Amanda's First Girl's Day / Ballbuster Rock; Incline Village, NV 10/8

Early October Amanda broke away from work to do some climbing with her good friend Melanie Letalik, of Gardnerville, NV.  The girls brought Gilbert along for good measure.  The climbing was all top rope as there are no bolts or proper cracks available.  Afterwards there was sushi to celebrate!

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 2/10 - Size 1/10 - Accessibility 10/10
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Afternoon Climbing, Moderate Sport / Dinosaur Rock; Carson City, NV 9/12

Thursday afternoon 9/12 I drove down to Carson to meet up with my friends Craig Black and Melanie Letalik of Gardnerville, NV. We started by climbing Evolution of Man, 60FT 5bolts 5.8. Evolution of man has a fun engaging crux right at the top that basically amounts to a big blind reach to a jug that is out of your field of vision. We climbed a couple of the routes next to Evolution on top rope and then I lead Dead Man's Rappel, which is also pretty classic. After climbing at Emeralds and Donner this past summer I forgot how chossy Dinosaur can be, but regardless we had a fun time out, even Gilbert!

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 5/10 - Size 3/10 - Accessibility 10/10
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Amanda's First Outdoor Lead / Castle Rock; South Lake Tahoe, CA 8/25

Late summer 2019 Amanda and I hiked out to Castle Rock above South Lake Tahoe.  We had never been here and our only directions were on Mountain Project so naturally we got a little lost.  After some hiking we made it to the base of the Armory Wall and I lead a gentle slab the name of which I didn't know.  It was super cool, Crossbow, 5.4 13 bolts about 100FT tall.  Amanda decided to lead it after me and I was super proud of her taking that step.  I believe we were on Crossbow.  After Crossbow we moved over one climb to do Catapult, 5.6 100FT.  By the time we finished it was getting pretty hot and it was about 1PM so we packed up and started hiking out.  We walked past a bunch of 5.6 - 10- climbs that were all really well bolted and looked super fun!  We cannot wait to come back this fall when the weather is just a little cooler.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 7/10 - Size 7/10 - Accessibility 7/10
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Morning Snowshed Session / Snowshed; Donner Summit, CA 8/1

Early August I got out for a full morning session with my good friend John Yahr, Renown Medical Nurse of Reno, NV, and a new friend Sarah Clark also Renown Medical Nurse of Reno, NV.  We got on Devaluation, 5.7 80FT trad first and each took a turn, John lead the route.  Next we moved our anchor to Ariel, 11- 6bolts 60FT and we TRed that route, I got about 3/4 of the way up so I'm really glad I was able to make it that far with my knee.  Last Sarah and I climbed Composure, 5.6 120FT trad.  I've followed this route several times now and I think I want to go for the lead the next time I'm there.  It was a pretty standard morning I had a great time pulling down on quality rock and meeting new people.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 9/10 - Size 8/10 - Accessibility 10/10
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Serious Post op 1/2 Day Hike / Mt Judah; Donner Summit, CA 7/28

Late July I meet up with my good friend Dan Mayes, UNR Physicist, and Lindsey Mayes UNR Admissions of Stead, NV, and of course no trip is complete without the amazing Amanda Mac!  We got to the parking area at the summit of Donner at 9 and set off on our adventure.  I'd never done a serious hike like this since breaking my knee so it was honestly yet another milestone on my recovery.  The hike begins on some switchbacks up a talus field, next you travel through a beautiful forest with wildflowers on either side.  There is an optional deviation of about 1mile roundtrip where you hike to the actual peak of Donner Summit.  Of note there are climbing anchors on the peak and this IS an established published climbing area.  We then continued on along the ridgeline of Mt Judah to the summit, and back down into the forest to make our way back a total of 6miles.  My knee was pretty sore by the end but I'm just really proud of how far I've come after less than 1yr from my second knee reconstruction surgery!

Weekend Climbing First Lead after Breaking Knee / Emeralds; Nevada City, CA 7/13-7/14/19

Mid July Amanda and I planned a super fun trip which really signaled my actual return to rock climbing, being that I was going to lead a route outside.  We decided to go to the Emeralds for reliable camping and climbing options, moderate approach time(s), and a neighboring cowboy town that we could visit.  We headed out casually on Friday to secure a good camp site, Saturday we got an early start and after a little bit of wandering we found the base of Dollar Store Wall, so I harnessed up and climbed Bushmaster 5.7, 7bolts 60'.  The route protects really well and felt pretty secure, we were also able to TR Price Check of a set of anchors that was within reach.  I might have climbed more on that wall but a whole crowd showed up which was our excuse to go swimming at Spaulding Lake.  We saw ducks, we drove out to Nevada City and got lunch and did a little shopping, we visited the Grass Valley bouldering gym, and then headed back to camp for some well earned chicken shishkabobs.  The true highlight of the trip was pulling this 5.7 mantle on my surgical knee and discovering I am not done yet!

