Lloyd Climbing Blog

Some Things I Learned From 18 Months of Dirtbagging August 2022- March 2024

2025-12-15T23:30:00.021-07:00

4 months into the trip outside Phoenix, AZ

It wasn't a mid-life crisis. My identity was intact. My emotions and self-confidence were both stable when I decided to sell my house and move into my truck. But life on the road did change me. Here are some of the things I learned. I'll start with the positive things I discovered on the road, then finish with the reasons I left the road and settled down again. Starting at the beginning.

The last day in my classroom, May 2022

Life on the road was good for my health. As soon as I stopped teaching full time, I started recovering from it in a certain sense. A huge responsibility was lifted from my shoulders, and with no concern about the upcoming school year I felt younger and had a different vibe. More sure of myself, healthier and relaxed. I think the photos above show the difference. I also had some annoying digestion issues before I quit teaching. They started to fade as soon as the stress was gone.

Once I got used to life on the road I actually felt safer than I had at home. I don't know that I was actually safer, but that is how I felt. I think the feeling was based on a couple factors. Right out of the gates I started exploring. Backpacking in the San Juans, backpacking in the Winds, and bouldering alone in the backcountry.

That is objectively dangerous, and I had one close call where I missed the pads, but I never got hurt while on the road. Knowing how bad it would be if I did get hurt, and the lack of distractions when I was by myself, put me into a low key free solo mindset. It felt like I was aware of the dangers and could see how to avoid them. Feeling calm, centered and focused whenever I was alone and far from help, paradoxically lead to a feeling of security.

I wasn't a true local anywhere while on the road, but when I didn't have a home, everywhere I traveled felt like home. I also had less worries. When living in a house there was always something that might go wrong. Would the roof leak, would the furnace break, why isn't that part of the sprinkler system spraying right, why is that branch dying, will it fall on the house, what is the neighbor up to this time? My 2019 Toyota Tacoma felt reliable in comparison to my previous houses, and if anything wasn't looking good I'd just drive away. I could even avoid most unpleasant weather just by driving a few hours.

The weather on the road can be so good!

You know that amazing two weeks that usually hits in late September? When the leaves turn, the highs are in the 60s, and you're upset to be stuck at work. I wasn't stuck at work. That perfect weather started for me high in the Wind River Range in early September, continued at the Rock Shop into October, extended through November in Unaweep and southern Utah, and all the way into December and January in Arizona. Spring was a little more unpredictable, but I stayed in hotels when really bad weather came through. I imagine a future when barely anyone stays in Wyoming in the winter, or summers in southern Arizona. With just the occasional tank of gas I was able to avoid any temps below freezing or over 80 for my entire 18 month trip.

My health insurance was better on the road. I didn't really know how the system works until I tested it. When I was a full time teacher in Colorado my health insurance deductible was $5000 dollars. I had to pay that full amount when my daughter got appendicitis. When I hit the road I had to sign up for Obamacare. My premium was lower and my deductible was $600. My next year on the road my low income qualified me for Medicaid. I didn't have a deductible. There is a safety net if your income is low enough. I could have qualified for food stamps too, but I didn't apply. I never used my health insurance on the road. Ironically, the only time I got sick happened because I had to stand in line to apply for Medicaid. They were giving out free Covid tests at the same location. I came down with Covid two days later.

I saw more boulders in those 18 months than I'd seen in a decade living in a house.

A lack of boulders isn't the limiting factor for bouldering.

There are so many amazing untouched boulders.

The limiting factors are logistics, time, and skill. If you have the pads, the spotters, the time, and the ability you'll never run out of amazing boulders to try. But it's difficult to have all those things in the remote areas where the best boulders live.

Arizona had a lot of places I never knew about until I went nomadic.

Like Pima Canyon, it's a little bit of Hueco Tanks right in Phoenix.

I found a lot of great places with these little old school topos found in some local gyms and outdoor shops. Thanks for making them Marty!

I could keep posting photos of boulders all day. There are lifetimes of boulders to develop at multiple areas in the southwest.

In addition to boulders, amazing wildlife encounters were a regular occurrence on the road.

I doubt it's a real phenomenon, but it started to feel like the animals weren't scared of me anymore. At least sometimes they weren't. I'm not sure why.

I gained new political and economic perspectives. You can't see a thing clearly until you get some distance from it. There is no escape from our political and economic system, but you can get a little space from it and look at it a little more clearly when you have the time, the ability to travel, and no need to participate in making money for an extended period of time. I read books from many different points of view. I saw public lands that were cared for, and public lands that have been abused for decades. I saw places where people were happy and thriving, and places in north Texas without public lands where people didn't learn a thing from the Dust Bowl. I'm not going to organize or explain the ideas in this post, but just as we preserved wilderness so people could see the natural world as it could be, I think it's important to preserve the ability for people to take extended time-outs in order to see life as it could be. And we need to keep our public lands to spend our time in. Places like Oak Flat and Bears Ears are definitely worth fighting for.

I learned about relationships. Friendships can be fragile things. It's usually easy to reconnect when you're in town, but people don't get in touch that often when you're gone. As easy as it is to make friends through climbing, sometimes you realize that climbing was the only reason you were ever friends in the first place. The friends who kept in touch while I was traveling and the friends who didn't taught me about the relative strength of the relationships. I was able to date on the road, but not to build anything lasting. I don't like dating long distance. I don't like hurting anyone. And I always felt hurt as well when it was time to move on. I could see that the situation would repeat every time I uprooted myself. The stronger the attachment, the worse it would be. I didn't like that, and that simple realization was a major factor in deciding to settle down again.

I learned the cost of life on the road.

The other major factor was economic. Life on the road feels worth it to me if it can keep you from needing a job. But it doesn't feel like it would work well while having a regular job. Life on the road was inexpensive compared to living in a house, but food, gas, car insurance, the occasional hotel or climbing gym membership was costing me about $50 a day when I averaged it all out. My guidebook income wasn't $50 a day and my savings weren't going to get me all the way to my pensions. I needed more income. So I applied to be a Climber Steward for the Access Fund at Indian Creek twice. Was interviewed both times, but never got the job. I applied for a writing grant, but didn't get it. I thought about, and started working on various guidebook and publishing ideas, but economic realities and my passions weren't aligned. So it was time to find an exit from the highway. I'll explain how that happened in my next post. But let's conclude this one.

I'm very happy that I lived on the road while I did! The rest of my life will be better because I chose to live on the road for an extended trip. I'll continue to explore the places I found during my trip, and have the lessons I learned on the trip guiding my life.

There really is so much to explore

even at a single major climbing area such as Cochise Stronghold.

Entire worlds can be found in the big mountain ranges and deserts of the west.

You can keep exploring until you reach the end.

If you can only find a way...

The Trouble with KAYA

2025-08-13T02:04:00.014-06:00

John Oungst, KAYA's Director of Partnerships for corporation Project 9a, didn't catch me at the best time. Back in February of 2023 I was living out of my truck near Tucson, Arizona. I was writing guidebooks on the road, having just finished my Rock Shop Wyoming bouldering guide four months before.

I was working hard on my biggest book to date, Unaweep Bouldering Vol. 2.

This was my life at the time because the Unaweep Vol.1 had done well enough to raise my expectations. It was, and still is, my most successful guidebook. It had a great opening run on Amazon, was stocked in the local Grand Junction gym and climbing stores including REI. It did well enough to give me hope that maybe I could write enough books to survive on a combination of guidebook writing and my savings, living on the road until my teaching pensions kicked in. Enough hope to try and find out.

John reaching out seemed like another opportunity to continue to do what I loved, and make some money while living the dream. Our Zoom meeting made it all sound great! I could continue to sell my print guidebooks, put my data up on KAYA for an up front payment, and continue to get a percentage of user fees in exchange for moderating user submissions each month. A little money would go to the Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition, and everyone would be happy.

But then I received the CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT. Their lawyers had made it absolutely sure that Project 9a a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Boulder, CO held all the cards. If any portion of the data I provided to Project 9a wasn't acceptable to them, they could terminate the agreement without paying me anything and keep the Reference Data including route names, gps coordinates, grade, and any other factual information describing the routes. The agreement also asked me to waive my right to class action and right to trial by jury, and to state that I shall not take any action that would obligate or bind Project 9a in any manner, and on top of that a Confidentiality agreement which would forbid me from divulging the terms of my agreement with anyone.

I brought up my first concern with John. He said of course they wouldn't steal my work. Basically asking me to trust his word, while everything in the legal paperwork still gave them the legal right to do whatever they wanted. I never signed the agreement, so I am allowed to share the terms I was offered. This is what they proposed.

I was told that user data was analyzed to see how much time users spent accessing an area and their subscription fees would be divided accordingly. KAYA would keep 60% of the revenue and I could choose the from the following revenue options:

Option 1: 40% revenue share, no cash upfront, for providing complete data on 2250 problems and moderating content monthly.

Option 2: 30% revenue share, $500 cash upfront for providing data on 2250 problems and moderating content monthly.

... continuing in this pattern until Option 5 which offered $2250 cash and 0% revenue share.

I was being asked to provide the name, grade, GPS coordinates, approach paths, available history, written descriptions, maps, and photographs with lines and subarea descriptions for 2250 problems for either a bet on what 40% of the future success of the KAYA Unaweep guide would be, or a $1 per problem payment with no future payments. Just for context, some of the problems at Unaweep are isolated and a 40 minute hike, one way. Sometimes a single problem took me multiple trips to find and photograph. A drive from Grand Junction to Unaweep cost me $10.00 in gas every trip. I generally needed to work 8 hours to get photos of 25 problems taken in the morning and draw lines and write descriptions for those problems during the afternoon. I calculated that KAYA was offering me less than $2 an hour for my work, buying the right to keep most of it if I ever decided I didn't want to work with them anymore.

So I said I wasn't interested in as friendly a way as I could, not wanting to burn any bridges. John wrote back saying that "The inclusion of Unaweep and all other guides that are in flight right now will contribute to KAYA maintaining the best and highest fidelity data set for outdoor bouldering areas (and eventually sport climbing).... To be transparent with you, Unaweep is part of our Colorado expansion plan and we will likely push forward and seek other climbers/contractors to help collect the data for Unaweep... As mentioned at the start, we always seek to work with a guidebook author first, but if a guidebook author is not interested, we move on to other avenues and individuals to work with to collect the data," Basically showing that they will reach out to the guidebook author, but if the author doesn't like their terms KAYA will pay someone else to copy the guidebook onto their platform. Because the only way the data can be available at a $1.00 per problem is to have someone take it from an already written guidebook.

They aren't offering the guidebook author what it actually costs to collect the data in the first place. They only offer the guidebook author the amount it would cost them to pay someone else to copy/rewrite the guidebook onto their platform. Being the original guidebook author requires reaching out to first ascentionists, days of hiking, mapping and photographing all the lines, figuring out the best access, setting up meetings with land managers, and figuring out where to draw the problem lines based on written descriptions, personal climbing attempts, or Youtube videos. Selling the books doesn't pay enough to actually make it worth it for the money alone, but by the time my Bouldering in the Wind River Range went out of print I'd collected about $8.00 per boulder problem documented. Guidebook authors write books for a variety of reasons, profit isn't the largest reason. Any job that pays minimum wage is almost guaranteed to provide more profit per hour than guidebook writing will. But writing print guidebooks by yourself pays at least eight times better than doing it for KAYA, and that's even when you refuse to have ads in your guidebooks, like I do.

Skip forward to a couple weeks ago. Matthew De Santis contacted me to tell me he had recently partnered with KAYA and Zach Alexander to produce a digital guide for the Rock Shop.

(Matt is a climber who I freely shared my unfinished Rock Shop guidebook with in 2020. Zach is a climber I shared my unfinished guide with so that he could write a new print guide, but he left Lander without completing the project.)

Matthew said the last thing he wanted was for me to feel ripped off for my hard work. I got on my phone and a quick search brought me to the KAYA Rock Shop guidebook. My daughter Sierra signed up for a trial subscription, so I could check it out the full version without sending KAYA money. I found user submitted videos that stand start my favorite F.A. "Nexus" presented as legitimate ascents. I found mapped lines, with descriptions, but lacking photos. And I found a few things I liked about the guide. It was nice of them to copy all the F.A. information from my book so the climbers that found, cleaned or at least established the lines get the credit they deserve. They have a few new problems. They also mentioned my efforts and my physical book in the area introduction. Honestly, their incomplete digital guide will probably help me sell more physical books. But I still feel ripped off. John Oungst said that KAYA always reaches out to the guidebook author first, but they didn't reach out to me this time. They say a percentage of the profits go to the Central Wyoming Climbers Alliance, but they never contacted the Alliance to see if they approve of making the Rock Shop available on KAYA. I confirmed this with CWCA leadership.

