11 days of awesome!
Fun times out in Arizona just being outside and seeing new places.
| Who?: | Lulu, Katie, Grant |
| Date: | May 2021 |
Left from MIT a little early and took finals on the road. And so the saga began...
Check out our pictures here!!!!
I don't want to write an obscene amount so if you want to check out pics or locations then please look at the map/google photos; However I'll try to run a brief recap!
I said goodbye to Cambridge and my housemates and house plants on May 22nd, hopped in the car with Lulu and we drove straight to my friend's house in Rochester NY. I was dead tired since I slept zero the night before hosting a friend until 4:20am:). So I napped in the car and Lulu drove the whole way. I had my Chorallaries Concert over zoom at their house and we had a some really nice vegan quinoa patty burgers and fries. We had a beautiful time, but got caught up playing spike ball the next morning and didn't leave until 12:20pm.
We then drove up for a quick stop at Niagara Falls, which was definitely worth it for the crashing water and sublime feels. Then we kept on to East Harbor State Park Campground where we met with Katie and were caught in some pretty heavy rainfall. So we just set up our sleeping bags under a rain shelter there and had our first of many ramen nights of the trip. A nice place to camp on Lake Erie by the way for 30$ a night for two cars.
The next day we made it out to Indiana Dunes State Park where we camped and also got to experience Lake Michigan, which is really closer to an ocean, with waves, beautiful sand and freshwater (the freshwater was really trippy). I also ate a pickle, sriracha, peanut butter sandwich here! mmmmm. WE went to Porter Beach, walked up Mount Tom, came back along the beach and drove back to our campsite at Dunewood Campsite.
Woke up the next day and hit up a panera so I could take some work calls with Lulu, while Katie picked up Grant. We met up again at Stone State Park in Iowa, although it would have been nice to go through Starved Rock State Park in Illinois if we had more time. Really quaint campsite
Then we cooked towards the Badlands which has this great drive you have to do starting with the prairie dog statue and prairies dogs! that finishes to the West by the Badlands National Park sign, where we camped on a nearby bluff. Beautiful crumbly rock features and different hues from yellow to purple. Lovely day running around and exploring.
The next day we hit up Mount Rushmore even though we saw nothing through the fog, and Sylan Lake in Custer State park, which is beautiful and we got in a quick 5.6 climb called Second Breakfast. Then we hoofed it to Gillette to take our finals (Katie and I) and then a little more driving to sleep at Ten Sleep Rock Ranch in Wyoming (a cheap place to stay for climbers).
We woke up and hit some cool climbs: Shake Your Money Maker 5.7 with some fun stemming, Fake Snake 5.7, and Beer Bong 5.10b (Which is now one of my favorite climbs of all time). Then we started to Yellowstone where we unforutnately had to sleep in a parking lot. Katie and Grant stayed in Yellowstone the next day while Lulu and I cruised into Idaho and climbed at City of Rocks. We hit Elephant Rock for New School 5.10a and Strawberry Fields 5.9 and ended at Bath Rock where I lead Colossus 5.10c (My favorite climb of all time, both difficult but fun, with some large, exposed moves and mantles, ugghhgghhghgh so gooooood)
Next up we drove to Boise, Idaho to stay with my friend Rob, but he wasn't home so I had to climb onto his 3rd story balcony to get in and Katie and Grant met back up with us. Lulu and I climbed in the morning at Black Cliffs with my friend Chris, before parting ways as Lulu was going up to Washington! We got invited by my friend Chris to go camping in the Sawtooths so Grant and Katie and I drove up and swam in the lake at this sweet spot on a small bluff overlooking a clearing in the free camping spot area there.
Next up we picked up our things and Grant, Katie and I went out to Winnemuca, where I had to take another call and we camped nearby up a small canyon. The next day we made it to Tahoe and hiked Mount Tallac which was considerable with a little over 3K vertical gain and about 10 miles total. I was gassed afterwards. Then we bombed back to my place in the Bay Area and at e some good tacos for the night:)))))