10 Year Storm

Will all of our hard work in the Canyon be wiped away by an epic 10 year storm? Probably. Four storm systems are converging on the west coast and are set to arrive in Flagstaff tomorrow morning. Our crew pretty much all lives together in a four bedroom house without TV or Internet, so none of us really know what is going on, but if said storm is as ferocious as we're guessing it could be, we will all be flung back into a rough approximation of the prohibition era. You see, in addition to having no modern entertainment, we are also under a no alcohol policy in the house. I don't know how everyone intends to survive this coming hardship, but I imagine there will be some valiant expeditions made into the white void. Rumor has it that the other field crews have been called back early, and we probably won't be able to travel back to the Grand Canyon as intended. Maybe we'll be employed to dig Flagstaff out of the 3-7 feet of snow that are projected? So far there's no sign that this storm even exists, so I'm just hoping it doesn't disappoint after all the hype.

In other news, I spent the last two bluebird days adventuring with the ODC (OutDoor Club) on its maiden trip. We drove 20 minutes to Oak Creek Canyon yesterday and scrambled over the side to some very accessible rock faces. Our fearless leaders set up two top ropes on a 5.7 and 5.9 route, and we spent a couple hours climbing. Two belayed while two climbed and the other enjoyed south facing views of the canyon, complete with soaring red tail hawks and even a bald eagle. Jeff was about three quarters of the way up "little bear" when the bald eagle came by and got the best view of all of us, hanging in his harness. John pioneered "mama bear" and then talked me and Mari up to the top. The crux was a crack with no hand holds. We had to find any narrow spot, shove in a flat hand and then make a fist to wedge it in place. It took me probably 15 minutes to smear and wedge my way up to the easier climbing above and tackle the roof to get to the top. Once the adrenaline of the climb wore off I started to feel the "Gobies" (cuts and scrapes) all over my hands. We drove to some free camping in Coconino National Forest and spent a beautiful clear night sitting around the campfire and sleeping in the ~30 degree nighttime lows at 4000 feet. We had a few hiccups in the execution of day two (today) and lost our climbing enthusiasm after scrambling along some hairy terrain on the approach, but the ODC is in full effect and already planning a snowshoeing expedition. Thanks to Sam and John for guiding. Now we just need the perfect storm to bring it so we can slog through some waist deep snow next week!