Brave Souls

If you are one of those brave souls who attempt a day at the crag with kids in tow, then you are probably looking forward to the day when you can get more than 2 pitches in before retreating back to home base. A great way to get in more climbs is to teach your kids how to belay each other. There are many things to consider before teaching a youngling to belay. I’m not going to explain how to teach belay techniques in this article, instead I’m going to give you some important questions to discuss with your partner before deciding when the time is right to pop the question… “Do you want to learn how to belay?”

How long can the candidate focus?

Think about school work. Can your kid do homework, read, or even draw for 20 minutes before losing focus? Belaying can be boring, so it is important to be able to focus long enough for the climber to finish the climb. If your young climber can crush v10 but not sit still for 10 minutes they might not be ready. You might have climbed with an adult that has a problem focusing while on belay!

Does the little belayer understand consequences?

This is hard to measure, but if you have a good relationship with your kids you will know when the time is right. My oldest daughter started belaying this year after turning 10. She is a great reader who can focus on the task at hand, but before letting her belay we talked very bluntly about what will happen to her little sister if she dropped her. We aren't morbid, just honest. We wanted her to know that there are very real consequences to her actions. As parents, this is just a judgement call. When teaching the high school climbing team belaying, this is the biggest area of focus.

How responsible is the belayer?
Go google Responsibility. Look at the definition but think about excuses. Making excuses is the opposite of taking responsibility. If your climber makes excuses for every mistake then responsibility might not be a strong point for them. Belaying is a great way to teach responsibility, but they will need some base level of it before starting to take someone’s life in their hands.

Is the belayer physically able?
This is actually the least important to me. Assisted belay devices are awesome for top rope safety. Weight is the biggest consideration here. If your kid is mentally ready to belay give em a grigri and go practice in a safe spot where they can focus. The edelrid OHM is a great device when lead belay comes into the picture. I  outweigh my wife by 60 lbs and we use it a lot. They work extremely well at slowing a fall.

All in all this is your call as a parent. Having more belayers has made our days at the crag more enjoyable and makes my daughter feel included as a climber. Take it slow, don’t push them if they are uncomfortable, and have fun!

Indian Creek Spring Break 2019 Trip Report

Hello (in Minion language "bello")!

Dad woke us up early because he wanted to leave at eight o' clock (long story, we left an hour late).  We went to the gas station and set off on our amazing, dusty, cold, and very RED adventure! It was a long drive to get to Indian Creek, but it had amazing views and awesome wildlife. We saw a bald eagle, cows, and prairie dogs on the way.

As soon as we got to our campsite, we started to set up our tent. Now, our tent is HUGE! It took all five of us, including Ella, to set it up. Dad accidentally bent a pole in the effort. After the great adventure of tenting, Mom and Ella took a siesta while dad, Indie, and I explored the cliff on the opposite side of our campsite.  The high schoolers soon showed up and dad gave an eloquent speech on Wag Bags (a bag you poop in).   Then we went on a hike before dinner. We all sang songs and ate marshmallows before my sisters and I went to bed.     

I woke up early to see the sunrise. My family had breakfast and prepared to go trail build on Scarface, a popular climbing area. We listened to the RMFI leader talk about safety and started to hike up the trail. Indie and Ella, my sisters, helped me with little rocks, while dad and the high schoolers lifted heavier rocks for the stairs that we were building. Subsequently, we ate lunch and my family went up to climb. Dad, with mom at the belay, led Wavy Gravy for the others to climb. Since I’m so buff, I climbed the route left of Wavy Gravy (a 5.9) after Mom, Indie, and Ella, went back down to the car. Dad and I packed up and headed back down to our campsite a short while later. We got back, and ate some good dinner, and played a game of Go Fish in Spanish before bed.

