So far I can sum up our trip with one word: RICE

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation

Right before Anne and I left for our road trip I developed tendentious in the top of my left forearm. I started feeling symptoms on my second day of paddling down the devil's river. Of course, the day before we hit the river I spent 8 hours climbing at E-rock; that may not have helped. I still had to paddle for 2 more days down the river before I could let my forearm rest. By the time we finished the river trip it was in pretty bad shape. Since then, I have been serving my self large amounts of RICE and vitamin I (ibuprofen).

Anne and I started the trip off Saturday Oct. 24 by packing for 6.5 hours. Eventually we hit the road with a FULL car, bound for the McDonnell Observatory star party. We rolled in just in time for the park ranger's star talk; a video called the Power of Ten, and a close up look at the Moon, Jupiter, Andromeda, and a dying star. Looking at the stars and contemplating the endless space God created is a great way to start any 5 week camping trip! Anne and I learned that 2.9 million light-years is the farthest thing we can see with our own eye. We've got stellar vision.

Sunday morning we got up and hit i-10 headed toward Cochise Stronghold. This is a National Forrest and climbing area within the Dragoon Mountains, near Tombstone, AZ. Cochise was a feared and renowned Apache Chief who used the rocks as a fortress against other tribes and white guys. Somewhere in the mountains lay his bones, along with his horse and dog. We arrived Sunday night in time to setup camp, in the dark, and eat dinner. Monday morning I still wasn't quite up for climbing; so, we hiked around and saw the sights. I ended up spending a little time bouldering and was surprised how well my arm felt. I was also surprised how hard the boulder problem was. I eventually made it to the top. I assumed there would be a way down off the 17 foot tall boulder, that was easier than the way I went up, but I was completely wrong. I had to call for Anne, who was reading in the hammock, to come move the crash pad and spot we while I jumped off. She thought it was funny. I was able to climb down a bit and ended up only jumping from 10 feet high.

Its Tuesday and we're headed to Joshua Tree. We're driving through Arizona dust storms but we've only lost visibility once. Other than that, it just looks like a lot of smog. Well, we are headed straight for LA; maybe they are really smog storms. Needless to say, we're ready to get off i-10. We're planning on climbing a bit tomorrow in J-tree, hoping and praying that my arm heels completely.

Thanks for your prayers everybody,
scott & anne