climbing rocks

We forgot the camera in the car so pretend their is a pict of me here climbing...

upside-down... with one hand... we're pretending, right? :)

YAY for rock climbing! I've probably gone climbing a total of 3 or 4 times in my life but I really like it nonetheless. It's one of those sports where I found it difficult to get into because I didn't have friends that were super into it so if I wanted to go I'd have to pay a guide every time (it'd be like trying to get into skiing if their was only backcountry and you needed to go with knowledgeable people with the appropriate gear). But lucky enough I now know people who love to climb and are awesome enough to bring me along and put up with my lack of skill :)

Yesterday 3 of us and 2 dogs (I love that dogs are an integral part of the family/community out here and can pretty much do everything except for go into restaurants/bars) went climbing just outside of Carbondale. Pre-climb we took a quick dip into natural hot springs across the road (the water was HOT but flowed directly into a cold river so not really any place to sit and relax hence the quickness factor). In flip flops we made the steep approach to the wall (not the best of ideas but we were fine) with Bode (a big husky/wolf-dog) and Lucy (about the size of Bode's head) blazing the trail. Each of us did one climb before the clouds started rolling in so we headed out. It was a quick trip but of course it was fun nonetheless and we capped it off with some Chinese food (fitting since I hadn't had Chinese food in EXACTLY one year... the day I left China... it was meant to be!).

Oh yeah! About the climb! I'm clearly no expert but I managed to make it to the top taking only one break and my arms/back didn't get too tired/lactic so I must have been doing something right. I love learning new stuff, especially new outdoor sports, so I'm pumped!