The fearless four (Gretchen, my teammate, Darin, my brother, and Brian, my fiance and I headed out for four days of backpacking in Sequoia National Park... in weather 30 degrees colder than average!
The hiking was beautiful,
the company was great,
and when it snowed (yup... twice!) we just all crammed into one tent to play cards.
The competition was stiff, but tons of fun was had!
ahhh.... so beautiful
Gretchen, Jillian and I are sporting designer trash pick up vests for the Yosemite fall Facelift fashion line
Our beloved van, Ed, in the Camp 4 parking lot
My awesome teammate and I coming down from Monday morning slab on the apron
El Cap, just before we climbed the Nose (OK, just the first pitch!)
Climbing and having fun with the Mulkey family at Church Bowl after worship
Making pizzas at the Sapps home in Bishop
Climbing in Owens River Gorge
ooga!
Solid Rock BBQ after climbing in Clear Creek Canyon (Golden, CO) 
The Price family generously offered to help us build shelves in our van (and sleep in their driveway). Here the kids are doing some important measurements before we start cutting and drilling!
OK, so I got a little into it! 
Master carpenter, Jason Price
Brian came to visit, just when the van broke down... great timing honey! 16 month old Cora is well trained to "pound it" when you put out your fist. 
The Schaffner family (dear old friends) welcomed us into their home for almost two weeks while we waited for van repairs. 
Julia, fellow Solid Rocker and old friend hosted us in Salt Lake City. How great it is to laugh with friends!
Sporting the latest quick draw/helmet fashion!
My amazing teammate... she's the best and I am SO blessed to be on the road with her!
Gretchen enjoys the view from the base of Castle Rock, Idaho
Here she is, folks, our new pimped out road trippin' mobile. Gretchen and I will be stylin on the road in this elegant coach. We can't wait to get on the road to climb and share God's love!
Some amazingly generous new friends helped us customize by building some new shelving units and fixing up a few things. Check out the cozy living space (below)! God has answered our prayers for a vehicle that will also serve as a home on the road.
Now all we have to do is get it to start...
There are many days when I look around me at the cliffs, the river, or the surrounding mountains and say, "wow... I can't believe this is my office!"
Students learn to belay each other (above) as they scale the rock cliffs and explore the beauty of Smith Rock State Park (below). 
I instructed a 15 day River/Mountain adventure with 16-18 year old students in June.
We started with a week of white water rafting and other challenges on the Deschutes river.
After rafting 97 miles of the river, we stopped at the local nursing home to visit for a while (Outward Bound is big on community service), and then headed to the Mt. Jefferson wilderness area for a week of backpacking.
The snow was so deep that the trails were nowhere to be found...
...but we loved playing in and navigating through the snow-covered forests near Mt. Jefferson (below).
Another reason that I love my job, is the people. Below are three of the many inspiring instructors I get to live and work with. As you can see, we are all a bit nutty, but it is a blessing to work with people who are full of vibrant creativity, compassion, and positive energy.
I will miss the Outward Bound community when I leave in two weeks. However, the great thing about a large family of transient adventure-seekers is that I am "bound" to run into at least one of them somewhere soon!
My "welcome back" to Smith Rock was a prayer walk one evening with some local Solid Rockers before the Smith Rock Spring Thing. What a refreshing perspective for coming home to Smith (the place God called me to move to almost three years ago.) 
The Spring Thing is an annual trail day where climbers (and hikers) come together to do service projects to improve trails, prevent erosion, and clean up the park. Most of the climbing trails and staircases around the park have been created and maintained by volunteers over the years. It was fun to come together, get dirty and do some heavy lifting with other folks from all over. Solid Rock Climbers for Christ had the privilege of providing and serving dinner for all of the volunteers.
I managed to climb while having my shoes sent off to be re-soled (one foot from each pair)... it made for some interesting climbing!
This summer I will be working for Outward Bound doing some logistical work in Redmond and some instructing at Smith Rock and on the Deschutes River. I hope to spend any free time climbing at Smith, guiding at Smith, and planning for another fall season on the road with Solid Rock.
Travis, Brian and I climbed the Monkey Face last Thursday... yup- that's us just under the color change on the Monkey (below). What a great climb! You can see a photo and description of the route we climbed on my friend's website: http://www.smithrockclimbingguides.com/Guiding/MonkeyFace/default.aspx
I've done it once before, but this was my first time doing any aid climbing (I led the one short pitch of A1 - a bolt ladder just above where we are in the photo).
I was talking to a friend who owns the yerba mate shop in town about how great it is just to be out in such wild and beautiful places. Similarly, at church we have been exploring science and the reality of intelligent design. This truly is "God's Country," and I am blessed to be able to explore and share it with people of all faiths and all walks of life.
