Back to the Valley!

Well, we are on then road again. This time there is a good chance we won't be home for four months! Our first stop was in Jackson for a week long photo camp in which Becca was a student, and I.... Believe it or not, was a model. So while Becca was dialing in the apertures and f-stops, I was flexing my rippling back muscles and flashing my blue steel eyes, Ha! When i was introduced to the class as the model, the general reaction was a mix between nervousness and despair.

"oh man, how are we going to make good pictures of this yahoo."

The instructor staff; on the other hand, was a dream team. They included photographers, Corey Rich, Kieth Ladzinski, Lucas Gilman, And phot editors from the North Face (Scott Wilson) and National Geographic (Ken Geiger). With Cory as the head instructor it was as much of a lesson on sleep deprivation as photography. We got up before the sun came up most days and went to bed around midnight. The fall colors were out in all there glory so there were plenty of opportunities for great photos. Becca soaked up a mind boggling amount of photography information. I even got to escape the classes each day for a few ours of training. By the end of the week I was feeling pretty antsy to get to Yosemite. We jumped in the van and bolted straight to the valley.

Monday morning... Rain! What?! October is supposed to be totally drat in Yosemite. Last spring we endured a snowstorm every week. I was sure this fall would be much drier. We decided to try and be productive and hike a load to the top of El Cap in the rain. If nothing else it would be a nice hike, right? Not quite, we narrowly missing getting washed away by a flash flood on the east ledges. Becca was two pitches above me on the fixed lined when it came. Feeling quite worried I sprinted up the fixed lines only to find her whooping, hollering and snapping photos.

"that was so rad" Becca shouted over the sound of the raging water.

What a woman! I was once again reminded what a lucky husband i am. We brought our packs to the top, then ran down. Bt the time we got back to the van we were properly soaked. The forecast is for a few more days of rain, so we are headed out for some sport climbing at Jailhouse. The cliff is so steep there that one can climb during any kind of weather.