A Journey around the Globe

2006-01-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Fin

2006-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finally accepted the fact that this journey is over... I have been back stateside for almost two weeks now! I decided to cut the European tour short in favor of a surprise Christmas visit. After all it had been over four years since I last attended this particular holiday.

Anyway... my twenty-fifth year has long since passed and my finances have been stretched well into the red! It was a good run while it lasted but it couldn't go on forever, right?.
I am going to save this space for future international travels*, but those of you who are 'still' interested in seeing what happens next... just put a 2 after travelingcat or click on the provided link.

*(feel free to look back in the archives and check out how the various legs of the journey transpired)

2005-12-29T15:45:00.000-08:00

My last day in the soaking forest. (self portrait)

2005-12-29T14:57:00.000-08:00

Phillip tossing out left after having matched on a particularly nasty sloper...

2005-12-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

Phillip Sage sticking the sloper on 'Noir Desir' (Bas Cuvier, FR).

2005-12-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

Myself climbing through the casual lower section on 'Haute Tension' (Bas Cuvier, FR).

2005-12-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

There is an old video that is being shown on Modumps sight... the 'Brown Hole' was taken like three years ago. One might recognise the climber.

2005-12-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

Seth sticking the cruxy match on 'Franks Wild Years' Cresciano,CH.

2005-12-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

2005-12-19T04:12:00.000-08:00

Seth cutting loose on another great problem...

2005-12-19T04:10:00.000-08:00

Remo Sommer hiking a 7C with ease...

2005-12-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

A stunning and committing arete in Cresciano,CH.

2005-12-19T04:04:00.000-08:00

Seth Allred crimping his way out a fun line...

2005-12-19T04:01:00.000-08:00

Luca Bregant on a slopey problem in Cresciano, CH.

Italy

2005-12-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

After picking up my brother in the Netherlands and getting a good sampling of the local 'coffee shops' it was time to move on... so we left the 'haze' and treacherous bicycle strewn streets for a bit of some 'old world' stylings. After staying in Torino (site of the '06 Olympics) and then seeing some of the poor construction that was approved in Pisa (definetly not to OSEA standards) it was time to head further south... upon looking up some friends (more ZA travelers) it was decided that Firenze would make a great stopping point. Neither of us was excited to drive to Rome after all the stories we had heard about parking problems and the tiny winding streets... so we left the car behind and caught the train. Rome was incredible! So much history and ancient ruins on almost every corner. Not to mention the excellent food and a very happening night life. All good things must come to an end and it was time for my brother to leave, so I caught the train north again and he flew out of Rome. Despite the poor weather I have been enjoying one of Italy's finest 'cities' since. Luca and Aurola have been very informative and excellent hosts... again I have gotten great local beta that has helped to make a smooth and comfortable experience. Hopefully there is a break in the weather, but it has been incredible regardless!

2005-12-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Giant globe in the map room of the Florence museum.

2005-12-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

One of the many street signs in Rome...

2005-12-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

Trevi Fountain, Rome.

2005-12-06T07:32:00.000-08:00

The Pantheon, Rome.

2005-12-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

2005-12-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Arch of Constantine, Rome.

2005-12-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

The Colosseum, Rome.

2005-12-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

2005-12-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Pisa, Italy

2005-12-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

mid move on magic bus

2005-11-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

2005-11-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Dom on a fun 'granite' like rail in the forest...

2005-11-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

flying for the summit jug of a massive dyno 'Rainbow Rocket'

Return to Font.

2005-11-16T04:15:00.000-08:00

Switzerland is an amazing place... the cobbled and shop laden streets of Zurich, and the beautiful mountains made for an incredible stay. I got to sample a few of the bouldering areas as well as seeing the source of the Rhine! Dominik (a friend from my travels in ZA) and I decided to check out a 'new' bouldering area in Spain... we made it to Albarracin and hiked around a bit to get a feel for the area. It was a clear and cold day, but since it was so windy we made the mistake of waiting till the following day to climb. The wind brought in a front that dumped a little over twelve centimeters (about 4 inches) of snow! So we spent the day doing 'tourist' type activities... we saw the cliff side dwellings of Cuenca and walked around the winding city streets of Teruel. We decided to wait a few days to see if it would clear, but the snow only melted do to the weather changing to rain. While in Switzerland we ran into some "Kiwi's" that we knew would be in Fontainebleau. After a few phone calls we decided to make the epic sixteen hour drive north to France. Here I am again in Font. and again I am reminded why this is such a world class destination!

