this is a photo of me. I didn’t take it. But it shows me bushwhacking, or prior to the bad bushwhacking. You can see a 40 liter pack on my back. One I had been told would be too big for the trip. I barely fit all 50 of my granola bars into it though. You can see “the thong” on the back of my pack as well. It’s a black piece of nylon that keeps my helmet attached to my bag. But every single person who has seen my bag asks me if it’s simply a repurposed Deuter branded thong. I will neither confirm nor deny.

Overall, we were going to climb on the wall nicknamed “Sweet Wall.” It wasn’t sweet and it hurt my legs very badly when I fell. I have wounds from performing a slab climbing technique called the “cheese grater.” If you aren’t familiar, imagine falling on a giant 70 degree cheese grater. That was me.