One Up-ed

This past weekend (or I guess our weekend is Monday) Bry and I thought we'd take on the Kor-Ingles (sp?) route up Castleton tower. It is a four pitch climb up a free standing tower in Castle Valley. It was a beautiful day and our climb was fantastic! We were feeling pretty awesome when we got to the top. . . it was a pretty "stout" climb (gotta use the climber lingo here) with a pitch of off-width 5'9 on slippery calcite. On the summit we were met by some really cool and friendly folk (Steph and Mario) gearing up to base jump the 400+ feet down from the top. Not only that, but Steph had just led every pitch of the 5'11 route. We followed them to the edge of the cliff and watched them as they prepared. Sometimes I really don't mind being one up-ed and this was one of them. Our 5'9 climb and rapel decent seemed like child's play compared to that. I have to admit that I felt much better once I found out her last name was Davis* (wink).

*Steph Davis (along with Beth Rodden) is the most famous female rock climber. She lives in Moab with her climber husband Dean Potter. That is her base jumping.

Canyonlands

Hi everybody -

Canyonlands has been awesome so far. I just finished a week of SAR training - we built rescue systems for five days: I learned a ton. Angela and I have a nice 1 bdrm apartment with a beautiful view. My coworkers are great; I think my job will be a lot of fun this summer. Angela and I are hiking together this afternoon for her last day of work before our weekend.

The best way to get in touch with us right now is by email on weekdays (we can check this on breaks or after work at the office by our house) or call us on Sundays because we'll be down in Moab where we have cell phone reception. Our meetings start at 11:00 am.

Pictures coming soon.

Brian

ill communication

Just letting the world know that we cannot be contacted. No phone. No reception and very little internet available. Feel kind of like Butch Cassidy living in the middle of the desert completely unreachable. . . except I haven't robbed a bank lately.

We'll keep ya'll posted as to when we are back.

Search and Rescue

I'm going to the weeklong NPS SAR training when I first get to Canyonlands! Pete is going to be there as well from Zion so it'll be an awesome week on the rock.

Bry

Grand Canyon Backpack

You know, I really don't know how to explain this trip. My dad would probably say it was unwise considering Catherine is riding on the edge of financial security (and I'm probably driving that band-wagon) but after working with that silly but necessary green paper all day long and seeing what people usually waste it on; I'd have to say this trip was totally worth it. Catherine is pretty much the coolest person ever. HERE'S WHY:

EMT

I passed my National Registry of EMT's exam yesterday!

Brian