2005-11-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

2005-11-15T06:31:00.001-08:00

Cliff side dwellings of Cuenca, Spain.

2005-11-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

2005-11-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

Frozen top outs made climbing impossible...

2005-11-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

The weather made a turn for the worse...

2005-11-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

Old fort surrounding the town of Albarracin.

2005-11-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

One of the many narrow and winding streets in Spain.

2005-11-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

Attempting a challenging mantle... Engleburg, Switzerland.

2005-11-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

Chillin' and enjoying the day.

2005-11-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

Myself settling with the stand start to a great line in Chironico.

2005-11-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

A possible four star line hiding in the mist.

2005-11-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

Barti on a fun line in Engleburg...

2005-11-10T09:28:00.001-08:00

2005-11-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

Cathedral in Zurich which is famous for the stained glass windows.

2005-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Dominik Seitz on a sweet line in Averstal.

2005-11-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

getting to the blocs at Averstal...

Fontainebleau

2005-11-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks in the forest have been spectacular! I finally met up with my friends and have steadily been working on my French; however, it is still quite poor. The sandstone blocs are better than I remembered, but the weather hasn't been that conducive to sticking to the slopers. It has been so hot in fact; that I have moved onto Switzerland! I am staying in Zurich right now with a Swiss friend from Rocklands. If one thought that my French was poor than my Swiss-German is even worse! I have climbed a few days at Averstal (aka: Magic Wood) and will be returning there, for the bouldering is excellent. That is all for now, but I will post more later...

ps- I keep getting emails from people and I guess that a photo of myself is in last months issue of Rock and Ice. I haven't seen it, but apparently a bit of my trip to NZ is in the mags (so check it out)! Also if you go to www.movementfilms.com and check out MC's "Big Game" video one will see that I am in that as well.

2005-11-01T04:23:00.000-08:00

Ms. Floyd working on a fun line at Apremont.

2005-11-01T04:21:00.000-08:00

Photo by EZ.

Brandon Hyatt about to top out the 'Egoiste'.

2005-11-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

Photo by EZ.

Jim sending the 'Travaux Forces'.

2005-11-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

EZ getting burly on the classic 'El Poussif'.

2005-11-01T04:18:00.000-08:00

Photo by EZ.

Myself on the crux finishing holds of 'Sitting Bull'.

2005-11-01T04:16:00.000-08:00

B topping out another gem in the forest.

2005-11-01T04:15:00.000-08:00

Brandon on 'Crazy Horse'.

2005-11-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

France

2005-10-15T01:52:00.000-08:00

After extending my stay in Kenya for another two weeks it was finally time to leave... I did make it up to the summit of Mt. Kenya (Lenana) though. It was quite an experience staying in the park for six days. We made a base camp at Lake Michaelson (13,000 ft.) and Sean caught trout everyday! The weather was perfect and much reading/relaxing was done. We did have a few big hikes, but since we were able to hire a car to take us upto the trailhead we saved ourselves several more days of hiking. The three hour drive up was an experience in itself. The jolting and bouncy ride took us up through many different ecosystems. The varied flora consisted of: dense/lush forests, thick bamboo groves, to the high alpine tussik grasses farther up the mountain. Ever since reading "No Picnic on Mt. Kenya" I had wanted to get up there.

Now I am back to the high paced life that is Europe. I am not quite adjusted to it, but I am sure in a few days I will be. For now all I have to do is track down my friends, work on my french, and enjoy Fontainebleau!

2005-10-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

Sean checking out the bamboo.

2005-10-15T01:35:00.000-08:00

Sunrise on the summit of Lenana.

2005-10-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

Beyond the notch; looking back through the 'cabbage' trees.

2005-10-15T01:33:00.000-08:00

View from the notch, looking back on Lake Michaelson.

2005-10-15T01:31:00.000-08:00

Sunrise over Lake Michaelson.

2005-10-15T01:30:00.000-08:00

Ol Seki camps living quarters.

2005-10-15T01:29:00.000-08:00

2005-10-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

African death water...

2005-10-15T01:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone has a bad day eventually.

2005-10-15T01:26:00.001-08:00

2005-10-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

2005-10-15T01:25:00.000-08:00

2005-10-15T01:24:00.001-08:00

2005-10-15T01:24:00.000-08:00

Sean, a self portrait.