The Rock Shop is an area I helped to develop. I kept track of what got done up there as it happened. I waited 5 years to finish my guidebook due to the concerns of a local climber, and then camped there for two months in the Fall of 2022 to finish the guide. I finished the guide because Zach Alexander had moved away, and no one thought he would be back to finish his guide. If Chris Marley or Justin Iskra or Steve Bechtel wanted to write the next guidebook I would have happily handed the project to them, but they didn't seem interested. I wanted the lines and history to be remembered, I wanted to share the place with motivated boulderers, and I hoped to make a little money for a project that made sense for me to finish.

Matthew De Santis doesn't want me to feel ripped off, Zach Alexander hasn't explained himself despite my reaching out twice. But this experience has not left me feeling respected or appreciated. I feel ripped off because my work was stolen. No one contacted me until the KAYA guidebook to the Rock Shop was already available, despite most of the information on the app coming from my efforts. Getting my information through Zach is still taking my information. And it's obvious to me that my new published guide was used in its creation.

So where do we go from here? I imagine problematic scenarios and questions arise. Whose responsibility is it to address area sanitation and access issues when information and promotion of an area is available from multiple sources? Can Matt really get the area info taken down if problems arise, or did he sign the agreement banning him from binding Project 9a in any manner? Is he legally unable to disclose anything about what his agreement says?

KAYA hopes to one day be "The guidebook for North American bouldering and sport climbing" I understand the motivation to be a part of it. Everyone likes quick, easy access to climbing information, but this venture capital-funded branch of Project 9a is unsustainable. It only exists by profiting unfairly off of the work of others, and just because that can be done legally that doesn't make it right. They aren't behaving well. They sometimes don't seek permission from authors, and they don't accept "no" as an answer when they do. They've got lawyers, and money (7.98 million in venture capital according to PitchBook), and they feel entitled to use any method necessary to grow their business.

I can't see a good end to this. John Oungst, Austin Lee, Marc Bourguignon and Dave Gurman have created a parasitic business model. It reduces the incentive to write new guidebooks, and it won't make the money venture capitalists hope for unless it can create a type of monopoly of climbing information. If it does that, subscription rates will rise and the sport will be reliant on an unethical corporation. If it can't do that, it will probably get sold to a sketchier business eventually, and your data will too. The KAYA guides could easily disappear like the old online Dr.Topo and BoulderTopo.com guides did. But I still have those guides, because I printed them. That's not an option for KAYA guides. Subscription services can just disappear at any point. Where will the routes and history be found then?

There are troubles with KAYA. They haven't behaved ethically or reasonably, and I don't think it's in the best interest of climbing or climbers to support them. Think about what they do, and then think a little harder about how they do it, and what ends it will lead to. Then avoid using KAYA.

I'm interested in reading your KAYA stories in the comments, and to talk more on this topic if you're interested, be it private conversation or for a podcast. Please get in touch.

Sad Fact: KAYA and Pocket Outdoor Media (which rebranded to Outside Inc. in 2021) both got a lot of their funding from Zone 5 Ventures. Zone 5 Ventures helped Pocket Outdoor Media acquire Rock and Ice and Climbing magazines so they could be discontinued in print and turned into the current digital only (ad filled clickbait site) Climbing.com, and the same entity provided seed funding for KAYA.

Sad Fact: Outside Inc. also bought GAIA.gps. Post-acquisition, subscription fees increased, and the app created default social profiles leading to a privacy backlash. New technical problems appeared too.

Useful Vocabulary: "Enshittification" is the gradual decline in the quality of a product or service, particularly online platforms, as they shift from prioritizing user experience to maximizing profits. Online platforms have a strong tendency to get worse over time.

A Tale of Two Expeditions, and my packing list.

2025-07-08T21:59:00.003-06:00

It's hard to convey what makes these adventures worth the time and effort. To visit these places requires a Wind River Reservation fishing permit, a long windy drive up a potholed road, and a full day's effort with or without pack horses to get in, and another full day of hiking to get out. Jesse made the trip from Seattle. I drove up from Grand Junction, and we both did it twice. We did it because it is worth it. The exploratory aspect, the romance of heading into the mountains for days to see what you will find, the slightly hallucinatory effect that this much wilderness, nature, scale and solitude can have on you. The fun bouldering feels like an incredible bonus. If you're interested in seeing my packing list for an expedition like this, I put it at the end of this post.

Cathedral Lake, Wyoming 2021

The trip was Jesse Brown's idea. He wanted to do a horse packing bouldering trip into the Winds. It wasn't a completely original idea. Todd Skinner and crew bouldered around Mt. Hooker from a horse pack supported camp when they weren't busy climbing the big wall, and I'd paid a deposit for horse packing back in 2010 for a trip to the Cirque of the Boulders before the other developers backed out. But this was the first horse packing trip with bouldering as its main pursuit, that actually happened, that I was aware of.

Jesse Brown psyched to hike in without a big pack!

Cathedral Lake was just below some incredible looking boulder fields on Google Earth, horse packers go there regularly, and it has established camping areas with a bear box. The more the merrier with alpine bouldering, and having more people helps distribute the cost of the horses and wranglers.

Regular Organic Pads fit on the horses well.

Jesse and I invited friends. Josephine made the trip to see the Winds. Andy made the trip to climb, but also to get photos. Nick wanted first ascents. I was excited to see new boulders and hopefully put up something cool.

Collin came in excited for all of it.

We hiked in, it started to rain. We searched for blocks in the rain. Boulders were plentiful, but not the quality we hoped for. It was cold too. We hung out by the fire when it wasn't actively raining, and sat in our tents when it was.

The next day started wet, but things dried out in the afternoon. Nick went exploring early and found blocks to develop by himself at the base of Cathedral. The rest of the crew got started on a nice set of blocks in a saddle just north of Cathedral that we called the "Badger Boulders." We actually saw a badger in them when we arrived. We put up 7 problems, and I made this topo for them.

This was my favorite.

Then we hiked up valley, finding even better boulders and views!

We couldn't stop exploring, but I did take time to put up one line in this valley. A V2 called "The Outlier."

Josephine was feeling wiped out by the hiking and altitude. So she waited for us down valley while we explored. We found her asleep on a rock when we returned. I guess she wasn't that scared of the bears.

The next day was rainy. So Nick, Andy, and Collin hiked out early. They'd planned on 3 days of bouldering, but because of the weather only got one good afternoon.

The next day was dry and Jesse, Josephine and I went back to the coolest block we saw up valley. I put up this line, the highlight of my trip, and Jesse put up an exciting V3 up the left arete called "The Mountains are Calling"

The horses allowed us to pack in incredible food, which was nice, but expensive. We paid $500-600 per person after tip. Is it worth it? It depends on how much you need to suffer to get $600 I guess. My big pad wouldn't fit on the horses, so I still needed to carry a lot of weight myself.

Jesse went out for a hike on his own at the end of our Cathedral Lake trip. That's when he discovered an amazing zone that became the focus of our next summer trip.

The Hemingways 2022

Another horse pack supported trip organized by Jesse. This time to a valley south of Cathedral Lake. He invited his friend Greg, who brought his family for a bit of fishing and bouldering.

I decided to carry all my own gear and food in myself. I wanted to see what I could do, and avoid the high cost of horses. My pack was heavy, but when I saw the valley and the boulders, the burden was worth it.

One key to making the expedition work, was my ultralight tent. I set up the tent, and then Jesse and I hiked our pads into the boulder field.

We hung the pads for the night. No one else was in the entire valley, and they were safe from critters.

The next morning we hiked in, just carrying our day packs.

At first we were disappointed by the unexpectedly high amount of snow. Many of the featured overhangs Jesse photographed on his hike the year before were buried. We made the best of our situation, climbing some lines that might only be possible over snow landings.

The next day was a rest day. I bathed in water warmed by the sun running over rock slabs. Amazing!

The next climbing day I put up my favorite line of the trip. It starts where it does because it's where I could reach the horizontal crack. Traversing right, just to then traverse back left seemed silly, so I didn't.

Jesse put up a classic!

And I added one more interesting line.

Greg was surprised how good the boulders were. He ditched his fishing to spend an afternoon developing this nice block with his daughter. They did four good lines up this block V2-V4.

Jesse climbing "Dirty Sally" V2

I was surprised at how well my expedition bouldering system worked for a five day trip. I've used it many times since. Everything I needed, nothing I didn't.

In a plastic bear canister I put five days of food. For me that's ten packets of instant oatmeal for breakfast, ten Starbucks Via instant coffee packets. One package of hard cheese, one bag of crackers, 16 oz of beef jerky, peanut M&Ms, 8 cliff bars, and 5 freeze dried back packing dinners.

Two Nalgene water bottles, iodine tablets for water treatment.

Day pack with climbing shoes, chalk, athletic tape, brushes

Puffy coat, hoody, one pair of pants, one pair of shorts, 2 t-shirts, 4 pairs of socks and underwear. Camp Suds to do laundry and for bathing in a stream, toothbrush and paste, wag bags

Headlamp, Compass, Map, Rain Coat, Pocket Knife, Pen, Small Journal, Phone, Extra Battery and charging cord, Insect Repellent, head net, hat, sunscreen, backpacking stove, and one fuel canister, lighter, emergency matches.

Hiking Poles (required for the tent)

Gossamer Gear Tent called The One.

Inflatable sleeping pad

Ultralight plastic ground cloth

Down Sleeping Bag

Approach shoes

A couple cams and slings for hanging your pad.

Stuff everything into an Organic Backfourty Big Pad, and start hiking.

That's all you need for a five day bouldering expedition into the Winds.

Thanks go out to Jesse and everyone who came along for making these trips happen!

Rocklands, South Africa 2021

2025-06-28T01:54:00.003-06:00

I haven't been keeping up on this blog. Have any climbers kept up with their blogs? People are primarily still on Instagram, despite it being an inferior platform with inferior content. Quantity over quality, delivered with no effort at all, just spilling out at us, like soft serve ice cream. Anyway, I'll be blogging regularly again (in addition to posting on Instagram) and there's a lot to catch up on! Starting with my trip to Rocklands, South Africa in 2021.

At this point I'd been divorced for a year. My non-romantic adventure buddy, Josephine, had invited me on a trip to the Seychelles. There were some big rocks to explore on the Seychelles, but it was a long way to fly for granite that could be amazing, but might not be. I decided to make sure I'd get some amazing bouldering by adding a stop in Rocklands to my travel plans. Then Covid restrictions made the trip to Seychelles from South Africa impossible. So my Rocklands trip was extended to three weeks.

I'd wanted to visit Rocklands ever since Chuck Fryberger's film Specimen came out in 2006. I had summers off, but I also had a wife, two daughters, two dogs and a job caretaking for a Quaker meetinghouse on the weekends. So I couldn't figure out how to make it happen. Fast forward to the summer of 2021. I could easily leave for three weeks, by myself, for just the price of one plane ticket. I hadn't wanted or expected to be single, but I was, so I decided to make the best of it.

I wasn't worried about Covid, because I was fully vaccinated. The idea of flying half way around the planet did bother me. I know that climate change is real, and I don't want to contribute to it. But as I flew over New York City at night, with it's miles and miles of millions of lights, and with cars streaming along arterial highways like red blood cells, it hit me hard that I couldn't do anything to stop climate change. Even if the plane I was on crashed so everyone on it stopped contributing to climate change, that wouldn't slow down climate change by any measurable amount. Seven billion people would just keep emitting carbon. New technology or cataclysmic events are the only things that could help the planet stay stable at this point. My flight to South Africa no longer felt significant as I saw the scale of human endeavor spread out before me. The mountains make us feel insignificant in comparison to the nature world, but cities can show us even more clearly how small we really are.

Then I arrived at the Newark Airport and had to spend the next 48 hours there. One missed flight due to an earlier flight delay to Denver. And then a cancelled flight from Newark because the airport kept us on the runway too long so the pilots timed out. The lines were so long, sometimes there was no one at the service desk. I found out that United Airlines gives rich people a special hotline so they don't need to deal with this bullshit. It made me upset about the world.

