For Sport: Amazing Face

Gearing up for another lead climb. Here goes nothin'....



Mt. Diablo was one of the first places I went rock climbing with Jared. I remember being so nervous about falling. While leading the route this time I laughed at my old top-roping self because I was even more nervous than before. The route is super run-out, but as you go up you realize there are so many secret foot placements that you eventually make it up without realizing how.



After my victorious climb up Amazing Face, Jared decided to do this insane crack climb. I believe Jared stuck his hand in a bat cave during this climb, but the screeching could have been from any animal I guess.


Some serious rope burn. (Ouch!)



...and a glorious sunset to bid us farewell. Off to Colorado in the morning!

Magic, Golden

November 3, 2013 Mr. Wood turned 33.

Celebration included:
-Trip to Yosemite
-Brunch in El Cap meadow
-First time lead climb, by yours truly
-Cake at Old Priest Cafe

Getting older is not so bad.

Apple Hill

Tis' the season for apples.


Jared and I go up to Apple Hill every year to eat apple doughnuts and buy raw, freshly pressed, apple cider. We make it a habit to tour High Hill Ranch and make sure we don't miss out on any frivolous, apple merchandise...enter apple, pumpkin butter (amazing!).
After our outing this year we went back to Villa Rita, my parents current digs, and gathered apples, explored the wild woods, and picked the roadside grapes. It was a perfectly rustic weekend.



Portraits: The wandering woman. The cowboy.

For Sport: Lovers Leap

Legend has it that two Native American lovers leapt to their death off a tall summit near Strawberry. The name from then has been Lovers Leap...Jared claims they were free soloing on their way up, but whose to know.

There are a couple reasons that we love climbing at Lovers Leap. 1) My parents live close and there's only an hour-or-so drive to reach the comforts of a home cooked meal, Oreos, and a hot shower. 2) It's almost, always sunny and warm...even in late October! On this particular occasion, Jared and I reached the base around 10am (hooray for sleeping in!) and started up The Line (drug reference, naturally - ah, 70's climbers). This route was pretty awesome and had really good feet placement on these little lips that jutted out of the wall. The route took us all over the wall and finally up and over a nice looking roof with some pretty good jugs in the hidden cracks. I was pretty stoked to get through it, roofs were never my area of expertise.



The second route was Hospital Corner. This was a more standard crack with hand and foot jams, maybe  a 5.10, I can't remember. Jared made it all the way up, but it was getting too late for me to finish. So, naturally, I took some pictures of the scenery and the cool, orange moss growing in and all over this one crack in the wall - it's seriously beautiful. We had a bit of trouble with the rope in the end, but made it down just as the final glow of the sun was gently falling back westward.


To another great day on the wall.

October 19, 2013

National Explorers Day

...or Columbus Day...or Indigenous People's Day...I prefer my title.

On this wonderful holiday celebrating exploration the government had to do something stupid and shutdown the parks. Typical. After reading the closed sign due to the shutdown we proceeded to go on our hike to Tomales Bay Point. The sun brilliantly shined over the rolling hills and sea. About a mile or so in we finally came upon the main attraction: elk. There was the king and then all of his hand maidens around him eating grass and basking. Just over the next hill there was a whole party of elk. It's a bit frightening to see such big animals with four foot horns. I had a little anxiety that they would charge if we didn't play by their rules and stick to the human path.


The very point of Tomales Bay is exceptionally beautiful. The water was sapphire blue and the algae shone lime green. We took our lunch at the very point and later ended up down at a beach with a great view of Bird Rock (just an island that birds live on...and poop on, I'm sure).



What a hike.
What a day.
What a sunset.

Endless, Numbered Days

I really just love this guy.
Thanks to Ms. Adeline for the picture.

Big Sur

During our first year, Jared and I bought our first tent. This is sort of like picking out a baby, if that's how it worked. Jared researched tents for a few weeks, then when we finally got to the store we talked to an REI rep about tents and then once I approved the aesthetics and color, we finally made a purchase...right before the store closed. Now we have Big Agnus, Aggie for short. We love our tent. She doesn't quite compensate for an actual child, but we hope we have her forever. This most recent trip with Aggie was to Big Sur with friends for some hardcore, car camping. It's not everyday that we get to break out the hot chocolate and s'mores sticks. I was freakin' excited to say the least.
Before everyone got there, Jared and I set up camp and headed to the ocean to check out some sea caves and marine life. The beach was mystical and foggy and we naturally ended climbing up some sea cliffs for fun and the spectacular view. The chill, the barreling waves, the intricate sandstone; it was all so great.


After our sea explorations we made it back to camp just in time to make dinner with the Lambert's. Italian sausage with "grilled" veggies and a big (regrettable) helping of horseradish mustard. I think I cried throughout all of dinner. After that miserable experience, the Perry's arrived with the dessert fixin's - thank goodness! We roasted anything we could find and eventually made our sleepy way to our tents. The next morning was forest heaven; the smell of wet branches and the sound of the small drips of rain on the tent, simply lovely.
Once our leisurely breakfast was cleaned up we all headed out to start our hike. Buzzard's Roost was the route of choice. The rain from the morning made everything damp and colorful and the hike was moderate enough to enjoy the surroundings. It was quite a way to spend the weekend.


p.s. What a handsome group...and Adeline is the cutest pregnant lady.
More news coverage on this event found here and here.