After a writs injury and the AK-->CA bike tour I started getting psyched to climb some walls again. I took my friends Steele and Mikey up Zodiac over a 3 day weekend in the Fall, then was able to recruit to Steele to join me on Aurora for Thanksgiving.
This is our "summit" photo from the top of the Zodiac route on El Capitan. I remember we had fun, and were low on water. Mikey proposed an incredibly strict rationing schedule, earning her the nickname "Nurse Ratched".
Steele and I loaded up my honda and drove the long way around to the valley. We had El Cap to ourselves. Steele fixed the first two pitches while I hiked loads.
There aren't any photos from the climb - on pitch 4 I took a huge whipper and broke my left ankle. After i made it back to the belay, we were able to tie our ropes together, leave our stuff (Steele would return the next day to collect it), rappel to the ground and begin the slog out.
My ankle was visibly displaced and I could feel bone edges grinding together with any movement. We were able to rig a sling using a sleeping pad and duct tape. I crawled and butt-scooched down the talus to the car. I don't know how long it took, but it was a character-building experience!
Steele snapped this one of me on the descent.
We ended up driving to the clinic in Mariposa where I at least got serious pain meds. Then drove all the way back to Mammoth the next day to have the surgery, which was a good choice.
The "before" shot.
Post surgery. I was told this is stainless steel, not titanium. It has not activated the metal detectors in airports, which I do not understand.
I say this is the climb that "changed everything" because for the first time in 20 years I had no desire to climb. It was as if a light switch had been flicked. I went two whole years with zero climbing or interest in doing so before once again feeling the itch.
After getting my sea legs back and doing a couple longer routes, I had another accident, this time with Tony, up in Pine Creek on the route blind spot. I then quit climbing for the second time and for the most part have stuck with my decision. It has been a difficult 5 years, trying to find adventures that would fill that void, yet not injure or kill me in the process.