The line at 2 AM after a cancelled flight in the Newark airport.

I had to spend a full night trying to sleep in an airport intentionally designed to keep anyone from lying down.

I was so worked. I recommend avoiding the Newark Airport.

After 3 days of travel I landed in Cape Town and the world was bright again. I rented a car, got to my place in a de Pakhuys guest house, and accidentally slept in until the late afternoon.

I expected a wild Rocklands landscape like the opening shot of this post. What I woke up to was a bouldering resort.

I set my cheap rental pad under the first good boulder I saw. It's called Poison Dwarf. You can rent cheap pads, or if you get to know people you can grab pads from your country's storage area. Ask around.

The sun set quickly, but luckily other climbers brought lights.

The quartzite at Rocklands is so climbable! This one medium sized block has eleven steep problems on it. And the stone is so solid. Everything I tried was high quality fun!

I went back to my guest house and posted to Instagram.

A few minutes later I got a message from Graham "You here?!?!? Lezzzz rage!"

I couldn't believe my luck. Not only was Graham at Rocklands, he had a full crew from Bishop along with him. I went from traveling alone to being part of the crew! Their psych and beta helped me climb some really fun lines! And I supported the crew whenever I could. Graham, Annie, Clarky, Ilah, Ian, and Lisa, the entire crew was great, and I was so psyched to get to know everyone.

Lisa climbing a line out an arch called "Sex Etiquette" 6C

A shot of me climbing the same line.

We had rainy rest days when I didn't get photos. The flowers and waterfalls were beautiful when the sun came back out.

We all hung out a lot! At South African barbecues called "braais" and in the sauna Nalle and Scott Noy built by the river. Graham attempted to get good shots for my dating profile when I wore my shoes designed by Jason Mamoa.

We visited a lot of different zones and I got some photos I like. Here's Ilah climbing "The Roof is On Fire"

Sometimes bouldering is like site seeing, Ulan Bator 7b+ is one of the most beautiful lines ever!

Another highlight of the trip was climbing with Nalle. Nalle put up the hardest boulder problem in the world, the world's first V17, in 2016. He's a legend, and he was developing entire sectors at Rocklands during the 2021 season.

Nalle sending an interesting 7c.

I watched him put up this line. He rapped and cleaned this line in ten minutes and climbed it in the next ten. It's probably 7c+, but I'm not sure what he named it.

I wanted to learn from Nalle. So I paid attention, and here are a few climbing related lessons I picked up.

- Think through boulder problems before getting on them to experiment. Don't waste any energy.

- Heel hooks can be dynamic. In some situations they can slide, in others they can be repositioned from a higher hand position.

- Support others early in the session and get to your thing at the end of the day. Be patient.

While Nalle developed 7c+ and harder, I was happy with 7a+.

My favorite project was at the Fields of Joy.

It was 7b, and I managed to get it done on my last session of the trip.

I'm not going to explain everything I saw or did, because this is a climbing blog. But seeing the baboons was incredible. They climb so well and bark at you from the cliffs. A part of nature telling you to go away. I didn't listen.

The birds and deer, and new flowers you see there are all so interesting. The people are kind, and seemed happy to me. I recommend checking out the rock art areas, and giving yourself some time to see more of South Africa. Neel's Cottage was also a great place to stay, with friendly owners at a lower price than de Pakhuis.

That's all the advice I have for this post. Make the trip happen!

Time in the Desert

2024-08-08T17:56:00.000-06:00

It’s obvious that time, wind, and water cut through the landscape at different speeds. You can see it in the rocks. As a society, we’ve decided in advance that time is constant. That it ticks away at a constant rate just like a clock. But clocks are the only thing that change at a constant rate, they were artificially contrived to do so after centuries of tinkering, and even the most perfect clocks are subject to the effects of relativity. Time is a useful idea for science and capitalism, but not nearly as useful in the desert. Things change. Often in a predictable direction, but never at a constant rate out here. The canyon bottom will barely change for two years, then the rains suddenly wash in, all the sand and rocks get moved around, and for years there will be a new log stuck in place across the canyon gap thirty feet above the stream bed. Things don’t change at constant rate for people either. Children grow at different rates, a new wrinkle shows up as a surprise.

But change never completely stops for us, and we can imagine that if there was a place where the wind never stopped people would find it useful to think of the wind as a constant. They would design a sensitive windmill and count exactly how many revolutions it would take to push a sailboat a certain distance. Their experiments with a sensitive and standardized windmill would be repeatable and useful, but would say nothing about the underlying assumption the society had made about the wind. Only a traveller who visited a new place, a place where the wind was so weak as to be imperceptible could realize that their society’s assumption was just a useful illusion. That traveller would see that the wind isn’t constant. And as a desert traveller you can see that time is like the wind. Time blows us around like chaff, while the stone stands still.

Yes, the stone stands still from our perspective. But if we could be the wind itself, moving the sand from place to place, scouring the stones with our energy, seeing them shrink, collapse and turn into sand dunes over the eons, we would know that the rocks are ever changing. The wind is time to the stone. Time without the wind affects it not at all, and the wind has all the time in the world. Ann Zwinger said it best “The rock changes, the channel changes, the wind just carries air from one place to another, more constant than the rock. The rock is ephemeral, the wind, eternal.” We are so ridiculously ephemeral in comparison to this landscape. Ephemeral enough to see the boulders stand still, put up climbs on them, and watch another generation climb on them too.

Bouldering in the Wind River Range PDF is now available!

2023-09-26T17:38:00.003-06:00

It's been bothering me that my guidebook to Sinks Canyon, Devil's Kitchen and Sweetwater is out of print. So I found a way to make a pdf available on Patreon for just $5.00 Have a great time out there!

My Patreon Shop

Life on the Road (Late Summer 2022)

2023-02-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

I miss bouldering blogs. And I think you should be the change you want to see in the world. So I've decided to start blogging again.

We had the plan for years. To sell the house in Fruita, and give nomadic life a shot once the girls were finished with high school. To find out first-hand if Ashley and I really could dramatically cut our costs, and spend years on the road, by selling our house and not buying a new one for a while. But I never could have envisioned how the plan would end up happening. That our marriage would fall apart before the plan could take effect, the two years stuck holding together broken pieces of what we'd built while working through the divorce, or that I would still end up following our original plan by traveling alone. I'll explain more in upcoming posts. But for now just know that I've been living with a truck, without a house, since mid-August, and that I'm enjoying it. There's a lot to write about, let's start with my first couple months on the road.

The first day felt really strange after leaving the house closing. Normally I'd just drive home after getting my errands done for the day, but I had no home to go to. It was hot in Grand Junction. Way too hot to hang out in my truck or sleep anywhere close to town. But I couldn't leave for Wyoming, or the mountains, quite yet. My adventure buddy Josephine was flying in the next day for a backpacking trip into the San Juans. We had planned it together before I knew when my house would close. "Who is Josephine?!" and "How did David become her adventure buddy?!" It's quite a story, too long for this post.

I needed elevation. So I decided to drive up into the Book Cliffs north of town. The air was cooler up there. But when I opened my food bin, everything in it was absolutely covered in melted chocolate. The first of many lessons I've learned living on the road. You can't keep chocolate bars in a food bin in summer. So pack Peanut M&M's instead.

Dramatic lightning surrounded me in the truck that first night in the Book Cliffs. But the storms all went around me. I took it all in. A beautiful moment, a good omen, an exciting start to the adventure.

The San Juans were absolutely gorgeous! Some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. And it felt triple good to be up there. For one, I was backpacking with friends in one of the prettiest places on Earth. Two, I was starting a very large new adventure of undetermined duration. And three, I wasn't stuck in a classroom stressed out about the upcoming school year. These three conditions stacked up into a huge pile of gratitude deeply felt. It rained some, but we were never caught in it without shelter. Good times, a great trip!

Next up was a week of dogsitting, and working on the second Unaweep guidebook.

I like dogsitting. So if you want a dogsitter, and I'm in your area, get in touch! I get along well with most dogs, follow instructions, and like having access to a table and running water occasionally.

The next month and a half I was back up in Wyoming, and my time up there surpassed expectations in both how at home I could feel without a home, and how productive I could be. I was immediately climbing with friends at the Rock Shop, both old and new, and saw so many familiar faces in Lander. And working on the Rock Shop Bouldering Guide both up at the Rock Shop and in the Lincoln Street Bakery was ridiculously efficient! All the boulders were easily found at the Rock Shop, and all the boulderers were easily found at the bakery.

I made a couple trips deep into the Winds to get cooler conditions and do some exploration.

My first trip was up to Dinwoody Lakes. There's a lot less bouldering potential than I expected up there, but with so much high-quality stone I was bound to find something. A highlight was the first ascent of "Set and Setting" V5, a tricky problem on perfect stone in one of the most beautiful spots I've ever explored.

Autumn joined me for a few glorious days in October. The leaves were changing, the days were cool, problems were sent, and we had a great time together! A few days like these are worth a lot.

I finished my Rock Shop book, and the weather was changing.

I revisited Sweetwater. Amazing as ever, and it hit me especially hard because when I moved to Colorado six years ago I wasn't sure if I'd ever see the place again. It felt so good to be back there.

Then the nights got too cold, snow was in the forecast, and so it was time to follow the Fall south to Colorado and Utah... Thanks for revisiting the Lloyd Climbing Blog! See you again soon.

David Lloyd's Championship Boulder Caddy Service

2020-04-21T13:54:00.000-06:00

I've explored a lot of places, and gained a lot of experience in my 24 years of bouldering.

I've accumulated a quiver of Organic pads, and I'm willing to carry them for you.

Been bouldering with my own kids for seventeen years.

And supporting others on their bouldering projects for decades.

I've given tours to professional climbers,

celebrities,

friends,

and families.

I've got a good truck that comfortably sits three passengers.

I can pick you up at the airport and drive you to any bouldering area in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah or New Mexico.

So if you're interested in alpine bouldering,

expedition bouldering,

first ascents in sandstone canyons,

or practicing your crack climbing skills close to the ground, just get in touch, tell me what you're interested in, and I'll get back to you with my available dates and prices. Send an email to davlloyd3@yahoo.com. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

A Swell Photo Post

2020-01-06T19:52:00.001-07:00

I've been spending a lot of days in the San Rafael Swell.

The area has views,

hikes,

rock art,

and relics.

It has bridges,

burros,

walls,

and weirdness.

It has canyons,

and caves.

And it has boulders

with projects,

and problems.

But I'm most excited about the lines in the canyons.

Like "There Are Five Huecos."

"Landmark Cracks"

and "Darkness."

There are walls that top out.

And stream washed free standing blocks.

So I'm looking forward to spring.

And Swell days to come.

Old School Bouldering Topos Explained

2019-12-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I've got a lot to catch up on, and some explaining to do. Here's the first of a few posts that will catch this blog up to 2020.

Last summer, I decided to start mapping some undocumented areas in Wyoming. I started with City Walls, and quickly realized that I wasn't quite sure exactly where a few of the problems were on the map. Luckily, I was planning to visit Wyoming soon. I took my map with me, found the problems again, and made sure that my topos were right.

Revisiting City Walls reminded me of just how much I enjoyed climbing in these areas, and how worthy they were of documentation.

I started by mapping all the places where I spent my time bouldering in Wyoming.

Areas such as Deer Park.

I used a combo of traditional topos, and some drawings that resemble guidebook photos when I felt they were necessary. I mapped problems at the Tombstone Area, Roaring Fork, The White Stripes, City Walls, North Country, the Ocean Boulder, and Weapons of Mass Destruction sectors at Sweetwater Rocks, Oz North, and The Beach.

Once the Wyoming areas were finished, I mapped a few undocumented places that I've been climbing at since moving to the west slope of Colorado, like Sphinx Canyon, two seldom visited areas across the Colorado River near Moab, and a couple good blocks near Green River, UT.

Autumn climbing "Entrance Exam" V1 at Sphinx Canyon.

I wanted other people to be able to see these places, and enjoy these problems. But I also wanted to preserve the areas and the experience of solitude I was able to find at them. Simply publishing topos with just one photo of a classic problem from each area on the back of each map seemed like a good way to accomplish both. It would create a usable guide that would still require enough effort to keep the unadventurous away. The single photo would act as a guidepost to find every other problem on the map. I chose a photo for each map and made a key to identify them.

