Ryan's Blog: Phoenix Area

2/15/2010

Woke up at 4:30am and hit the road. 13 hours later and an uneventful but beautiful drive through NM Narrows, Santa Fe, and Taos, arrived in Colorado Springs to visit my friend Ryan that I met in Nicaragua a few years ago. We got burritos and beer and caught up...good times!

2/14/2010

Awoke to sunrise and a powerful wind from the NE...cold! I had to track down some of our dishes that had nearly blown off the side of the cliff. We relocated to an area out of the wind and made breakfast. Mike and I hiked around on top while Christi, Tauru, and John headed down. We all went to In N' Out for lunch. I knew this would be my last chance for a LONG time :(

2/13/2010

C, T, and J met up and left at 10am to start hiking up the Flatiron. I waited for Mike to finish guiding a client (he is a professional rock-climbing guide who got me started several years ago) so I could hike up with him. Mike and I started up the trail at about 4:15pm fully expecting to get there in the dark, as it is a very strenuous hike with some class 4 areas, and you have to hike all water up with you. At one part in the trail, there is a slickrock area where a waterfall runs in the wet season. I was walking up this narrow/steep area when someone above knocked loose a bowling ball-sized rock that made its way directly to my path. It was bouncing left and right, but centered on me, and had serious momentum. I was about to hit the ground and it took a bounce to my right about 5 feet from my head. Very close call. We cruised the rest of the hike getting to the top just at sunset. The others were preparing dinner (Frozen bags of Bertolli pasta, what a great idea)! We watched the sunset, and the entire PHX valley slowly light up while sipping whiskey/water and having a great time. What a fantastic view! Totally worth the effort of lugging everything up there. We were invaded by a Ringtail at one point which Mike took extreme fascination with. We all fell asleep to a calm, 40 degree, desert night.

View behind us on the hike to top of Flatiron.

View of Phoenix from the top of Flatiron at sunset.

Same view at night.

The Crew (Tauru, Christi, John, Mike, me).

2/12/2010

Slow start today, but went to Climbmax climbing gym in Tempe to get a burn. That night I made Bulgogi and fresh spring rolls, and Tauru made pork chops to put in the rolls and to take on the hike up Flatirons. Mike came over for dinner, and T and C and I watched No Country For Old Men and went to bed.

2/11/2010

Attended the "Keep Christa Climbing" event at Boulders in Tempe. It was a benefit for an ASU PhD. student who was in Haiti doing volunteer work at the time of one of the earthquakes which resulted in Christa losing her leg. This event was set up to raise money for a prosthetic fit specifically to enable her to continue to rock-climb. It was a great event, and I saw a lot of people I may not have gotten to see while in AZ. It's incredible to me how tight the climbing community is here.

2/10/2010

Met Catherine at 2pm, hiked about 8 miles at White Tanks with Asia, and talked about all kinds of life stuff. I liked the foreign business ideas...we'll have to work on that! Then, we drove to AZ on the Rocks and climbed for a few hours. Then, 4 Peaks Brewery for Pale Ale and Thai Hummus with pita. Then, drove back to my house...and unfortunately, were unable to locate Catherine's keys. It was late (12:30am) and she had a big day ahead of her. We called the gym/restaurant to see if they had them but it was late and we didn't get a response. To make it worse, the gym didn't open until 3pm the next day. So, we did what anyone would do in that situation...cracked open a beer and rolled with it. Jer and Dean came home and we all watched stupid/funny youtube videos. The gym actually called me early and they had the keys, so we were able to go and get them in the morning. Super fun day!

2/9/2010

We had planned on backpacking/rock climbing in the Superstition Mountains, but there was supposed to be rain that night. So, I met John and Tauru at Kathi's and we decided to go to Queen Creek to climb. We got there and climbed about 9 routes a piece, working a few hard 10s over and over to try and get them clean (without falling). It was another beautiful day! We stopped in Superior for tacos, burritos, and fried chicken, and headed back to PHX. I went back to Jer's which has been my base camp for the week.

John leading a fun arete.

Tauru workin' it.

2/8/2010

Hiked Thunderbird Mountain with Jeremy, about 8 miles. Beautiful weather all week!

