noddy's adventures

cvc

I spent the 4th July in Flagstaff, Arizona, an amzing little town just outside of the Grand Canyon. fireworks weren't allowed this year due to the high fire risk but there was a parade that seemed to go on for hours. Most of the floats were all about celebrating the American history but some were obviously getting ready for halloween!

Following the celebrations, i booked myself onto a tour of the Grand Canyon run by the hostel i was staying in. It was a well run trip, led by a local guy. There were only 7 of us on the tour and we had plenty of time to take in various viewpoints and small walks in several locations. Unfortunately there was a haze over the canyon and as a result, few of my photos really do the place credit.

At a few of our stops the guide took any of us who were willing over the protective barriers to really get to the edge of the canyon, allowing for some pretty memorable pictures!

My first taste of rock on this trip to America was at Joshua Tree. Its an amazing location, with hundreds of routes scattered throughout the desert.

I had to endure two and a half days on a bus to get there but it was well worth it. I climbed there in July which was probably not the best time of year due to the intense heat but some good climbing could still be done in the evenings and early morning. In LA i met up with Constance who i had arranged to climb with and we drove into Hidden Valley campground, popular amongst climbers. Waiting for us there was Dwayne an old school hippy who had set his fair share of the routes in the area "back in the day".

For the next couple of days he took us on a few of the classic routes, along with Matt and Sarah, an american couple we climbed with. The climbing consisted mainly of steep trad, cracks that were slightly sandbagged (harder than claimed) and destroyed the skin on your hands!

It was my first time back on rock since leaving the UK and i had a great time climbing with some excellent people. Its definately somewhere i want to revisit but perhaps in the cooler months! The highlight of the trip had nothing to do with climbing but was actually when Constance got her truck stuck in the sand and we had to be pulled out by a Harley!

Hey all, at the time of writing im currently living in good old Melbourne, lapping up the sun and occasional rainstorm! I've never really bothered with interent blogs but figured that as im now working in an internet cafe i should put newly acquired skills to some use and if i get stuck i can ask some of the nerds (customers) for help! I have been keeping a journal for my whole trip so wont be including everything of my travel's on this blog. The majority of its contents will actually be covering the climbing i've been doing all over the world. Might take me a bit of time to get everything sorted but enjoy!
Shaun