In March of 2017 I took a two week trip to Joes Valley. It was perhaps the best climbing trip I've been on. Not because of how well I performed, but because of the people I met and the connections I made. A few Flagstaff homies accompanied me on the first week, but the rest I planned on rolling solo. I was never alone on this trip, instantly I met some of the most amazing, loving, and carefree people.
The first person I'm going to mention is Garrick Hague. I had met Garrick a couple months before this trip when he rolled through Flagstaff during our gnarliest snow storm, he didn't stay long. I ran into him again a few weeks later at the Kraft Boulders in Vegas. This in when our friendship truly blossomed. And by blossomed, I mean we spent the entire day in Kraft making poop jokes, heckling, and annoying the rest of the climbers there. I talked to Garrick about my trip to Joes and he said he would be there for the whole month, so we planned on meeting up.
Garrick aka Tiny Peep
I rolled into Joes late, three vans where lined up in the Mansize area. One of those vans belonged to Garrick. The other two belonged to my soon to be friends, Tina and Alex, and Cody. Jill, one of my good buddies from Flagstaff, also rolled in late that evening. The next day two more friends from Flagstaff joined, Lexi and Brandon aka Bam Bam. As my time is Joes extended, so did the crew of people we were with. Some would leave and go back to their homes, then more would join. I feel like I need to name everyone, because they are all so important. These are the names of everyone that would be at one point a part of our crew; Garrick, Tina, Alex, Cody, Jill, Lexi, Brandon, Pat, Stephen, Rubi, Mondo, Alli, Ray, Meredith, David, Alex (Canadian), and Mark. We would call ourselves PDF crew, an acronym for Poopy Dick Freud. A classy bunch we were.
Pat aka Mama T
Tina and Alex aka Tuff Thug and Torn Roll
The highlight of this trip wasn't the climbing, although Joes is one of my favorite areas to climb at. The highlights were the laughs. If we weren't climbing we were cracking jokes, dancing, playing ninja, singing, raping, playing contact, giving each other knuckle tattoos, or just laying in the sun and drinking. Never was there a dull moment.
What I learned from this trip is why I continue to climb. Don't get me wrong, I love climbing for myself, for the effort and motivation I have to put it, for the progress and the plateaus. But what keeps me going, why I continue to throw myself at little rocks is the community. The people that you meet from all different backgrounds. The closet friends I have to this day are the ones I have met through this silly sport. Realizing this has made getting through the frustrating plateaus easier, its made punting seem funny, its made grades feel irrelevant. Its made me a happier person.
Stevie aka Yung Jose
Patagonia Atom Sling (Yurt Yellow)
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