Then I wrote an instruction sheet/justification/disclaimer.

The last thing I did for the project was create a cover.

I didn't include written out directions, but I did include enough geographic information to find each area with a google search. If you're interested in visiting these places and problems you can get the topos collected into a book right here Old School Bouldering Topos for just seven dollars.

I've been drawing more topos since I put the book together. It's one of the reasons that I've fallen behind on my blogging. Here's one that I made of Big Bend. It amazes me how much information can be conveyed through a single topo, especially at a concentrated sector such as Big Bend.

Now that you know what the Old School Topos document, and how, you can make a better decision of whether you'd like to buy a copy or not. If you do, I hope that you will use them! These areas are some of my favorites! Feel free to get in touch if you can't figure something out.

A New Year is just around the corner! Let's do all that we can to make it a good one.

Exploration Notes

2019-04-21T20:47:00.000-06:00

The way I see it, climbing is all exploration. Exploring what we can do and where we can go. Every place I visit helps me know the world a bit better, and I've been visiting a lot of places over the winter.

Today was supposed to be a climbing day. But the rain came in this morning so we couldn't climb at Unaweep, and then it rained enough that even hiking to the new zones I'm exploring would be too muddy and unpleasant. So I used this afternoon to update my blog instead. It's been a while and I've been busy. Last year I thought that I'd be focused on the projects in the zones I'd already found by now. But new discoveries and bad weather kept me exploring for another winter. Here are my notes.

Over Christmas break, we spent a couple days in Joshua Tree. The area is unique, scenic, aesthetically amazing with some classic lines. Definitely worth a visit! But don't expect amazing bouldering. The granite is just too weathered and the patina too rare in the majority of the park. It's an old school bouldering zone with occasional stand out lines, but very low problem concentration and few featured overhangs. The Underground Sector looks cool in the guide, but the hike up to it looks stout and we weren't able to get up there on this trip. I do recommend the following problems at Joshua Tree.

Climbing "The Chube" V2

Ashley climbing "Gunsmoke" V3

"Sloper Safari" V4

While visiting Palm Springs I saw some amazing blocks that no one is allowed to climb on.

Though these are off limits they make me suspect that there could be other amazing blocks on public lands in the Palm Springs area. Some of the best granite/gneiss I've seen and much better than anything I came across in J-Tree.

On the way to California, we checked out Moe's Valley and we made a second trip more recently. The climbing at Moe's Valley impressed us all. For years we just kept driving past St. George because the photos of Red Rocks bouldering looked better to me, but Moe's Valley bouldering is incredibly fun!

Autumn climbing "Sentinel" V2

Sending "Pink Lady" V6

Autumn climbing "Habitat For Humanity" V6

Squeezing through "Jabberwocky" V4

As fun as it is, we found it to be very busy on weekends and dirtbike and dune buggy traffic significantly detract from the ambiance of the area.

After Christmas Break snow hit Moab, but not much hit Gateway. I found a south facing boulder field on Google Earth and Allan came out to explore it with me.

Allan on the Raiders Boulder the diagonal rail is a fun V3 from a SDS.

Then Ashley came out on a day that wasn't as sunny as predicted and got the F.A. of "Downward Dog" V4.

Autumn lucked out with perfect weather on her days out there.

Here she's climbing "Counterpoint" V4.

One of my favorite first ascents of the winter was "Final Fanfare" V6

I'm still working on the "Piano Project"

Then snow hit Gateway but Green River was snow free. I found some blocks near Swasey's Rapids.

The F.A. of "Wrecks of Human Ambition" V2

The F.A. of "Teguayo" V4

A good V3 goes up the slab to the right called "The Rim of Mormondom" and "Old Spanish Trails" is a V2 that was done after I broke off a fragile flake in the corner to the left.

Autumn put up a steep V3 called "Puffy" just up the hill.

And back in the canyon to the south we put up some very sheltered problems like "Where the Crimps Have No Names" V3.

The rock is generally good at Green River, but we are doing first ascents on untested features. A crimp pinch I was yarding on snapped and cut me above my eyebrow. Too bad, it would have been a fun V7.

Autumn got the first ascent of the proudest line there so far. "Finger Wrecker" V6.

And I got another aesthetic line "Splendid Isolation" V5.

A shelf of nicely sized boulders is seen across the river to the west.

I checked them out. They aren't solid, and aren't worth the effort.

Fun times in a zone where it almost never rains!

After finding good blocks north of Green River I started checking out other blocks north of I-70 and closer to home. I didn't find enough amazing boulders to switch my destination, but I found a lot of ancient rock art.

Fremont Style with faded Barrier Canyon Style above.

Barrier Canyon style.

This looks like a game of fetch!

And some recent rock scratching. Would Dean have approved of this memorial under the Crack House?

A view near Gemini Bridges near the Crack House.

Eventually, the snow melted and I was able to get back to Moab. Jamie came out and we explored deeper into a canyon I'd only partially explored.

I was happy to see that the good blocks continue up the canyon.

At the end of the day we tried one of my favorite projects.

Then Autumn and I spent a day on it.

But it's still a project and I'm pretty sure that it will remain one until the Fall.

Spring break arrived and we rented an Airstream Basecamp to see what it's like to use a camper. It was nice and we slept better, but I don't see one in our future.

We started our trip at Gypsum Gap. It's a beautiful, vast, quiet area with rock similar to Unaweep. A great place to go to get away from it all!

Here's Autumn on the first ascent of "Flux" V4.

And I put up a tricky problem that I'm quite happy with.

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From Gypsum Gap we continued traveling to Indian Creek. The area is vast and scenic and it has some good problems.

Climbing a classic unknown V4 crack line.

We even put up a few nice lines.

And I really liked "Dying Light"

Autumn attempting the start of "Shackelton" a V10 HB.

But many parts of Indian Creek seemed too busy over Spring break. Based on videos I also expected to find the best Wingate bouldering anywhere, but I didn't. It's good, but the stone isn't as good as the Wingate near Moab or Gateway.

One rainy weekend we escaped the rain in the San Rafael Swell.

It was such a cool place to explore!

Some of the most amazing views,

and interesting formations!

But the good Wingate boulders are few and far between in the Swell.

More recently I spent a morning exploring Escalante Canyon for bouldering and was underwhelmed. Then I spent the afternoon looking at more promising boulderfields west of Delta.

Unfortunately the best bouldering sector I found was also used as a place to dump cars,

and extra car tires. A clear reminder that some people suck, and it left me disappointed.

But I also came across a memorial to a guy named Greg amongst the blocks, and he was born in the same year as me. Which reminded me that I'm still happy to be alive.

Quite recently I hiked to a spot I'm calling First valley.

It has some nice walls and some featured overhangs.

And then I found an even better valley.

It's a big hike to get into it.

But it's a spectacular place which might be worth the effort occasionally. I'll be doing some more exploration as soon as I can find the time.

But lately I've been bouldering a lot in Unaweep. And it just impresses me more and more. It's got a lot of great stone and classic problems!

Ely climbing "Amigos" V5.

Ashley climbing "Goodbye Blue Monday" V6

Ely looking at a nice wall with two potential lines I'm excited to try.

Autumn climbing "Ishmael" V5 up beautiful patina.

So to sum up, here's what I've found so far. Good Dakota sandstone extends from Unaweep to Montrose and west all the way to Dove Creek and south through Telluride and Durango. It's extensive and much of it is almost as good as the stone found in Unaweep, but it doesn't get much better than Unaweep unless you go all the way to Durango. Good Wingate bouldering extends from Gateway and the San Rafael Swell to Indian Creek and west through Capitol Reef National Park and into Zion. But it doesn't seem to get better than what can be found in the Gateway and Moab area. I've been exploring far and wide and there are amazing areas out there. Scenic wide open unique and special landscapes! But I'm happy to find that the best areas for bouldering and development in this region are actually the ones closer to home. And the exploration will continue...

Autumn Advances

2018-12-13T20:42:00.003-07:00

Here we are at the official end of autumn 2018, and Autumn has been advancing faster than the rest of the Lloyd family. In the last three months, Autumn has advanced at least three grades in her outdoor climbing going from solid V2 to solid V5 outdoor bouldering. I love it when titles have two meanings!

Let's start when we left off. We were getting early morning session each weekend in Unaweep at the beginning of the school year. During one of those sessions we were all climbing "Ghost of Unaweep Past." V5

Then Sam found a lower start.

Then I found a cooler ending. Instead of heading out right, the climbing looked better and more difficult heading out left.

Sam got the new line first, and called it "Monarch" V7.

I got it second, and Ashley did it with a short top rope.

Autumn started spending more time on lines, and soon she unlocked this V3.

During the next session she tried harder than I've ever seen her try, and she sent "Ghost of Unaweep Past" which was her first outdoor V5.

Ashley climbing from the start of "Disconnected" into a no pinch version of "My Fleshy Oslo." It's a fun V7 direct line up the block.

The weather stayed hot, and I wanted full climbing days so we drove up to our closest alpine boulders.

I did this really fun unknown V5.

And an amazing V6 compression problem with a tricky top out.

Then came Labor Day. It was warm, and I was worried about crowds. So I decided to take my family to the Flattops Wilderness. It was a fun trip, and we did some good climbing.

Autumn climbing "There and Back Again" V4.

The area is not flush with climbable boulders, but it has amazing ambiance. I tried to capture the diversity of plant life and the feel of the place in photos, but they don't do the area justice.

The weather stayed hot, but I decided to check out some sandstone near Montrose.

I liked what I found, and thought I'd spend all Fall here.

I took my family there on a hot day, and put up one good line called "Pocket Man" V5.

And Autumn climbed her first tall problem outdoors.

Then Autumn's comp season began. We went down to her first comp in Durango, and had a good session at Sailing Hawks while we were there.

"Skully" V5

The foliage was beautiful! I took a bunch of photos and used them to promote my book "The Day I Became a Floating Bubble of Awareness."

Then Autumn competed at the Front in Salt Lake City.

The weather cooled down considerably, and we never got back to Montrose.

So I spent some fun sessions at Unaweep, and showed Sam a project.

A couple sessions later and "Darkside" V9 was finished! Just to be clear the line is somewhat contrived. Only holds in or below the seam that runs from the start to the midway jug are on. Easier variations are possible if higher sidepulls aren't considered off route. The easiest method using holds above the seam is V4 or 5.

The weather changed and we ended up spending a few weekends at Joes.

Sierra climbing "The Angler" V3. That's right, I'm upgrading this classic Joe's problem.

Autumn climbing "Pokemon" V2.

I spent three sessions working on "Wills A Fire" V6. Spenser even showed me how it's done.

I grabbed the lip once, caught the swing, but fell trying to re-adjust my left hand for the match. We got a lot of photos of me trying the line. Here's my favorite.

Then the weather got colder, and we started going to Moab. Even this scorpion was cold, so Allan moved it to the sun.

Allan climbing "Center Start" V1.

Thanksgiving Break arrived, and we spent many days across the river.

I put up a likely first ascent called "Skipping a Beat" V3 on the Valentine Boulders.

And an exciting V3 called "Swooping In."

Ashley having second thoughts on "V Kind" V1.

The most exciting line I put up during the break was "Palpitations" V4.

The most difficult line I put up over Thanksgiving was "Like a Banshee" which is a quite a fight at V6 with a crux ending.

Autumn spent a full session on Armadillo. She managed to work out the tricky sequence, and finished it at the end of the day. I repeated it, but only after she gave me the beta again.

It's a very solid V5!

And on an incredible day of exploration during the break we found a bunch of new blocks to climb.

Amazingly eroded formations.

And I put up my favorite problem of the season "So Delighted" V5. This block also has a V4 arete to the right called "Autumn Inspired" V4 and a V3 traverse to the top from the left called "Waiting to Inhale." All three are top quality lines.

Autumn on the second ascent of "So Delighted."

That's it for the season and this post. It was a good one!

The Day I Became a Floating Bubble of Awareness

2018-10-16T05:45:00.003-06:00

Exploration is my greatest interest. I hope to see as much as I can, interact with things as deeply as I can, and know what's going on. My passion to explore and then share what I find has led me to climb all over the country and share those experiences on this blog.

