Merriment and Eisley

In September, we had a chance to see Merriment and Eisley play at Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids. Eisley was the headliner, and a third band we had never heard of and Merriment opened. I was super excited, because I'd never seen either Merriment or Eisley live before, though Brandon had. It was also an affordable show put on by Fusion Shows which doesn't charge the exorbitant fees that Ticketmaster does. 

The bands Merriment and Eisley have an interesting connection. They both consist of various members from the same family. Eisley was started by the three eldest sisters and a brother, and Merriment began later featuring the youngest sister and brother. Brandon and I really like sibling bands as their voices tend to meld together beautifully, likely due to their genetic connection. For example, as a side note, we also love Lily & Madeleine, a sister duo from Indiana.   

Merriment was an absolutely lovely opener. It was more of an acoustic set featuring the youngest sister, Christie. The songs were a mix of new and old and she had a sweet, unassuming stage presence. I loved it. 

Merriment on the stage

When Eisley took the stage next, we discovered the cast of the band had changed quite a bit. Two of the three usual sisters were not present. Instead it was just Sherri and then Christie (whom we had just seen as Merriment). A Wikipedia search after the show indicated that the other two sisters are now more involved in their husband's bands. 

Eisley's music is of a harder style than Merriment's, so it took some time to adjust to seeing Christie play first in sweet-sounding Merriment and then do an about face to sing in harder-sounding Eisley. Eisley wasn't the same without the normal cast of sisters and the band also seemed to have some trouble remembering all the lyrics to the songs. We were willing to cut them some slack and just enjoy being there. But, in the end, we were much more impressed by Merriment's show. 

Eisley in its new form

I should also mention that we found Pyramid Scheme to be a great venue for the show. It wasn't too big or too small and they had a lot of great craft beer on tap. The crowd was respectful of the show and supportive of the bands. And, the show was done by 11:15pm, which I think is great timing. As I age, any show that lasts to or past midnight feels exhausting. So, overall, it was a great night to get out, have some fun together, appreciate music, and check out a great Grand Rapids venue. 

My First Bouldering Competition

Brandon and I recently did a bouldering competition at CrossFit Soaring Ledge in Holland. Brandon has done several comps, but this was my first. We had climbed once before at Soaring Ledge when it first opened in Holland, but we weren't impressed with the power-heavy setting style. So, we approached this comp with some hesitancy. As a physical therapist, I am also, for the most part, not a fan of CrossFit. So, entering a CrossFit gym and immediately seeing a banner advertising a chiropractic office was also a bit of a turn off. 

However, we ended up enjoying the boulder comp quite a bit. The setting style was impressively varied and skillful, and our fellow competitors were friendly. The comp started out with 18 boulder problems with difficult level increasing from problem 1 to problem 18. As difficulty increased, the points available increased. If the boulder problem was completed on the first try, the climber could take the max amount of points for the problem. A second try resulted in a point deduction. Three tries resulted in a further deduction, but once you reached three tries or more the point level remained the same. This was nice as it encouraged climbers to keep trying difficult problems without severe penalties. We all had 1.5 hours to work on the 18 problems. It was a free-for-all, and the climbs could be completed in any order desired. There were only about 20 competitors, so there wasn't much wait to work on the boulder routes. 

I performed very well in this portion of the competition, and I paced myself well. I even managed to complete problem 14, though 15-18 were near impossible for me. Many of the problems I got on the first time, which secured me more points. When the 1.5 hour were up and the scores were tallied, I was third place for the women (and not far behind 1st and 2nd place) and eighth overall. Exciting! Brandon had a rougher go of it due to a finger injury earlier in the week, but he persevered. 

Me pulling a pretty impressive, balance move on boulder problem #14 

After a break and a hot dog lunch, the second portion of the competition began. Three new boulder problems of increasing difficulty were set up. Each competitor had each boulder problem to themselves for 4 minutes to try to solve it while everyone else looked on. Competitors were given 4 minute rests between each of the three problems as well. If you couldn't make it to the top of the problem for the full point value, you could still collect points by touching a "bonus hold" about halfway up. 

The three new boulder problems were tough, especially after being worn from 1.5 hours of boulder in the first portion of the comp. The best that Brandon and I did was make it to the bonus hold on the first of the three problems. It was rather discouraging, but we consoled ourselves with knowing that we had done better in the first round. Many other climbers also had a difficult time with the new problems, but it was fun to watch some really impressive climbers complete or get close to completing each of the problems. 

