Eric Shiozaki

First Trip of the Year | June 2020

I started a full-time “real” job in January of 2020 and it completely took over my life. I thought it would be an easy balance but boy was I wrong. I went from going to the mountains on a weekly basis to never. To say I was itching to get outdoors is an understatement. I was really looking forward to this trip, and it highlighted for me the importance of getting outside, and how we take things for granted when we experience them often. Taking a break from something you love can make it even more rewarding and enjoyable.

Walking to the Crag (Me Left, Ryan Right)
Me after rigging a fixed line

We arrived to the area before lunch and searched around for the crag. We missed the one we were aiming for by about 100 meters and stumbled upon the crag we were hoping to hit the following day. Guide books don’t often have the most accurate or easy to follow advice, but we had an idea of what it looked like. We decided to climb our day two crag and luckily the routes were solid and within our collective ability.

Ryan leading 5.7
Ryan lost at the crux
Ken-dawg crushing her first route of the day

It was both Ryan & Kendra’s first time climbing outdoors. We planned to just top rope, but Ryan was willing to lead easy routes and I pre-built anchors for him on the ground to ensure some level of safety. We got lots of good quality climbing in and had an absolute blast doing so. It was a great way to ease back into the season on some short and sweet routes.

JalapeƱo cheddar smokies for dinner
Cold & windy evening at camp

After climbing, we had a well earned dinner on the fire. No poking sticks meant frying up our smokies in some butter on the cast iron. We toasted our buns (hot dog buns too) and settled down for the night.

Starring at the moon

Good night moon.

Got the fire going early
Putting Ryan to work

We woke up around 5am to a beautiful sunrise, and began making coffee and breakfast to prepare for the day ahead.

A messy breakfast made by yours truly
Morning brew
Pour over w/ Rogue Wave Coffee

After re-energizing we set off on the last few adventures of the day before the trek back home. A great trip for the books.

Rigging top rope
Ryan cleaning the route
Ryan on a long slab route 5.5

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