City of Rocks

I took the week of Labor day off to do some climbing in Wyoming's Wind River Range with Dane. Saturday was spent loading up a ton of food, climbing gear and base camp luxury for our extended wilderness climbing. On Sunday, we shouldered our very heavy packs for a hike up over the continental divide to the Cirque of the Towers. We settled into a nice alpine meadow and scanned the guidebook and peaks in anticipation of a eight days worth of awesome granite cracks in a beautiful alpine environment. Monday morning we awoke to a blizzard and 4" of snow. Reluctantly we shouldered our heavy packs and retreated to the truck in total sneaker post-hole misery.


Warbonnet in a cloak of not-so-beautiful-to-the-climber snow.

Next stop: City of Rocks. It was sunny. We ate well, climbed hard and drank beer. I had never been before and my expectations were far exceeded. I will definitely be living here for a good bit when I quit my job and live out of my truck.


The oh, so pleasantness of City of Rocks

While paying for camping at the city I was idly reading the message board when I came across a hastily scrawled note that read, "Looking for a partner. I climb 11s sport/trad. In campsite 44. Look for the silver Porsche. - darrell." I asked Dane how many Darrells there are that climb 11s and drive Porsches down 40 miles of gravel road to City of Rocks. "One." We didn't manage to find him for a couple of days because he had vacated site 44 for some free BLM camping, but find him we did.


Darrell captured this way-more-extreme-looking-than-it-really-was photo of me on Z-crack.

Top Ten Palin Nicknames

Sarah Palin has accumulated quite a few monikers over recent weeks. I have scoured the web and gotten a little creative myself to come up with my ten favorites. I offer these with the caveat that I know calling people names is not nice, some are offensive, but when nicknames enter the public consciousness they can reveal a politician for who they are (think "Tricky Dick").

10. Sarah Quaylin
9. Wicked Witch of Wasilla
8. Dickless Cheney
7. Falin' Palin
6. Snowjob Squareglasses
5. Gov. Mooselini
4. The Paliban
3. The Drilla' from Wasilla
2. Caribou Barbie
1. The Alaska Disasta'

Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet check out the Sarah Palin baby namer.

Best Ad Ever!

Those of you not in Colorado may not see quite as many of these as I do. We are getting positively slammed with campaigning from both parties right now. I have never lived in a swing state on an election year before. All those dollars you gave the Obama campaign are hard at work here. Many polls show Colorado as the current tipping point, which is really scary in this historically red state.

Vote, give money, phone bank, canvass, whatever you can do to help!

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin