The CragBaby

My friend Melissa and I volunteering with No More Homeless Pets in Utah.

I am an avid volunteer, but to date have published few blog posts concerning my weekly service.  I have decided to start posting where I volunteer each week in hopes of spreading the organization’s mission and encouraging others to get involved.  Previously any volunteer entries were put on this blog, but I have decided to transition the majority of my future posts to my Wasatchgirl blog.  If interested in these volunteer posts, please stop by and read about this week’s service at No More Homeless Pets in Utah.

My friend Lil’ Chicka is a strong advocate of pet adoption and volunteers regularly with No More Homeless Pets in Utah.  She truly inspires me with her devotion to the cause and so I wanted to re-post an entry she recently wrote:

Hello faithful readers! Please take less than 10 seconds out of your busy days to vote for No More Homeless Pets on the rescuesite.com’s Shelter Challenge.

Go here, and then type in No More Homeless Pets in Utah- 1 click, and Voile! you’re done. No registration required.

Thanks for supporting our local awesome no kill program! We will receive a $20000 grant if we win.

I initially had a couple hiccups when trying to vote, but noticed that the shelter name should be “No More Homeless Pets” and the State needs to be Utah. (I was trying to enter “No More Homeless Pets in Utah” as the Shelter.)  If you did it correctly you will see the following box.

After that, just hit the “Vote” button.

Thanks for your support.

Oh my….  I just swung by Jun’s blog and saw the best post EVER!  It is a video of SLC locals bouldering and I LOVE IT! I love watching Severhead and Jun crushing, giggled when JamesMonster cut her feet on a v0, smiled when I saw ShutUp at the Wrinkle in Time area in Joes Valley …. and then laughed out loud when I saw I was actually included in this video.  HA HA HA!  I do have two questions though…

1. Why does everyone in this video send EXCEPT me? =)
2. How in the world did I miss this strip show by Severhead?

Thanks for putting this together, Jun.  I can’t wait to get out and boulder with the local gang.

Shaft and I share a birthday weekend (our birthdays being only a day apart) and so have celebrated together the past two years.  Last year a crew of our friends headed down to Joes Valley for a weekend of bouldering with this year being spent striving to complete personally set birthday challenges.

For Shaft’s birthday we completed 41 boulder problems in Price and Joes Valley, split over the 16th and 17th of August.  Our range of problems was from v0 to v4, with an outlier v5 and one v7.

Shaft at the Price Boulders.  I spotted a desert whale here… he, he, he.

Me on the classic Riverside Rail.

Shaft rockin’ the mandatory cowboy hat on the warm-up.

The 18th was my birthday. Even though I had spent the previous two days bouldering I wanted to complete my birthday challenge of 28 routes in a day.  Prior to this birthday, the most routes I had done in a day was 10, so 28 was kind-of a big reach.  I was joined by a local SLC climber, starting the day at 8:30am and finishing at 10:30pm, with only an hour break for lunch.

Real smiley after the completion of all 28 routes!

I must admit I was real fortunate to have a climbing partner psyched to help me with this challenge and who willingly hung all the draws, especially since I was very powered down from the previous two bouldering days.  Our routes ranged from 5.6 (including all 3 pitches of Steort’s ridge) to 5.12b (Right Pile), mostly sport routes with a handful of trad lines.

Yes, this is a CHART of my routes.  I work in finance… what can I say?  I like excel.

By the time the night of the 18th rolled around I barely had enough energy to eat 2 pieces of pizza and take a couple sips of beer.  What a fantastic birthday weekend!

I have been on vacation for six weeks, or perhaps I should say pseudo vacation considering I do work 2 days per week. To be honest, working my job AROUND my climbing schedule is quite heavenly. =)

For the past six weeks I decided to stay in Utah, mostly in SLC, as there were still routes and crags I wanted to explore, I had a wide network of climbing partners, but mostly because I don’t know where my next job will take me.

Yet by the time Sept 1 rolled around, I started to question my Utah decision, fretting that I should have used this time to go somewhere far away. However, if the goals of this pseudo vacation are relaxation, having fun and climbing, perhaps I should stop worrying about my decision as these past weeks allowed me to do the following:

I climbed in the local canyons of Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, American Fork and Ferguson. (Pictured is me at a dawn bouldering session with Severhead, Jun and Trent.)

I made a couple weekend trips to Maple Canyon.  (Pictured is a SLC climber getting ready to attempt Ammo Dump.)

I visited Wild Iris, this being only my second trip. (Pictured is a SLC climber.)

I bouldered some excellent problems in Joes and Triassic. (Pictured is Shaft.)

I was able to climb 31 out of 46 days. (Pictured is me on a very cool, thin problem, with the classic sandy top-out in Triassic.)

I enjoyed the sunrise in Little Cottonwood. (On this day I was climbing Pentapitch with new friend, Tyler.)

