Yosemite and breaks

Two days ago I was sitting in the beautiful Yosemite valley on top of a sparkling granite boulder. It smelled like trees, dirt, and fresh air. I miss it already, but I'm thankful to be back in NYC.

I've never bouldered in the Valley before Saturday, and boy is it hard.. The ratings are nothing like I'm used to. I struggled on V2's, but sent a few V1's. Regardless of the grades, the climbing was awesome. I went with a co-worker (of course..) and we accidentally ran into an entire group of other co-workers. It was really neat to be with a bunch of people that I miss a ton when I'm in NY. We climbed with all of them, until people started dispersing to other boulders around the valley. We ended up climbing till about 5, until we couldn't stand the cold anymore. It was pretty cold in the Valley, in the 40's or so- but it was good to have a different perspective besides trad climbing.

Above is one of the boulders we climbed. You can see the white chalk marks everywhere. It was really good to get outside, and be able to sit on top of a rock and stare at trees.

Although Yosemite was amazing, and I had an awesome time- it's time for me to take a break from climbing. I recently hurt my shoulder pretty bad (I think at Brooklyn Boulders), and have taken ibuprofen to stop the pain. Every time I've climbed since I tweaked it, its gotten worse and worse, to the point where its painful to raise my arm. Therefore, to allow the rotator cuff to heal and get strong again, I'm making a pledge to not climb until January. If I miraculously feel better (HOPEFULLY!) halfway through December, I'll try roping a bit. It's going to be hard, but I'll supplement with lots of weight training and push ups.

All the best, happy climbing.. I'm off to catch up on all my homework.