Summer time and living is easy....I don't know the rest of the words to that song. I wish I did because it's stuck in my head. But it brings up a good point: living is easy. It's having fun and staying alive that is the hard part.

Take for instance my recent adventure with Scott Miller. We decided to climb Exfoliation Dome in Darrington, a viable yet difficult climb. The rock is amazing, the route follows some glorious cracks, and the views are gorgeous. The only problem was that it took us 9 hours to climb the 6 pitches up to Blueberry Buttress(~900 feet, maybe a tad less)(and there are blueberries on Blueberry Buttress. Go figure). We were expecting to be at that point much earlier and make an attempt on the following three pitches to the summit...but the sun was going down. We were definitely not prepared to spend the night on the wall, so we quickly located a rappeling route and took it, eventhough it wasn't the one we had planned on taking. It was something that would hopefully get us to the ground, which did happen, finally, at 9pm. We were on the wall for 12 hours. Ugh.

 

This seam of quartz is on the Great Granite Sidewalk, a long rock slab that we had to hike up jus to get the start of the route. We also had to come down this in the dark....without lights. (We conveniently left that in the car. Oops.) Blueberry Buttress can be seen as the line of tress below the summit. Someday Scott, you and I will have to go back and summit. And climb the 5.9 bloted route to the south.

In other news: I'm back in Bellingham for the week; I've been gone awhile. After finishing summer classes (yes!) I went back to camp to work as a counselor for a week. I had forgotten just how tiring middle-schoolers can be, especially when they decide not to listen to you. When that was over I had some necessary leisure time in Lake Stevens with the family. I spent most of my time running errands with my mom, playing/walking Freddie (our Newfoundland pooch), and sleeping. Aaahhh.

But I don't get to stay in B-ham for long. I will be moving out of the room I rented for the summer this upcoming weekend because I will not be home again until the 31st, when I would have to move anyway. Where will I be you ask? Oh, just in Juneau, Alaska running around the mountains with my girlfriend. (!!!) I'm so excited! I leave the 24th and will be up there for a week. I hope it doesn't rain (too much)(I hear it's inevitable).

Now for some shoutouts:
Scott - Her name is Rashel Heath.
Keith - What was your Juneau friend's name? The guy who came to my 14th birthday party?
Kira - I stopped in the other day but you weren't working. Bummer.
Alan - I'm still waiting for that picture. I put a few on my photo site in the climbing section (see link) to inspire you.
Will - Are you still Montana? Get over here! We need to have an adventure.
Jen - Think sunny thoughts. I will be there soon.
Freddy - Get the ball.
Everybody Else - Get the ball.

Ike - who is actually looking forward to starting class ... in 5 weeks.