The same passion has compelled me to explore the relationship between my mind and the world. Through that exploration, I've also found things worth sharing. But I decided that it would be best to share those ideas through a short book instead of putting them on a blog. The internet isn't really the best venue for deep contemplation. And it seems that a book is the most appropriate way to get this message across. The Day I Became a Floating Bubble of Awareness was written for everyone, not just climbers. I didn't want to exclude readers who don't climb by focusing on how my experience was shaped by and continues to shape my climbing. Yet the ideas in the book form a foundation in which a life heavily devoted to climbing rocks makes some sense.

It took me all of the last summer, writing through my rest days, to distill twenty years of contemplation into a clear, concise explanation of what I've learned through a lot of reading, meditation, contemplation, and a couple psychedelic experiences. Then I had it professionally edited by Lindsey Nelson, the copy editor of the Climbing Zine, and she made it even better! If you've been enjoying this blog over the years, I think that you should check it out. At least read the free sample to find out if you're interested. And let me know what you think of it in the comments. Here are links to the Apple Books and Kindle versions.

The Day I Became a Floating Bubble of Awareness on Apple Books

The Day I Became a Floating Bubble of Awareness for the Kindle.

And if you do like it, please help me to promote it! Tell friends about it! Give it a good rating and a review! And I'll do the same for your creative pursuits in return. Imagine the possibilities! What if all the climbers banded together to promote each others' creative work to the point that we gain success in the wider world? What if we worked together to help each other make livings from our passions? Maybe one day, we'll all be able to hang out together, wherever the weather is right and the climbing is good! Writing, painting, taking photographs, making films, recording podcasts, or creating jewelry from our vans. And then we'll go climbing together on all the other days! It's a possibility.

The Map and the Territory

2018-08-07T18:29:00.000-06:00

The map is not the territory. And the only way to start getting to know a place is to interact with it directly. Lately, I've been a bit of a flaneur, with enough time to add some randomness to my wanderings. Exploring the countryside without specific goals, just seeing interesting places, unsure of what I'll find.

Before I set out wandering, I put some planning time into finding cool places. Searching canyoneering guidebooks, Google Earth, or a map that Lee was kind enough to share with me. I found some boulders, and I climbed. But hard climbing took a back seat to seeing interesting places. Late summer heat doesn't lend itself to hard climbing anyway.

Ashley managed one hard line though. On her 5th session, she sent the Bat Cave Traverse V9. Mountain Project lists a V10 version that starts further right and forces a top out up some fragile holds. The version Ashley did, and I'm still working on, might not be quite as difficult, but it climbs better.

We'd get a full session in the Bat Cave by 10 AM, and then I had time to figure out where in the canyons and mountains of Utah or Colorado I wanted to explore.

Sierra and Autumn came along on some of my adventures.

And sometimes I was on my own.

Autumn has started climbing outside again.

And I saw many things I never expected to find.

Some places were added to a list of areas that I'll return to this fall.

And I saw animals in abundance where people rarely go.

There are established boulders in unlikely places.

Sometimes unexpected animals were in unexpected places.

Gems appeared in canyon corridors.

And most places were prettier than I expected.

Sometimes the prettiest places even have rocks to climb.

It was enjoyable to spend days wandering. But school is starting now.

It's time to focus again.

The Best Stone in America

2018-07-06T19:02:00.001-06:00

Here we are. Sharing words and photos across the internet of things that can't actually be adequately conveyed through words and pictures. Occasionally an author, an article, or a photograph will encapsulate a place that you've been to before and you'll think "They nailed it! That's just what it's like there." But when I read about places in advance, I'm always surprised when I actually arrive at how much wasn't or maybe can't be conveyed. We've been traveling a lot recently, and after more than twenty years of bouldering and searching, I was surprised to climb on two types of stone that surpassed anything I've ever encountered before. And I think one of them might actually be the best type of stone to boulder on in America.

Joe's Valley, UT

After seeing "Vertical Ice" V6 on Instagram we decided to check it out. I'd always thought of Joe's Valley as desert bouldering, but just a few miles up the road the cacti and juniper switch to aspen, Douglas Fir, and bright green grasses. I climbed "Vertical Ice" and we spent most of the day on the Lactation Station where Ashley and I climbed "Baldwin Bash" V7.

We ended our day climbing various moderates on the Cow Patty boulder.

It was such an engaging day, that I forgot to take photos until we were leaving. But even if I took twenty great shots that day, you wouldn't know what it's really like up there until you check it out for yourself. The area has great stone, it's really fun to climb on, but it's not the best stone in the country.

Unaweep Canyon, CO

Unaweep Canyon continues to impress me with its quality problems. We visited the Rock Garden for Mother's Day.

"Knife Wrench!" is one of the best V3s I've ever climbed!

Ashley climbing another fun problem called "Burnt Orange" V2.

We spent a lot of the session on a steep and surprisingly difficult project. We'd almost unlocked it. I was pulling really hard when the crucial hold snapped and bloodied my knuckles. Unaweep doesn't have the best rock.

It was an all-around good day at Unaweep except for the ridiculous amount of trash that we found on the east side of the American Graffiti boulder. It's difficult to even imagine what was going on here. Broken electronics, rotting food, journals and clothes strewn everywhere gave clues but no coherent answer. Unfortunately, we run into this type of thing quite regularly in Unaweep.

Mill Creek, UT
Sierra and I spent a day at Mill Creek, a surprisingly verdant canyon not too far from Moab. I'd seen photos of Mill Creek for years, but it was different than I expected. We got rained out early, but Sierra and I were both happy to redpoint "Going the Distance" 5.11c just before heavy rains came in.

Great stone, but it felt like the smallest crimps on the walls could snap occasionally. It isn't perfect.

New River Gorge, WV
I'd heard that the southeast had really good sandstone. I'd seen photos of the bouldering. But nothing could have prepared me for forests full of blossoming mountain laurel and pink rhododendron.

Boulders right next to an old dam releasing a raging river's worth of water.

Or sandstone that could be so solid and sticky. The grains aren't too big or too small and they never seem to break out of their matrix. Crimps, pockets, and slopers all feel like they are grabbing you back. It's amazing!

The most difficult line we climbed on during our first day was "Mortal Combat" V6. It felt like quite an accomplishment on a high humidity day with temps in the 80s. We had to try hard.

A small rainstorm passed and we sat under a boulder. On the hike out we needed to navigate around a large tree that fell during the storm. I'm glad we weren't hiking out when this came down.

The next day we went to Meadow Top. Rain in the forecast convinced us to skip our rest day.

"Circle of Life" is an exciting V4.

"Uncle Dave's Porno Bin" was Ashley's favorite V5. A fun roof leads to a perfect sloper top out.

"Crimpin' Ain't Easy" from the crimps was my favorite V5. Over and over again lines that I expected to be scary or difficult turned out to feel really secure because the rock is so solid and the texture is so grippy. We even climbed a V7 called "Bro-ner" as some clouds began to sprinkle on us. The rock still has good texture even in a little rain. And unlike desert sandstone, it's still solid when wet.

"Crimpin' Ain't Easy"

The stone at New River Gorge is solid, and the texture is always good. The blocks at Meadow Top were well featured with varied hold types. Based on experiences all over the country, I think it's the best stone I've ever climbed on. New River Gorge could realistically offer the best bouldering in the country during the right time of year. We're doing our best to figure out how we can visit in the fall one day.

We spent a couple days with relatives in Richmond, Virginia and took walk on Belle Isle one day. I was shocked to see artificial holds leading up multiple routes on the granite cliffs there. A day camp had brought a load of campers to climb there. I'd heard about artificial holds bolted to cliffs in Europe, but didn't think this practice existed in America. Belle Isle was once a granite quarry a long time ago, and people's ethics seem to slip when an areas' rock has already been modified, but I'm still not in favor of artificial holds bolted to outdoor cliffs. It sends the wrong message to the kids. This isn't rock climbing.

When we got back to Colorado, Fruita's highs were in the high nineties and the mountains were calling. We got started with a weekend trip to the San Juan mountains above Telluride.

Luckily the campsites were still empty. That's our truck and tent by the pond.

We needed an extra large pad for the Darkside boulder. It's a great block near Ophir that Christian showed us last summer. So I asked Autumn to carry a large pad instead of her standard one. She didn't realize that it would affect her balance across the water pipe approach, and she got really scared on the high parts. Autumn wasn't happy, but she faced her fears and made it.

I'm so glad that she didn't slip off! Sometimes climbing and parenting mix in strange ways.

We had a great session, trying really hard in good conditions on the very solid crimps of the Darkside Boulder. We tried a lot of lines, and both ended up sending "Sheryl's Void Stand" V8 by the end of the session.

It's great stone too, but it's not as good as the best.

Father's Day was coming up and a little cool front was coming through. So despite the fact that the guidebook says "Nosos is not a summer area." I decided that I wanted to see what Nosos, NM was like in the summer time for myself. It was quite a bit cooler than Fruita, and it's just too hard for me to take big trips in the fall, or to wait that long when I see an opportunity.

Cholla flowers seen at Nosos.

The stone there is amazing. Bullet solid, with amazing stripes. It usually has a really nice texture, but it can be slippery in spots. Amazing to look at, I'd find myself almost mesmerized by it. But it comes in second place behind New River Gorge as the best type of climbing stone in the country. I completely agree with Owen that it's the best climbing stone found in New Mexico, but West Virginia is even better.

An example of the stripes.

The stone on "Too Good to Be American" V3.

Here's a too sunny shot of the problem "Too Good to Be American" V3. Luckily it had just come into the sun, and the rock wasn't too warm to climb.

We decided to head up to the ridge top where we could find some shade, nice views, and a breeze.

But we didn't have difficult problems to work on up there that were in the shade. So Ashley figured out and climbed a V5 traverse from "Montana" into "Butt Hurt."

Later "Dirty Quandry" V3 came into the shade, so I climbed that too.

On our next climbing day, we spent a morning session on the Lonesome George boulder.

Sierra climbing "Super Hands" V1.

During our rest day, we explored a bit of Ortega West.

It's another place that I'd like to spend more time.

Since then I've been getting up early to look at unclimbed boulders close to home.

And I got up to the mountains for a day of projecting and exploring with Jamie in the Holy Cross Wilderness.

The area has solid gneiss with cool stripes. It's a great stone to climb on, and a lot of qualities from the surrounding scenery, to the company you're with, go into creating the best bouldering days. But if I limit myself to just the stone, and ask "What stone feels the best to climb on? What stone gives me the most confidence, allowing me to try really, really hard without fear of hurting it, or hurting myself?"

Then the best stone I've ever climbed on so far is the solid Nuttall sandstone found in the New River Gorge.

But don't take my words or photos as the answer. The truth is out there, and there's no substitute. To really know the truth, you'll have to experience it for yourself.

Boulders Ahoy!

2018-05-04T19:21:00.000-06:00

It seems like the other side of the river always has more boulders. It's the peaceful side, away from the highway, and it was driving me crazy not knowing what amazing lines might be in all those inaccessible boulderfields. So I bought a boat for my birthday in order to get across rivers. It's an AIRE Tomcat Solo inflatable kayak, and we've used it a lot this spring. It's opened up so many possibilities! Here's what we've been up to.

Ashley got the first ascent of "Armadillo" V4/5 on our very first trip across the river.

It's still a project for Autumn, but she came very close.

Her climbing has been improving rapidly, and I suspect that I'll have some outdoor ascents to report for her soon.

I went out by myself one day and put up some lines in a different sector. This one was a good warm up on perfect stone.

I'm calling these two boulders the Valentine's Blocks.

I put up a few lines on the right block. The best one is the tall arete called "Heartbeats" V2.

The entire sector has amazing sandstone patterns and patina.

On my third trip with the boat, I inflated it and then realized that I'd forgotten to bring the paddle. I tried paddling with my arms in the icy cold water. I thought it could work, but Ashley and the girls didn't trust my bare arm paddling abilities.

So we changed plans, and went to the Big Bend boulders where Ashley climbed the

"Basketball Diaries" V5.

And I decided not to commit on the highball V5 "Army of Darkness.

I've remembered to bring the paddle ever since.

Castle Valley is a beautiful place, and it's wonderful to have it just an hour away from our house. We've started crossing the river to boulder in this area too.

Autumn climbing "Vitamin D" a V2 on an obvious boulder across the river at the entrance to Castle Valley.