Brandon moving past the bonus hold on the first of the three new problems

With a poorer performance in the second round, our rankings didn't change much. I stayed at third place for the women, which was still an accomplishment. Overall we did quite well for Soaring Ledge not being our home gym and for this being my first comp ever. I think we would do another comp at some point, though probably only once or twice a year. It was definitely fun to have 18+ new problems to work through at once. I like challenging myself, but I don't love feeling like I have to compete against other climbers. 

Top Golf

Kirk had heard of this place called Top Golf that he wanted to try while we were around. At a glance it seems like just another driving range. But as it turns out it is much much more. Instead of just hitting the ball at an empty field, there are targets for you try to hit. They are kind of like greens, but each green is setup like a dart board with sensors. So if you hit into one of those targets, a computer can tell you where you hit your ball to and deduce how far and how close to the center of the target you hit. 

It's a pretty awesome system because that means it turns the driving range into more of a game. In fact they do have games. Some games are simple and you get the same points as long as you hit a target. Other games factor in more accuracy and distance into the scoring. Some games you can hit whatever target you like, and others tell exactly which target to hit.

Everything is setup a lot like a bowling alley. You pay for a "bay" instead of a lane, and you pay by time instead of by game. We went mid-weekday, so it was only $20/hour + a $5/person one time player registration fee. But once you get your "player card", you just have to cover the cost of a bay. Peak times at this place is $40/hour. 

Each bay has some kind of couch or table seating just like a bowling alley. A basic set of clubs are provided for those that don't bring their own. There's a touch screen to control the game. And most importantly, the bay comes with a place to hit the golf balls. There is a dispensing machine where a ball comes out when you wave your club or foot over a sensor. Each ball must have some kind of chip or something in it because that ball gets assigned to whichever player is up in the game. I'm guessing then that when that ball passes through one of the sensors in the target that's when the system knows where you hit. If you miss the target then as far as we could tell the system doesn't know if you hit or not and just leaves the score for that ball at zero. 

Me Top Golfing
You can see the circular targets that we're hitting at beyond where I'm hitting

We played several different games. One where you score better the closer to the center of any target. You get bonus points if you can hit two good shots in a row. We played another where the same thing happens, but the further away the target, the higher the score. And lastly we played a chipping game where 3 of the closer ranged targets were what you had to hit. 

We played just like you would at a bowling alley where you take turns after every shot. But since there were only three of us, this meant we were almost always on our feet ready to take our turn. We later figured out that it would have been better to hit a few in a row before switching out. In fact we screwed up a couple times and didn't properly tell the system who was hitting. We had to manually tell it which player was hitting. But the system had an easy way to move balls/shots to the correct player. 

They also have servers that come around. We ordered an appetizer and a couple drinks. Both were pretty reasonably priced. They weren't gouging us by any means. They really seemed to have thought of everything.

Kirk Top Golfing

Katie Top Golfing

They provided clubs for you to use.
They had mens' and women's driver, 3 wood, 3 hybrid, 5 iron, 7 iron, 9 iron, and sand wedge.

They're building in indoor skydive place next door

Happy Top Golfers

They also know how to get us to come back. They sent each one of us an email with $10 off our next visit. Well Katie and I were going to be up near there to drop Kirk off at the Tampa Bay airport. So we swung by again to get in another hour of play for only $10. We focused more on the golfing and didn't order any food or drinks. We also learned from our past experience and hit 4 to 5 shots each before switching out. This meant we got in a lot more shots. An hour was more than enough for the two of us. 

Katie during our second visit

So if you can't tell from my lengthy description of our visit at Top Golf, we were all very impressed. Kirk and I were talking and the whole concept seems genius. They probably had 200 to 300 bays. And at $40 a bay an hour, that's a hefty chunk of change if they can fill them up. And it sounds like they do. Kirk said that when he tried to come in the past there was a 2 hour wait to play. So not only were they full, but those that were willing to wait it out were probably at the bar or restaurant. But it makes sense. It's the perfect date night or small group spot. No one has to be a good golfer or ever golfed at all. Those that golf more can hit more if they like while the others socialize or eat and drink. They make it easy to split the cost up any which way the group likes. Like I said it was a lot like a bowling alley but perhaps even better. Katie and I will be holding onto our player cards and going back if we ever come across another Top Golf facility.

