Long Wall

Dwayne at Table Rock, NC
Sunday was good day. Tonya ,Ginger,David and I went to climb at Long Wall with Dwayne. It's always great to climb with the other half of team Smoke Break.We spent some time just laying on a big rock under Rock Wars, catching up, While the rest of our party was on Ralph and Bobs. Tonya lead it up.Nice job on her
part ,leading trad, except she clipped her pieces on the way down and the rope was stuck. We had 20 or 30 feet of one end so I decided to lead up on it and unstick the rope. That's as far as I got too. I ran out of rope and slings,dropped a cam somehow, and ended up tied to a piece with a clove hitch. The rope was a mess that looked like a spider web and I was in the middle. Once I was off belay ,Dwayne was able to pull the rope and I ended up on toprope like I intended, so it worked but it would have been a cool picture while it was happening. The route has nice moves but suffers from dirt washing into the top. Doesn't toprope well either. We went off searching for Big Country and found it finally but by then it was raining. We did the first pitch of a 10 nearby that stays dry and was a fun 6. It didn't TR well either but it was dry. I think it may have been my last trip to the Red until it cools off . I am happy I got to spend it climbing with my old friend.

Su Do Ku

Yes,I know I shoulda posted up something cool ,but all I been doing is these brain numbing su do ku puzzles. Courtney got me hooked on them. It's amazing how much stuff you learn from your kids. I have been trying to arrange a climbing trip for Sunday. The luck leprichauns are working against me. So many routes to go send,so little time....
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans"

News from the Front

This just in from my bud,Chris:
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OMFNG! Those words literally came out of my mouth as I turned the bend and came into full sight of El Capitan, Half Dome, Middle/Lower Catherdraland The Sentinal. This is a very very special place on Earth. You can feel it in the air. There's power here that, which ever faith you beleive in, truly exists here. I been climbing hard now for 5 days straight. I didn't know today was saturday until a few minutes ago. I haven't known the time of day in days.Wake up...eat...hike..climb...eat...hike... climb...eat...sleep.Thats the procedure. Everything else is gone. Car payments, Apartments, Jobs, Drama....Chaos...It all goes away with this regimen. Its not easy to let go of everything but there's only time to be hungry, cold, hot, and scared shitless...not time to even hurt. I'm not the only one here doing this. There are two guys named Thomas and Alexander Huber that are in the valley. They are working on climbing 3600feet in sub two hours as I write this email! Say that out loud... Three thousand and six hundred feet. Thats about 3/4 of a mile....straight up. They are working The Nose route on El capitan. These men are hands down no doubt about it the strongest men in the world. I am inspired by these gentlemen. Everytime I think I just can't doit, that theres nothing else left...I know these guys dooo do it. That line of exhaustion gets pushed further. Somehow somewhere a little sliver of energy is left and i'm not as tired as I thought I was. My mind clears and gravity is defeated yet again.Camp 4 is hopping with activity and news. Today the buzz is about the Huber brothers Most are in the El Cap meadow with binoculars and sightscopes watching. Me and my partner aren't couch climbers. We knocked off a 700 foot climb left of Serenity Crack & Sons of Tomorrow for those who know whats up. We watched the two peregrine falcons battle battle over a "fish / snake / the wing of another bird". There screeches no doubt could be heard a mile away. This battle took place right above us. Yesterday, a couple big wallers came down from the zodiac...after 6days! The day before that it was the 60 feet of snowpack still at the base of hald-dome. Climbers have been getting spanked left and right by this. The YOSAR (yosemite search and rescue) chopper has flown twice since I've been here. Thats always a bad bad sign. Theres been no news regarding. Camp4ers have been coming and going. , I'll have to sleep under the stars up by the rock. I hope no rocks fall on me while I sleep...what a way to go that would be! What else? Swimming! I swam in the Merced (mer-said) River yesterday. This river is a raging and trechorous monster. Its also stone stone cold. A dive into this beast and any iota of soreness and pain is washed away. All is takes is about 15 seconds, lol.Well...Thats it for storytime. My partner is itching to go to a new area for a series of 5.8, 5.9 and 5.10s one pitch climbs.-Chris Callegar
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Some Observations

I came home today to find my yard Gnome passed out cold, face down in the grass,drunk again. Maybe he went to the Jimmy Buffet concert last night.
Mrs. Ynot took my disposable camera to Walgreens but almost all the pictures turned out poor. I had 2 climbing trips and a wedding on there,so no pictures this time.
I got my butt handed to me on No Return 5.9+ Saturday. I made it to the top but it wasn't pretty. Sweet route! Sunday Ginger and Tonya wanted to go to Indian Creek. We had an awesome day there.We did Slimy Creatures with one rope so we had an adventure getting back down. It involved bushwacking, briars,and rapelling into the unknown. The usual. I found Curiosity. It has to be the best handcrack I have done. I'm still tickled about sending it first go. It's in the neatest place and worth the extra walk in the forest. From the start you can scramble up some boulders to a saddle that looks out over the valley from above the trees. Instant exposure.Gotta like it. We were lucky to find our way down to the car from there. We managed to find the only spot that wasnt a sheer drop from above the limestone band and again at the road.
I wonder if I should tell my yard gnome about my miracle hangover cure? Nah!