ropetrip reincarnated

The trip has been reinvented with the chance appearance of two climbing friends from Pittsburgh. As we sat in the Lander public library two days ago, Chris Robertson and Josh Wyrwas were headed west on I-80 to Yosemite. The two of them, like us, had quit their jobs and packed up a van, with hopes of epic climbing and eventual employment on the West coast. They met us at our Sinks Canyon campsite, and after several conversations of how we couldn't believe we were all in Wyoming together, we headed to the Sinks Main Wall to send some routes. For July Fourth, we geared up and went back up to Wild Iris to climb at a new wall and enjoy our independence as independent souls. Away from all the crowds, noise and brouhaha, we embodied the American spirit of the pioneer - exploring new territory and surviving on our own accord without direction. Manifest destiny. Westward expansion. However you choose to label it, it was liberating and self-empowering. As they answered our relentless questions about Yosemite and all its offerings as a climbing mecca, we made a simple and obvious decision to abandon our plans and join Chris and Josh as a super group of climbing friends, tearing west towards The Valley.

The original trip route had us going through Colorado, southwest into Utah, Arizona and California, up the coast to Oregon and Washington, east into Montana and eventually ending in Wyoming. As the summer heat and destructive fires engulfed and smothered Colorado, we begin to question heading south. Warnings about Utah's extreme heat and promises of world-class sport routes in Lander convinced us to reverse the route, taking us north to Montana, west to Oregon, and south to California. A planned reunion in Happy Camp, California, where I worked two years ago on the Klamath River, locked us into an arrival date of July 22nd. Having only a few weeks to work north, backpack in Glacier National Park, and make it through Oregon, was a source of stress - how were we going to fit everything in that short amount of time?

Deciding to go straight to Yosemite makes all the sense in the world for us. We'll be closer to Happy Camp for the reunion, we'll be in a climber's paradise with friends, and save money on gas. It's strange how things just fall into place unexpectedly on a trip. Perhaps good things happen to people following their dreams. Maybe coincidences aren't coincidence after all and should be taken as signs of some kind of map. Either way, we all feel rejuvenated and very excited for the next episode.