Lots of updates!

Since Smith Rock our adventures have taken us to Lake Tahoe, Tuolomne Meadows and San Francisco. In Lake Tahoe we met up with my sister, her husband, and their two amazingly adorable children. We climbed, swam, cooked and played- oh yeah and we got to shower, do laundry and sleep in real beds! Luxurious!

After Lake Tahoe we headed up to Reno for Rosh Hashanah then to Tuolomne Meadows. The absolute highlight of Tuolomne, and perhaps of the climbing portion of our trip, was climbing the Third Pillar of Dana. Although we don't have pictures of our own, here is a description of the route and below are a few we grabbed from the internet. The climb involved a 3 hour uphill hike, a one hour, exposed, fourth class downclimb, 5 pitches of excellent climbing and a 1.5 hour hike back. All in all it took nearly 12 hours to complete the adventure. It was beautiful, stunning, challenging, inspiring and many other things that words cannot describe. 

It looks like a giant pile of rocks, but it's really an incredible route!

An incredible location!

Lake Tahoe + my sister

Thanks Walmart for the overnight accommodations

On top of Daff Dome- our first climb in Tuolomne

yeay we summitted! it's so pretty!

so much granite!!! hiking off Fairview Dome

Drug Dome- Ounce/Gram Traverse

One of the coolest cracks ever!

Last few days at Smith Rock

Our fingertips are fried. Small holes are forming in each one and raw pinkish-white skin is showing through. So- we decided to take a half rest day! In the past few days we have been climbing non-stop. We climbed Monkey Face, completed old projects and found new ones. And we had one of the most incredible Shabbat's ever in Bend, OR. Here are some pictures from the latest adventures.

Setting up the belay in the cave/notch on the back of Monkey Face

Our friend from WI (who now lives in Bend, OR) pulling the very exposed roof of the last pitch on Monkey Face.

The highlight of the climb- a 140 foot mid-air rappel off the nose of the monkey. Just hanging in the air!

Crossing the Crooked River to climb some cracks.

Beautiful!

On Thursday we are leaving for Lake Tahoe to meet up with my sister, her husband and kids. Can't wait to spend time with family!!!!! This will definitely be the highlight of the trip so far!

Smith Rock and smiling!

One week ago we left Squamish, stopped in Seattle to visit family, and drove to Smith Rock State Park, 40 minutes north of Bend, Oregon. We climbed for six days and today we are catching up with the real world and letting our tendons and skin recover. Smith Rock is known as the birth place of modern sport climbing and is home to some of climbing's most classic and difficult routes. It is characterized by teeny tiny crimpy holds and a rock type called tuff which resembles dried up mud. The cool thing is that the canyon is surrounded by a columnar basalt rim that has an entirely different rock quality, so it's like climbing in two entirely different areas within walking distance of one another. We've been slowly getting used to the climbing here and are excited to spend another week exploring!

The famous seafood stand at Pike Place Market

Classic

A very good climbing hold by Smith Rock standards

super classic- vertical, crimpy and run-out!

beautiful Smith Rock State Park, can't believe it's a desert!

Monkey Face! We'll be climbing it tomorrow.

The other past-time at Smith Rock...high-lining. No, we won't be trying it!

One unexpected aspect of Smith Rock is the weather. At night the temperatures can drop to 40 degrees F, but during the day they skyrocket to the upper 80's in the sun. We spend the day chasing the shade where it's dry and quite cool. At night we pull out our down jackets and hats! Tomorrow we are climbing a famous formation called "monkey face". Check out the picture below!

Last Shabbat we spent time at Chabad of Bend. The community is tiny here, but it is warm and welcoming as always! We plan on returning this week.

Hope everyone is enjoying the last bits of summer! We miss all of our family and friends. Being on the road certainly highlights how important that is to us!