7/9: Doing work.

HEY GUYS. 

Last week: thunderstorms, boulders, dinners with my Eastern Sierra buddies and foster parents, hot springs, fireworks, snakes, Clark Canyon, Dike Wall, fish tacos, beer, statistics, too many burritos, Mono Bars (What the hell!? Why didn't anyone tell me???), statistics math math math statistics, the Ryan Moynier/Galbraith Experience, rolled ankles, the School House Museum mystery tour, statistics math, salty Mono Lake floats, and yesterday A REAL SHOWER and Vietnamese Lettuce wraps for dinner, then dessert wine as the sun went down over Mono Lake. Whoa. 

For most of last week, it rained all afternoon. And not the typical hour-long passing Sierra thunderstorm...I mean all afternoon it rained. It was gorgeous, and made perfect daily windows for working on course prep in Lee Vining and Mammoth Lakes. Late last week, the rain stopped and it's been beautiful since. Not hot. Just beautiful, breezy, cool, sunny, perfect. 

Recently, Mattie and I have been doing some flailing and falling at the Bachar Boulders. The problems are generally a little tall, and a little sharp, but the rock is cool tuff and there are plenty of fun moves. And it's shaded in the afternoon. And there are artifacts everywhere. So it's a pretty great place to be. 

Eating rocks for breakfast. Thanks
to Jamie for the picture. (Yo homie). 

We met our wonderful friends (and Elin's real parents...and our adopted Sierra Summer Foster Parents...) John and Mary Ljung for a great dinner. I filled my belly up (TO THE MAX) with veggies and rice, wine, and ginger-lemon cookies. I did not miss my standard Monorrito that night. We talked all about the mountains and fishing, what's happening on the east side this summer, and all kinds of important things like that. 

And THEN we found our first good new buddy of the Sierra Summer Tour 2013.

It's easy meeting people in the mountains. It's only slightly more difficult meeting devilishly handsome, awesome, climbing men in the mountains who will tolerate your total lack of climbing knowledge and hang out with you anyway. Enter Ryan "Possibly John Moynier's Grandson" Galbraith.

The Moynier/Galbraith genealogy discovery. 

Ryan rolled in from Mt. Shasta late last week, and that night we had beers and schemed a little about Tomorrow's Plans. Friday (I think?) we climbed at a very busy (but happy feeling) Clark Canyon, ate burritos for lunch, climbed a little more, and got back on the 395 north toward the Lee Vining Creek home, had some beers and slept.

Mattie the Sport Climbing Dog at Clark Canyon. 

The next day (while Ryan was skipping his way up the North Ridge of Mt. Conness), Mattie and I did some more problems at the Bachars and Ice Creams, got a ton of school work done, and found some artifacts. We got back home in the evening, happy to find him napping in the dirt by the creek. That night: Hot springs. Mammoth Lakes Epic IPA in cans. Shooting stars and blazing satellites from the Owens Valley. SERIOUSLY.

Sunday we got breakfast burritos and lazily made our way - after just a minor detour - to the north face of Dike Wall above Lake George. Mattie mostly just slept in some snow run-off the entire day. I had a total blast hauling myself up a few fun routes that Ryan was nice enough to lead and set up so I could top rope (hey, thanks). And it was just totally gorgeous up there with views down into the lakes basin.

Ryan on Cromagnon. 

He left for his real mountain home yesterday and we're grateful for a long weekend spent with him. Hey, RYAN, come back to the best side and play again soon! Mattie's all like "We miss you, dog!"

We spent yesterday morning working on course stuff (climbing is out for a few days...Allison's Failing Ankle was in full effect on the trail around Lake George, and is still a little swollen and sore). Then I had a good long think about how terrible I was smelling, and Mattie was looking at me as if to say "SERIOUSLY, MOM."

Luckily, John and Mary the Mountain Angels let us come over for a real shower (hallelujah) AND another delicious dinner at the Mono City Fantasy Castle. We love it there. After dinner we sipped some wine on the deck overlooking the lake and watched the mountain shadows creep toward Lee Vining and our creekside home. Thank you, John and Mary. Again. For all of it.

We got home right around dusk and crawled into bed. It was the quickest we've fallen asleep since leaving our Los Padres cabin.

More work today, and hopefully some exploring near the Aeolian Buttes a little later on. Everything is perfect.

With so much love from another great mountain coffee shop,

Allison & Mattie the Exploration Dog