"Venn" V3

"Mini Comp" V4

"Dewey" V3

Noah and Siemay vacationed out here, and I joined them for a couple sessions.

Many lines were done! This single boulder has 13 problems! They call it the Baker's Dozen.

Here's Noah repeating an incredibly good warm-up that Zun climbed first.

I put up a V6 nearby called "Bayonet."

Over Spring Break the Lloyd family camped, explored and climbed in central Utah.

Cedar Mountain looked like it would be amazing on Google Earth so we checked it out. The view is amazing, but the boulders are pebbly choss.

So we drove down the mountain and climbed at Triassic. It was our back up plan all along. Two problems really stood out at the Petroglyph Area.

"Homemade Goodness" V5

and "Hammerhead" a more difficult and intimidating V5.

We camped in the southern San Rafael Swell and then visited Capital Reef National Park. The whole region is gorgeous, and it has boulders, but the stone we found isn't as solid as the Wingate near Moab.

The last day of Spring Break was forecast to be really windy. So we visited a boulder field on the downwind side of a cliff. It's a trick that I learned while we were living in Wyoming. The large boulders had top rope bolts already, but the smaller boulders appear to have been ignored up until this point. This small boulder yielded two surprisingly good lines. And we were mostly out of the wind.

"Triangle Man" SDS V4/5

"Universe Man" V6 traverses the entire east side of the block to top out on "Triangle Man."

During another fun weekend session, I watched Andrew get the third ascent of "Sexual Chocolate" an amazing V6 highball near Gateway put up by Matt and Noah.

My favorite send of the entire spring season was "Two Sides To Every Story" V6. Christian was the first to climb this line. It's strenuous, delicate, and puzzling. It looks and feels impossible until you manage to do it.

Another notable line in the area is "Classic Eagle" put up by a very young climber named Bayes. I got the second ascent, and Ashley got the third. It's a solid V6 for me, and Ashley reported that it felt very difficult (significantly harder than V6) for her.

During the last two weekends, as the weather warmed up, we've shifted to morning sessions in Unaweep. The stone there is featured Dakota sandstone which is much more straightforward to climb on than the Wingate sandstone. Almost all the stone near Fruita is sandstone, but it's impressive how different the style is between Wingate sandstone, Dakota sandstone, and the Joes Valley sandstone that we visit occasionally. Before we moved, I was a little worried that I'd get bored of bouldering on sandstone all of the time. But it hasn't been a problem at all.

Mountain Project is the best source for bouldering info on Unaweep Canyon. I'm really happy to have it, but I've learned to take the posted grades there with a healthy grain of salt. So far I've found many of Nick's V4s to be very solid for the grade, and some of the higher graded lines to be quite soft. The star ratings seem to be more reliable than the difficulty ratings.

For example "Acromian Division" felt like a solid V6 from the sit start. It's a fun tall problem, and I recommend it. But it wasn't the V8/9 that I was expecting to find based on the Mountain Project description. Maybe something has broken, or I just found better beta.

But I did find another project nearby that'll probably be a V10. There are plenty of difficult lines to be done at Unaweep if you take a little time to look around for them.

Ashley got a couple extra grades of effort out of "Daft Punk" V4 at the Zephyr Boulders.

But really it's all about the challenge and finding fun climbing, no matter what the grades end up feeling like.

Our inflatable kayak has opened up whole new worlds of bouldering, and Unaweep has over 1400 boulder problems spread through many sectors. And due to those facts, we've visited a sector that was new to us every weekend through the entire spring season! It feels like we've been spending all of our time on appetizers so far, convenient lines that we can send in a single session. I haven't spent more than a session on a problem since January. Now that I've gotten a taste of each spot, I'll be ready to really dig in this fall! But all these area's will probably have to wait until then. Temperatures are rising in the desert, and I'm excited to start exploring the mountains again.

An Endless Season, in Unaweep and Beyond

2018-01-31T20:31:00.002-07:00

A year without winter. It looks like we may have one. A couple dustings of snow that melted within hours seem barely worth mentioning. We've been getting out every weekend, and spend most of our bouldering sessions in Unaweep Canyon.

Ashley warming up with "Endocrine Disruptor" V3

Sierra climbing "Southampton Dock" V4

Adam climbing "Outside the Wall" V4

Jesse exploring the upper rim.

Jesse on an unknown line at the Other Side of the Road Area.

I'm still working on "Huckin' Bronc" V7 on the Dune Boulder, just one of my many current projects.

I'm especially excited about my first documented ascent of "Spotless" V4/5 HB at the Other Side of the Road Area.

It's a tall vertical face over a sloped landing, with long moves between thin crimps on perfect patina. I was so excited about the line, I decided to session it by myself in a well timed session on a cold afternoon. The rock had just enough time to warm up in the sun.

Video of the ascent can be found @mrdlloyd on Instagram

The stone at Unaweep isn't as solid as the stone at Roy, NM but the climbing is surprisingly comparable. I know because we visited Roy recently over our Christmas Break.

I'm tempted to spend another session on "Flaming Liberty" someday. It's a very committing V6 for short climbers. I needed to jump for the horizontal slot near the top out, and I wasn't willing to risk the fall on this trip.

Sierra climbing "Star Wars" V2

Ashley climbing "Milagro Beanfield" V3.

After our day at Roy, we decided to dodge an incoming cold front by driving south to Socorro. We were surprised by both the quality of the volcanic bouldering, and the popularity of the area. The place is busy in mid-winter, but the locals are friendly, and the weather was nice.

Ashley climbing "Peck's Mystery" V4.

Ashley climbing "Sofa King" V4.

My favorite ascent of the trip was "Rubber Walrus Protector" V5. A puzzle of a problem, that's so much fun to work out.

And "Pressure Drop"V2 is one of the best for the grade that I've ever done. The "Unbeatable Boulder" deserves the name.

My post wouldn't be complete without a few photos of the sandstone bouldering we've been doing on the Wingate. Adam and Nicole gave me a tour of a special sector they've been developing.

Adam climbing "Surf's Up."

Nicole putting up a probable first ascent of a great V2.

And I put up a probable first ascent of "Babies' Blood," a short V7 named from our discussion of therapy options for aging joints.

The sector includes historic problems that were put up before anyone was keeping track. This is an unknown and historic classic V3.

And last but not least, here are a couple photos from Big Bend. It's worth hiking up the hill for "Drunkula" a high quality V4 on the Monster Block.

Bruce enjoying the sunshine, and attempting a huge move on the "Right Side" of Split Decision last weekend.

Now I'm looking at the long-term forecast and see only rising temperatures. A long fall, an early spring, and winter never arrived. A never ending season, enjoyable, yet unsettling. It doesn't feel normal, it hits me as unnatural, even here in the desert.

From The Mountains to the Desert with Open Eyes

2017-11-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

We've been busy. Starting at new schools, learning new routines, meeting new people. On top of that I've been exploring. Searching in an almost frantic manner, during every spare moment, needing to know this new landscape and it's possibilities. To fill in the gaps in my interior map, and not feel ignorant of what surrounds me. It's the only way that I can feel centered and grounded. To begin growing new roots in this place.

And finally it's Thanksgiving break. A chance to take a moment. To reflect on the past three months, and all the places we've been.

Summer temperatures seemed to last forever, and I drove long distances to get out the heat of the valley. Google Earth showed a canyon full of boulders, with a gravel road leading right to them on Wildcat Mountain. I hoped to find a new area like Devil's Kitchen to develop. As I passed Ruedi Reservoir I was surprised to find it covered with sail boats.

Wildcat Mountain has boulders, but not many that are good for bouldering. I enjoyed a nice afternoon of scrambling around, and searching, but never found what I was looking for.

One weekend we went to Crested Butte, and camped outside of town. We had to drive many more miles than expected because every campsite was occupied. The mountains felt crowded.

The beautiful aspen forests on the hike in were just as I remembered.

But near the Skyland boulders, all the green undergrowth was gone. A small village of teepees and lean-tos was built out of sticks and abandoned camping gear.

Glitter and glue was spilled on the rocks, and many boulders were covered in graffiti written with burnt sticks.

It appeared that the construction, crafts, and graffiti had been left by a large group of supervised children. I'm glad that they are getting outside, having fun in nature. But the impact they had on one of Colorado's premier mountain boulder gardens made me feel sick. Autumn and I spent much of the afternoon attempting to restore the area to a more natural state, and I hauled out a heavy wet destroyed tent that the kids had added to one of their shelters.

A couple weeks later, we had a great trip to Telluride with the help of Christian. We got a tour of a couple impressive areas. Christian is putting the finishing touches on a guidebook to the area. He was taking photos of friends on area classics for the guide that weekend, and invited us along.

The approach to the Darkside boulder is unique, hiking on a water pipe through the woods for quite a ways.

The boulder's really good too!

Rachel climbing "Sheryl Swoops" V6.

We also visited an alpine sandstone boulder field in the San Juans. Yeah, that's right. Sandstone talus field bouldering high in the mountains where you'd expect granite or gneiss. Info will be shared in Christian's upcoming guidebook.

The area also has one of the best campsites I've ever stayed at.

My last trip to the mountains was connected to Sierra's comp at the Front in Salt Lake City.

The Front the best looking gym I've seen.

And I enjoyed a session of climbing as many "Mr. Smiley" variations as I could in Little Cottonwood Canyon on the day before the comp.

When the weather cooled down, we could transition to climbing closer to home.

But before we did that, we took a long day trip to Joes Valley. The bouldering is amazing there. Everyone knows that already.

But on the drive in I was disturbed to see so much air pollution caused by a single coal fired power plant in Castle Dale. An eerie line of photochemical smog crossing the sky at sunrise, in a very rural part of central Utah.

My first trips to Unaweep Canyon disturbed me as well. The first couple places I visited were trashed. Surrounded by abandoned homeless person encampments. I packed out a full truck load of trash from a single bouldering sector, and tried to figure out what had been going on. Based on what I found, a single person with a car had used the site for weeks or months, they had brought cushions, a pot for use as a toilet, and even a collapsible children's pool. No attempt had been made to keep the area clean. It had been abandoned for a while. More useful things were scattered near the boulder, and weeks worth of trash was thrown into the gulley nearby.

A small portion of what I hauled out.

And then someone named Shauna decided to tag up the most popular boulders in Unaweep with hot pink spray paint. Adam let me know about it, as soon as it happened. After a bit of research, I bought some Elephant Snot Graffiti remover, and Adam, Nicole, and I cleaned it up on Public Lands Day.

Since the late summer clean up missions, things haven't gotten trashed again, and I've started spending most of my time in Unaweep further from the highway. Away from the highway Unaweep is quiet and clean. Some areas out there have great patina covered stone and classic lines like "Coked Out Trophy Husband" I was psyched to send the stand start in a session, and would like to spend at least one more session attempting the sit start.

The Zevon Boulder

Bruce warming up on the Coy Boulder.

Brian working on a Wonder Wall project.

The Big Bend boulders are an easy day trip now, and so far it's still been nice there whenever the weather is cold or rainy in Grand Junction. We've made two trips to Big Bend since our move.
I finally sent "Circus Trick." It's the most difficult thing I've climbed that's often called V4.

And Ashley found impressive short beta and sent "Block Party" V5. She knew it must be possible because she watched Sierra do it.

Closer to home we started getting out to the Dynamite Shacks for weekend and after school sessions. It's an area that was once covered in trash and graffiti, but climbers have cleaned up the place considerably. Now it's looking good for an area just outside of Grand Junction that abuts an old landfill.

Ashley climbing "Typewriter," an endurance based V3 that I didn't manage to finish in a session.

I prefer standard length boulders like "Vodka Arete" V5.

And "Medusa's Knees" V8, which I did manage to send in a session.

Ashley warming up on "Spidey Grip" V3, making cloudy and 60 degrees look like a winter day.

"Joe 97 Right" V3 is one of the best V3's I've ever done. Great angle, features, and movement, I'd recommend it to anyone.

As you can see, we have plenty of developed lines to keep us busy, but I've still been developing when I can.

Dominguez Canyon is a beautiful spot that has a few new problems we put up this fall.

Mike and I spent a day hiking the canyon.

And Bruce came out with us to put up some lines.
Like "Joi" V4.

"Words" V3

And "Giant Toe" V2.

I spent another day exploring a small portion of eastern Utah with Roo.

He enjoyed the hiking.

And I found a bouldering area worth the drive on my way out there.