2005-10-15T01:23:00.000-08:00

2005-10-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

Tanzania

2005-09-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

On the way to the airfield, Sean is telling me about the place we will be staying at (he spent two months building the 'camp' for a family friend). Apparently the friend is going to be leaving the country for a few weeks and was hoping that someone would keep an eye on it for him... after clearing customs and immigration we walk out to the waiting helicopter! It turns out that Mr. Smith has decided to squeeze in a last few days at the camp before he has to go. So he has offered to fly us down in his helicopter.

The flight down was amazing! Crossing over the Great Rift Valley and stopping for coffee, and cake on the top of the Ngureman Mountain Range was stunning. The feeling of near weightlessness on banking turns and dives as we followed the countours of the area lent a sense of giddiness to it all (nearly the whole cockpit is covered in windows, so one can imagine the amount of exposure there is compared with a plane). As we came in over the Serengeti we saw tons of animals: elephants, zebra, cape buffalo, lions, cheetah, and many types of game. I also saw the numerous kopjes that Sean had mentioned...

Since we were watching Mr. Smith's camp we were also granted the status of his crew. Thus being entitled to the various privileges that this encompased. Acting under these pretenses we were able to scout out 'possible future filming sites.' Sometimes this entailed the gaining of various summits (the kopjes are essentially granite outcrops and heaps of stacked boulders), yet the gaining of these summits were not always accessed in the 'easiest' way. We did several "game" drives as well and I saw more animals than I could have imagined. We counted over a hundred elephant one day, and hundreds of zebra too! We would drive around a kopjes to determine if it was a quality 'site' and then see lions laying around the backside of rocks we had just contemplated investigating... definetly not a place were one can just go on a late night stroll.

Here at 'camp' things are pretty plush. In terms of camping it would be on par with the Ritz or the Waldorf- Astoria. Comfortable beds, hot showers, and a friendly staff. How else could I be in the middle of the Serengeti and still be able to post this?. Unfortunetly we will be leaving this phenomenal place soon, but I must say I am eagerly awaiting whatever is to come next.

2005-09-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Dining after the kill.

2005-09-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Kenya

2005-09-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

My old friend/roomate from University (Sean Dundas) was waiting for me as I cleared customs. I was excited to see him as it had been several years since we last saw each other. He quickly filled me in on what we would be doing over the next few days... he was mainly interested in how much sailing I had done, and if I got sea sick or not! We were going to head down to Mombasa on the coast of East Africa where we would be sailing down to Pemba (a world class dive site). So once we got aboard the 56' 'Aristos' and had all the gear stowed we got underway... it turns out that I do get sea sick, but only in rough seas. Fortunetly I wasn't as bad off as Sean! We took some medication though and it was all good. This was the maiden voyage for the new owners of the 'Aristos' and they wanted to get their ship dialed in. The catering was excellent and the water was clear/warm. Unfortunetly the compressor died and diving was not possible, although we did do some snorkeling. It was a great trip and I would definetly go back to do it again! Tony and Ali (www.divingsailing.com) are wonderful people and go all out to make it an excellent voyage!.
Sean and I got back to Nairobi where I had to get a visa for Tanzania... next destination: the Serengeti National Park. More on this later.

ps- I realize that some of the photos are not oriented in the 'traditional' way. I am working on this, but in the mean time one should either: A. turn their head B. put their monitor on it's side or C. wait until I figure out what the problem is. Enjoy!

2005-09-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

Looking back along the 'Aristos' on the Indian Ocean.

