Oh the Places You'll Go!

It finally occured to me that it might be nice to have a some sort of record the countries and states I've visited. World66.com offers such a service with simple to use maps showing every place the well worn travel has trodden. There are more elaborate map making sites out there, such as Travelpod, but all are complicated and time consuming to use. I'm looking for the asy way out. ........Anyway, I've created four three personalized maps. Check 'em out and please let me know if anybody gets one of their own.

The world:

http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/worldmap/HRBOJPHUJMTWTHPEROVACNCLCAITVNCZATCQIEIDUSMYMX.gif

USA:

http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/visitedStates/statemap/AZCACODCFLHIILINIAMDMIMNMONENVNMOHOKORPASDUTVAWAWVWIWY.gif


Canada (It's a bit cold up there, eh?)

http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/visitedCanadianStates/countrymap/BCON.gif

Europe (both Old and New!!!!)

http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/visitedEurope/countrymap/AUCRCZHUIEITROVC.gif


And since this site doesn't allow you to make a map for countries that one desires to visit, I'll list mine here:

Egypt (great diving in the Red Sea, large pointy building abound)
Morroco (I'm comin' Bogey!)
England (may be there in January....)
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Iceland
Denmark (including icy Greenland)
Holland
France
Spain
Portugal
Poland
Germany
Slovenia
Switzerland
Serbia
Brazil
Argentina
Costa Rica
Belize
Cuba (Attn: CIA ----- go ahead and put me on the "To Watch" list)
Australia
New Zealand
Laos
Cambodia
Myanmar (Burma)
India
Nepal
South Korea

And probably another two dozen I'm forgetting. However, this list will do for now.....

Hiking: Red Mountain

Every weekend in Flagstaff brings a new experience. A couple weeks back I hiked Red Mountain. The east face was blown off in a volcanic eruption long ago. The result? A walk that takes the hiker inside the mountain where hoodoos and slot canyons abound, creating a playground for the adventureous. Sweet.

Teetering rock piles.

Looking out from a slot canyon

Patrick and Terra at the end of the slot canyon.

Tight squeeze!

Patrick and the hoodoos

Hills of sedimentary rock within in the mountain.

All the King's men....and a woman

Oh the pleasure I get from watching King George's throne slowly collapse from beneath him. It only took six years, but it now seems that every other week there's a new scandal followed by calls for some arrogant punk's resignation. Donny is long gone, swept away after last November's well-deserved change of guard. Alberto is in it up to his arm pits, and the waste water continues to rise. Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank and one of the architect's of our amazing Iraq strategy, is also on thin ice (btw Paul, I've not been reading the news lately.....how's that Iraq thing going?). It's only a matter of time until he falls through.

As such, the obvious question arises: when will it be Condi's turn? And what for? Please, please, please let it involve male dancers and State Department petty cash. We have our cake.....can't we at least have some icing on top?

What's the deal with Joe?

It's been a while since I've blogged, and it's been even longer (as in never) since I've given an update on my life. I'm still in Flagstaff, AZ. Things are going well. I landed a job as an undergraduate admissions counselor at Northern Arizona University. The money and benifits (free classes!!!) are good, the work is varied and most of the time enjoyable, the co-workers and students are a joy.....yep, it's a pretty good deal. I get to travel quite a bit, all of which is paid for by the university. I stay in nice hotels. Hotels are great. You can miss the garbage can and then go to bed with a guilt-free conscience. Housekeeping will take care of it within the next 12-15 hours. They sometimes leave a mint on your pillow.

Despite this development, certain things never change. I continue to spend my free time in the outdoors. Climbing in Arizona brings happiness that I can't quite describe. The hiking and mountain biking trails are abundant. This has caused me to drop $600 on a brand new Kona Blast bike. I broke her in yesterday over the course of a 45 mile ride from Flagstaff to Sedona via mountain roads and some single track paths. Surprisingly, I was able to get out of bed this morning without assistance.

More on the ride and some other happenings at a later date.

My backyard

Well, it's not exactly my backyard (my backyard is mostly old cars and cinder blocks), but at just five minutes from Flagstaff, the "Pit" and Sandy and Walnut Canyons do feel just a blink away. Great hiking of course but also some amazing rock climbing. I'll try to get some "Pit" climbing shots together once the weather warms up and the days get a little longer.

The "Pit" with Flag's much photographed San Francisco peaks in the background.

A shallow limestone cave at the base of Fischer Point, Sandy Canyon.

