Castle Rock 2011

Starting the year off right with a few trips to Castle Rock, so dear to my heart.

Justin makes quick work of Static Reach Low and executes creative beta to avoid an unbearable reach. Error in video: this climb is "Static Reach Low" not "Static Reach SUPER Low."

Castle Rock: Static Reach Low from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

Randy's Greenhouse

Based on my lack of videos, I obviously haven't been out climbing much this past Fall; however I did manage to visit one of my brothers out in Tampa, Florida back in August. Randy and I explored a bunch of different places near Tampa. We saw dolphins, went fishing (I didn't catch anything), ate Robusto cheese (mmmmmmm), visited an alligator in a lake at dusk, gazed upon Dali paintings and swam in the ocean just before a thunder storm broke out. I have always known Randy to be one of the smarter people I know, being able to navigate topics from calculus to biology and everything in between. Randy and I made these videos while we were in Tampa together, where he demonstrates his knowledge about some pretty cool plants. He has many more videos about various plants (from venus flytraps to banyan trees) that you can find at Randy's Greenhouse if you want to learn more. Hope you enjoy them!

Way Lake 2010

Justin and I managed to take a little trip to my home away from home, Mammoth Lakes. Although I wasn't back climbing yet, I enjoyed the occasional run up to Mammoth Rock, playing with Turtle in the meadow as she bounded through the creeks and tall grass and watching Justin send Serpentine at Way Lake. What was most impressive about his send was the ability for him to find this incredibly unique sequence that allowed him to work the lower moves that are normally easier for taller individuals. Be sure to check out this wacky sequence in the video below.

I feel like it would be unfair to have a blog titled "Gossiping About Mosquitoes" and not mention that the mosquito alert at Way Lake was at DEFCON 1. Beware, mosquitoes were swarming to the point that we had to retreat away from water and into the talus. Even long garments couldn't prevent the attacks. Deet (although extremely toxic) may be necessary to tolerate the troops there. Good luck.

Way Lake 2010 from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

80 miles and beyond!

On June 12 of this month I had the privilege of waking up at 5am and escorting my 67 year old father to the start of another 100 mile endurance run (yawn). He's participated in at least a dozen or so of these things, so it's nothing new. He's also completed over 130 marathons/ultras in his life. It was a fantastic weekend. He ended up finishing first in his age group (60 and above) and was the OLDEST PERSON TO FINISH THE RACE! Although there were ups and downs to the race, he did an amazing job and I'm truly inspired... again.

In my own life I've been battling a bit of injuries. I took a few months or so off from climbing due to some finger issues after Joe's Valley. And then I got that nasty cold that left me with two inhalers and a cough that persisted for over a month. After that subsided I got back into running (to be in shape to pace my dad). I was up to doing 9 milers on some hilly loops and then I decided to play soccer for a friend's b-day party and bam... reinjured the knee. I guess I won't be in world cup 2014 :(. It's not nearly as bad before, and I've kind of gotten used to this whole injured lifestyle so it's no biggie. I'll be back at it in no time I think.

Here's the 15 minute documentary I made about my Pops... Passcode is SD343.

SD 100 2010 from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

Rites of Passage

No one ever told me that after you hit your 30s you cry at any rite of passage (weddings, graduations and sometimes sappy commercials [thank god I don't watch hardly any TV]), but it's true. I remember this phenomenon as a child watching adults in happy moments with tears running down their faces. "Mom, aren't you happy Joe and Jane Doe are getting married? Why are you crying?," I'd ask. I never pursued it any further and just assumed that adults were weird. But now this disease has infected me and I'm scared, and I can't seem to find any explanation for it in any of my anatomy or physiology texts, nursing school lectures or nursing journals. Is there some deterioration of the lacrimal duct as we slide into senescence? Well this past weekend was a perfect example of LDD (Lacrimal Duct Deterioration).

All joking aside, I have never been more emotional at any graduation before, and I don't think the severity of my symptoms were due to LDD, but instead witnessing the culmination of years and years of hard work and perseverance of my brother, Johnny, in his nursing program. There were moments when he doubted himself, did poorly on a test (despite studying harder than I have the patience for) and sometimes even received doubt and undue criticism from some of his own professors that should have been taking him under their wing and providing him with support. Some people would have shirked at the difficulty and criticism and given up, but Johnny would simply pick himself back up, press on and study harder and was completely unwilling to give up. Johnny, I'm so proud of you and this achievement given all that you had to endure and all the courage and strength you had to muster. What an inspiration!

Johnny's Graduation 2010 from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

Shadow Warrior!

Although Justin has left CA for a brief "month or so"visit to Colorado, he went out with a bang. On his last weekend in Yosemite he ticked "Shadow Warrior" (V12) and made it look quite easy on the send, I must say. Congrats honey! I miss you... you can come home now.

Shadow Warrior (V12) from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

Little Cottonwood Canyon

At the end of my Spring Break I took a little jaunt to Little Cottonwood Canyon with some amigos. I was so pleasantly surprised to find awesome granite with sandbagged grades. It reminded me of the Valley and made me yearn for home. I only spent one day at LCC on "easy" problems, but after that day SLC got a whole lot cooler. I can't wait to return for more LCC rock, Fert and Emily time and a little more Red Iguana action (fantastic Mexican food.... Fan... tas.... tic!).

Unfortunately this will probably be my last post for some time since I'm back to school and working my booty off... sniff sniff. Don't cry for me though, I'm sure I'll weekend warrior it a bit and make it out to the Valley on the weekends.

The following is a short video with some easy LCC classics. I apologize for the lower quality of the video... iMovie sucks and exporting high quality videos from iMovie is even suckier.

LCC 2010 from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.