2/7/2010

I woke up and went for a trail run at Thunderbird Park, 4 miles. Then I drove to Jeremy's friends' house to watch the Superbowl. I didn't care too much about the game, but we had the leftover barrel from the WT party, and the hosts had a great fondue setup. Chicken, steak, shrimp, breaded cheese, breaded mushrooms, and a wide variety of sauces. We played beerpong and I got in a gun fight with a 6yo girl (NERF darts, brings me back to my childhood). I talked to Joe on the phone about climbing during the week, and he said he heard that I can't dance for Sh*t. Now I wonder where he would have gotten that idea? :)

2/6/2010

Jeremy, Dean, and I went to eat Pho' (Vietnamese soup) to cure the hangover. That night, Jeremy and his friend Randy played at a bar. Catherine picked me up at Jer's and shared her renditions for John's Well-Hung logo and packaging which looked amazing! We drove to the bar and sat with Dean. The music and conversation were great. Catherine got up to go to the bathroom and this crazy lady came up and said "I want to dance with your girl," to which I responded "she's not my girl, but you could probably dance with her if you ask her." Her reply was "I don't like to wait." She grabbed my arm and made me dance with her. I danced as horribly as possible (which wasn't hard) to get her to leave me alone. After several bad spins and everyone laughing, she finally let me go. Just then, Catherine returned having missed whole thing.

2/5/2010

John made Crepes for breakfast which disappeared pretty quickly. Today is a big day...my cousin Jeremy is hosting a White Trash Beer Bash and everyone is getting their costumes together...at least most people are. Some had it naturally going on and didn't have to make much of an effort :) Before the party, I needed to get some exercise so I went to Camelback Mountain. When I used to live in PHX, I climbed it several times a week, even in the scorching hot summers. This time was the first time I went up one side, down the other, and back over again. I did it in 2:30 which surprised me...I thought it would take longer so I was happy. Then it was off to my favorite little taco place that I used to eat at several days a week, and then Savers to get together a WT costume. When I pulled into the parking lot, White Snake was on the radio so I knew it was a good sign. I quickly found a few good items (at which the clerk laughed at, again a good sign) and drove to Jeremy's. When I arrived, I was absolutely appalled at what my dear cousin had on. The party gained momentum, great fire, lots of laughs, good times had by all. Thanks Jer!!! I went to bed at about 4am which is the latest I've stayed up since leaving CA.

Cody and Joe betting on the next car race.

Lauren and Catherine enjoying a redneck camp fire.

Christi and Tauru discussing the latest pig-calling techniques...Syooo-weeee Piggaaah!

Mitch and Jeremy being themselves.

David and Catherine holding down the kitchen.

Annie wants to know "who's the daddy?" David, John, and I argue about it.

John and MG discussing some of the finer things in life...like spamwiches and box-wine.

A versatile Cody.

2/4/2010

Christi had to wait by the phone to get a code from the Korean Consulate so she could go to L.A. and pick up her visa. So, John, Tauru, and I went hiking in the White Tanks which was about an 8 mile loop and then ate at In N' Out. That night, John took us to his gym which is the size of a mega-mall. It had a climbing wall, so we did that for awhile and then sat in the 25-person capacity hot tubs. While climbing, a little boy was on an auto belay and couldn't get down because it was wound too tight and he didn't weigh enough, so he was stuck at the top of the wall. I climbed up the wall next to him and attached my personal anchor to his harness and brought him down. His family asked Tauru and I if we are certified to climb outdoors to which we kind of laughed and thought, any crazy that wants to climb outside can. Tauru mentioned the Arizona Mountaineering Club if they were interested in learning how to climb safely. That night, we hung out at John's house and celebrated Cuba Libre.

Tauru and John hiking in the White Tank Mountains.

Christi keepin' it real, and rockin' a Cuba Libre.

Party in the kitchen...Tauru and John bring the couch and "Doc" the Cat!

2/3/2010

Tauru, Christi, and I headed over to John's house to hang out for the day after stopping for In N' Out for lunch. This trip was my first time meeting John (in Cochise last week). He left his job as a pharmacist and is developing a hang-over remedy called Well-Hung. I believe the slogan goes something like: "Don't be hung-over, get well-hung!" I tried some on two occasions, and I have to say, when I should have been feeling a little rough around the edges after a night of adult beverages, I felt pretty darn good! Just take it before bed, and you wake up with the same energy you did when you were 21. John made Lemon-drops from his lemon tree outside which were super good.

2/2/2010

Tauru, John, Mike, and I talked earlier in the week to go to Joshua Tree, however, I wasn't feeling great and it seemed rather much to drive 10 hours in a van for 2 days of climbing. With some difficulties, we decided against it. I ate dinner with Jer and his friend Dean who just flew in from Wisconsin and felt like he landed in heaven. That night, Christi, Tauru and I drank Tecate and talked about stuff...and watched a show on how they make bike chains. T and C are staying at Kathi's house right now. Her boyfriend Sloan "found" a dog at an intersection on Christmas. They named him Baby Jesus, or Baby J for short. He was introduced to me by Kathi as "the one in white" to distinguish him from another dog (Asia). Tauru talked more about the book he is in the process of writing which sounds really cool. Christi talked about her upcoming trip to Korea to teach English and the headache of a visa process that she is dealing with. It was a lot of fun to just hang out and talk with two very inspiring and hilarious individuals.