relaxing and bouldering in joe's valley

my friend jared, his friend thomas, and i decided to drive out to joe's valley over the thanksgiving break. after a long work-filled fall, we all needed a little climbing vacation. we escaped on wednesday night and returned on sunday. it had been two weeks since i had done anything resembling rock climbing so i knew i'd be rusty. and i was. one of the great things about climbing road trips however is that it feels like you progressively improve with each passing day; you get more comfortable with the rock, the weather, your partners, and you start to relax. i did my first v4 on this trip. felt pretty good. here are some photos of luna, a boulder climber i happened on while in the valley.

survival tip: piss on your t-shirt to stay cool (no really)

i randomly happened on a new discovery channel tv series titled man vs. wild. bear grylls, a veteran of the british special forces who has climbed mount everst, spends an hour guiding viewers through some pretty hairy outdoor survival situations. during the first episode bear shows us how to manage a few days in the 120 degree moab, ut desert. we watch the guy climb up a slick rock chimney as well as create a bit of braincase air conditioning by wearing a piss-soaked t-shirt on this head - no joke. fridays 9p.m. et/pt.