Another Day

I wake up. Sometimes it is in the back of my truck, sometimes in a tent. It is usually in a sleeping bag. I usually mutter something like “oh fuck” and roll over. Standard greeting of the dawn.

Breakfast is usually assembled, much like dinner, on the tailgate of my truck. Usually my truck is positioned to block the wind. Not always though. Rummaging through some sort of blue Rubbermaid bin, either large or small is usually on the agenda while a orange flame primes the generator on my Whisperlite stove. Nothing fancy, just your standard one burner white gas stove. Usually it is grits or oatmeal. Cheese is expensive, so usually these days I rely on the oatmeal for the cheap nourishment.

The days activities have recently been scouting for the guidebook I am researching for Wayne County climbing. So I sit around and wait for the water to boil and review notes and photos and try to come up with a plan for the day. Climbing hasn’t been happening a lot recently, though I did aid solo a tower over near Hanksville. Not a lot of partners round these parts. Need to bring my own.

The plan usually involves long walks in beautiful places with a small pack, camera, water, and notebook. Tough life. Sometimes I am surprised to find new routes I didn’t know existed. Then I wonder about all those actively doing routes in the area and how I need to find them.

Recently I have found a rekindled interest in bouldering, as I have done a little for the scouting and writing of the guidebook. Today, it was out at Big Rocks, some really inspiring lines out there. Some of the rock is amazing. Sandstone boulders abound down in sandstone country and the andesite of Big Rocks and Fremont have beautiful pockets and edges. I am excited to get out and try it some more.

The beauty of the truck tailgate counter is that I have eaten dinner in many different places over the past weeks. When the time comes and I am back at my truck, the orange flame once again licks and warms the generator as the pot of rice goes on to boil. Twenty minutes later it is black beans and rice, usually watching an amazing sunset splash its colors across mountains and cliffs.

Sometimes I love the dirtbag lifestyle.

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A little bit less of a nomad now, Jared still likes to refer to himself in the third person.

One Comment

  1. doug mckee
    May 5, 2011
    Reply

    yo jared
    give me a call (970)736-1211, i am always down for some chossin…especially first ascents. hope all is well.

    doug(from steamboat)

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