The next weekend I took my family to the spot and gave directions to Adam and Nicole. We passed through Colorado National Monument on the way.

And came to a big, empty and quiet area with a mix of great stone and choss. A desert version of Sweetwater.

The place was first climbed at by Dane and Chandler, but hadn't seen traffic for a while. We thought everything we did was a first ascent. Turns out some of the lines Adam, Nicole, and my family did were repeats.

But they are great lines! We had fun on all of them.

And that's the full climbing story of our last three months in Fruita. Things aren't perfect. Industry, homelessness, crowding, and ignorance have caused negative impacts to the land. But climbers are making efforts to clean things up. Having fun, and getting things done. The bouldering community here is welcoming, willing to share information, and psyched on development. I'm beginning to find areas that are vast and wild, like the ones I loved in Wyoming. I've learned that Wingate sandstone can be really fun to boulder on, once you get used to it. And the weather has been great for months now. I'll admit that I miss Wyoming sometimes, but I'm lucky and happy to be here.

Changing States

2017-07-30T20:19:00.002-06:00

The change is abrupt. There is no gentle transition. You can't be in two places at once, it's all one world or the other. And the trip between two states doesn't feel like a transition, it isn't life, it's just driving. So here we are in a brand new reality, full of extraordinary convenience, extraordinary heat, extraordinary desert life and landforms called Fruita, Colorado. All new places to explore, with a feeling of excitement and ignorance about much that surrounds me.

This move was different than our move from Ft. Collins to Lander. For one thing, we knew what we were doing this time. We spent the first week of summer vacation house hunting in Fruita and Grand Junction. We sold our house in Lander, found a great house in Fruita, got all the contractual dominoes to fall in the right order, and it all worked out. Credit for orchestrating the impressive housing hunt and flawless transition goes to Ashley.

With our house chosen, and under contract, we went back to Lander for the first half of summer. I spent a few more weeks enjoying Wyoming. Soon after moving to Lander, eight years ago, I truly learned to love a place. The Wind River Mountains and the sagebrush sea surrounding them are special, a landscape that will always feel like home.

Wyoming

I continued to search for boulders, despite the amount of snow that fell last winter.

We kept up our climbing schedule, packing all our boxes on rest days. We spent one day working "The Ground From Upside Down" 5.13a /V7 at Wild Iris, but we still need to work out one long crux move over an "edgy" part of the sloped landing, and I will need a bit more endurance to finish it.

And we spent many days at the Rock Shop.

Sierra sent "Perfect Storm" V6, and Ashley did it too, after clipping into a toprope for the top out. I sent "Electric Storm" from the SDS V7/8, and we spent a session at the Sail Boulder after getting a tour from Justin Iskra.

Kelsey working out the crux of "Perfect Storm."

I took photos of many of the Rock Shop boulders, and have been making progress on guidebook work.

We tried to get in one last day of climbing at Sweetwater, but our session got cut short by swarms of no-see-ums. They didn't seem bothered by Deet at all! Sweetwater just isn't a summer bouldering area.

I spent one more day at Sweetwater that didn't include any climbing. I was giving input during the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Sweetwater Site visit.

It's important to me that climbing and bouldering are considered in future management plans, and I was able to see many formations that I'd never visited before.

Such as the Tea Pot and the Sugar Bowl.

I also saw promising looking bouldering zones. Accessing them wouldn't be difficult. All it would require is a respectful request to the landowner for passage across their land and their bridge.

Our time in Lander ended with the International Climbers' Festival. I helped out with the Boulder Bash. Temps weren't perfect until 11 pm, and the dolomite boulders are as sharp as ever, but everyone was psyched, so it worked out well. The professional photographers got a lot of great images, but I was too busy guiding, cheering, and lighting up holds to focus on photography.

I also lead a clinic to the Weather Station sector of the Rock Shop, but didn't get any photos of that fun session. It was a great Festival, and I'm looking forward to visiting Lander for future International Climbers' Festivals. There's no better time to see everybody.

For our last session in Lander we visited Worthen Reservoir. I climbed Jesse Brown's "Babymaker Arete" V6.

And Ashley repeated "Viskers" V6, one of the first boulder problems that she did after we moved to Lander.

Colorado's Western Slope

We've been in Fruita for twelve days now. I've been taking morning hikes to look for boulders in Colorado National Monument.

I'm lucky to still have abundant wildlife close to home.

And species I've never had the chance to encounter before, such as this Collared Lizard.

But it's been too hot to boulder outdoors near Fruita. Hiking boulders is fun, but it doesn't satisfy like actually bouldering does. I needed to get some bouldering in. So we drove a few hours to a low key alpine bouldering area based on a recommendation and some Google Earth reconnaissance. We found great alpine bouldering and landings built of perfectly arranged talus. It was obvious that this area had been visited many times before, and I managed to find a few old photos on the internet, after we got home from our trip. I now know that efforts have been made to keep the area quiet, so I won't share anymore information here, just a few photos.

Ashley climbing an unknown V5 sds line.

I'm living in a new state now. Significantly different than anywhere I've lived before. But I bring what I've learned with me, and I'm confident that I'll continue to love the places I find myself in.

Because life never stands still.

A Bouldering Treasure Map

2017-06-22T08:27:00.000-06:00

Quite a few bouldering developers have started using Google Maps to document the areas and problems that they've developed. For areas that aren't too forested it's a convenient way to record what you've done. But it's far from a guidebook. Access routes aren't explained, and often paper maps need to be consulted and marked before heading out due to lack of cell phone coverage, and important information such as private land boundaries. So I'm not convinced that Google Maps will take the place of guidebooks anytime soon, but they can be useful for the truly motivated, the casually curious, and for developers who want a convenient way to journal what they've done.

So here's a map where I've been recording some of the new boulder problems put up around Lander. Enjoy!

A Bouldering Google Map to Some New Problems near Lander, WY

Last Go, Best Go

2017-05-27T23:06:00.001-06:00

"Together Alone" V4 Sweetwater Rocks, WY

Word has gotten out, but it hasn't been announced on this blog yet, that we'll be leaving Wyoming this summer. Wyoming is still amazing, and I highly recommend the Lander area for any climber, but life isn't just about climbing. Great teaching jobs opened up for both Ashley and me in the Grand Junction area. We applied. We were lucky enough to be offered the two jobs we wanted the most, and we decided to take them. Since then, every bouldering trip this spring has felt like it could be my last one to each particular bouldering area. With a teaching schedule, it's easy to envision summer bouldering trips back to the Rock Shop, or into the Winds, in my future. It's harder to imagine a way that I'll make it back to shoulder season areas such as Sweetwater. This season we ended up spending three sessions at the Weapons of Mass Destruction sector. Abundant snow in Sinks canyon, and abundant mud on the two tracks to Oz made it the best option for multiple weekends this spring. On Earth Day we decided to warm up on the balanced block seen north of the road on the way into Weapons of Mass Destruction.

I knew that Jesse, Justin, and Matt had spent a day on this boulder and I wanted to repeat "Together Alone." It's a great line, and challenging for short climbers. We saw other undone lines on the block, and we started trying them. By the end of the session Ashley added two lines to the left of "Together Alone" and I added a classic line to the right.

"Earth Day" V6 sit starts with a good hold under the overhang.

Moves up the left side of the arete.

And traverses to the top of "Together Alone."

Our other two Sweetwater sessions were spent on the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" boulder proper. "Weapons of Mass Destruction" V7 was at the top of Sierra's boulder project list. She worked it for an entire session.

And she sent it during the next session!

While Sierra worked on her project, we enjoyed the sun.

And put up an interesting V4 to the right called "Mean Little Flower" V4.

Once the days got long enough, I was psyched to get Sinks Canyon sessions in after school. Snow limited my options though, and I found myself back at the Kingsford boulder trying to add the full sit start to the "Seam Project" I'd put in the guidebook. Towards the end of the session I noticed a line of vertical edges to the right, and it looked like maybe I could use them in opposition to the rail on "The Seam" and finish on nice edges just below the top, at the highest point of the boulder. It looked beautiful, and I couldn't believe I'd never noticed the line before. I tried it out, but was too tired to put much together.

One more session, and I thought it was possible. At the end of my second full session on the line I put it all together.

Once I figured out the beta, it was even better than I ever hoped. It ranks as one of the best dolomite boulder problems in Sinks, and it's the best first ascent I've put up in Sinks Canyon.

Only one weekend day was warm enough, still enough, and dry enough for my family to make it out to Oz this spring. Sierra and Ashley worked out all their beta on "Heart Sing" V7. I even set up a top rope so they could practice the committing top out.

And I got heartbreakingly close to finishing "Wild Thing Stand" V8.

We were all set to send next session, but we never got a next session. Nick, Wendy, and Philip came out with us. Nick set up cameras and recorded the day. He put together the following film from it.

Working beta, falling off problems, and talking a lot. It's an accurate look at what it's actually like to boulder with the Lloyds.

We hiked up the Granite Buttress one weekend.

I scouted and brushed some lines for our day. But we only finished one good line before we got stormed out.

"Hang Nail" V1

While hiking out in the rain and thunder we were passed by two cowboys on horseback followed by a pack of Corgi dogs. They chased a marmot into it's burrow, and then caught up to the horses by running incredibly fast on their short little legs. An interesting and unexpected sight!

Then came the highlight of my season one afternoon, after school. I did my first V10. The Camera at the Cabin Boulders is a short boulder, but the holds are very small, the move is big and surprisingly intricate. It has thwarted my countless attempts over multiple sessions for many years. During my second session this spring, and my second "last go," it all came together.

I'm not sure that I'm actually stronger than I was last year. But the thought that I might never get to try "The Camera" in good conditions again made me try harder than I ever had before.

The next weekend I gave Ken a tour of one sector at City Walls. A cold wind from the west meant that the day wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. We stayed on the downwind side of the formation, put up a few good warmups and then spent some time cleaning up "The Good Life" wall.

Ken helped brush from a six pad stack.

He gave me a great spot on the committing first ascent of "Wetland" V4.

And sampled a bit of the upwind patina covered stone before driving back home.

I've always been motivated by the knowledge that it might be a long time before I will get back to a project again. But the knowledge that I might never find a chance to get back to something again was extra motivating. It lead to a new level of productivity for me this spring season. I thought I was already trying as hard as I could, but this season taught me that I can dig even deeper. I'll try to remember that, even when there isn't a deadline looming.

I fall in love with wild landscapes, and I'm going to miss so many places that I've grown attached to over our last eight years in Lander. Magical areas full of fond memories. I've enjoyed small town life, teaching at the Lander Middle School, and the Lander community. Moving here from Ft. Collins was a great decision, one that I'd never take back. But the west is big, and life is short. Good books have many chapters, and we're turning the page to the next one.

Boundless Riches Beyond Compare

2017-04-13T21:23:00.003-06:00

It's no secret that I think public lands are one of the best ideas Americans have ever had. I wrote up my thoughts, perspective, and history with the topic for
Thunder Cling with help from Dave McAllister. Check it out, and I hope that you like it!

First Ascents

2017-04-09T10:42:00.000-06:00

First ascents stand out. The ones I've seen, and the ones I've done. I've compiled a slideshow of Wyoming first ascents that I've been lucky enough to be a part of, mostly for my own benefit. Keeping the days fresh in my memory, making sure that problems don't disappear, that they are documented, and shared. The time seems right to share this video for those who are interested. Note that the person photographed isn't necessarily the climber that got the first ascent. Sometimes it's the repeats that get photographed. If a problem in this video isn't in the Bouldering in the Wind River Range guidebook, it will most likely appear in a google map that I'm compiling or in the upcoming guidebook to The Rock Shop and City Walls. Thanks go out to all the first ascentionists, and all the boulderers who shared information with me over the years. Special thanks goes to Davin Bagdonas, Chris Marley, Jesse Brown, Vance White, Steve Bechtel, Greg Collins, Justin Iskra, and Justin Loyka. Without them the vast majority of these problems never would have been done. I'd also like to thank Ashley, and my family for climbing with me every weekend!

Enjoy!

Winter Days on Sunny Stone

2017-04-02T09:58:00.000-06:00

The good winter days are often the best days! The air is still, the rock is cool, you can spend all day in the sun without getting burned, and because they are rare you appreciate the nice days more. Our winter began with warm weather, and a great day at Roy, New Mexico.

