Real rock in January!

I went climbing in the Barton Creek greenbelt, in Austin Texas.

I hiked in from an access point that was about 1.5 miles from where I first climbed -- this included trying to cross the creek. The main crossing is a shallow area, with a bunch of stones -- but it was cold, so many of the stepping stones were covered in ice, making it especially fun.

Did one of the easiest routes there (5.9), and bailed on another (a tough 5.9). Then walked to another wall along the creek -- about another 1.5 miles, back the way I came, but still on the same side of the creek.

I did several climbs there pretty comfortably -- a 5.6, a bunch of 5.8s, and a bunch of 5.9s. (And, I think, one 5.10-, though it was not too hard.)

Then... I had to cross the creek again. The crossing opposite the second cliff (to avoid another mile+ of walking down to the main crossing) is a ford, you walk through the water. Damn that water was cold. Damn. My feet were cold in two steps, and burning cold by the 1/2 way accross. (It was probably about 25 steps accross.)

Then, I got in the car and drove to Dallas -- about 3 hours.

A good weekend in Texas

Busy, but good.

Given the cold snap we're having down here, I decided that I was unlikely to get out climbing on Saturday, so dialed back my plans a bit, and didn't leave Dallas on Thursday evening.

Instead, Friday morning I hauled myself down to Houston, to have lunch with kgkofmel then dinner and breakfast with her and Mark. We went to Hugo's for dinner (just like I usually do), cause they have awesome hot cocoa-- and good food, too. And, we even had cold weather to justify the hot cocoa. Then for breakfast we went to a crepe place, and upon arrival I recognised it -- they'd take me there before too. Still, it was good.

Then I drove up to Austin, checked in to the hotel, and had dinner with Robin & Lorayne. That was good, too.

Sunday morning, checked out, spent the day hiking & climbing, then back to Dallas.

This evening, got hotel, checked in, showered, and had internet fail. After tech support call, followed by hotel staff, still internet fail. So, I had to haul all my stuff to another room, where the internet access was working.

Tomorrow, it is off to a different customer's site.

January is crazy!

Crazy busy. Argh. And February doesn't look to be much better. Though, we'll see -- it might be calmer?

Damn alarm clock

Last night, before going to bed, when setting the alarm clock, I noticed it was an hour off -- so I reset the time, and set the alarm for 7:30am. The alarm went off, and I felt really tired -- so I snoozed it. And again. The third time, I figured I need to get up, but still felt really dead. I grabbed my cell phone, and noticed it was only 5am. Well, that's why I felt really dead -- but apparently the alarm clock in the room gained 2.5 hours over the night, and woke me up far too early. Sadly, I was unable to get properly back to sleep either -- so I'm really tired this evening.

Maybe I'll be off to bed early tonight.