The Iowa State Fair

As you should all know by now, one of the goals of this year off was to include others in our time off/travels. So to include my mom in on that deal we offered to take her anywhere she wanted go. It took some thought, but she eventually picked the Iowa State Fair. It had been on her bucket list for a long time. A lot of people in the Quad Cities had made it a regular part of their summer schedule, and we had always heard great things about it. But for one reason or another it was never a top priority. Well this year that changed. We went!

Katie and I did not quite know what to expect. We had each been to a fair or two. But there was something ominous about going to the Iowa State Fair, considered by some the fair of all state fairs. We had also heard that it can get crazy busy, especially on the weekends. So we decided to tackle seeing the fair across two weekdays to help manage the craziness.

The first day that we went was a Tuesday. We set off early in the morning from the Quad Cities and arrived just before lunch. Several people gave us the same tip of the general area of where to park, which was to enter from the west side of the fair and park in the neighborhoods. After being quoted ridiculously high prices for the first couple of blocks, we eventually found the $5 parking we were told about. My one worry was that they'd stack up the cars such that we wouldn't be able to leave when we wanted to, but luckily that didn't happen.

We entered near the Grandstand and ended up just doing a big clockwise loop around the fair grounds as the day went on. When we first entered we saw that there was some kind of cook off going on the Grand concourse. I managed to grab a couple free samples. It was an excellent way to start the day, but we weren't that hungry at the time so we moved on quickly. Too bad too, cuz of course by the time we were hungry the cook off was over. Alas...

The first big stop was in the Agricultural Building. There you could look at farm themed art, various kinds of vendors (some of which gave you samples of their products like eggs, honey, and jam), vegetable judging entries, and the highlight of the building was getting to see the famous Butter Cow. We stood in line for about 10 minutes as we meandered our way to the glass case containing the sculpture. Much to my surprise though there were some other things carved out of butter that the nerdy side of me was particularly excited about.

The famous Iowa State Fair butter cow.
That's right, an actual size cow carved out of butter.

A buttery likeness of the original Star Trek crew on the bridge.  
I am assuming this was in honor of Star Trek's 50th anniversary. 

The Enterprise in butter form

Next we went to the animal learning center. This building was really nicely air conditioned, so we did not mind at all spending a little extra time there. In this building you get to see lots of baby farm animals, and if you time it right you can even see farm animals being born. We did not see that, which was fine with me, but you could watch video replays of births earlier that day. I preferred to just look at the cute baby animals. The baby goats and baby ducks were particularly cute. 

A cute little duckling

After getting a bit lost, we eventually made our way to the Cultural Center. It was another nicely air conditioned building filled with different categories of art for our viewing/judging pleasure. We also got to watch a pottery making demonstration.

An artistic tardis from Doctor Who

Next we made our way down to some of the animal barns. These things were gigantic. They had a barn dedicated to cows, one for pigs, one for horses, and one for sheep. It was definitely weird for me wandering through those barns. I don't particularly like animals that are much bigger than me and smell terrible. But on the other hand I enjoy seeing a side of life I don't get to experience very often. I tried my best to appreciate and understand what they were doing there. The weirdest take away I had was how much care goes into prepping these animals for being shown. The cows in particular were weird. The cow barn was filled with people vacuuming and hair spraying their cows. And I'm pretty sure the some of spray was colored, like they were spray painting their cow's coat. We sat and watched a 4H cow judging contest for a bit, and I still have no idea what the criteria is for a good cow vs a bad cow. But I'm thankful that I don't really need to know either. It was still amusing to be in what felt like such a foreign land right in my own backyard.

A cow judging

We eventually got hungry and had to track down food. There were almost too many options and we waited too long to track down the "best" of whatever they had. Katie and I settled for a quick pulled pork sandwich, and my mom found a pork chop on a stick. I think my mom won the best pick of good fair food, but our sandwich was tasty as well.

We then went out in pursuit of finding the quilting section of the fair. We were told it was in the Varied Industries building, but all we could find there initially were rows and rows of vendors trying to sell hot tubs, cable/dish packages, and everything else under the sun. We eventually left the building and got help from an info desk and were pointed to one particular side of the Varied Industries building that had a second floor that we weren't able to find before. Once we found it, it was quite impressive. There were hundreds of quilts on display. Some of those pieces had to have taken years to make. I think even my mom felt overwhelmed by some of the complexity of certain quilts. But overall I think she came out inspired with ideas for her future quilting projects.

