I work in venture capital . The local establishment of highlight today is 4th Street Laundry located on 4th East and 1700 South.

When I moved into the area I decided I would try out this laundromat to wash a bunch of sleeping bags. Like every laundromat I have ever frequented, it was pretty (to be honest) ghetto when I walked in with the somewhat dirty floors. However, I was pleasantly surprised on my return visit. I had forgotten my sleeping bags and had to pick them up the next day. Upon walking in the lady behind the counter immediately said hello and introduced herself (her name being Rita) and told me how she had owned the establishment for 30 years. She was so extremely friendly and had gone out of her way to ensure my sleeping bags were completely dry and bagged up for me. I had brought some dry cleaning with me to drop off and she insisted that I just pay for the sleeping bags when I pick up my dry cleaning as it would be more convenient.

The service of 4th Street Laundry is phenomenal and their dry cleaning prices far beat out Red Hanger.

Shaft bought me the nicest gift, The Free Spirit. She is a beautiful cruiser, previously owned (my favorite type of gift), purchased from craigslist, a little rusty, only has one gear but now (thanks to Shaft) fashions a basket, bell and kickstand. I love her.

Whew. Pure beauty! I was so thrilled upon receiving her as it was completely unexpected and exactly what I had been looking for on craigslist.

Ever since I received this beauty, Shaft and I have cruised to the our local coffee shop on the weekends. CB typically trots alongside, but I have started to train her to actually lay in the basket (with a little mesh covering protecting her) in prep for the longer ride to the downtown Farmer’s Market (which starts in a couple weeks). Yeah, we somewhat resemble the Wizard of Oz..

It is amazing how much rock is in Utah. I have been climbing 4 years (this season will be my 5th season) and there are still canyons I have yet to explore. I finally made it to Echo a couple weekends ago with Screamer, Mr. Math (who will from here on out be called Bold-er), Barlow and new friend Adam.

The rock in Echo is similar to that of Maple and lower City Creek, being a conglomerate composition with medium sized stones. Conglomerate does not make up my favorite rock lines as it is anything but aesthetic; however, the routes are usually pretty good for re-gaining endurance, of which I currently have none.

Adam climbing at the Main Wall.

We climbed a bit at the Main Wall, where I was introduced to a real fun, boudery 12a (thanks to Screamer for throwing up a top rope for me), and then we ran a couple lines at the Echo cave.

Barlow and Screamer hanging out at the Main Wall.

The day was so enjoyable besides one weird incident.  I have no idea the reasoning, but there were 5 dead animals along the 15 minute trail up to Echo Cave. These weren’t just any animals, but rather one buck deer, two doe deer, an elk and a huge moose. All of which were just along the trail (if not right on the trail) without any sign of hunters or reason for death. Anyone know a probable cause?

Pic taken during the move in process.  We really have cleaned up more sense then.

Shaft and I recently moved to the 414 located in Sugarhouse. I have lived alone for two and half years and wasn’t quite sure about living in the room mate scenario again. The answer? It’s completely superb. To be honest, the 414 might be my best living situation yet. Let’s see… I get to hang out with Shaft on a regular basis, CB can run around in the big fenced in yard, I have access to a mac, linux and windows machine, plus I get to spend time with two great kids for half the week. Add to all this the fact that we have guitar hero and I feel like the luckiest girl on the lower east side.

Picture from my birthday dinner at Cafe Madrid last August.

The other day I received a text message from a friend inquiring about Salt Lake City restaurants recommendations. I realized that lately I have been frequenting the same restaurant continually and making a list of favorites reminded me I needed to re-visit some of these classics. My favorites include:

Sushi

• Koko’s Kitchen - I was introduced to Koko’s by my friend Gunner. I might be in debt to him for this as Koko’s is now my favorite restaurant, with me visiting about once per week. I have always eaten sushi there (as sushi is one of my favorite dishes) but Gunner has a whole list of recommendations. For sushi, definitely try the Fireball and Pocky Dynamite. They have great sake, an extra large filled to the rim being only $8. Location is the corner of 300 south and 700 east.
• Takashi - Takashi is great place for a nice night out on the town, but expect to wait if you don’t make a reservation in advance. They have some creative combinations, including Strawberry Fields which combines the odd couple of strawberries and red chilis. Location is on Market Street in downtown Salt Lake.

Mexican

• Red Iguana - though the place is a dive, it is hands down the best mexican dishes in Salt Lake City. Location is the west side of North Temple.
• Lone Star - the best fish tacos are definitely found at Lone Star located on 6200 south. It is the place with an old car covered with stickers out front. Note that they do not take credit cards for amounts under $20, but do take personal checks.

Italian

• Michelangelo’s Ristorante - homemade pasta in the heart of sugarhouse. However, for some odd reason I think I have only gone there on one occasion. Located across the street from the Wild Oats on the Highland Drive side.
• Caffe Molise - located downtown on 100 south, this quaint restaurant has delicious gnocchi that can be enjoyed in a nice outdoor setting.

Mediterranean

• Mazza - fantastic Mediterrean food. There are two locations, one in 15th and 15th and another in 9th and 9th. The menu and pricing are the same, but the atmospheres are distinctly different. The 15th and 15th location is loud and small, feeling somewhat like a small cafe. The 9th and 9th location is more elegant with the white table clothes and lots of room. Both are great depending on the occasion. Definitely try the looma, hummus, grape leaves and lentil soup.
• Atlantic Cafe - cafe atmosphere. Food is more expensive than Mazza and not any better. Still worth a visit. Location is main street and about 300 south.
• Cafe Med -located on 33rd south and just a little east of state, this restaurant also has good food, but doesn’t completely compare to Mazza.

Indian

• Bombay House - the Bombay House might be my all time favorite restaurant. Everything from the massaman to saag to all appetizers are utterly fantastic. Location is off Parley’s Way by I-80.

Tapas

• Martine - good tapas in ample sizes. The setting is just ok, but the food quality makes up for it. Location is downtown on 100 south and between (I believe) State and Main.
• Cafe Madrid - located by the Black Diamond store on 3900 South, Cafe Madrid has fantastic tapas made of exquisite mixtures. Unfortunately they are quit small in size, probably the smallest portions I have had from a tapas place. Definitely try the shrimp in cream sauce and the sausage in fig sauce. Delicious.

Pizza

• Settebello - if you have been to Italy and enjoyed true Italian pizza, you will adore this place. Fantastic pizza that makes you feel like you are sitting in front of the Duoma. Location is downtown by Red Rocks.
• Este Pizza - the Grayhghost gave me the heads up about this joint. It is small shop in Sugarhouse with some snow attitude. Stickers of ski resorts are plastered around and they refuse to put pineapple on pizza. Great pies and pitchers of beer. You honestly can’t go wrong with this place! Location is one of the side street of Sugarhouse and around 1100 East.

Sandwich Shops

• Robin’s Nest - this woman ran business is by far my favorite sandwich shop in town. My personal favorite (in fact, so good that I don’t think I have ever branched out) is the Robin’s Grill. Location is Main Street and 300 South.
• Gandolfos - New York style subs that are good, but their breakfast sandwiches are delicious and extremely fairly priced. My personal favorite is the Radio City. Location is downtown on about 200 South and Main Street. There is another location in Sugarhouse, but the hours are really odd.

Pubs

• Desert Edge - this one would not have made the list, except that once I tried their crabcake salad. Superb. I will never order another dish there.
• Bayou - whenever I have a friend visiting I take them to the Bayou. The beer selection is the best in SLC and the food, especially the sweet potato fries, are delectable.

If you readers have personal favorites, please post up in the comments.