"Buttercup" is pretty tricky for V5, but I figured it out, and climbed it, before the end of the session.

I highly recommend this problem!

We were there on a weekend during Christmas Break, and we still had the Jumbles all to ourselves for the day.

We managed to hit Sweetwater during a good day in February. We added a few new lines to the warm up wall in the Norwegian Sector.

When the stone is good at Sweetwater, it's amazingly good!

Ashley and Sierra used the day to train for a trip to Hueco.

A Sweetwater view, photos don't to the distance justice. Those are the Wind River Mountains in the background, over 70 miles away.

Ashley and Sierra spent a whole week at Hueco, had a great time, but didn't get any great photos.

When the weather was poor this winter I looked at a lot of boulders. Sierra hiked the granite with me.

And I looked at sandstone high on the hills of Sinks Canyon.

And sometimes we bouldered despite less than perfect weather.

Sierra's been interested in seeing what she can do on a rope. She redpointed "Hardware" 5.12 on her second attempt.

Did "The Wilds" 5.12a in conditions too cold for my fingers.

And she redpointed "Moe" 5.12b in a session. Here's Dave giving it a valiant effort.

Before Science Fair in Laramie we got in a couple sessions in northern Colorado. Sierra flashed "Punk Rock Traverse" V5 at Horsetooth Reservoir.

She did "Corner Lock" V4 on her third attempt.

And unlocked the reachy (for her) crimp line on the left side of Pitch Penny.

We were only able to pack one pad for this trip, so I worked on the only difficult line I was comfortable trying with one pad, "Beast House" V9 at Arthur's Rock.

I didn't do it, but I did a move I'd never stuck before.

Torrey Valley delivered great conditions on a couple weekends.

We climbed every line and variation we could come up with on the Bunk House Boulder.

And one fun line on the "Chances" boulder.

The ice was very clear on the creek.

I had Sierra pose on a finger crack in the ice. Then I posted it to Instagram. I thought the reflection and the snow boots made it pretty obvious what was going on, but it appears that some people were fooled by it.

The wildlife in Torrey Valley adds to the experience. Sheep watched while I worked on a new compression line.

My highlight for the season was finishing the first ascent of "Just Being" V7/8 at Sweetwater. My fifth session on the line, I worked out a sequence and had good enough conditions to keep the right hand crimp.

Here's video.

I've also been working on writing projects, and spring has gotten off to a good start. I should have more news to post soon.

Over Two Hundred Problems at the Rock Shop Compiled!

2017-01-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

The season is here for guidebook work, and work is beginning on a comprehensive guide to the Rock Shop. I'm excited to be working with Justin Iskra, Kian Stewart, Ben Sears, and Kyle Duba this time around. It's a true community project! We want to get the word out, and collect input from as many Rock Shop developers/boulderers as possible. So here is my current Rock Shop list based on personal experience, and what I could find online. Dashes mean that I'm not aware of the problem and couldn't find star ratings online. I'll update this list as I get more information. If you see something that is incorrect or incomplete, please leave a comment here or e-mail me at davlloyd3@yahoo.com Thanks!

Sea of Pearls V13*** Chris Marley

The Iron Spider V13*** Chris Marley

Land of the Free (sit) V12** Chris Marley

Land of the Free V11*** Chris Marley

Smoking the Tree V12** Chris Marley

Smoking the Tree (Stand) V10** Chris Marley

Gem Thief V11** Chris Marley

The Giving Tree (Sit) V11** Chris Marley

Unforgiving Tree (low start) V11** Chris Marley

"Philanderer Wall Traverse" V10? ** Chris Marley

Spidey Sense V11** Chris Marley

Pain and Perfection (low) V11** Chris Marley

Shooting Stars V11* Chris Marley

Astro Boy V10** Chris Marley

Landiego V10** Chris Marley

Get High and Fly V9 *** Chris Marley

Back Alley Hooker V9*** Chris Marley

Landslide V9* Chris Marley

Butch Cassidy V9** Chris Marley

"Arete by Money Train" V? — Chris Marley

Starry Night V7*** Chris Marley

Get High and Fly Stand V7 ** Chris Marley

The Vault V10 Chris Marley

Spider Sense (stand) V10* Chris Marley

Iron Spider (stand) V10*** Chris Marley

Smokin’ the Tree (stand) V10 ** Chris Marley

Mary Jane V10** Chris Marley

Electric Storm V9 ** Chris Marley

How High V9** Chris Marley

Mr. Green V10** Chris Marley

Search Party V10** Chris Marley

Corn on the Cob V9* Chris Marley

Electric Shit V8** Chris Marley

Shamrock V8* Chris Marley

Pimp Hand V7** Chris Marley

Sundance Kid V6 *** Chris Marley

"Swan Boulder Three Problems" V3- ~V6 * Chris Marley

"Unnamed Traverse and Up Problem”* V5 and V6 Chris Marley

Sharma Style V5* Chris Marley

Mr. Nice Guy V7** Chris Marley

Piggy V1** Chris Marley

Lord of the Flies V5*** Chris Marley

Zef V6** Chris Marley

Traverse Into Zef V3* Chris Marley

Piggy V1** Chris Marley

Luke Skywalker V8** Chris Marley

Sleepy Hollow V6** Chris Marley

Wonder Warmup V2** Chris Marley

Wonder Dyno V8** Chris Marley

Unnamed near Wonder V7* Chris Marley

Snake Eyes Traverse V7** BJ Tilden

Bust a Lung (Is this Smoking the Tree sit?) V12*** BJ Tilden

Bandito V11** Carlo Traversi

Lost in Space V11** Mike Bockino

The Giving Tree V10*** Jamie Emerson

Philanderer V9 *** Jon Glassberg

Lander Calphilanderer V9 ** Jon Glassberg

Philander Calrissian V9 ** Jon Glassberg

Trick Ass Mark V10*** Jon Glassberg

Name of the Wind SDS V9 *** Jon Glassberg

Lander Before Time V7 * Connor Griffith

Name of the Wind V8 *** Connor Griffith

Lander Calrissian V7/8 ** Connor Griffith

Holy Canoli V9/10** Skyler Bol
V4 to the right of H.C. V4* Skyler Bol

Grave Wave V5*** Justin Iskra

Lords of Dogtown V6** Justin Iskra

Chocolate Thunder V2*** Justin Iskra

Escape From Reality V6** Justin Iskra

Boats and Hoes V4** Justin Iskra

Long Far Gone V4*** Justin Iskra

Come Sail Away V1*** Justin Iskra

World Gone Sour V7* Justin Iskra

Cock Salad V6* Justin Iskra

The Morse Rides Again Direct V5*** Justin Iskra

Welcome Back Slab V1** Justin Iskra

Welcome Back Arete V2* Justin Iskra

Shit Storm V5** Justin Iskra

Liquid Nails V1*** Mark Avery

Inglorious Bastard V6** Zach Rudy

Psychedelic Relic V8*** Zach Rudy

The Unforgiving Tree V9** Zach Rudy

Pain and Perfection V10** Ashley Lloyd

La Traverse’e de L’anniversaire V7*** Ashley Lloyd

Burly V6** Ashley Lloyd

Powerball V6* Ashley Lloyd

On the Move V4** Ashley Lloyd

Jet Stream V3** Ashley Lloyd

Bikini Bottom V3 Ashley Lloyd

Hold Your Horses V5/6* Ashley Lloyd

Copperhead V5** Ashley Lloyd

Ready to Go V4* Ashley Lloyd

Snake Salad V6* Ashley Lloyd

Two Snakes Traverse V6** Ashley Lloyd

To the Pain V6* Ashley Lloyd

Little Roof V5 Ashley Lloyd/Jesse Firestone

Rattlesnake Traverse V5* Ashley Lloyd

Slopers to Quality V4** Ashley Lloyd

Too Fun V4* Ashley Lloyd

Young Blood V5*** Jesse Brown

Super Nova V3*** Jesse Brown

Headless Horseman V3*** Jesse Brown

Black Swan V5** Jesse Brown

Font Simulator V4** Jesse Brown

C-3PO V7* Jesse Brown

R2D2 V7* Jesse Brown

Punctuality Award V2* Jesse Brown

Roasted V2 Jesse Brown

Shots Fired V2** Jesse Brown

Square Planet V3* Jesse Brown

Solar Flare V1** Jesse Brown

El Moreno Right V2** Jesse Brown

The Engagement V5* Jesse Brown

The Lobster V3?** Jesse Brown

(Left of Silence) V4?** Jesse Brown

Drop it Like It's Hot V6*** Charlie Manganiello

Always on Time V5** Charlie Manganiello

Against All Odds V4* Charlie Manganiello

True Blood V6* Matt Saunders

Mustache Ride V2** Brian Horlick

Snakes on a Train V6** Kian Stewart

Motherfucking Snakes V7*** Kian Stewart

Joy of Life V5** Kian Stewart

Mesmerize V4** Kian Stewart

The Wedge V4— Kian Stewart

The Wind Blows High V4— Kian Stewart

Coral Reefer V4 Kian Stewart

Satisfy My Soul V3/4— Kian Stewart

Moon Rocks V3** Kian Stewart

Havana Daydream V2** Kian Stewart

Limb by Limb V1— Kian Stewart

The Line V1— Kian Stewart

My Side Piece V1/2— Kian Stewart

High Stakes V? — Kian Stewart

In Tents V?— Kian Stewart

Heartless Bastard V3** Kian Stewart

The Sun is Shining V0/1 — Kian Stewart

Party Time V0 — Kian Stewart

Nexus V6*** David Lloyd

Giddyup V4** David Lloyd

Caroline Test V5** David Lloyd

Boulder of Montana V5** David Lloyd

Preemptive Strike V3** David Lloyd

Fear of Commitment V4** David Lloyd

Silence V3** David Lloyd

Raise the Roof V1* David Lloyd

Awakenings V1* David Lloyd

Millenium Falcon V5** David Lloyd

Stone Country V3/4* David Lloyd

Touch of Grey V6** David Lloyd

Stone Country SDS V7** David Lloyd

Gaston Gaston V5* David Lloyd

Perfect Storm V6** David Lloyd

The Great Escape V5** David Lloyd

Pit Viper V4* David Lloyd

2nd Hand Smoke V5** David Lloyd

Doom Doom V2** David Lloyd

Mars Attacks V6* David Lloyd

Scrunchity Crunch V4* David Lloyd

Sliced Bread V3** David Lloyd

Total Paralysis V3** David Lloyd

Fighting Paralysis V2*** David Lloyd

Armchair Martian V2** David Lloyd

Jammin’ is a Thing of the Past V1** David Lloyd

Get to the Point V1* David Lloyd

Moss Man Prophecy V4** Calen Campbell

Big Fudge V2** Calen Campbell

Skid Marks V2** Calen Campbell

Calen's Face V2/3* Calen Campbell

Short Stack and Variations ~V2* Calen Campbell

"Two V2s near Lord of the Flies" V2* Chris Marley and Tony Stark?

Foul Mouth V4** Tony Stark

Shit Storm V5** Tony Stark

Full Sail V7*** Tony Stark

The Morse Rides Again V4*** Tony Stark

La Boulangerie V3** Alan Pirie

In the Akasha V9** Kerrek Stinson

Darth V3* Bryan VanSickle

Pork Chop V6*** Bryan Vansickle

First Contact V5** Bryan Vansickle

Tongue'er Muffin V5?** Bryan Vansickle

Just Getting Started V5* Alex Johnston

My Mind's Eye Traverse V6** Alex Johnston

Hard Rock Syndrome V2* Alex Johnston

Seemingly Suspect V3* Alex Johnston

My Mind's Eye V1** Alex Johnston

Termites V5** Matt Pincus

Land is Not Free V7* Matt Pincus

Weirdos From Another Planet V5** Jesse Firestone

Captain Obvious V2* Jesse Firestone

If, Then, Because V7* Jesse Firestone

Slippery Truth V1* Sierra Lloyd

Bobcat’s V1** Sierra Lloyd

The Hills Have Eyes V3*** Ben Williams

Money Train V2*** Stephen Snell

Unnamed V4** Spenser Tang-Smith

Unnamed V3--- Spenser Tang-Smith

Purple is a Color V2 Spenser Tang-Smith

Zef Warm ups V0-2* ?

Piggy to Lord of the Flies V. V5* ?

Quality Warmup V1*** ?

The Other V2 ** ?