The next day, we woke up and had a nutritious breakfast (pop tarts) and packed up to climb again. Indie and I got to ride on the bus! We got to Donnelly Canyon climbing area. It was beautiful, but it had no shade! I felt like a hot dog as I roasted in the sun, waiting to climb. I did a 5.10 crack climb called Elephant Man. I also watched Indie do it too! Best of all, Ella pooped in a Wag Bag!!

We headed out before dinner. Mom handed out goldfish to the starving high schoolers as they left to go back to Montrose, and we went back to our campsite.  

We woke up and ate. This was our last full day at Indian Creek, so we were determined to make the best of it. We packed up (again) to climb, this time at Way Rambo. The approach was grueling, but we made it and had some gummy snacks to refuel. We got to the route and ate lunch (tuna, yummy), and started to climb. The route itself was unusual. It was a chimney! It was hard, but we all made it to the top! It took a while for all of us to do the route, as well as approach and descend, so we headed down after mom and dad did another climb. We drove back and had our last dinner at Creek Pasture, and slept.

We awoke, packed up everything, used the bathroom, and left for Monticello. Indie and Ella took a small siesta on the way. We got to our hotel, unpacked, and rested before we went to eat at Thatzza Pizza. Their pizza was really cheesy, and really good! Their ice cream was really flavorful too! It was interesting to talk to the local owner. We went back to our hotel, our bellies full, and slept on our first real bed in 4 days.

We woke up to the sound of snow and freezing rain. “OH NO!” we thought. One of our rooftop carriers was leaking, so we halfheartedly packed up our stuff, ate a gourmet breakfast, and left, full of tales to tell to the ages to come.
    

                                           BY MYA THE MIRACULOUS!!!

Detail Beta:

Camped at Creek Pasture Campground

Snaked on little Debbie's and fruit gummies

Best new camping meal: Knorr cheddar and broccoli rice with a can of chicken

Roadway inn in Monticello is a great place to grab a shower

Thatzza Pizza great ice cream a Chezzy Pizza-only a picnic table

WAG bags are absolutely necessary at I.C. (steep approaches, delicate, crowds.)

Climbed: 

Scare face area- wavy gravy, unknown 5.9, fat farm

Donnelly Canyon- Chocolate Corner, Elephant Man, unknown 5.9

Way Rambo- Closed Course, Renegades of Funk

   

Hiking With Kids 101

      8 miles down the trail, middle of nowhere, technical obstacles, sheer drops, beautiful scenery, I hear the howl of the high alpine wind, and… and… my kids giggling?

      I hear people say “We didn’t make it that far, because we had our kids with us”. While on the surface this seems very logical and expected, it always seems like a cop out to me. It speaks to the general belief that we don’t go camping, climbing, or hiking because our kids can’t do it. Someday later in life we will start being active again, but for now our kids are too small for us to enjoy the outdoors.

      The truth is, you probably won’t make it as far, climb as hard, or go on that John Muir Trail backpacking trip with a toddler. But if your enjoyment of the outdoors hinges on you taking epic Snap chat or IG selfies then you are missing the point. In our self-saturated culture compromising our wanderlust for our kids seems like an affront to our Americanism. For the sake of transparency, this is one of my biggest struggles. To take precious time away from shredding 20 miles of single track to go for a 4 mile put around town with the kids is hard, but it is central to being a good parent. If you want to survive hiking with a toddler it is as simple (and complicated) as good parenting. Start young, don’t be over bearing, don’t be a push over.

 Start young

      All of our kids have slept in a tent before they were 6 months old. It is best to start early because they don’t know any better. A toddler has a routine and breaking that routine can have devastating consequences. Hiking is hard mentally. If a kid grows up hiking it normalizes the activity making the mental hurdle much smaller. Our middle beacon of joy is strong willed. She is our hardest and easiest to take hiking. If she likes the hike she is unstoppable, if she is not in the mood she plants herself like a great sequoia. If we hadn’t already been hiking with her at a very young age she would never ever enjoy it now.