A gigantic sand creation at the entrance of the Varied Industries building

After seeing the quilts, we attempted to go see a horse show but learned that some of the shows cost money. But all the shows the next day were free. We opted to wait. We instead checked out the 4H building for a bit and wandered around judging the kids' project boards and art. My favorite was finding how many of the photography entries featured a picture of their cats. Katie's favorite was looking at the sewing projects where some of the girls made rather impressive dresses. 

Our day was winding down at that point. We had hit up most of the major buildings/displays and were feeling quite worn. I was determined to get at least one more snack that had to be on a stick before we left for the day. So we went back to one spot where they had salads on a stick. Along the way we saw an ice sculpture carving demonstration and walked through a pretty garden area.

Caprese salad stick

It was kind of a bummer that we were feeling so worn out. The evening was starting to set in, and things were cooling down nicely. But there was nothing left on the schedule that we wanted to see that day, and we were tired and sore. My two regrets for the day were not sticking around the cook off a bit longer and apparently there was also a beard contest. I'm not saying I would have entered or anything, but it seems like the type of thing I wish we could have attended. But my schedule reading skills did not get tuned until it was too late. Oh well.

That night we stayed a really nice Airbnb on the west side of Des Moines. The guy we were staying with had just put his place up, so we were one of his first few guests. He was really nice, and so was his dog. We found a Trader Joe's nearby and got stuff to make sandwiches for dinner that night and breakfast the next day. We sat and talked with our host about Airbnb experiences we've had in the past, the Olympics, and really anything else on his mind like current movie releases. He even shared some his favorite beers with us while we sat and chatted. It was a nice relaxing night and certainly beat an overpriced hotel or driving back to the QC. 

The next day was a lot calmer. We had pretty much already hit up most everything we wanted to see. Had we not already bought tickets we might have gone exploring the Amana Colonies or something else around Des Moines. But we made the most of our return visit. We managed to make into one of the horse judging contests/shows. In fact, if you watch the right PBS special you might see us. Apparently, we made it into the PBS program for about 5-6 seconds while watching the horses. I haven't found the clip online or anything, but my mom saw it just the other day. 

Horse judging

The horse judging arena "zamboni" tractor

A blue-ribbon couple

We checked out the food center which ended up being a bit of a let down. I thought there'd be a lot more free samples from the food judging contests happening there. We also went back to the Varied Industries building to give the vendors another try. It really was crazy how many different places you can buy a hot tub from. We also got in another round of fair food for lunch. I was again determined to get food on a stick, but because of long lines and out of stock items I settled for the classic corndog on a stick. Katie went the healthy route with a veggie wrap of some sort, and my mom got her pork tenderloin that she had heard so much about.

More food on a stick

Lastly we finally caught a ride on the fair tram. It was something we probably should have started with to help us get the lay of the land. It was nice to not have to walk as much the second day and still get to see all the happenings around the fair grounds.

Farm equipment everywhere

Shaded tram ride around the fair grounds

On the way home we stopped at my favorite gas station off of I-80. I might have talked about this place before, but it's worth mentioning again. There's a gas station off exit 220 called Colony Point. And they have the best sandwiches. They bring all their breads, meats, cheeses, etc. down from the Amish Amana Colonies. It's always a highlight of any road trip across Iowa.

The best gas station sandwich in all the land

And that was our Iowa State Fair experience. I don't think I would need to go every year, but I would definitely go again. We would probably only need to go for one day instead of two. And if we went again I'd splurge a bit more on trying out even more fair food and shows even if it cost extra. But I think how we did it this time was a great way to do it for our first visit.

Guest Post: Match Day

We asked Tim if he'd like to be a guest writer on our blog and cover the highlight of our Germany trip: seeing a Bayern Munich match in person. He accepted the challenge. This is what he had to share:

Match Day
by Tim Botting

My first thought after waking up on April 23: Match day! Time to see “The Old Lady”! Indeed, after months of planning, the football match day had finally come. I donned my Bayern Munich kit, which I purchased earlier in the week, and we left around lunch time for the football grounds. Based on the apparel of the football fans in the subway and the short walk to the grounds, a club scarf is the most common and probably stylish way to show support for your club.

