Working, Climbing, Living

I've been working a bunch, and climbing most evenings after work. Since I can't take my camera along through the canyons, and it's always near dark when I'm climbing, I haven't taken many pictures. I had a day off today though, and went on a mission with my friend Fabio to a really cool climbing spot called Denti della Vecchia (teeth of the old woman). Most of the climbing around this area is on granite or quartzite, but Denti della Vecchia is limestone. It's the same rock that makes up the Dolomites, and it makes for awesome climbing. Here's an overview of the area.

And a little closer shot of some of the rock.

Fabio trying to find our route...this wasn't it.

Unfortunately my camera was too big to take along on the climb, but we took Fabio's, so I'll get pictures from him and post those up. Another overview shot on the way home.

And this is my attempt at showing our route.

Unfortunately it's hard to tell from this angle where we climbed, so this is my best guess. It was five pitches covering a little over 100 meters. Pretty easy climbing, but the scenery was absolutely gorgeous, so it was very worth it. We'll be headed back soon to climb something more difficult. I'll also try to get some canyoning photos from a friend's waterproof camera. Stay tuned.

My life is a whirlwind. I have no idea what's going to happen next. I was bored with Madrid and missing Moab, so I decided to call it quits early and head home. I scheduled a flight to Milan, so that I could visit my buddy Eric for a few days, then another flight from Milan back to the states. I went for one last walk around Madrid to see a few of the sights that I'd missed. The highlight was the Templo de Debod, which is an actual Egyptian temple that was saved, along with many others, from being flooded when they built the Aswan High Dam on the Nile. It was taken apart piece by piece, shipped across the Mediterranean, and reassembled in downtown Madrid. Crazy.

Due to a conflict with my 6am flight time and the fact that the Metro shuts down from 2-6am, I was forced to leave my apartment at midnight, then try to catch some sleep in the airport before my flight. Suck. I then arrived in Bergamo (Ryanair's airport "near" Milan) at about 8:30, took various busses to Switzerland, and finally met Eric in the mid-afternoon. I arrived to sunny skies, but a dire weather forecast, so we went for a quick hike to see one of the canyons here before the rains came. The combination of white granite and turquoise water is perfect and the access doesn't get much easier.

Unfortunately the weather forecasts came true. The skies opened up and the water levels rose accordingly. Canyoning was definitely off the menu.

Finally the sun came back out, and there was much rejoicing.

And climbing.

And changes of plan. I was offered work with a canyoning company that had a guide drop out at the last minute. Let's see, stay around this beautiful place AND make decent money...OK. They even hooked me up with a place to stay while I'm here. The view from the back deck:

The house:

So I'll be here for six weeks or so. Looking forward to exploring more of this area. More photos will be taken. I promise. As a parting shot, my attempt at a self portrait. Feel free to criticize.

South to North

The last time I posted I was in Tarifa, but didn't post any photos of that place.  Truthfully, I didn't take many photos there, but here's one (obviously I played around with it in post, maybe I should have just left it alone, oh well):

When I left Tarifa I headed back to Granada for a couple of days because I'd made friends there.  Drunken hilarity ensued, which was not photographed (as far as I know) and will not be documented here.  A long, hung-over bus ride got me back to Madrid with enough time to do laundry and catch a little sleep before hopping on another bus for another long bus ride.  I made it to Gijon, capital of the Principality of Asturias, at about six o'clock on Friday morning.  I arrived more than a little tired, but excited to meet my cousin Leon and his family.  After some confusion with the city bus (which I claim to be caused by my lack of sleep, not my shitty spanish) I arrived at Leon's apartment and met him, his wife Rachel, and their boys Conrad (2) and Owen (almost 1).  In addition to the apartment in Gijon, they also have a house in a small village about an hour outside of the city.  Since Leon's dad (John), step-mom (Julia), and brother (Barney) where staying out at the house, the plan was for Rachel to take me out there on Friday, then everyone else would come out on Saturday.  The house is in a truly beautiful setting, a verdant green valley, surrounded by high, rocky peaks.  I'll let the pictures do the talking though.  Their house is in the center of the picture:

Look at all that rock.  And not a single climber anywhere.

The view sucks:

Leon, Owen, Conrad, John, and Julia:

I had a great time and truly enjoyed meeting my extended family.  I've always thought of myself as coming from a very small family, as I have no siblings and only one first-cousin, but I guess reaching out a few generations there's a lot of wonderful people that are related to me.  I look forward to seeing them all again, whether it's in the US, Spain, or somewhere else.