The past few days

Sunday 6th February

Went to a Super Bowl party with Rein to a friend of his' house.  Wow they go all out for the big game!  Team colours everywhere, a sweep, so much food and drink, a Mexican tortilla stand, 3 floors of party with a big tv on each level... wow.  Packers won, and the host was barracking for the Steelers, but everyone was so pissed that the result wasn't that important.  That would have been different if LA had their own NFL team I'm sure.

Monday 7th February

I moved out of Rein's place today.  Time to cut the apron strings and head out into the great unknown that is sprawling LA, and FIND SOME ROCK!!!  Hiked into Echo Cliffs, but there was no-one climbing there.  Actually there were 2 girls who had just finished climbing and were hiking out, so I got the number of one (Teissia) who was willing to climb next week at some stage.  The rock quality is, as the guidebook actually admits, choss, but I did see some quality routes there.

This cave (Kamikaze Cave) has routes from 5.12b (25) up to 5.14a/b (32/33), plus a couple of open projects.  It is seriously steep, and looks awesome!  Rock is good quality too.

Camped on a pullout on Mulholland Hwy, a quiet mountain pass in the Santa Monicas.  The first night in the van was quite cold!

Tuesday 8 February

Went to Adventure 16 to get a new sleeping bag.  Last night wasn't much fun!  Bought a few extra things to make life in the van easier.

Also signed up to couchsurfing.org in order to get a place to stay near these climbing spots.  I like sleeping in the van, but there really isn't anywhere free to park overnight that is private and safe and legal.  I have a camp shower but I wouldn't use it there, right on the side of the road!  There are plenty of cyclists quietly rolling down and loudly puffing up the hills, as well as intermittent car traffic.

I went back to the gym in the evening to meet up with the crew, and hopefully meet some locals who climb outdoors (hopefully during the week!), and I was advised to sign up to a SoCal meetup website where they organise climbing trips.  Sadly the trips are weekend ones and, at least the guy I spoke to, they don't climb during the week.  I'm having fun bouldering and getting my power back up.

back to the pullout camp tonight!