Leaving ZA

2005-09-13T03:37:00.001-08:00

For those of you who are actually reading this regularly... I apologize for the long span w/out updating!
My last few weeks in ZA were both excellent and frustrating! At the very least we certainly ate well, but the constant rains were not conducive to climbing. Fortunetly we moved into the Weaver Cottage at Alpha Excelsior (www.alphaexcelsior.co.za) where the friendly and hospitable hosts (Connie and Liz) made it an excellent place to stay. We attempted to go 'climbing' whenever possible, yet this meant stripping down to our underwear and crossing the waist deep 'stream' (usually only ankle deep) with pads and gear on our heads. As I mentioned above, it rained a lot! After camping for months, being dry and having all the conveniences of home were a welcome change. Hence all the cooking we did. Our friends Paul and Julie moved into the 'Lavender House' during the same time period, so there were many gatherings and many braii's.
There were many highlights to the final portion of our stay in the Western Cape as well. Stevie and Nicole both sent "Maniac" which is one of the best lines in the whole area. We went out for a spectacular evening session that was illuminated by a full moon! Meg sent her project "Orange Heart" at Road Crew. Nick sent his first 8 pointer and Andy his first '7C'. Leaving only my project left... after finally linking through the crux moves on "Gliding Through the Waves Like Dolphins" (long winded maybe, but that is how it feels!) to then fall on the topout was crushing! I returned several times between the downpours, but only to have negative gains... despite coming up with a better finishing sequence I kept falling lower down were I hadn't ever fallen before?!. One has to accept the inevitable so we packed up and went to Cape Town to prepair for our departures. We sold the car back without any problems (www.driveafrica.co.za). I confirmed my new flight times, and we met up with some of our local friends and proceeded to party late into the night; where I was then deposited at the airport... haggard but ready for the next leg of my journey.

PS-if you want to see more images from ZA than check out the Zaration link. There should be a bunch more pics on Coops sight.

2005-09-13T02:34:00.000-08:00

From left: Meg, Steve, Andy, Nicole, and Nick... my ZA travelling companions.

2005-09-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

Stevie on 'Maniac', an incredible four star climb!

2005-09-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Julie Gutstadt topping out a great line in the moonlight.

2005-09-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

Weaver Cottage at Alpha Excelsior.

Return to Rocklands

2005-08-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

After an amazing trip around the country we are finally back in Rocklands!. We will be upgrading our accomodations soon (Weaver Cottage) and thus will be able to explore 'Alpha Excelsior' more thouroughly. Not much time left on this leg of the journey, so we will all have to focus a little harder and try to clean up!

2005-08-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

Scott focusing on the movement to come...

2005-08-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

2005-08-12T05:36:00.000-08:00

need I write further...

2005-08-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

see some interesting things when on the road. Silos? blocking the on ramp.

2005-08-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

'Bald Ibis?' hiding in the clouds...

Wild Coast

2005-07-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's been quite the little 'side' trip so far. Thanks to the generosity of the Lotter Family we had an excellent stay in J-Bay. As well as getting to go out and do some horsebackriding along the beach! It was definetly the fastest I have ever been on a horse... On farther up the coast we entered the 'trans-kei'! Which is a little slice of coastal S. Africa which is completely on 'African time.' If it is possible to be more relaxed than the rest of ZA than this is the place to go. Beautiful beaches, great surf, and very fresh seafood!. An excellent place with a very comfortable vibe.
We went to the Hluhluwe-Umfoluzi reserve and the wildlife was truly abundant. I saw my first wild rhino! Man those things are amazing! Like a spry and agile tank. We also saw giraffe, water buffalo, zebra, springbok,.... the list goes on. Unfortunetly no elephants though. Next we head back into the mountains (Drakensburg) to check out some smaller bouldering areas and get back into shape for the Rocklands! The fresh seafood and sunny beaches has made us all a little soft.

2005-07-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

2005-07-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

2005-07-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

2005-07-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

Looking out from our 'bungalow' down at the surf, Umdumbi.

2005-07-25T21:34:00.000-08:00

View along the coast, Coffee's Bay.

2005-07-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Horseback riding over the dunes just N of Jeffrey's Bay.

2005-07-25T21:31:00.000-08:00

Steve, Andy, and I on a Friday night out in J-Bay...

quicky...

2005-07-23T04:06:00.000-08:00

So far the 'Wild Coast' has been excellent! Beautiful beaches with good waves and fresh seafood has made for a great rest-bit. We are in Durban right now and on our way further up the coast. Hopefully we will be seeing some rhinos and other 'big game'. I will post some pics (of which I have tons) as soon as I can find a place with greater capabilities.

R&R

2005-07-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while, but trying to upload photos with only a dial up connection can be quite tedious... so we are back in Cape Town and heading to the east coast for a bit of a 'holiday.' We plan on doing a little bit of surfing and some plain old beachside chillin'! A chance to let the body recover from the abuses of bouldering.

2005-07-08T06:27:00.000-08:00

The 'Greek' in search of holds...

2005-07-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

2005-07-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

Ms. Floyd topping out an epic ascent of the aptly named 'Creaking Heights!'