Blog on... round 3

 2011: around the world in 9 months; 2014: twelve months career break; 2025: here we go again! First stop, California. Great climbing, great weather. Usually.


Day 3. We watch the lightning then count six seconds before the thunder. Not far on the other side of the mountain. We've just met Levi at the crag and so far he is topping the charts for the most archetypal American climber we've met (mullet, 'tache, proclivity to say "awesome" at even the most mundane things). Levi tells us that the repeating storm systems are very unusual so we have arrived at a very fortuitous time to be able to see them. Not wishing to disappoint his enthusiasm, I falsify my agreement and set off on a climb, hoping the storm holds off for another ten minutes. It doesn't. The overhanging cliff provides the illusion of shelter for about thirty seconds, during which I have the misguided hope that I might be able to climb despite the rain. Then all hell breaks loose and there's icy water running down the wall in sheets, over my hands and straight to my armpits. Awesome.

Day 5. Marie returns to the car from a brief recce out in the deluge. She is uncharacteristically direct in her delivery: "we need to move the tent". I join her outside, her tone having indicated the urgency of the situation. The tent is swimming in four inches of murky puddle. Fortunately, like any seasoned camper, I'm wearing crocs. In I wade and we move it to higher ground.





Day 19. Marie and I are sat at the picnic table, discussing what to cook. With no discernible warning, it's like a fucking bomb goes off. White light overwhelms my vision and a boom which feels like the actual air itself is being ripped apart. Then nothing. We look at each other, stunned, skin tingling. Unable to think of a more pragmatic response, I swear loudly. There was no counting the seconds between lightning and thunder this time. There had been no thunder prior, and there was no more after that. It struck 20m away, finding a way to earth through the solar lights of our neighbouring campers, obliterating them in the process (the lights, not our neighbours).

Day 20. Hail. It's okay though, I feel safe at our campground during storms now. Until Marie tells me far I'm taking the saying 'lightning never strikes the same place twice' too literally.

Day 23. Yesterday was the tenth day it's rained. Today is the first day that the forecast shows no precipitation in the foreseeable. Let's find out if its right.

(I wrote this two weeks ago. It's barely rained since! Here are an assortment of photos since then)







Marie entering the old railway tunnels, near Donner Lake. These were built by Chinese workers as part of  railway connecting East and West USA in the late 1800s.


One of the great pleasures so far has been spotting flora and fauna, using a second hand Laws Field guide.





Bristlecone pines. The oldest known living organisms in the World. They have found an ecological niche where they grow very slowly, some reaching over 4000 years of age.




Douglas or Chickaree squirrel



Golden manteled squirrel on the fire ring at the campground



Long-eared hipmunk, at a crag in Tuolumne. Chipmunks are smaller than squirrels and their stripes extend down their faces.



The King's Canyon in the national park of the same name

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