I sent another 12a route and my first v7. Yippee!! (Me looking super serious at Joes Valley.)

I spent my birthday weekend with my great friend, while we both completed our birthday challenges. (Pictured are Shaft and I after completion of his 41 boulder problem birthday challenge.)

I checked out the Outdoor Recreation Show and watched the Mammut Bouldering competition.  Fun, fun, fun!

I enjoyed many great nights out on the town. (Pictured are Shaft and I at Brian and Elise’s wedding.  Whew… I was in dire need of a haircut!)

I partied it up at my old house where I watched Shaft get his a$$ kicked by the JamesMonster in guitar hero.

And I saw The Route Slayer extremely happy after climbing. (Check out the pink car in the background!) =)

Yep, I need to stop fretting.  These past six weeks have been great!

A couple weeks ago I redpointed my hardest climb to date, Left Pile. I was so ecstatic, even doing jumping jacks after the send, with an overflow of excitement that did not dissipate until approximately noon the next day.

Me drinking the celebratory Pabst that Shaft secretly brought to the crag.

Yet, the taste of victory lingers only until the next time on the rock. Left Pile was a climb of my preferred style: steep, big jugs that turned to crimps and then a fun dynamic throw to a huge sinker. But this year I am trying to expand my climbing abilities to include areas where I am not so comfortable, especially trad climbing and slab faces…. and it is SCARY!

Triznut on Stone Ground at The Millstone.

Within days of sending Left Pile, I headed up to the Millstone to be completely scared on Cat Juggling (5.10c) due to a single slab move. I finally finished the lead, but only after whining and moaning for a good 20 minutes (or more!). Soon after I went to Industrial Wall to come down early from Assembly Line, a mere 5.7 slab lead, completely scared of the possible fall. And then the next day I shakily lead a beautiful 5.8 trad line on Stiffler’s Mom, almost hyperventilating in the process. Damn… sometimes I suck at climbing! =)

Slab Master Shaft uncoiling our rope at the Industrial Wall.

But, perhaps climbing is fun due to these reasons… the extensive variety of climbs available, the continual intense mental game, the awe of watching friends crush routes that scare me .. and just the continual reminder that once I think I am getting stronger, I am quickly dished out a spoonful of humility. =)

Shaft, SP, Murphy, the CragBaby and I headed up to the Uintas to meet up with a crew of our friends (Severhead’s rowdy bunch and HappyD’s crew) in celebration of Independence Day and Severhead’s birthday. It was yet another perfect Utah weekend of sunshine and climbing.

We spent the first day climbing at Stone Garden and the second day at Notch Lake. Here is the CragBaby relaxing from the 2 – 3 mile hike into Notch Lake. Shaft and I later decided that CB is surprisingly the ideal crag dog. She absolutely loves to hike, can easily squeeze her way under logs, quickly scrambles up boulders, never gets too warm, dares to fight off creatures of all sizes, seems to have no fear of heights and, when necessary. can easily fit into one’s jacket.

This was our first time to the Getaway Wall at Notch Lake and it is my new favorite Uinta crag. The scenery was beautiful and the crag offered classic lines ranging from a 5.6 to a couple 5.11d’s . My favorite climb on the crag (note that I only hopped on 4 of the lines) was the Wine of Purity (5.11a) that pulled a roof and then followed horizontal crimps to the anchors. There was also a fantastic 11d, Tipping the Vessel of Knowledge, that included a roof, crimps, long reaches, jugs and a mantel all within its 4 bolts and anchors. For shorter people like myself, it also entailed a dyno. Superb!

Shaft warming up on Sport Rappelling is Neither (5.9) that we later learned was bolted by Heath. =) Fun climb with some spice from the last bolt to the anchors.

Aaron running the Neophyte (5.10b). Moves included a heel hook and crimps.

Silhouette of Aaron on Tipping the Vessel of Knowledge (5.11d).

Part of the crew: Shaft, Aaron and Happy D.

Shaft and I enjoyed the best camping food of any of our trips yet. One night consisted of delectable corn on the cob (trust me, I am a corn on the cob connoisseur) and fired baked fillet mignon wrapped in bacon (the bacon being held on with widdled sticks). The next night we had spicey sausage and fried vegetables thanks to SP. We were definitely living the dream.

The bugs were a little out of hand, which seems to be common in the Uintas, but as shown in this picture can be "killed dead" as advertised, allowing Shaft to smile in spite.

Shaft, SP, the CB-gbers, Murphy and I headed up to Moosehorn area on Sunday as none of us had climbed in this area. The climbs we were hoping to ascend were unfortunately still covered in snow. So instead we did a couple short sport routes, carried Murphy in a backpack and watched the CB-gbers chase rocks down the snow field.

Murphy, SP’s Jack Russell, joined our trip last minute. The poor thing had a rough weekend, being bitten by one of the numerous dogs, completely tuckered after our 6 mile round trip hike into Notch Lake and then had to be carried in the back pack across an exposed section at rock.