Upon arriving to the outskirts of the stadium, we immediately saw the Olympic rings hanging outside the entrance. Hertha Berlin plays their matches at the Olympiastadion, a stadium where some events during the infamous 1936 Olympics were held. At first glance, this was fairly obvious since the stadium looks like it was made of old brick which is quite imposing. I am sure that is was the idea of the designer. Adjacent to the stadium was a field hockey arena. After we gained entry into the Olympiastadion, we wandered around to look for other historic structures. We were shocked to discover that a field (where a cricket match was occurring) was actually an area where Hitler staged numerous troop rallies often seen in the historic photos documenting the events leading up to WWII. There was also a swimming pool under renovation, likely from the Olympic games, as well as small monuments from other Olympic host cities with the names of German medal winners.

The front of the Olympiastadion

People playing cricket on the Maifield

The Olympic pool next to the stadium

Hertha Berlin itself is also historic. Nicknamed “The Old Lady”, the club began in 1892 as the first exclusive football club in Germany. It was named after a steamship with a blue and white smokestack (club and kit colors) which had transported one of the club founders previously.  Hertha Berlin is also a founding member of the German Cup and German football league known as the Bundesliga. The Olympiastadion hosts the German Cup every year. Unfortunately Hertha Berlin was knocked out of the semifinals of the German Cup earlier in the week by Borussia Dortmund. The match we saw was a normal Bundesliga game versus Bayern Munich, a consistently dominant team.

Group selfie in front of the stadium

A big lawn area on the south side of the stadium

Grabbing some beers before the match starts

After completing our stroll, it was time to find our seats. Due to the high profile nature of the game between two teams in the top five of the Bundesliga standings, I had to scramble to get tickets the day they became available (approximately two months before the game) from the club website. It became obvious that I was not going to get seven seats together, so I frantically searched the sections and was able to purchase tickets in a group of two (seats next to each other), a group of three (seats 6, 8 and 10 – hoping that a stranger would allow us to swap seats) and another group of two (piggyback seats) in three completely different sections of the arena. All of the seats were located near a corner of the pitch just in different areas of the stadium. I chose to sit in the group of three seats with Brandon and Katie, since that particular section was close to the home supporters section, which I assumed was going to be lively and entertaining. I was not disappointed!

Match Ticket

Panorama of the pitch from our seats

Me and Katie enjoying the view

Brandon and Katie pre-match

Right before the match was set to kick off, the Bayern Munich visiting supporters lit off red flares (their club and kit color) which was met with loud jeering from the home supporters. Interestingly, Americans boo loudly when they are angry at sporting events, but Europeans whistle. These whistles are deafening compared any boos you would hear at an American event, probably with the exception of a Cleveland Browns American football game. While I was initially surprised by the flares, it is not uncommon for flares to be lit at football games across the world. The match was delayed for a few minutes as the wind blew the smoke from the flares across the pitch, likely obscuring the view of the television cameras.        

Bayern Munich fans lighting their flares

  

A view of the Bayern flares from Nate's seats

The first half of the match was pretty entertaining as both Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich had a few chances to score but squandered them. Regardless of the play on the field, the endless number of faithful club supporters from both teams kept singing, chanting and cheering. Bayern Munich managed to score two goals in the second half: one on a deflection and one sudden shot that may have caught the goalkeeper off guard. The second half as a whole was much less entertaining than the first half, as Bayern Munich scored their first goal right after the start of the second half and subsequently maintained possession fairly well for the rest of the game. Their manager, Pep Guardiola, is known for teaching players that ball possession is paramount, a highly successful style he became famous for when he was the manager of FC Barcelona. It would have been incredible to see Hertha Berlin break the goalkeeper’s clean sheet and watch the eruption from the home supporters, but alas, Bayern Munich is a difficult team for any club to score on.

Hertha Berlin setting up for a corner kick

The game in action

After the game, the players shook hands and some swapped kits. A few Hertha Berlin players tossed their kits in a trash can, showing disgust for the match result. Players from each club went to salute their loyal fans and complete one last rendition of their club anthems. I was impressed by how many supporters from both clubs stuck around for this salute and remained upbeat, possibly aided by consuming copious amounts of beer. Indeed, Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich supporters appeared to follow the timeless football motto ranking their priorities in order of importance: “God…Country…Club…”

Standing for the final minutes of the game

The final score

Our Awesome German Friends

One of the perks of doing a week in Germany, and specifically visiting Berlin, is that a friend of mine from work, Anton, and his wife Jaqi moved out here a few years ago, and I've been wanting to visit them for awhile. So luckily all the stars aligned and such a visit worked out this trip. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's almost no better kind of travel than the kind where you get to visit your friends. And the same held true with visiting these two wonderful people.