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 8/10 - Size 9/10 - Accessibility 8/10
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All Day Climbing 4th of July / Bowman Lake; Yuba Pass CA 7/4/2019

For 4th of July 2019 I went out and had an awesome day of climbing with a few really good friends from Mesa Rim; Sam Hill, Data Analyst of Reno, NV, Weston Bone, Landscaper of... Van, and Julie Royal, Youth Mountain of South Lake Tahoe, and of course no day would be complete without Amanda!  We got an early start and drove out, the last few miles of Bowman Lake road are actually pretty rough now that I've seen them, I would recommend having dedicated 4x4.  We went to the specific spot called Larry Land which actually sits below the dam that is Bowman Lake.  It's a really incredible and ominous back drop with rebar, concrete, do no enter signs, and extreme danger of sudden flooding at any time signs.  Sam lead Mr. Nice Guy 10-, 6bolts 45', it was actually pretty stiff near the top, involving a committing overhanging mantle into a thin slab section.  I top roped the route with my infamous cowboy hat but the rest of the day was 11 and up.  Weston sent Hello Larry 11, 8bolts 70'.  Later that day we tried to hike out to the Scottland wall but we just could not find it for the life of us.  The day did end with some excitement however, we got to watch Sam Jumar up a fixed line after 12hours of listening to Sam talk about how he really wanted to Jumar a rope...?

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 8/10 - Size 7/10 - Accessibility 3/10
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Afternoon Climbing Sunny Slabs / Indian Springs; Cisco Grove CA 6/12/2019

Mid June I had a midweek break from work where I was able to get outside at Indian Springs with fellow coworker Tony Hinojosa, of Reno, NV.  We started out at the little Johny Wall area near the Indian Springs campground and climbed a couple of 5.7s.  Later that afternoon we hiked up the the Lower Tier of Indian Springs proper.  Tony lead Captain Cheese 5.8, we TRed Indian Springs.  Afterwards we moved our TR to Zephyr 5.10, and RP 4 Me 5.9, and we left that afternoon around sunset.  It was a great opportunity to get outside, climb hard, get to know my fellow staff member a little more, and get away from Reno for an afternoon to an even more beautiful location

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 4/10 - Size 4/10 - Accessibility 10/10
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First Day Climbing Outside Since I Broke my Knee / Snowshed; Donner Summit CA 6/5/2019

Early June I had a couple days off mid week and called up my friend from the gym John Yahr, Reno local and Renown ICU Nurse to do some climbing.  Donner Summit still had a lot of snow around the area but Snowshed was looking very dry and climbable.  It was great getting up to the base and seeing several familiar faces from the gym.  I top roped Composure 5.6, Molar Concentration 5.10, and Peter Principle 5.10+.  I was not able to finish the latter two as I still have a lot of brushing up to do on my crack climbing skills.  Mostly I was just thankful to be up in the mountains climbing again, and that my knee, while difficult at times, wasn't enough of a hindrance that I couldn't climb.  Temperatures were amazing, I came home and passed out afterwards.


Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 9/10 - Size 8/10 - Accessibility 10/10
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First Day Outside Since I Broke my Knee / Buckeye Hotsprings; Bridgeport CA 5/3/2019

Early May 2019 I felt ready to go outside and do something.  I had gone through two knee reconstructions and about 18months of physical therapy and while I am still lacking some muscle mass on my surgical leg and my cartilage implant is not fully healed I am so grateful to be able to begin really doing things again.  Breaking my knee has been the worst thing in my life, it was my own fault for pushing my boulder climbing too hard and not being aware of my own limits, I like to think I've matured since all of this happened.  I'm still at the climbing gym, I got promoted and I've learned a lot, I work with amazing people and I'm just knee deep (pun intended) with all the best climbers in this area all day long.  I took up weightlifting and PC gaming since I got hurt, those activities have been a good balance for me while I had to put climbing on hold.  Now I top rope 5.11 and I can lead 5.9, probably harder.  I am getting back on the horse.

Early May 2019 I felt ready to go outside and do something.  Amanda and I planned a trip to Bridgeport CA to visit some hot springs I've heard a lot about.  We went to Buckeye hot springs on Friday which were not too hard to find and accessible by car (provided you have some tolerance for bottoming out).  The hike itself from the car to the pool is rather steep and a few hundred feet long but once you get there it is well worth it.  The water was about 105, there were deer across the river which you can see in one of the photos, just sitting in a hot spring river is awesome!

We camped out Friday and visited Travertine Hot Springs on Saturday, took Highway 208 home through Yerrington and reveled in the success that my knee held up to everything I put it up too.  I actually out hiked Amanda, next time shes gonna set up the tent and make the fire, I'll handle the cooking and packing/unpacking :-p