I had never been to the south of Spain for climbing but from all accounts, the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca are both the premiere European winter vacation hot-spots as well as climbing locations. My friends Sam and Lani had been to El Chorro the previous winter and highly recommended the area so I booked the flights and Airbnb and set off with dreams of tufas and orange-streaked limestone in my head.

There’s nothing like a trip to the Winds for an epic birthday present!

Kevin and I giggled like children while looking at my photo album from the first attempt with Jonny and what all was in store for us. Being Kevin’s first time, I thought he would want to climb a few classics to get a feel for the area before getting to work. To my surprise, he was laser focused on the project. “Let’s get this thing finished first and if there’s time left over we can climb the classics”.

I would finish my 2020 Cochamó season climbing the mega classic route Positive Affect [5.12a, 19 pitches], considered to be one of the crown jewels of Cochamó. Jonny and I bivied at the base of Arco Iris and woke up bright and early to make enough time to climb 3000 feet of perfect, clean, white granite.

We were navigating the descent when I saw it…the roof crack that dreams are made of. We just surpassed the “slot” on the descent and as I am always scanning the cliffs in a new area, it instantly popped out to me: “OMG, look at that crack!!” The feature was stunningly beautiful and mind blowing. Flame-like water streaks burned out of the roof. The rest of the team was ready to be finished with the day so I snapped a couple quick photos and continued our march back to the cars; the obsession began.

United Airlines Flight #5574 left Little Rock, AR at 9am on Saturday September 12th heading to Denver. I had flown many times, many different airlines, many different destinations, but this one was special. I had waited 17 years for this flight.

It’s my sixth time in this mountain range but it still feels just like the first. Granted, this is a first of sorts: the first time I’ve come here on a trip with guests. Walking up the gradual slope of the trail never gets old. The river, peaking in and out, guides our way up into the valley, by pristine alpine lakes, over several passes disguised as one, until we reach the precipice and gaze into the belly of granite with mouths and eyes wide open. This is the Cirque of the Towers.

Rain: Most climbers’ number one question when planning a trip to Valle Cochamó is how much will it rain? Cochamó resides in a rainforest, after all. Chatting with a local this year I was told, “Expect it to rain every day and after that. Any dry day that you can climb is a blessing”. Well, that’s one way to put it into perspective.

Before I knew it, I was once again on a plane headed south in search of warm, sunny, soaring, granite big walls. How am I lucky enough to find myself in this position again?

The last six weeks have been pure joy…

Six weeks in Morocco was definitely interesting to say the least. I was in class about 95% of the time but we did manage to squeeze a little free time in and made a two day camel excursion into the Sahara to spend the night in a nomad tent.

This post has lots of pictures of Morocco…

Luckily for me MTS has basecamps in Alaska, Patagonia, and Spain so that meant I would be traveling to exotic destinations to complete my courses. First up was the Mountain 101 in Alaska.

The underlying purpose of this trip through America was to decompress from Army life, do some soul searching and figure out who exactly I am, where I belong in this world, and where that will take me next.

How do I start this back up? I guess it’s best to just pick up where I left off and try not to summarize too much…

I have decided it's time to start writing in here again. I have many stories to recall and lots of pictures to share so please hang on just a little bit so I can put it all together...

My journey has transitioned from a climbing adventure into a musical endeavor. I am currently logging LOTS of miles on the road chasing a few of my favorite musicians around the south.

I have been thinking a lot in the last month; a lot about life, what I’m doing, the people around me, the way the world works; just a lot of thinking. I am not any closer to any kind of grand epiphany or enlightenment. I feel that I am searching for something but not quite sure what that something is.

I spent Thanksgiving in the L.A. area with family that I haven’t seen in a long time. After that I have spent a lot of time driving; leaving SoCal passing through Arizona and Utah circling Colorado for a while then down to Texas. I have never in my life pictured myself in Texas but here I am.

Dan and I were starting to accept that The Needles were going to be the last big adventure we had together.