littlegrunts.com

Reminiscing on Red Rock Rendezvous 2016

by Paulina Dao May 31, 2016

written by Paulina Dao

Friday afternoon, a week before Red Rock Rendezvous, I frantically dialed the number of the dude organizing the entire festival. In the span of an hour, en route to Joe’s Valley, I managed to completely freak out and convince myself that my measly trad skills were too measly for an advanced gear placement and anchors class.

I anxiously rifled through the website, hoping for something, or anything, to tell me that I’d be okay. But somehow things looked a little different from when I bought my early bird ticket back in November. And this time around? There were skill levels associated with all the descriptions. Crap.

May 31, 2016 4 comments

Hiking Castle Crags

by Paulina Dao May 23, 2016

written by Paulina Dao

I feel like a reoccurring theme in my life is bad weather on climbing weekends. Josh and I drove up to Castle Crags for a weekend to hop on the Cosmic Wall for some nice, runout easy trad, but once again, Mother Nature threw a wrench in our plans.

May 23, 2016 0 comments

Adventures Hiking

Hiking Lower Echo Lake

by Paulina Dao May 11, 2016

written by Paulina Dao

Even with ski resorts closing their doors for the season and uncharacteristically warm weather in the Bay Area, winter is still very much alive and kicking in the Sierra. After a short day of wrestling pebbles and battling high winds on Hogsback at Lovers Leap, Josh and I called it quits and decided to go catch a sunset somewhere.

We always talk about sunset, but by the time the sun starts to go down, we’re maybe still stuck on a route, or bouldering stoke is high, or we’re in the midst of preparing dinner. We headed east on highway 50 with Lower Echo Lake in mind, something nice and easy that we could drive up to and relax at.

May 11, 2016 0 comments

Hiking Lake Matheson Fox Glacier New Zealand

Adventures Hiking

Hiking Lake Matheson, New Zealand

by Paulina Dao May 9, 2016

written by Paulina Dao

The rain doesn’t stop on the West Coast of New Zealand. It pours and pours and pours. My trip onto the glacier was canceled due to inclement weather. Shoes were still still soaking wet.

The giant bed in the hostel welcomed me with loving arms. My desire to lay around was very, very high. I thought about walking all the way out to Lake Matheson, but with the previous day’s soaking excursion still in mind, I wussed out and paid an old man a few dollars to drive me there and back.

May 9, 2016 1 comment

Gear

Life Wipes… the shower struggle is real

by Paulina Dao May 6, 2016

written by Paulina Dao

I hate showering. It takes forever and sometimes I just want to spend that time doing something else. When I’m camping or climbing, it’s totally acceptable because you know, outside and dirt and stuff. Back in San Francisco? Not so much. I mean, if I’m not really that sweaty, or if I’m just going to get sweaty again riding my bike, what’s the point? There’s still a drought, even with all this rain. For days like those or when you’re just playin’ outside, there are Life Wipes.

May 6, 2016 0 comments