Donner, Smart's Crossing

We got some parental babysitting time and jetted up to snowshed for a few routes. Unfortunately we got absolutely bouted on a 5.9 (?) on the right side of the gully which was no fun at all


but then climbed the beautiful arete (ariel?) with no problems at all. Actually, that route seems like a good warmup. I am now more resolved than ever to learn how to place gear; there really look like a lot of fun gear lines in the gully there.

After heading back to the cabin, Chloe's friends from the lab showed up and we all headed down to Smart's Crossing. Luckily, the tiresome solitude of the river was soon broken by a swarm of hood flaring teenagers. Chloe and Christine got swept up in the tide of testosterone and both jumped off the ledge

Happily, they both survived.

I summoned up the courage to swim in the freezing cold water for a bit and tried to climb out of the water... next time I'll bring some old rock shoes with me.

On the way out, little ZZN fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn

and we discovered that she has a prediliction for beer bottles

Lunch was potato and fruit salad that the lab-crew brought up, grilled corn and potatoes, and grilled grass fed beef burgers (RED MEAT WEEKEND!!).

After cleaning up, we decided that a second night in the tent with the baby was going to be too hard, so we drove back to Oaktown, stopping at Machados for an excellent apricot pie.

July 4th In Dutch Flat

We headed up to Dutch Flat and Alta for the Dutch Flat Parade today. The air was smoky from the American River Complex fire, but not TOO bad. We got to Dutch Flat just as the parade was starting and sat down on the grassy berm across from the Dutch Flat Hotel (It's still a little strange looking at the Hotel in its new found glory... I have a permanently burned in memory of a chain link fence surrounding the grounds)


In past years, water balloons and various other water weaponry have figured prominently in the parade, and this year was no exception



A few more images of the parade:






After a healthy 4th of july meal, we drove to the cabin where the parents had already been at work cleaning (YES!). I unlocked the bathtub and discovered a new friend living in the tub: Hopkin Green Frog



My parents had brought up a carpet, but there wasn't quite enough room to fit it into the middle of the vast cabin floor without completely nullifying the days of Feng Shui work that I had put in, so I suggested moving the wood hopper to the wall. We did this, and after cleaning up a bag full of dust and putting down the rug, the cabin is looking fantastic:

For dinner, I grilled up one of our grass fed skirt steaks and made a chimichurri sauce out of the cookbock that Christa and Tom bought me (thanks guys!).