Country Archer reached out to me earlier this year with some snacks to fuel my adventures. Obviously, I’m never one to turn down food because lemme tell ya, I get real hangry. They seemed like a good alternative to Epic or Tanka bars which I find to be a wee bit pricy, especially when I buy them from the climbing gym.
Today, June 8, is a day you might call a monumental day. Today is the anniversary of the Antiquities Act, which gives the President of the United States the authority to designate national monuments from federal lands. 101 years ago today, our government thought that America’s public lands were worth protecting. Today, that isn’t the case.
I got the chance to sit down with Tommy Caldwell and talk about our public lands and what they mean to him, and thought it’d be a fitting conversation to publish today.
Nestled deep in the Santa Cruz mountains, down some twisty roads, is my favorite local state park: Portola Redwoods. Creeks, short waterfalls and old growth redwoods are tucked inside this lesser traveled park. The trees aren’t as large as the ones found in nearby Big Basin State Park, but more often than not, you’ll find them in solitude. Weekend obligations kept me in the Bay Area a few weeks ago so I popped over to this park for a bit of solo hiking and mileage in preparation for long missions this summer.
Climbing and advocacy are two things that are close to my heart. Protecting and giving back to the places that I’m so lucky to play in is something I feel really passionate about. Mountain Hardwear posted about Save Red Rock last month with one of their athletes, Angie Payne. I got to sit down—well, send off millions of questions via email more like it—with Angie to ask her a few questions around being a professional athlete, stewardship, and advocacy.
Back in February, I headed down to SoCal to hang out with some very, very rad ladies: Kam Altar, Oshie Magturo and Shawnté Salabert. I think it was my first real ladies’ trip. No dude friends, no boyfriends, no men. I’ll come out and say it: female friendship is something that’s very new and different for me. When I talk about “ladies’ weekends,” my long time (male) friends mock me and ask “What girlfriends?”