Milestones

April 5th marked a couple of important milestones.  The first was that it was Kristal's birthday.

Which we celebrated by, well, going climbing of course.

The second was that it marked exactly 1 year since we started this grand adventure.  Over the last few weeks I've been contemplating what to write about in the 'year in review' post. We have all manner of statistics that I could spray about. Number of days climbing, number of routes/problems ticked, longest routes climbed, hardest problems sent, distance traveled, destinations visited, etc, etc. At the end of the day though these numbers are really for our own amusement, and in my view are largely meaningless.

When we left a year ago, it started out as a year of climbing. Looking back it has turned into so much more. For me the climbing has become secondary to all of the experiences that surround it. The joys of living on the road. The wonders of traveling to so many new and beautiful places.

The sheer number of hours of every day just being outside. The countless beautiful sunsets and clear nights spent stargazing.

The incredible company of friends, both old and new, at the crag and around the campfire. The amazing stories of all the people we've met.

The long days of solitude on epic multipitch routes. The generosity and helping hands of strangers. The sheer beauty of the world around us.

Of course it hasn't all been sunshine and roses. There are a lot of people back home, family and friends, who I miss seeing. We have certainly missed living on the inside on occasion. Especially when the cold, wind or rain has forced us to retreat to the tent or car for extended periods. But otherwise life has been pretty awesome.

And yeah, I guess all the climbing has been pretty good as well...