Munchkin Land 10-22-2011

We haven't had any carnage here on Broken, Beat & Scarred lately, and I think Meagan was really starting to miss it. Fortunately she decided to take matters in her own hands and create some.

 While we were walking into Munchkin Land on Saturday Meagan stepped on a rock that decided to move. She ended up headed face first for the ground. I tried to grab her pack, but she was already on her way down slope. Ryan was in front of her, and was able to grab a strap on her pack before she made a second somersault. Fortunately she was only scraped and bruised. No major injuries. I am guessing she has bruises that she didn't know she was going to get. She toughed it out, and we climbed the rest of the day.

Ryan and I both led 3 really fun 5.10's, but I had to hang on one. Ryan of course got all three clean. At the end of the day I finally got to try out my top rope soloing set up. It worked really well. No hitches at all. Well, except one. There was no real adventure in it. I felt that with three backups it was less fun than top roping. I guess it's time to look into lead rope soloing. Another problem as pointed out by several of my climbing partners is that I have more climbing partners than I have the time to climb. I guess it's just another skill I want to learn.

On the way down the mountain we saw several rescue vehicles, and a helicopter at Windy Point. Someone had fallen fifty feet while rappelling. We looked over the parking area, and were relieved to see no cars we recognized. I think I will start backing up my rappels. 

Del Mar

I got home from J-Tree, unpacked, repacked, ran some errands, went to a XC meet, and then headed back to CA. We went as a family to Del Mar on Ryan's recommendation. It was awesome.

 We walked the beach quite a bit, and found some really cool shells and Sand Dollars.

 We rented wet suits, a surfboard, and a Boogie board. We had all been wanting to surf, and decided to make it happen.

 We have lots of hero pics with the surfboard. I think Philip enjoyed it more than anyone. He did pretty well too.

 Funny license plate in Cardiff just North of Del Mar. They have a statue called the Cardiff Kook that the locals dress up, and hang things on. The city paid an artist $92,000 to sculpt it, and no one likes it so they make fun of it.

 Amy and I went out for a nice dinner at Brigantine (also on Ryan's recommendation). I wore my "nice clothes" (yes I do own pants). Then we went to downtown La Jolla to walk around.

 No trip is complete without stopping by the local Patagonia. This one was in Cardiff about two minutes North of where we stayed. I really wanted a T-Shirt, but I have a hard time parting with $30 for a little bit of cotton. I ended up with some Patagonia Cardiff stickers, and got to look at some of Fletcher Chiounard's surfboards. Then we went to a local board builder's shop, and I  got one of his T-Shirts. It says "don't be a Kook."  Not hypocritical at all, do you think?

 I even got Amy into a wet suit, and I think she had fun catching a few waves.

Beach ballet. No matter where we go, or what we do Caitlin would always rather be dancing.

Six Days in Joshua Tree (still not enough)

 Some quick highlights of our J-Tree 2011 trip. Stacy made us all tape gloves. They worked great, and I won't climb crack without them again. Here Paul is getting the custom treatment.

 One of the great routes we got to climb. This is overhang Bypass. It is rated 5.7, but is very heady. I truly enjoyed it.

 This is part of the reason the climb was so good. Great company. I don't get to spend enough time with these two guys. Better climbing partners would be tough to find if possible at all.

 Another great route. Mike leading Mental Physics. Very heady, exposed, and super fun.

 The three amigos at the top of Walk on the Wild Side. Eleven bolts in close to 400 feet of climbing. Six of the bolts are on the first pitch. Slab climbing is generally not my favorite, but I really liked this climb.

 The Gang.

Walk on the Wild Side from a distance. It was hard to pick just a few pics for this post. If you would like to see more I have them posted on facebook. If you climb, and have not been to Josh I recommend you plan a trip. I can't wait to go again.