yay my annual road trip to a random climbing festival *bishop edition*
April 3rd, 2026
Hi!!! It's been awhile since I've made a blog post. My life has been pretty eventful I suppose, but I've been too lazy to update this website. As I passed the early trials of seasonal job hunting and my annual road trip to a climbing festival, I shall be settled down enough to write some code and upload all the picture I've taken. To begin where I left off, on New years day 2026, at 7am, I crashed my van into a ditch on Maddie's property. Luckily, we were able to drive it out without a scratch. Is this a sign of an eventful year to come? Only time will tell.
Because of how concerningly warm Colorado has been, even up here in the Rockies it's been hitting the 50's mid march, I ditched my snowboard for some rope and gear this winter. All I have access to in Estes is a shitty gym in the back of a gear shop with a 90 degree moonboard, so I'm happy I get to go outside once and awhile so I don't compleatly forget how to climb before send season. Some cool stuff I got on: Center route on the Cathedral Spires with Matthew, the best pitch of bomber jams in my life, that ended up being a little bit of an epic as the sun set, our ropes got stuck in the crack, and Matthew drove his truck into a ditch. I'm sensing a theme here. I also got dragged up the infamous Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon, a stiff 5.11b I was not prepared for after a month of not-climbing. Shout out to Marcel for their patience as I psyched myself out leading the first pitch, and then had to be lugged through the rest of the route. Despite my inability to climb apparently, The Naked Edge was incredible, and pretty decent for a hinge date. I hope to give it a good lead burn by the end of season. The rock in Colorado is real scraggly and weird, but I can't complain when there's so much of it to explore.
Besides climbing, I've gotten into a real crafty mood in preperation for the Flash Foxy Fest in March, which I was planning on vending at with my sister. I made a bunch of block printed t-shirts and random ceramics. I've been doing a lot of tattoo work for my friends, learned how to knit, and have been consistently reading two books a week since the start of the year. Art school burn-out kind of fizzled my creative spark, so it's been nice to get some of that back, but in a different, tangible medium. I like working with my hands a lot, perhaps something I've gained from learning technical climbing skills, and having outlets for all this pent-up creative frustration. Obviously I can't be a dirtbag rock climbing guide forever, and I need a long term plan of what to do with my life. I'm sure I would like to do something creative, big physical projects, incorporating the outdoors and this silly sport somehow. Hm, I enjoy indie climbing films quite a bit, and have been thinking of exploring this realm. Although I initially had a rough time adjusting to Estes, I have really settled in here, hanging out at Maddie's log cabin, going to the library, hiking and climbing with friends. I also started taking escitalopram, which might explain my good mood these days.
For the most part, I have been straight chillin with my boring craft shop job and all my old lady hobbies, but internally I was freaking out for most of the early winter. I had a pretty rough job hunting season, applying to hundreds of positions, interview after interview, and by march I still had nothing. I did get accepted to one guiding position in Zion national park, but after seeing how far La Verkin, Utah was from any city, I got flashbacks to all my time spent in random bumfuck towns for seasonal work. It's been awhile since I lived within walking distance to a Walmart and a boba shop, and been able to use dating apps and go thrift shopping on my off days... ya know? I miss people, and community, and civilization, and asian food. So, in a suprising turn of events, I decided to stay in Estes for the summer. In part because I haven't even climbed here yet, and there's so much in the rockies to explore. Lumpy ridge, the diamond. Alpine bouldering, backcountry snow sports. I heard the vibes here in the summer are peak, haha, and I might be able to make some money with all the tourists pouring in. And in part, because estes is so close to several major cities in the front range, where I've been drive down the mountain for raves and hookups and climbing gyms. After years of bouncing from town to town, I've finally decided to stay in place for a year, and see what happens. Just an experiment. But yeah, anyways, I interviewed for a guide position with the local service KMAC, and got rejected. But the owners said they could just get me part time work, so I've been applying to some coffee shops and gear stores in town. Part time guiding, part time other stuff, good enough for me! I'll be living cheaply out of my van, stealth camping at the Ymca, and have time for all the climbing trips I want. Although my estes buddies Maddie, Lila, and Vinny are all leaving in may, I became good friends with another KMAC guide, Magz, who is super sick and I'm stoked to hang out with all summer. Among all the other pals I've made in the area, there are good vibes here, hopefully. :) And now that I've settled down a bit and moved into my van/house, I'm ready to adopt a dog... right? (More on that in april's blog!)
