I just finished writing a profile assignment that came in unexpectedly this afternoon—thankfully it was a pretty easy one, with just the right amount of material provided to write it with ease. I’ll edit and send it tomorrow before climbing, and then go climbing, come back, get the rest of my stuff packed up for Salt Lake (which means everything I need, since I haven’t packed anything yet), and be ready to go Thursday morning. I’m tiiiirrrred, though.

In fact, my right triceps (I think it’s plural even when you’re talking about one muscle, but I’m too lazy to look it up right now) is still a little sore from the weekend—mostly just from Saturday night’s impromptu après-dinner bouldering session, which came about AFTER a full day of climbing in the canyon. It was a cold, full day, too, marked by a few rain sprinkles here and there. Nonetheless, it was a fun one, with great quotes and silliness from the two ladies that came up from Colorado to check it out, along with the two who came over from Cody.

I particularly enjoyed A.J.’s revelation upon coming down from the Behemoth: “I LIKE sport climbing!” Primarily a boulderer, she proved that she can and will be a fantastic sport climber in short time if she goes for it; she flashed a 13a-ish bouldery route that has spanked many a dude (but alas, I do think she thought some of the pumpy enduro 5.11’s were harder than that route; sigh, such is the way of the boulderer!) The other Colorado lady waltzed up a bunch of 12s, showing that shortness can be a strength when applied well—very cool. Other favorite moments included H.E.’s dog attempting to climb up a route after her (see above), and just the general mayhem that happens when you put together six women, two photographers, and an assorted male support team trying to get some particular shots all in a cold weekend’s work.

Oh, and back to the bouldering session…yeah, that was just one of those, “Hey, do you want to check out the gym?” moments that turned into two hours of pulling down after dinner. Having not bouldered since last February, I got whooped up on and I NEED to do pull-ups and work my contact strength, for sure—especially now since I made the deal with A.J. to do that comp next summer! It was totally worth the soreness, though; I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard, rolling around on the mattresses holding my stomach with two other ladies (the guys actually sat this sesh out, for the most part, choosing to watch us gals jump around) as we sent one another into gales of giggles. Good stuff!