This might be a new record in tardiness for my increasingly poorly named year end report. Oh well, strange times we are having, but I figure it is well past time to get this out.
Once again the new year found me in Boston visiting family and mostly being inside. In Mid January I headed back to Bishop and started the somewhat less painful process of trying to get back into climbing shape (less painful because I did yoga almost every day while in Boston and lifted a few times). I was mostly climbing in the Owens River Gorge (ORG) taking advantage of some dry and warmish conditions putting in some new routes with Erik as well as just climbing. In February this continued with a few camping trips to Saline Valley and bouldering plus mountain biking added to the mix. This continued in March with a little backcountry skiing with the increased snow. Sam and Raquel visited and we did a bunch of mountain biking, van work, and playing Dominion.
In April I found a heron nesting site so took a lot of pics of that, plus the usual climbing. Julie got a motorcycle (Honda Rebel 300) so I worked on remembering how to ride it (I had a motorcycle in 1995-7 or so) plus getting a learning permit. I also worked on my garden and the usual house maintenance. Erik and I continued putting up some new climbs in the ORG.
In May I felt like I was finally getting stronger at climbing including a few 5.12 flashes in the ORG plus starting to climb in Pine Creek. I also did a few trips into the mountains despite fairly wintery conditions - some were at least partially on skis. Julie got a condo so I helped with some work on that (painting, floor, moving). More of this in June with the addition of the Mammoth Yoga Festival and some stand up paddleboarding (SUP) as well as some hard climbing with Paul.
In July I got into the mountains a bit more plus Wanderlust in Squaw Valley and some SUP on a choppy Lake Tahoe and other locations.
August brought the annual Sierra Challenge. This year I went for the aqua jersey (for swimming in alpine waters). I ended up winning that with 33 cold swims and 24 peaks. The challenge started out a little easier than previous years but got pretty tiring by the end. I mostly didn't go for a lot of bonus peaks, but some were hard to resist. I did most of the peaks with Iris, along with the usual cast of characters. Later I climbed Fishhook Arete on Mt Russel and the next day did a huge day over Taboose Pass (gaining more than 10,000 feet of vertical and 30+ miles) with JD to Arrow and Pyramid peak and a trip up N Fork of Big Pine Creek to climb Two Eagle Peak via a 5.9 variation of The Diamond and an aborted attempt on Mt Sill (shoe delamination led to retreat) with Iris. In between were some SUP and climbing trips.
September brought crewing for Renee's succesful attempt at the Womens FKT (Fastest Known Time) to do all the California 14ers (and I joined her climbing Mt Shasta, my last CA 14er to climb) and managed to climb the NE Arete of Lone Pine Peak with Iris while Renee was doing her final Russel - Langley push. The next weekend we hiked into Lake Cecile to scramble Ken Minaret and climb Clyde Minaret via SE Face direct variation. By the end of the month I started working on my roof (cleaning and painting with elastomeric coating for protection plus a cooler white surface). I also hosted a fun YogaSlacker mini-reunion with up to about 10 people here slacklining, handstanding, SUPing, acroing, Yogaing, and hanging out.
October brought more time on the roof finishing that up and replacing the fluorescent tubes in the ceiling with LED lights, a very cold climb of the Swiss Arete on Mt Sill with Iris, more rock climbing, and a last minute solo of Mt Emerson before the first storm of the season. It felt a lot busier than that sounded.
November included a trip to Saline, climbing, Cloudripper and Vagabond peaks, as well as a trip down south to climb desert peaks (Spectre among others) and a trip to Orange County/ LA to avoid a storm over Thanksgiving. The weather was bad so I stayed down for an extra week and Rabbit and Villager peaks. We also tacked on a few days climbing in Joshua Tree to these trips.
In December I eventually came back to Bishop for a bit with some climbing and a little skiing before packing up and flying to Boston for the Holidays.
All in all it was another good year with a lot of climbing (128 days) including 13 new (for me) 5.12 climbs and a number of backcountry trips. I also managed to finish a few house projects (LED lights and the white elastomeric roof), got plenty of mostly squash and tomatoes from the garden, kept active and avoided any serious new injuries, and even got a girlfriend (Iris). Things definitely got busier the second half of the year as seems to be the usual trend. Thanks to everyone for all the companionship and support.
Update for this strange year - I'll have more details in next year's report whenever that comes out, but I've mostly been in Bishop since the stay at home orders. Iris is able to work remotely and has been staying here which is very nice. We are able to get out for walks, jogs, bike rides, and day hikes, so it really isn't that bad. I do wish we were allowed to go climbing and skiing, but as far as life inconvenience goes I really can't complain that much. Hopefully all the yoga and training we are doing now will serve us well when we can get out climbing again. Stay safe and sane everybody.