Santa Fe, Aug 4-5 2007

Amy and Aaron finally got around to getting hitched this weekend. The ceremony was held at the Kiva lodge, in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, near Santa Fe. Melody and I flew in to Albuquerque on Friday night, and drove to Santa Fe, where we spent the night at some friends' of theirs, who were kind enough to offer their hospitality (thanks Aaron and Jen!). Susan, Matt, Ed and Viv had come the previous day, and went out climbing with the locals. We spent Saturday wandering around Santa Fe, touring the art galleries, museums and boutiques, sampling the local cuisine (word to the wise - don't go to Cafe Paris on Burro Alley St. The service there is unbelievably abysmal.) It's a really cute town (at least the bits of it that we saw). Around 3, we packed up and drove to Sam and Sara's ranch, in the hills above Los Alamos, not far from the Valles Caldera. A large crew of us waited a while for the bus to take us the final few miles, playing frisbee by and in the road, dressed up in our Saturday near best (Amy said "no ties!"). Eventually, the bus arrived, and we all piled in.

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The wedding was held outside, away from any structure, on a gentle slope overlooking the huge meadow in the center of the caldera. A very pristine and serene location. The clouds threatened, but did not commit. The ceremony it self was short, but very sweet and touching. Aaron and Amy managed to on-sight it - no need for a redpoint. The reception afterward was held under a large tent next to the lodge, with local foods, and bluegrass music. First time I've heard "Hava Nagila" played by a bluegrass band! The bay area crowd was definitely the rowdy end of the table - we drank and danced and climbed tent poles, until the bus had to leave, at which point the festivities were continued at Sam and Sara's. Amy and Aaron had a slide show of their recent trip to China. Way cool. Despite borrowing a tent from Amy, we crashed on the basement floor at Sam and Sara's - I really didn't feel like setting up a tent in the rain.

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The next morning, after a protracted breakfast (it's not easy to feed 40 people, but Sam and Sara still managed to pull it off in fine style), we drove back to Santa Fe, and Ed, Viv, Matt, Susan, Amy, Aaron, Melody, and I headed to Diablo - the crag that Aaron and Amy have been developing. It was on the warm side, so shade was definitely in order. The rock is basalt, very reminiscent of Table Mountain and Smith rock, with lots of near-horizontal, small edges, that call for good technique and interesting body positions. Melody and I started off on a 5.8 (Melody's first sport climb outside and hardest send!), then I tried a few of the classics: Evil (5.10b sandbag), something rated 11-, that felt just as hard as Evil, Diabolical (5.11c), one of Aaron's recent lines, and finally Boarding Pass (5.12a). Really fun lines. Meanwhile, Melody was working on a 10b, then took over as photographer. Then it was unfortunately time to leave, and head to the airport to catch our flight. We bid farewell to the happy, if still exhausted couple, and trekked back to the car, and managed not to get lost on the dirt roads back to the highway.

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I was utterly surprised by the scenery around Santa Fe. I was expecting an arid desert, cacti, sagebrush and tumbleweeds. Dry arroyos, and wind blown mesas. I was certainly not expecting thunderstorms and heavy rain! It was so much lusher than I had imagined, and amazingly beautiful. Especially in the Jemez mountains over Los Alamos - lots of trees and grassy meadows. And so much more pristine than the California sierras. Hmmm. Maybe I should have taken a job at LANL after all....