Rock Climbing in Idyllwild

Rock climbing last Sunday on the West Face of Tahquitz Rock was really fun and a little scary. I took a few pictures. We climbed about 500 feet straight up, stopping for a lunch break half way up on little ledge, conveniently called Lunch Ledge, with a great view of the surrounding forest and Suicide Rock across the valley.


The hardest part of the climb was the Fingertip Traverse, a long section with only a small shallow crack to hold with my fingertips right on the edge of a 200 foot vertical drop. Good thing I was wearing a harness connected to a safety rope. The tricky part in the traverse was when I had to unhook from the rope briefly to get around a small bush that grew out of the crack half way across. My calves started to ache trying to grip the rock face with my sticky rubber shoes and my palms were sweaty when I reached the other side.


I felt great when I reached the top of this 5.3 rated climb with Tom and Julie. I love heights and it brought back memories of climbing tall trees as a kid.

Last Day with Long Hair

After growing my hair long for 2 years, I cut my hair short today. It was nice to have long hair after spending six years with it short for the Army Reserves, but it is time for something new. Snip! Snip!