Don’t be over bearing

      This is the classic dad who makes his kid do what he wants to do… except it’s not. This is not forcing your kids to play baseball so they can go to state like you never got to. This is brainwashing your kids into following you and doing what you want to do. See, that’s so much better! It is ok to help give your kids identity. Part of who your kids are should be who you are. They SHOULD like what you like. They don’t have to, but you should aid them in discovering themselves. Just don’t overdo it. Celebrate the ways your kids are different than you, because they might just be better, smarter, and stronger than you will ever be. You don’t need to force them into a mold, but it’s ok to give them an idea of what forces are shaping them. Especially when hiking, having your own agenda is very obvious to your kids (and wife). They will push back and feel like they are not the priority. Don’t be overbearing by putting the destination first, and not the relationship.

Don’t be a push over

      Contrary to the previous point, don’t let them get their way. When hiking, it will be hard. It will be difficult for all parties involved. It will push the limits of your patience, it will push your mental endurance, and it will push your kiddos physical endurance. That is why we do it. We want to be more patient and we want our kids to be stronger. Don’t let them turn around at the first sign of pain. That just means you cracked first. Make a plan, set a goal, and stick to it if at all possible.

PS. If this fails bribe them.

Just a few pictures of the bike my Dad and I have turned into a speed demon!

Kids

When I weed a garden, 

sweat in the sun,

water the seeds 

and see them grow,

I reap a harvest and my belly is satisfied. 

As I pour out  of my self into my kids, 

work hard to teach them right,

and see them learn a new craft,

I reap no harvest and my soul is satisfied. 

For my first photo tip blog post I will give you the best, the ultimate, the most extreme… the one tip to help you take better pictures! Over the years I have had several people ask me what is the one tip to have better photos. I have never really had an answer to that because the term “better photos” is pretty broad. A lot of people these days are buying DSLR cameras to take better photos of their kids and/or vacations, so I’m going to focus (punny) on that. The one tip I would give to a beginning photographer is (drum roll) keep shooting. Wah wah wah. I know that is the most boring piece of advice ever! However, practice is the most important thing, so there. Kids are hard to take pictures of because they can do the kessel run in less than 12 parsecs [see here www.starwars.com if you don’t know what that is ] Kids are fast, and their genuine cute little moments happen really quick. You need to have a really good handle of your camera to be ready to take those candid shots when they happen. Vacation photos are always fun, but if you are spending the entire vacation trying to figure out the setting of your camera you won’t enjoy your photos or vacation. So, my advice is take your camera on walks, take it to the park, take it to the zoo, to the pool, and everywhere else you go. When I first started taking photography seriously I had a messenger bag for my camera and lenses. I carried it everywhere I went. You need to get a lot of practice before you are comfortable with your camera in various lighting situations. Good luck and keep shooting!

I recently posted this photo to my Facebook page.That amazing little smile happened for a split second but because I have invested a considerable amount of time to perfecting my craft I was able to get the shot.

Why do I like the outdoors? That is a good question with a long answer, but probably the best short answer is because my dad likes the outdoors. He likes the outdoors because my grandpa liked the outdoors. Last week my Grandpa passed away. He is this first person in my life, that I have been close to, to die. I was well prepared for the news because his mind has been gone for a couple years now. None the less, it left me with a lot to think about. Being the Transcendental that I am, I thought a lot about nature. The wild is a funny thing. You can go outdoors to take a million pictures, bring home a harvest, or carry away some precious stones, but you will always leave a little bit of yourself too. My grandpa spent his entire life taking boy scouts on float trips, camping outings, and hikes, all the while leaving little bits and pieces of himself out in the woods. He was scratched by the same Ozark thorns, woke to the same frost, and took shelter from the same rain. His memory will live on for me in those things.

Tangled up in brambles

Frozen in the grass

Falling from the clouds

Clearer than glass.

One more reason

I have now,

To go out of doors

Where the rain drips from my brow.

Dripping to where we all must go

Down to the ground.