Hiking: Shit Pot Crater

No, I'm not trying to be vulgar or offensive; that's actually the name of one of the most geometrically perfect volcanic craters on Earth. Shit Pot, or SP Crater, sits about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff on legally accessible private land. My roommate Mike and I checked out SP a few months back during a snow storm (in case you study the photos, not much snow accumulated). The drive in brought us through several cattle herds feeding off the few bits of grass and shrubbery dotting an otherwise lunar landscape. We parked the car and plowed straight up SP's gravel covered sides until reaching the summit of the crater. From there we could view the collapsed cone below and hike the near perfect 360 degree rim. After about an hour at the top we got ready to return to the car below. Our 30 minute stair-master trip upward took less than ten going down, due mostly to the deep gravel which allowed us to run at near full speed while controlling our momentum by digging our heals into the crater's side. It was sweet.

Ancient Lava Flow off the now dormant SP Volcano

SF Peaks with the inside of the crater in the foreground

Mike taking a jump on his way down with my car awaiting our return.

A sample of the rocks we were hiking up and running down

Parting Shot: Beer Tank

California Roadtrip: Good Times

Owen's River Gorge: Upper Area

I had last week off so I mosied on over to California. I left Monday for Orange County where I stayed with Yoli, a doctor who I climbed with in China. Yoli, M.D. The MD stands for Mad Dog. Now she's gonna kill me for sure.

Monday night was sushi at some chic joint. All you could eat for $25 in a one hour span. Good times.

We left Tuesday for Holcomb Pinnacles in the San Bernadino Mountains. Yoli's mates Sarah and Wes joined us for what we be a day of sick routes. The Pinnacles are course granite, most of which are relatively exposed and get good sunlight. The temp. was about 60 degrees making for some fine winter climbing. We hit up a slew of routes with Wes leading the way as the only one of us to on-site the barren 5.11a known as "Jack's Back". Good times.

Holcomb Valley Pinnacles

Yoli on a 5.10a?

Wicked Shot on Pistol Pete (5.10a/b)

To see the other routes we climbed check out this link: http://mountainproject.com/u/joseph_tris/105896252?action=ticks&

After climbing hard all day and having a beer, the group felt very obnoxious.

(note to the authorities: Sarah, who drove home, didn't drink)

On the way home we gorged ourselves on Vietnamese food under the tutelage of Yoli who knew exactly how everything was supposed to be prepped. Good times.

The very next day I took off for Mammoth where an old friend from Japan, Kiara, is now living. But before doing so, I took in a surreal site: a flock of bright green parrots descending upon Yoli's apartment complex. It turns out that some of these birds were released long ago and have since multiplied. Southern California is a strange universe........Good times.

What the hell is wrong with this place?

I arrived at Kiara's in the evening. We hit up some hot springs outside of town with a few friends before calling it a night. Kiara had to work the next day so I went to Bishop, home of arguably the best bouldering in the world. I climbed at Happy Boulders with Natalie, a friend of Kiara's, and several other cool folk that we ran into. The bouldering there is amazing to say the least, enough to keep even the most prolific climbers busy for several years. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. Good times.

On Friday Kiara and I climbed at the Upper Areas of the Owen's River Gorge. ORG has hundreds of routes with more going up all the time. The routes are stiffly rated but rarely disappointing. If it's not obvious by now, this area of California is blessed with some of the best outdoor sport option in the world. In addition to climbing, there's some insane hiking, backpacking, and camping available at every turn, fly fishing that brings in fishermen from as far away NYC, mountain biking cycling under the shadow of 14,000 foot peaks, and enough wildlife to warrant the creation of a national park. In fact, that's exactly what it felt like: living in a national park. Kiara hit the jackpot on this place and I'm pretty envious......Flagstaff is nice but Mammoth is Eden.

Here's a shot of a 5.10a we climbed (sorry that it's blurry). The route went up the left side of the pinnacle that ends with a counter top-like platform beneath the anchors. See if you can pick it out.

Kiara and I before our hike out.

Climbing out of the valley, feeling obnoxious again.

I left Friday night, drove four hours south, and stayed in a pit called Barstow. Not good times. However, on the remainder of the drive home the next day, I stopped at In-and-Out Burger. I broke my no red-meat principle and chowed down on what is the best burger and french fries in the US. Good times? You bet.

One thing about In-N-Out: they have Bible passages hidden on the underside of their cups and fry wrappers. If you're religious that's cool, but don't try to slip it in under the radar. Kind of creepy (see below).

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