Chasing Neutrons
Ask any tenured or tenure-track professor about their first year and you're bound to get a seasoned, almost gleeful look in return. "Just wait a few years, it'll get easier," they'll say, as they recount the desperate sprint of starting out as a faculty member.A few months into my first year, I can officially report that faculty life presents a daunting set of challenges. And I've had it easy: no cross country move, no job search for a spouse, no young children to raise. But while the honeymoon years of infinite intellectual and recreational freedom that defined my graduate career have come and gone (hey, the pictures on this blog didn't take themselves!), I gaze out at the landscape of opportunities ahead.Lately, I've been coming to terms with the contrast between the countless problems I can work on and the startlingly short horizon defining the frontier of my knowledge and skills. Part of what's made the job so all-consuming have been the strategic questions, the big upfront decisions I make that will shape my research trajectory over the coming years. Not to mention figuring out how these "work" decisions will ultimately fit into a happy and fulfilling life. First step, many a scientist's rite of passage, building my own lab...I'm also continuing to refine the "piggyback," where a work trip incorporates a bit of play. Case in point, spring break was spent with my student researcher Sean, who just happens to be a superb rock climber (wink). Read more of Sean's exploits here. So we dropped by Yosemite valley for a couple days on the way out to fieldwork in the Eastern Sierra near Reno. I gladly gave Sean all the runout pitches on valley classics including Snake Dike, the legendary line on Half Dome. Hiking out, I noticed a scratchy throat and proceeded to get violently sick for the rest of break and the next couple weeks, but all in all, it was a very successful trip sampling and otherwise.Oh, and I'll get back up in the big mountains too...I'm just shaking out before the crux!P.S. Thanks to everyone who's reached out to me with regards to the Nepal earthquake. Lots of friends over there have been affected, but luckily a lot of the news I'm getting from the ground now is better than I'd feared. Still many are in need. For those who've been asking, I've been recommending the American Himalayan Foundation as a great organization on the ground that's currently directing 100% of donations to relief and long term recovery in Nepal.P.P.S. A few years ago, I came across a couple mountain guides from Oregon who snapped these awesome shots of me in action on Bugaboo Spire in BC. Somehow my email address was temporarily lost, but look what came in the mail!
Winter traverse of the High Sierra
With all of the recent polar vortex talk, it could be easy to conclude that winter, glaciers and climate as we know it are here to stay. Well, out here in California, my good friend Zach and I just crossed the Sierra Nevada. In sneakers. In two and a half days in the heart of "winter." California, if you haven't heard, is in a ridiculous drought right now.Zach and I were excited at the prospect of this unique trip and a chance to visit some of California's threatened glaciers in winter. Borrowing from the light is right, alpine-style ethic, we stripped down to the bare essentials and rock hopped, plunge-stepped, and slipped along icy trail from the Eastern Sierra to Yosemite Valley.
Thanks to Brad and Matt for dropping us off in style, and Seanan for the unlikely encounter in Yosemite and company on the way home!
More thankful than ever
I live a charmed life. Occasionally I’ll be stopped in my tracks when I stumble upon an old photo…was I really there? Did I actually drink fermented camel’s milk in Mongolia?!?This year, I have even more reason to be thankful. It’s also the main reason I haven’t posted in a while. Next year, I'll be an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Santa Clara University. It’s an absolute dream for me to make this next step, and I couldn’t be happier at the prospect of joining such a wonderful group of people.I wasn’t able to get out much this fall as I was super busy with the job search and PhD work. I also messed my ankle up really badly in late September. I’d never rolled my left ankle before but I tore pretty much everything. I’m in really good running shape now and lifting as well, but mountain trips were off limits this fall. I did sneak off to Yosemite Valley for a quick weekend with my good buddy Mike. He led all the hard pitches and I climbed pretty poorly but loved every minute. Found a great veggie burger and milkshake on the way home too…Hula’s in Escalon is tasty!
Late-season Sierra rock
I've taken a few weekend trips to the Sierra before winter truly sets in. First up was Lover's Leap in the Tahoe area with Mike. We've done a fair amount together, and he's really come along as a trad follower and now climbs way harder than I do.On Saturday, we went up a bunch of Lover's Leap moderate classics on the Hogsback and East Wall. I think Pop Bottle takes the cake as the most fun we had. On Sunday, we did a fair amount of anchor practice before Mike took the sharp end for the first time on Deception. This was also a blast and Mike did a fantastic job on his first trad lead.Last weekend, I headed up to Yosemite to take new climbers McKee and Nick on an adventure. We met up with Zach and Emily to toprope on Glacier Point Apron and then climb the Grack.On Sunday, we awoke and left the Valley early in the morning and started up the icy trail towards Cathedral Peak in Tuolumne. By mid-morning it was warm, but the substantial amount of snow and the expansive views gave the high country a winter feel.We roped up covering snow and slabs to the knife-edge ridge between Cathedral and Eichorn Pinnacle. Zach made a nice lead around the corner while I finished the spectacular short route. A wild rappel brought us all back together. We descended during a spectacular sunset and we reached the cars as darkness set in. Thanks everyone for the mountain fun!
Yosemite Speed Published
My first attempt at self expression in the mountains was a four day solo trip to Yosemite squeezed between the end of my college freshman track season and my first geologic mapping trip. Firmly rooted in the dirtbag climber ethic, it was fueled by muffins from leftover meal points and youthful optimism. Although it was filled with miscalcuations, it all worked out in the end. In a three day time period, I ended up going on four hikes/runs, including speed records on Yosemite Falls and Half Dome. The full trip report is here.