New Kicks

I've been needing new trail running shoes for several months. I have been squeezing the last few miles I can get out of one of my pairs of Cascadia 3's. Both pairs have over 500 miles on them, and really are shot. If you remember, I tested a pair of Cascadia 5 last year. They just didn't hold up. I procrastinated buying a new pair for so long, that in the meantime, I wore out my road shoes too. Part of the reason I hadn't bought new trail shoes was that I didn't know what to buy. I decided to try a pair of Mizuno Cabrakan 2's. I had almost bought a pair of the original Cabrakan's a couple of years ago. I had had good luck with their road runners until they narrowed the toe box. For road shoes I went with my old standby. Brooks Glycerin 8. I had been running in the 6's, and had intentionally avoided the 7's. Brooks decided to put a gel pad right under the ball of the runners foot. It made it feel like my foot had to cam over the pad to toe off. Fortunately they changed that for the 8. I've only got a few runs in each, but I am liking both pairs very much. Both are a little taller than I like, but the cushioning is great. I recommend both shoes if you are looking for new runners. I would just plan it so you don't have to pony up $236 (with coupon and free shipping) for both pairs at once.

Climbing Video

I found Cedar Wright's blog by accident the other day. Cedar is a The North Face sponsored climber. He was in the movie The Sharp End. Even though he is a great climber (5.13 hard) he was kind of shown up in The Sharp End by Alex Honnold. I think cedar is very cool, and it appears that he is headed toward making climbing videos instead of continuing the pro climber thing. 5.13 is great, but there are a bunch of young kids pushing the 5.15 envelope. Here is the link to his blog; http://verticalcarnival.blogspot.com/; where he posted a video called Boogie Till You Poop. It shows why one should not climb 5.11 off widths after a hard night of drinking. Disclaimer; there is some foul language, and tons of immature scatological humor. If you are not a middle school aged boy you will probably find it disgusting. View at your own risk. To those of you who I have already e-mailed the link too I apologize for not having something new for you. My other option was to post pictures of where I accidentally ran the pressure washer over my leg and foot last weekend. Not pretty.

3 Weeks Ago

Here are a couple of pics from a climbing trip from three weeks ago. (L to R) Terry, Meagan, Mike, and Ryan. I have invited Mike and Terry to join our little blog family.

Here is the gang after a fun day in the Chihuahua Power/Puppy Chow area close to windy Point. It really was a fun day.

Saturday

I had such a great time climbing on Saturday that I decided to post some of the other pictures that I took. Ryan on the walk off with the Fortress behind him. We plan to hit that too sometime soon.

The Ravens. Also on our to-do list.

The Lemmon Rock fire lookout. You can visit the rangers when they are there.

This was the only bad part of the day. I couldn't walk between my truck and this Toyota so I got in from the passenger side. What kind of DB does that?

Rapp Rock

Yesterday Ryan and I went to the top of Mt. Lemmon to do the Bender Axen start and the Standard Route on Rapp Rock. Here is Ryan fueling up before we made our way via bushwhack to the route.

If you look closely you might be able to make out Ryan bushwhacking his way through a new stand of Aspens on the way to the route. This area was burned a few years ago, and the little Aspens are taking over. We were hiking in flip flops. We left our shoes at the top because we didn't want to have to climb with them clipped to our harnesses.

Ryan won at Rochambeau so he got to lead the Bender Axen 5.8 pitch. I was a little jealous, but the second pitch turned out to be as good. We had to do a variation of the Standard Route because another party of five was climbing ahead of us and were really slow. We just moved over a few feet and made our own way.

Ryan set up this belay at the top of the third pitch. I was getting a little concerned because he was running out of rope and had only stopped to place protection a few times. When I climbed up to him I realized why. It was a 5.7 chicken head hike.......................

and that is a chicken head. A hold so good it is almost impossible to fall off of, and that is how to protect one. I ended up leading the last pitch. 180 feet protected by three pieces. The climbing really was that easy, but it was some of the most fun I have ever done.

Raycreation

Saturday we (Ryan, Meagan, Brett, and I) went to a new crag that just opened on Mt. Lemmon. It is very cool with almost all of the climbs overhanging. This is Meagan on the start of our 5.8+ warm up. Notice the other climbers in the background. It was kind of like an outdoor gym. There was four or five groups in the morning. By the afternoon we were all just one big group. I climbed with people I had never met before.

Meagan taking a break on the 5.8+ warm up. Well not really. Later we found out that it was really 5.10a. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who was relieved to find out that the climb was harder than 5.8+. I thought something was wrong with me, and almost didn't lead any other climbs.

That's me leading the alleged 5.8+. When we moved one climb to the right I was shocked at how easy it seemed. Then we figured it out.

This is our friend Chris and his son Elliot. I wish you could see Elliot's face, and hear him squeal. He was having a great time. By the look on Chris's face he wasn't having too bad of a time either.

Big and Ugly

We bought a new truck. It's not new, but new to us. After we traded in the Suburban to get the Honda we knew we were going to have to find something that would haul the four of us and all of our gear. Caitlin will be driving soon, and with all of us going in opposite directions we decided to become a three car family. She will take over my little white truck at some point. I have to warn you. The new truck is UGLY. Seriously, don't look directly at it at first. Ease into it and let your eyes adjust slowly. It's not that I have a thing for Nissans. In fact, I wanted a Toyota Tacoma. They were just so expensive. I surely don't have a thing for yellow. If it was white I think I would like it just fine. The thing is I got a good deal, it's in great shape, and it meets our needs. That's why I decided to buy it. OK, slowly scroll down, make sure their are no small children present, and gradually move your eyes toward the picture. You may want to wear sunglasses (two pairs preferably), or a welding hood...............................................................................................................................................................

Quote

"Anything that is to easy isn't as good for the soul as it could be." This can be found on page 123 of "Even Brooke Trout Get the Blues" by John Gierach.

Deal of the Day

Saturday I went to the Summit Hut sidewalk sale. I wasn't expecting to buy anything, but it never hurts to look, right? When I got there they had a table full of Kelty Coyote 4900 packs for $30. They were rentals that still looked almost new. I needed a climbing pack because I was killing my Osprey that was designed for ultra light backpacking, not scrambling approaches to the crags. When I got home I put my full trad rack, rope, harness, helmet, and shoes in the pack and it all fit perfectly with room to spare for a few layers, lunch and water. It handles the weight better than my Osprey because of a beefier suspension system. Best of all I got a big hug from my friend and climbing partner Meagan (who works at Summit Hut, and is Ryan's wife), and then she showed me the new Dragon Cams from DMM. Oh how I wish I needed even just one more cam. Click this link to see video of the Dragon Cam in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8gyElykgck Special thanks to Caitlin for photographer duties.

Die for Metal

This week's song is for my friend David. He is a huge Manowar fan, and lives by the chant at the beginning of "Die for Metal". David is working on a new logo for Broken, Beat & Scarred. What a guy.