Portland Day 8 - Rain with occasional sun

The weather here is outrageous! Mostly because it changes so much. I mean in Utah, if the forecast is sunny then it is sunny ALL day. Or if it's rainy then it is rainy ALL day for the most part. Well, here the weather comes and goes as it pleases. It changes so often. It will rain for maybe 5-10 minutes and then be sunny for awhile. Then the rain comes back. Some more sun. You get the idea. It's kinda nice to have the variety but makes it super hard to plan for things, most especially when you are outdoors.

Rock Climbing. I think that's the new sport I'm going to get into. I see myself with a whole pack of gear at the end of a year. I spent the day yesterday at Smith Rock State Park, pretty much the Mecca of rock climbing in the West, or at least Oregon. We had a pretty good group there, close to 20 people, so there was a lot of down time. But it was fun to meet new people and just be outside. The place was just covered with people all over the rock faces.

I did get to climb one route, called Five Gallon Buckets. A 5.8 route. I was pretty proud of myself. It was super tall, as you can see here in the photo. It's the route on the far left; the one with the guy in green going up it.

I've only climbed outside 2 times before ever so reaching the top on this one was a big feat for me. It was a lot of fun. Like I said, I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more climbing too. Sounds good to me!

Here's me and my two roommates, Katie and Tiffany.

Rock Climbing!

This past winter was my first introduction to rock climbing. I went on a few dates to some indoor climbing places and discovered I really liked it. I also discovered I couldn't stand the shoes you jam your feet into as well as the fact I didn't really have sufficient upper body strength to be a good climber.

This summer, though, I have been climbing outdoors twice and there's just no comparison. It is so much better and as you already know, I prefer to be outside. The walls are more challenging too. The first time I only got about half way up, but only tried once because our group was pretty big.

But I just went climbing about 2 weeks ago with two other dudes. I got several climbs in and.....guess what? I totally made it to the top! I was so proud of myself! It was a pretty tough wall in my opinion for a beginner and I even passed up the other guy climbing next to me, granted his wall was even harder. But you don't need to know that, right? It was a lot of fun and I hope to further my rock climbing skills. The shoes aren't even that bad either..... This first picture is me. Look at me rock it, literally.