First of all, body is not very happy right now. My foot was fixing itself until I decided to do a track workout last week. Very smart (or not). It was actually a pretty good workout, something I would have done back in college, and with little to no preparation for it. So that's good. But it kind of killed my foot, which was already not happy since mud 50k. Instead of running, Josh and I have been to the climbing gym a LOT. Its making me stronger but I want to be running!
With that in mind, Saturday morning was a bodyboard day. I sat around for a long time trying to find waves like we rode during vacation but obviously that is not going to happen in southern california (the water is just not 38 degrees ha ha). There is something about ice offshores that is just awesome. In the end I accepted reality (sort of, as much as I ever do), and decided to go to a spot near-ish where I live. It was good when I first got in, but within a half hour the tide and wind killed it. I was bitter for awhile and then realized I should just have fun and hang out in the inside/impact zone. That worked great except once in awhile a random set would come by and completely drain the sandbar. Then I would be stuck RIGHT in the impact zone. But I got a couple of super fun all the way barrels that made it mostly worth the amount of sand that ended up in my wetsuit. The rest of the lineup had the sense to sit outside, but I really think to make the most of the crappy conditions the inside was the right call. Assuming you didn't have an expensive surf board that is. Dark clouds would come and go making for a pretty awesome scene in the sky. Light would come through, then disappear and the ocean would look dark, then get light again. The photographers who were out must have been having a lot of fun. Afterwards, I stopped at the climbing gym to abuse my sore fingers further, and then went to Saturday night church.
Yesterday, I told Josh I would go with him to Joshua Tree. If I hadn't, I would have just slept in because it was one of those mornings where waking up is painful (this happens a lot). I don't like putting my feet on the ground and having my whole body freak out. I called Josh and said I would leave then to pick him up if I could sleep in the car on the way.
We didn't end up getting too much climbing done, which wasn't too surprising considering I didn't even want to wake up. We warmed up in a less popular but easy access area, trying to avoid the crowds.
The weather was unexpectedly awesome. It was sunny and just about perfect climbing temperature. Josh did a couple of easy routes. I warmed up on the easiest climb around but it actually felt pretty good.
We eventually got sick of the areas with people in them, so we went over to Geology Tour Road. It involved parking in a sand patch which was a little high risk in terms of being able to drive out, but we decided it was okay. There are a couple of boulders early on that have a bunch of cool problems of all kinds of ratings. We took a look at some harder stuff but Josh wasn't really into it so we found some easier problems.
Josh found Mirage to be fun and juggy. I couldn't even reach the start. We tried hard to find a way for me to start it, but I think next time we will have to come back with more energy.
We wandered around in the desert for awhile looking for problems, mostly just to go for a walk. Its amazing out there...just flat desert for miles and miles and miles with a few rock piles every so often. It makes me kind of want a compass...
Finally, we decided to go to an area with a bunch of V0's. Unfortunately for us, it was farther down Geology Tour Road. We ignored the "4x4 recommended" signs attempting to make it just a little farther to where we wanted to park. Eventually, we came to a washed out area of the road and sat and debated if the car could do it. Josh said no, I said maybe. After looking for awhile I realized Josh was right and both front wheels of the car would probably end up in the air or with little/no traction, and my car is front wheel drive. We started backing up the road when a ranger pulled up next to us to tell us not to go farther. I pointed out we were going backwards, since we had come to the same conclusion. The ranger drove a little way back to make sure nobody came flying down the road so Josh could back the car about a 1/4mi down before we could turn around. Oh well, maybe someday I'll have a 4x4 vehicle...
To finish off the day, we were going to do a couple of easy routes, but I was clearly tired and not too committed to climbing in the dark and cold. Josh decided we should just go get food which I thought was a great idea! ;) After leaving the park in the dark, we stopped at Crossroads for their last night open. I got my lifetime fix of Crossroads Classic smoothie, since the owner said the restaurant probably won't have them when it reopens as something else (new owners). She was pretty cool though and is "retiring" to go climbing. As usual, the food was awesome, and we will miss it for sure!!Oh btw, I am taking Indonesian Language classes. They are super fun!! Hopefully this summer I will get to use them!
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