Le Conte Gully from Stoneman’s Bridge
I stopped on my way to work yesterday morning and took a picture of Le Conte Gully. Like 2 years ago, it is filled with beautiful yellow bushes, that, if you were to go up there, would provide a splendid foreground to Half Dome from a unique perspective in the Valley. The light is a little wrong to see the dog leg in the gully where the boulder came loose, but I was late for work, and this is what I got.
All this makes October 22 a good time each year to contemplate being alive, be grateful for what I have, and to think about how far I’ve come in the intervening time. It’s my Boulder Day. My back is doing great. It aches sometimes, but for the most part it is the lack of strength and flexibility that holds me back these days. Although I’m not really doing much climbing, that has more to do with lack of motivation than inability, and I’ve started doing some running. At one point this summer I did a half-marathon distance. I’m still god-awful slow, but today, on my typical out and back from Curry Village, the distance that usually takes me 20+ minutes, took only 18. So, I’m getting a little faster and feeling a little stronger. I’ve started (just barely) trying to get back into the weight room more regularly too in preparation for the upcoming ski season. I figure if I’m also a little careful about what I eat, I’ll lose some of the extra fat that I’ve put on these last 2 years too.
This year Tom and I celebrated quietly. Tom returned from a few days’ visit to WI to visit Dr. Kingdon in the hospital the night of the 22nd, so we went out for a nice romantic dinner tonight and he even got me a couple of small presents on his way back through Fresno. I’m such a lucky girl!