We got to hangout with them twice. The first time was actually the first night we arrived in Berlin, and it was awesome. Quite possibly the best night we had of our Europe travels thus far. What made the night so great may have been the simplicity of what we did. After some back and forth on potential ideas for plans, Nate, Tim, Katie, and myself just went over to their place for the evening. We watched a German Cup semifinal football match on TV. We got to try two of Anton and Jaqi's homebrew beer creations that they conveniently had on tap in their living room. They introduced us to a special German spirit called Pfefferminzlikor, which was delicious. And, we learned the German way to "cheers" or "prost" with direct eye contact to avoid bad luck. They gave us their insights into German culture and various happenings around the area. And best of all we just got to catch up on life, share stories, and enjoy the good company of old friends. 

Anton, Jaqi, me, and Katie showing off our couch surfing skills at the end of the night.

Anton pouring us all some "Pfeffe"

The second time we got to catch up with them (and this time their son as well) was at a brewery called Vagabund Brauerei. The craft beer scene in Germany is pretty new. This place just started up a couple years ago thanks to a kick-starter campaign. Anton and Jaqi were among their first supporters being fans of good craft beer, so they seemed well known by several people at the bar. All four beers (American pale, double IPA, Irish red, and birthday cake porter) we tried were delicious, and we again had a great time just catching up on life. 

Our flight at Vagund Brauerei

Our time with them was too short, but that's how things go when you are in and out of a country in just a week. And it was especially too bad it didn't work out to play any soccer with Anton while we were around since that was our closest connection several years ago back in Michigan. Sadly I didn't bring the right footwear. Alas. Hopefully we can have a trip back to visit them again in the future, or at the very least catch up with them the next time they're back in the States.

Pinnacles National Park Climbing Trip

When we're in Michigan and we want to do an outdoor climbing trip we drive 7 hours down to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. It's a trek, but the beauty and quality of the climbing at the Red is well worth the travel. When Becky wants to go outdoor climbing she just drives 1.5 hours to Pinnacles National Park. So close! This past weekend we checked out Pinnacles with Becky and some of her climbing friends. Though it's close enough to day trip some people wanted to camp. So we arrived Saturday afternoon, camped that night, and climbed all day Sunday before leaving. 

Becky, Brandon, and I arrived a few hours before the others, so we set up camp and hiked into the park to find some climbing. We had the guidebook, but figuring out the layout of a new climbing area and type of climbs can be a challenge. And, as it turned out, Becky had only been to Pinnacles once before. After chatting with some fellow climbers and getting our bearings we began a climb on Discovery Wall called Wet Kiss and rated 5.9. 

Brandon led the route, but not without some intimidation. The first bolt for the climb was higher than we're used to. Even our stick clip wasn't adequate in height to reach it. It appeared to be an easy scramble to the first bolt, but even easy scrambles should be treated with caution as they increase in height. We discovered that this initial scramble is pretty common for climbs at Pinnacles. So we stretched our comfort zone and were especially diligent in spotting each other. 

At the top of the climb Brandon was faced with confusion about the anchor system. We're used to large rings to anchor into and eventually clean and run the rope through to lower the climber. The anchor system at Pinnacles requires clipping into the chains and saving the rings for rappelling. Many of the climbs share anchor systems, so you may have to share with other climbers. I had never done a rappel before. It was apparent I was going to have to learn this skill. 

Additionally, most of the climbs at Pinnacles top out on a semi-flat rock surface. Thus the anchors are on top rather than just below the edge. This placement causes a lot of rope friction, which will wear out the rope quicker, if belaying is continued from below. To protect our rope we had to learn to belay from the top. When all climbers reach the top everyone either rappels down or walks off the climb. At the pinnacles one side of the rock structure must be climbed with ropes and the other side may be able to be hiked down. Kind of amusing and anti-climactic to do all that work to climb up the steep side with a rope and then just be able to hike up and down the less inclined opposite side! 

We have climbed sandstone in Red River Gorge and limestone in Thailand, but Pinnacles is volcanic rock. The technical term is breccia which composed of large jagged fragments of sedimentary rock that are bound together by a mineral cement. Much of the breccia is in a slab wall formation with some steeper areas often intermixed with yards of run out. The run out is easier, less steep climbing, but it is often not protected by bolts (because of its ease) which makes climbing it more intimidating. 

