Real Mountains and Bigger Adventures

ah nostalgia, sigh. heading up the chute and filling up on the Whitney mountaineers route June 2010. the conditions were unreal for this time of year, a fun introduction to crampons. . . i love these pictures Ben took with his Holga. the 'Holg' really adds a timeless quality to just about any shot, making the adventure appear super rugged and epic; kind of like how it sounds when we tell people about it after a few beers. . .
Looking at these also really makes me miss the Sierra. I love what LA has to offer in the way of easy-access adventure but even hyper-productive days of sport climbing and bouldering really don't compare with doing anything in the real mountains.
I seem to be at my most productive in the mountains and vertiCALI was born out of time spent there. Beginning with a JMT thru-hike in 2009 my gaze has gotten longer and I often catch myself staring out northeast, imagining the peaks lying beyond the SoCal haze. Sentimental, I know, but the call of the mountains is why we engage in silly vertical games like sport and bouldering, which despite being super-contrived, hold the promise of leading to the next, bigger adventure.