My big trip of the season was all the way out to Bishop, California, for the Flash Foxy Festival. I had never climbed California granite before, and even if I didn't make it to Yosemite this summer, I was super stoked for the big-ah trad routes and world class boulders of the Eastern Sierra. It was shockingly gorgeous out there, I'm used to the mountains of the Colorado Rockies, but the Eastern Sierra range seemed ten times higher, with thousands of sharp peaks. I carpooled there in my new van with a trans girl I met on Discord. It turned out to be a good decision, as we were able to stealth and sneak showers the entire festival, while splitting gas and driving time. This is the first road trip I've ever been on where I ended up in the green, making a profit of about a hundred bucks. Pretty sick! I also discovered my van is the perfect road trip vehicle, driving really well (except for the one time it mysteriously filled up with smoke...) and having a great driving system where the passenger can take a comfortable nap in the bed while the other person drives. We mostly drove there and back straight, although I was tempted to make a stop in Moab. The weather on the way there was questionable, with icy roads, closed highways, and crazy winds through Wyoming. We crashed for a night in Salt Lake City, passing by the gorgeous salt flats, and quickly visited the infamous Clown Motel.
The first day of the festival, I went bouldering in the Happy's, mostly to scout out locations for the clinic I would be guiding on Sunday. I'm not too big of a boulderer, so I spent most of the day exploring and walking around, trying a problem or two when I felt like it. I don't know, I really want to get into bouldering this summer, as it would definetly improve my trad climbing, but it hasn't struck me yet. Maybe I just need a really good project. The next day my sister Judy visited from LA, and we tabled together at the vendors market. I sold block printed shirts and she sold block printed fish, both which turned out to be quite popular. Judy covered my booth mid-day so I could get some rope climbing in at the Owen's river valley, which had a really fun approach involving river crossing on thin planks. The sport routes were shady, and all around great. I didn't get on anything spectacular, but I can feel myself getting back in the leading groove. We ended the day back at the fairgrounds to sell a few more fish, before Judy set up her projector to map some visuals onto my tall, white van, which Magz pointed out is the perfect screen for movies and video games. That makes me feel better about how goofy and swagless my van looks, lol.
On Sunday, I volunteered in the morning for a prescribed burn, and then guided with Matt for Ady's bouldering clinic, called Movement for Climbers/ Squeeze the Cheeks. It was my first trip as an official AMGA Single Pitch Instructor! The clinic was a great vibe, and I work really co-hesively with my co-guide Matt, which was really important for keeping stoke high in the burning Cali heat. I've encountered guides in the past who are difficult for me to work with due to a complete lack of charisma and a cold personality, so it was nice to work with someone willing to crack jokes and keep it loose. Flash foxy, please hire me for more clinics in the future!
I thought that would be the end of my festival experience, but Christine invited me to climb in Pine Creek Canyon the next mourning, and I couldn't resist. Pine Creek was the place I wanted to visit most in Bishop, mostly for this really sick 10b trad crack called Sheila, my only must-do route in the area. It's a tall, gorgeous hand crack with an overhanging side-pull crux: my favorite. I thought I missed my chance to get on Sheila with all this festival work I had to do, but luckily my vanmate was a good sport about leaving late and we had a great day in the shady canyon, my favorite day of climbing of the entire trip.
Looks like things are picking up as my time at the YMCA craft shop ends, and I begin my first summer of institutional SPI work, living in my van and lugging clients up 5.4's, albiet part-time! I had a great interview for a local coffee shop with big windows, and a climbing gym down in Fort Collins, so we'll see what happens. Will I move down to Fort Collins? Will I move to Bishop, and then immediately move again to Squamish? Things that are happening in April: adopting a dog (maybe), going to Taos in New Mexico for Maddie's birthday, and taking my WFR course. Yay! See ya l8tr!