The alpine chihuahua soaked up the last bit of sun after another great weekend.

I recently posted about Lauren Yant’s startup, Ruthie Pearl . This year she has a booth at the Farmer’s Market and due to her presence there was picked up by the Daily Style on Dooce.com . Superb! And now she is all sold out on bags and quickly sewing more. Ha ha… congrats!

If you haven’t yet, you should check out her site and try to secure an order before she sells out again. =)

Sigh.

Once again I was the victim of theft.

I thought I handled it so well this time, but as I write this I am quite bummed. I have lived in Salt Lake City for six and a half years, in many different locations, and out of those six years I have lost six big items. Yep, that means I am batting approximately one big loss per year. Today’s theft was the worst as the item lost was my car.

Sigh.

To date I have lost the following items, none of which were returned.

• mountain bike – I used to have a real nice bike that was stolen from my backyard. This was a painful loss, leaving me to feel so violated.
• car stereo – this one wasn’t a big deal. I actually was going out to the car to uninstall the stereo in order to give it to a friend. Yet, someone had beat me to the process.
• cruiser bike – this one wasn’t painful at all. In fact, I didn’t know it was missing until months later. It was a beater bike that needed some tuning and I found it missing when Spring arrived and I went to do the necessary work. It was given to me and was a quirky bike.
• wallet / phone – this one was truly painful, causing months of identity and credit worry. The items were stolen from my car while I was bouldering at Cabbage Patch in LCC. The Cabbage Patch boulders are seriously right off the road, maybe a 20 foot walk. Yet somehow the perpetrators broke a window and took the items unbeknownest to me. The person was found and prosecuted, but who knows where my credit cards ended up.
• scooter – I cried for days on this one. I bought a scooter, similar to a Vespa. and truly loved the thing. It was part of my identity and at the time scooters were rare in SLC, which made me like it even more. I truly loved this thing. One day it had some problems as I was driving home from the gym and I had to park it in the parking lot of an antique shop. When I went to retrieve it the next day, it was just gone. The story is long and convaluted, but in essence the lady of this store had given it to her friend who was then wanting a ransom for it … blah, blah, blah. It truly is a real weird and long story that ended in me never getting my scooter back in one piece. Funnily, the antique store went out of business about a year later and I believed it was karma.
• car – today the good old faithful Honda Civic was gone. She wasn’t real pretty with her huge dent, but I adored her. She ran so well, even in her old age.

The faithful civic with H.I.P. #1 on the Salt Flats.

The worst detail of the car situation was my car insurance. Please read: ALWAYS HAVE COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE. My little Honda was a 1991 and pretty banged up, so I figured I would only get liability coverage. In my mind I thought comprehensive would be real expensive and not worth the investment for an old car. I WAS WRONG!!!! I found out from co-workers that the premium insurance is usually only dollars more as the main expense lies in the collision insurance. I was so shocked at learning this fact that I called my insurance company back to learn the cost difference, the total being… get ready for it… $30. By paying $30 more per year I could have recoupped the cost of my vehicle whereas now I have nothing.

Sigh.

This fact really is bothersome as I research out all areas of my life, analyzing the best deals and thoughtfully planning how I spend my money. Somehow it had never crossed my mind to see the cost difference between the two insurance plans. Why the insurance agent didn’t tell me about my options when I bought my policy? I don’t know. It actually makes me angry because isn’t their job to be… "my agent"? However, the main fault is mine as I didn’t do my damn research. How in the world did it slip my mind to ask when I am usually so diligent?!

Sigh.

Ok … enough of the pity party…. I’m back to the giggly self with a newfound insurance lesson.

A fellow SLC climber and friend, Lauren Yant, has started her own business, Ruthie Pearl , selling fashionable, earth-friendly shopping bags and gift bags. Lauren is highly earth conscience and taken her activism to the next level by creating quality products with low impact, while offsetting all business energy consumption through wind power credits, reducing and recycling wastes, and educating others on global impact and how they can have a positive influence.

She was recently quoted:

"A lot of people think that environmentalism is a political movement, but it really isn’t -climate change is something that affects us all. People in my generation look at our grandparents who thought nothing was wrong with smoking and think they were crazy. I think that’s the same way that our grandchildren will look at us."

"They’ll wonder, ‘What were they thinking?’ If there’s anything that I hope people learn from what I’m doing, it’s that anyone can make small changes to help the world become a better place – and you can even look cute doing it. I simply hope that people start taking small steps to make smarter decisions for a better tomorrow."

The current selection of bags can be seen on the site and at the upcoming Farmer’s Market . Lauren has offered a 20% discount for any of the CragBaby readers. Just enter CRAGBABY as the discount code at the time of checkout. And then of course let me know which bag you purchased, as I am still trying to decide…. =)