BROKEN CAMERA... SO INSTEAD, 1,000 WORDS.
Well, It's been a bit of a haul.
Spent a few more days chasing good weather in Croatia. Had a few more days of climbing in hot/ off-and-on rain inCroatia with the crew. The rain increased, though, and Nathan, Cheri, and I rented a car and got outta Croatia en route to Munich via Slovenia, Italy, and Austria.
We made a brief stopover in Osp, Slovenia. Not surprisingly, it was super hot with afternoon rain- but nonetheless we decided to brave the weather and head up to the crag of Misja Pec (photo in the last blog post, below). Despite rain, it was a great climbing afternoon- and we got in a really quick 6 or 7 pitches.
After Misja Pec, we traveled by car through Slovenia and Austria- both extremely mountainous and beutiuful, and then into Munich where they were to catch a plane home. I embarked on a long, solo public transportation/ pedestrian journey to Frankenjura... In Munich alone, I caught the bus, the "S bahn", the "U bahn", and "the train" to Nuernberg where I used my "legs" to walk accross town to the Hostel. After a night in a youth hostel, I walked to a train station and caught a series of trains and buses to Frankenjura.
I arrived in Untertrubach, location of the famous "Oma" (Granny) Eichler, owner of the climber campground Gasthof Eichler (www.gasthof-eichler.de). Martha is a splendid lady who kindly spoke with clearly-articulated German, that I could understand her and reply using my 8-years-expired German language skills. I was debriefed on where, how, etc... of the camping setup there and went about putting up my tent. Within ten minutes, Martha's son, Hannes, came
and offered me a ride to the nearest village so that I could stock up on provisions at the supermarket.
As has been the case, seemingly, with everywere I've travelled this spring (Red River Gorge, Spain, whatever), this was the wettest conditions many of the locals have ever seen-- and rocks that typically are dry due to their overhanging nature were utterly soaked through... So we climbed wet rocks.
Though the weather never really cleared, it definitely improved and we climbed another two days, took a rest day, and then climbed another two(ish) days. The trails and roads in the area were really quite perfect for running- as they were numerous, rolling, and criss-crossing- so the jogging (or as I always do: sprinting at blinding speeds) was excellent.
Unfortunately, I never wrapped my head around the climbing at Frankenjura. It seems that each day I climbed, I got worse at it! I think a number of factors contributed to this: the high heat, very high humidity, seeping rocks, strangely-shaped, finger-strength-intsenive pockets, awkward clipping stances, greased and knobby foot edges (that didn't allow for smearing), and oft high-penalty bolt placements... these all surely contributed to the problems I had...
but I suppose I felt that the problem I there was that I never figured out how to climb "well"- in other words, I think that the best parts of climbing are figuring out how to best relax in strenuous situations-- with straigh-arm clips, creative body positioning, dropped heels, minimal "gripping", smart bolt clipping (if that means clipping at or above the bolt)-- but I felt the climbing here required over-gripping (which here seemed necessary), poor clipping stances (strenuous), bad foot technique, etc, etc... in other words- I just never figured out how to climb it properly.
So Frankenjura and I shook hands and agreed to disagree. Having never done this before, I left the place without ever really enjoying the climbing (save for one or two routes)-- though I do intend to return at some point. Perhaps in dryer weather.
Meanwhile, I came to the conclusion that this summer is actually a "vacation"- something during which you're supposed to have fun- so I thought I'd just roll on out to Céüse- reportedly among the best sport crags in the world.
Other motivating factors for getting to France sooner included word that good friends from the US would be there from the 4th through the 11th only...
Plus, I wasn't too inclined to stick around and beat myself up in a moldy German forest when a world class crag was just a train ride or three away.
....
Turns out Ceuse is truly a climber's paradise. The camping is plush (free hot showers, plenty of shade trees, relaxed international community), the lifestyle is greast: beautiful approach hike, long mornings in the campsite, and spectacular limestone.
I'm having somewhat of a hard time adjusting to the climbing; it's been so long since I've climbed with this much volume- that is, it's been a long time since I've been injury-free, on vacation, and had good enough weather to sport climb long, hard, sustained routes as much as I want!
That said, I think I'm getting stronger, but at the same time, more run down. So today is the first day of a back-to-back rest day session. Anyway. Without feeling super strong, I've still found that I'm able to climb OK- lots of volume with onsight/ flash climbing, a few second-try routes, and some projcets that are within reach for sure. So that's cool. I'm digging the technical climbing, but also the overhanging power-endurance stuff as well.
Socially, I've been hanging out with a great family/ neighborhood posse. Representatives from Brazil, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Britain, France (no way!), Belgium, etc, etc... Also, a Utah friend, Isaac, a bunch and his crew (Dave Graham, Seth Gilean [from St George], and Jon Cardwell), as well as a bunch of people in my "neighborhood" at camp. My bestest homie here is this australian dude (Chicken) who's been a perfect buddy. I'm in a constant battle of trying not to pee my pants from laughing- and we're really compatible as climbing partners, attitude- and ability-wise.
in other news, the weather's been spectucular. Sun-shiny days back-to-back. But, Ceuse does have super weird weather- one minute you're WAY too hot and the next you're numbing out. It has everything to do with sun vs shade and still vs windy air.
I'm pretty much not in touch at all this summer, but that's OK, I suppose. I do wish I were getting more work done on my books, but at the moment there's not much I can do about that b/c of lack of car, scarce power sources, and remote internet (Gap). Anyway.
CEUSE IS STILL PARADISE. For the first time in years, I feel like I'm finally getting the chance to get in proper climbing shape... Each day I feel more and more fit -which leads me to believe that I still have a lot of room to improve before I plateau. In addition to the physical gains, I'm also enjoying a good head. I think all of the trad climbing of the recent years, the less-than-ideal conditions on trips all winter and spring, and all of the varied rock I've been on recently have all contributed to strengthening my mental game in climbing-- and now that my body is finally getting the chance to gain fitness (through regular, uninterrupted climbing) for the first time in YEARS, I'm finally able to take advantage of the mental improvements I've been accumulating. 