So that first afternoon we adjusted to the new rock and different kind of climbing. We both managed to complete Wet Kiss and a 5.6 rated climb called Portent as we met up with Becky's friends later in the afternoon and learned new skills. 

On top of Portent

We had brought all our camping gear with us this road trip, so we were game for camping at Pinnacles. It was also supposed to be a low of 43 degrees that night and theoretically camping would allow us to get an earlier start on climbing the next day. Unfortunately neither of those things happened. The firewood we bought from the ranger station would not light despite multiple attempts, so we started getting cold while preparing dinner. Eventually, the temperature dropped below freezing and we found frost on our tent in the morning, which explained us waking what seemed like every hour due to being cold. With a frigid start to our day we all moved slower and didn't get unthawed and climbing until later than expected. Alas. 

Despite the uncomfortable camping we did have a good time hanging out with Becky and her friends. They are a musically talented bunch, and we enjoyed listening to their banjo, harmonica, ukulele, and violin jam session lit by headlamps. They'll tell you that they aren't that good, but we disagree. It was impressive. So impressive that many other campers joined our circle to dance, listen, or add another harmonica. Quite the community event and what Becky called "classic Santa Cruz". 

The talented trio

Our ascent to the climbing areas on Sunday morning was breathtaking. The scenery was complete with the rocky pinnacles, bushy greenery, caves formed by fallen boulders, waterfalls running through the caves, bright sunshine, and a glassy-water reservoir.  

Hiking out of a cave and past a waterfall

Waterfall flowing down from the reservoir

Brandon and I acclimated ourselves slowly on a 5.9 called Coyote Ugly while Becky, Krista, and Johnny climbed the First Sister Pinnacle. Coyote Ugly required setting at least one trad climbing cam in an non-bolted area half way up the route. Brandon had set a cam a few years before on a route but had someone looking over his shoulder advising him at the time. The area on Coyote Ugly requiring the cam had a stable foot ledge to rest on so he felt fairly confident about placing the cam. In the end, he was successful setting the cam and a back up cam, and it turned out to be good trad practice. He then set up a top belay so that I could climb up after him. We both hiked down the other side of the pinnacle afterward with our rope and gear. 

Brandon leading Coyote Ugly with me belaying (photo credit: Becky from atop First Sister) 

Great view of Pinnacles National Park with the reservoir far below Coyote Ugly

Me climbing thru a crux region of Coyote Ugly

While Brandon and I ate lunch, Johnny led Coyote Ugly and Krista and Becky took turns climbing it on top rope. 

Becky making her way up Coyote Ugly

Later in the afternoon I led a 5.8 route called Sinbad on The Camel Wall. I was intimidated by some longer areas of run out between bolts, but my prior slab practice and experience paid off and kept me sure footed. It felt good to get a lead in for the day and conquer some fears related to the different rock face. I then was able to top belay for Becky to climb. 

Me leading Sinbad

Cool silhouetted photo of me that Brandon snapped while hiking up to the top of The Camel

Brandon greeted me as I reached the top of Sinbad

Becky climbing her way up 

Me keeping Becky safe via top belay

You can see that its a lot of work to top belay.

Almost there! 

We're all at the top enjoying the view

As the sun was setting and darkness was creeping in Brandon found a route already set up on top rope that looked interesting. We checked with the climbers who had set up the top rope and they were willing to let us use it while they completed another route. We're not fully sure what route it was, but we think it was an 5.11b called The Verdict on Discovery Wall. Brandon easily made it about 75% of the way up before reaching a section that he had to project more. He would have spent more time on it, but a few other people wanted to try the route as well so he only tried the section a few times before coming down. I'm proud to say of the three people who tried the route, he got the furthest. I really wanted to try it as well, but it was dark enough by that time that I would have needed a headlamp. Plus, the other climbers wanted to clean their gear, collect their rope and hike out. 

Brandon climbing the probably 11.b

The sun rapidly set as Brandon climbed

When you're adjusting to a new climbing area and climbing type it can be tough to get a good amount of climbs in a day. So sadly we only completed two routes each the entire day. But, we have enough of a handle on Pinnacles now that if we return we'll briefly map out a plan for the day and be assured to get in a few more climbs. Plus, in reality, hanging out with Becky was the main goal of the trip which we accomplished and enjoyed.