Climbing at Donner Lake

Lotti knows a guy, and we set up camp in his back yard.

First ones at the crag!

Green Phantom

Is that Becca down there? Viewed from Goldilocks.

Goldilocks. 5.11a It took us a few attempts, but we made it.

TJ crushed it.

Puerto Rico (in progress)

'Merica! sort of.

Julian Klein. We met while I was studying in Germany two years ago.

The Set Up

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of America, so it's not technically a foreign country. It's right there in the Caribbean! Perfect for a summer vacation.

This wasn't my idea. It was Julian's. He's in Boston and the plan was for me to fly there and spend a few days exploring the city. Things took a left turn on day.

"Phil. How about going to Puerto Rico instead?"

"Puerto Rico? Um......... OK. Sounds Rad, but why Puerto Rico?"

"I looked it up, and it's part of America so I can go. You don't need your passport."

Hell ya! We're going to Puerto Rico!

He has an internship right now at a design firm in Boston, and he can't leave America with his current work visa. It's a stretch, but Puerto Rico's status as part of America works, so he just had to notify his advisor and get cleared.

We spoke on the phone a few times to work out a plan. It turned out he doesn't like plans, so everything would be decided on the spot. I can't go on a vacation with NO plans, so I did some research and put together some ideas of things to do. He bough the Lonely Planet book for Puerto Rico and made some notes as well. We had a general idea of what to do, and the only set plan before we left was to stay the first night in Old San Juan Sunday night and pick up the car Monday.

Maybe we'll do a big loop around the island. Maybe we'll find a cool spot and stay there for a couple days. What am I getting myself into? I don't speak Spanish. Julian doesn't either. We'll figure it out.

Day 1: Old San Juan - El Yunque - Fajardo

We took a taxi from the airport to Old San Juan which is out on the peninsula. We unloaded our stuff at our hostel, Posada San Francisco, and hit the street. 

Julian found Pokemon. I just laughed at him. Games aren't my thing, but the's more than stoked about how well the technology uses augmented reality.

CATS! They're everywhere. It's a bit gross, but they don't get too close. Luckily for them because I wasn't afraid to give them a kick if it came to it.

We ended up walking to Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It's actually a US National Park which is rad. 

It was super windy when we got there and with only a few minutes before closing, we

chose to walk around the perimeter and not bother going in. 

Trench at El Morro

 We shared a room at Posada San Francisco with and nice older gentleman and this rad girl from Switzerland. Martina was traveling solo and very happy to chat with us about plans. She was also kind enough to offer us breakfast; toast and jam. Julian, being the nice guy he is, bought us coffee from the vending machine upstairs. Tres café con leche served in 4 oz foam dixi cups. There will be no big mugs of coffee for us on this trip.

With a shared destination, I offered to give her a ride to Fajardo. She took us up on the offer and ended up staying with us the whole week. Booya! The tres amigos go to Puerto Rico!

First stop after getting the car: Super Max grocery store for supplies
_ Bananas, apples, mangos, carrots, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, peanut butter, crackers, lots of water, gatorade, bread, small knives, and EASY CHEEZE!  We had some weird lunches.

We headed east toward El Yunque National Forest. It's a rainforest! There's sure to be a waterfall or two. 

Slightly awkward. We clicked pretty fast, and we were already having fun goofing around. 

Roadside lunch: Carrot and Easy Cheese on a Triscuit. Delicious. The Easy cheese was Julian's idea, but we all appreciated it.

The first waterfall on the map was closer to the road than we thought. It was 20' from the road, so there would be no swimming and no fun hike. Moving on. 

Day 2: Fajardo - Vieques - Esperanza

Julian and I woke up with the sun to get in line early.

This guy had amazing whistling skills. It had vibrado like a bird. CRAZY.

Day 3: Vieques: Esperanza - Isabel Segunda - El Hippi - Malecon de Maguabo

Day 4: Malecon de Maguabo - Quest for a waterfall - Ponce

Day 5: Ponce - Old San Juan

Yosemite at Random II

Meet Brandon and Brittany. Brandon and I study together at SJSU and also work together at Hive. We climb too. Camping had been on my mind for a week or so, and the weekend was approaching. On Thursday night after our climbing session at The Studio, I ask if he and Brittany would like to go camping in Yosemite.....tomorrow. In the snow.

"Yes." With no hesitation he agrees to join me. He and Brittany have been talking about going to Yosemite for a few weeks, but no made any solid plans. 

"Pack your stuff. We leave tomorrow after work, and it's about 4 hours of driving." 

"No problem. Brittany has tomorrow off so she can get our stuff together. She'll be so excited."

"Snow is in the forecast. I'll grab a few zero degree sleeping bags from school, pads, and a tent."

"Cool. Thanks." I knew Brandon wouldn't have winter sleeping bags. Not many people do, including me. My 20 degree bag wouldn't cut it, and I didn't want to bring my big down comforter.

We bailed early from work and hit the road at 5:00pm from Campbell. We lucked out and hit barely any traffic. I heard about a rock slide in Yosemite, but the website didn't mention any road closures. Rookie mistake. As we left Merced there was a temporary CalTrans sight informing us HWY 140 to Yosemite was closed. Brandon calls for the current road conditions and confirms the closure. I had the phone numbers written along with directions. 

The detour in Mariposa added what we thought would be just over 1 hour to our drive. WE WERE ALMOST THERE! Nope. HWY 41 - Wawona Rd was windy, and covered in snow on some sections. Brandon and I had to put chains on in the snow, and I had never put these chains on before. We took it easy on the snow covered road, letting a snow-ready Jeep blast by us in a cloud of snow that looked like smoke in the night. 

It was 10:30 pm when we finally arrived at Camp 4. Brandon and I paid our fees ($6/person per night is rad,) scoped out a site, and began stomping down the snow to make a space for our tents. Yep, we had to make a path and pack down a foot of snow by the light of our headlamps. Good thing we have boots.

Good Morning!

They look so fresh after a night of sleeping on the snow.

Um. Is that the fire pit? We'll have to dig that out later.

 Yosemite Falls. It's going to flow well this spring.

The adventure begins. This is Brittany's first time to Yosemite! I couldn't believe it. We took in the sights along Northside and Southside Drive, and stopped for a couple photos. The tea we had for breakfast wasn't enough, so we made a coffee stop in Curry Village. Of course we browsed the sport shop too. Brandon and I love looking at climbing stuff even if we're buying anything. Brittany bought a shirt. Such a good tourist.

 With coffee in hand, we hit the trail.

Who wouldn't love Yosemite without the crowds?

Brittany brought her fancy camera in hopes of capturing the winter beauty on medium format. It's a heavy beast to carry around, and I can't wait to see what she captured. She had to be very selective with only two rolls of 10 exposures. She majored in photography, so I don't doubt she scored some goodies.

 Clark Bridge: built in 1928. Half Dome in the distance.

Goofballs. They're perfect for each other.

Merced River with Upper Pines campground on the other side.

I kept my maps from last year which was very handy given that the trail wasn't visible in some spots. We ended up following some ski tracks and scattered footprints through the snow along the river. It was a good warm up for what was to come.

Merced River in its winter glory.