Days 185 & 186

Day 186
Monday Sept. 1st

Something was off. I could feel it boring into my psyche. Something was just off. I new it had to be early cause it was still super cold.. I didn't want to wake up but I couldn't shake this feeling. Reluctantly I opened my eyes and crawled out of the sleeping bag. Holy crapskis, the sight that greeted these cobwebbed eyes was immaculate!!! The sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains. The sky was bloody blood red and crimson along the horizon. the early morning sky above it was this violent purple. It was harsh yet amazingly beautiful. I was transfixed. The marine layer had settled along the mountains in a fluffy carpet of whispery clouds. All I could see for an entire 180 panoramic was the cloud ceiling below me painted by the rising sun. I didn't move for the longest time. I was straining to soak in every last detail of this amaziness in front of me. I was paralyzed by awe.

Then a small voice inside my head whispered quietly "Black 33...", no just kidding that's a whole other story. Actually it whispered "Ummm dude, you should be shooting this..." I really didn't want to but I knew I had to. Unfortunately I had waited until the show was on the down swing before busting out the cameras. But we snapped to it and set everything up and captured the last pieces of night falling into the eastern horizon. It will work, but trust me the memory of what really happened is so much better then the pics.

The most awe-inspiring sunrise I have ever been fortunate enough to witness. The photos do not come close to doing it justice.

The Focus drinking it all in.

Okay already, I am awake.

Once I was up, I was up. The one downside of crashing on top of the water tower for the night was that it is higher then everything else out on the mountain. Being higher means no shade, no shade means that it is impossible to sleep once the sun is up. I was a little perturbed by that minor oversight. it is a huge pet peeve of mine to try and sleep in when the bright bright sun is burning into the back of your head and you get stifling hot hiding in your sleeping bag. Yup, its a major pet peeve. so I acquiesced to the new day, brewed up a spot of tea, went for a walk to limber up and went over to Lizard's Mouth to bang out a morning ses'.

Can I just say my 2nd day of climbing was much worse then the first? Well it was. I climbed like a drunken chinaman, not that I have any idea how a drunken chinaman would do anything, or a sober one for that matter. One high lite though, I found I have mastered the art of falling and have gotten pretty darn good at it too. Let's just say I have had lots of practice! All I seemed to do was fall today. Oh well, it was a beautiful day despite the overwhelming laws of gravity.

In the back of my mind I am thinking this is gonna hurt (and I don't mean just the shoes-- though they did hurt too).

Yup I was right, this frakin' hurts.

Day 185
Sunday August 31st

Spent the holiday weekend up in Santa Barbara. It has been quite some time now since I have given this whole climbing thing a shot (if you remember the last time didn't work out so well). Up until April last year we were climbing pretty solid usually 4- 5 times each week. Weekends were spent traveling to epic climbing spots on the West Coast like J-Tree, Bishop, Black Mountain and many many others. Then life kinda caught up and slowly but surely and little by little climbing fell by the wayside. So now here we are. Its been probably 17 or 18 months since I climbed regularly. I dabbled a bit last summer but nothing too serious. So time to motivate and get back on the rock. That's where this weekend in Santa Barbara fits in. Rolled on up an did some climbing.

I started with a quick ses' on Sunday afternoon just to get limbered up. It went I suppose as all things do. Stopped just before sunset to enjoy the show. Man what an amazing sunset it was! Super rad, totally gonzo! I wanted to head back early-ish to town to get cleaned up, grab a bite to eat, and get some shooting done down on State Street. I got a little derail, no surprise really. Everyone knows how much I love a good tangent. I saw this water tower on the way down into town. Actually I have seen this water tower probably 200 times driving past it on the way to the Brickyard and Lizard's Mouth. But tonight I really SAW it in all its philosophical metaphysical beauty. So I stopped and of course climbed on up. What a view, with the sun setting it was even better. I hung out until the last drop of daylight had been squeegeed from the heavens. It got me all worked up, one of the coolest sunsets I have since certainly in a long long time.

Sunset on top of the water tower.

Looking over Goleta & UCSB.

It took me a while to leave the top of that water tower. I really didn't want the experience to end. But it had to, as it does each night. And with that down the hill I went to State Street, Santa Barbara for the show. Blue Turtle Seduction was in town along with Poor Man's Whiskey. I am not sure I have ever seen a blue turtle in SoCal but I can definately relate to poor man's whiskey. The show was amazing, filled with high-energy jams and strawberry noodling, fuzzy feedback rollovers, quantum electronica, free-will rejections, and all sorts of nonsense and debauchery. Ahhh in a way it was just like the old days. You know when people went to hear a good band for the the music, not as an opportunity to get stoned or get laid or act like an imbecile. So yah it was a blast from the past, even danced with a hippie chick in a sundress, unshaved arm pits and all. It was a cool night. It has been a long time since I have seen that many long haired hippy freaks with hula hoops in one spot. I fit right in. I smiled.

Blue Turtle Seduction live at the Soho on State Street.

Blue Turtle keeping Tahoe SEXY!

Once the show was over I climbed back into the dusty old Focus and went back up into the mountains. I hit up the old water tower again and set up camp for the night. Reading this you may get some sort of nostalgia or romantic feelings about setting up camp under the stars, it wasn't like that. When I say "setting up camp", I really mean tossing the sleeping bag down on the ground and crawling in. Sometimes it may entail popping open a luke warm adult beverage but not usually. regardless night up on the old water tower is pretty cool too. The marine layer was slightly lower then the ridge line so the city lights reflect under it and through it. It is a cool kinda ghostly feeling looking out over the cities as they sleep, kinda like Batman but not really.

Time for bed: Santa Barbara & Carp down to the left, Goleta & Point Conception to the righ, and me the monkey in the middle.




*Quick note: So after all this I got some amazing pics, believe you me. I come back to town, plug in the 'puter, snap in the CF card, and voila CF Error. Over 200 shots somehow got currupted, I hope its not ebola or gingivitis. Virutally all the shots from Sunday including all but 12 of the BTS concert. If I am ever able to resuraect that dang card I will repost, unfortunately I do not have high hopes.