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BooDawg
Social climber
Paradise Island
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Jul 20, 2010 - 05:08pm PT
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Berdette, I'd forgotten about your accident and visiting you in the hospital. Yes, what a change that brought to your life! Thanks so much for instigating our trip down Memory Lane.
I'd be pleased to hear more about what you liked so much about living in Yosemite from the employee's perspective. I'm sure others would agree as this site is Yosemite-based, and the Curry Co. & its employees, in SO MANY WAYS, have had a strong influence on climbers.
You mentioned your wanderlust, so I'd like to hear about your further travels; again, others on this site thrive on "trip reports" (TRs), even ones that don't involve climbing. So post 'em up!
Here are a few pictures from last weekend's trip to Volcano.
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Berdette Robison
climber
Green Valley, AZ
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Jul 20, 2010 - 08:26pm PT
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Ken: Beautiful pictures...must be an amazing place.
I can still remember driving into the valley with you and Dennis and seeing Yosemite for the very first time. As I'm sure all of you know, there are truly no words to describe it. I was very fortunate to work in the offices in Yosemite village running a teletype (anyone under 60 even know what a teletype is???) with a real 9-5 job. My roommate, and almost everyone else, were either housekeepers or waiters working all kinds of odd hours. We had no TV, no car, no telephone, never saw a newspaper...almost no contact with the outside world...just surrounded by the majesty of the rocks, the trees, the sky, the clouds. The dorms were in the village and we had our meals at the Lodge. We would walk to each meal and it was just awe inspriing to be part of that beauty. I certainly don't have to tell all of you climbers what that world is like. I don't think I've ever felt more at peace before or since and I've spent many years searching. I was 19 and had the whole world ahead of me. Interestingly enough, I didn't return until about 10 years ago when I just drove through. As I'm sitting here writing this, I wonder if I had returned when I recovered from my accident, I would have recaptured that serenity that has eluded me ever since.
I got married in 1969 and my beautiful daughter, Donna, was born in 1971 when we moved from the valley to the beach in Oxnard. Lots of good years and then I got restless. I got divorced in 1981 and began several years of just packing up and moving on...by myself. Many regrets in life, but my biggest is leaving my daughter. Remember, I had already gone to New York at 18 and Yosemite at 19. My first stop on my quest was Sedona, AZ which was almost as breathtaking as Yosemite. I'm sure many of you have been to Sedona. I spent almost a year there and found the beauty there almost as extraordinary. In those days, I would decide it was time to leave for whatever reason, pack up my car (and in those days my cat) and just get in the car and drive. I went to San Francisco (too big) and drove down the coast and stopped in Pismo Beach, rented a condo, bought all new furniture and stayed three months! Now, you have to realize that at each stop, I had to work, so I would get a job or a series of jobs (print advertising sales in those days) and then off I'd go! Next stop, Carpinteria which I loved and actually stayed for five years. Then back to San Luis Obispo where I lived in every city in the county for 16 years...including another marriage and divorce along the way. During these years, I explored Big Bear, Lake Tahoe, a town on the Rogue River where I almost bought a newspaper, Monterey, Lake Arrowhead and other parts of Arizona. I spent a couple of years in Wickenburg, AZ and am now in Green Valley, AZ which is about 25 miles south of Tucson. My daughter and son-in-law were about 45 minutes away which is why I moved here. I moved here and they went back to the central coast of California and moved to Boise ID last year. I'm ready for my next journey, but have been unable to sell my house or I'd be gone already. Somewhere along the way, and only in the last couple of years, I've found that peace within myself that I was so busy searching for outwardly, or thinking someone else was going to fill.
I'm not sure you were really interested in all this retrospection...and certainly, this is the strangest place to do all this...a very public forum!
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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a nice warm Welcoming me to meeting (left to right) Ken Boche and Russ Mclean at Stoney Point.
Happy Time!
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nature
climber
Hampi Karnataka India
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crack of dawn..... where's the fish?!?!111169
not much for fish the but the stories were priceless! Thanks again for those, Ken!
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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No fish on that trip, but that thar cooler was FULL of BEER!
Having just arrived in CA from HI, via UT, I was lookin' thru my old Southwest photos and came across this one:
In UT, I visited a petroglyph site where I took a few pix of the rock-writing.
If I can get a picture of this event, I'll post it to the Petroglyphs and their Meanings thread.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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It was a pleasure doing business with you.
You did well to lose the beard.
You are, mein herr, the PhotogotooDawg, the shots you've presented of the 2012 Facelift are deserving of highest kudos.
(Golf claps, muttering....)
No, really, I wish to hellp that I had known about this Thread of Note earlier, before we had met. None-the-less, it's been a fun fortnight.
From a Merced Bear to a UCLA Bruin,
"If you go out in the woods today, you're in for a big surprise..."
You weren't singing the other night. And I missed your a capella performance at Meatfest. Next year.
MFM
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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It's remarkable, the things we see that we can compare.
The best things in life are free.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Nov 22, 2013 - 12:42am PT
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bump
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Nov 22, 2013 - 01:31am PT
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You gotta love the Boo. Cheers, Ken.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Nov 22, 2013 - 01:51am PT
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I missed this thread the first time around. I wasn't aware of who BooDawg actually was.
I climbed Marginal recently and found it to be a quite enjoyable route. I liked the fact that I could climb to the ledge, run the rope around the giant block, sit down and become the belay. No need for placing pro or building an anchor etc...
I had a lot of fun on that route. Actually picked it because of it's name. If it was called Chicken Fat I probably would have walked by over to Misty Beethoven or something.
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H
Mountain climber
there and back again
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Nov 22, 2013 - 12:21pm PT
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Ed, Thanks for bumping this thread. What a wonderful way to spend a sleepless night. Relished every post.
It's one of the many things I love about Supertopo. Funny how the momentum waned. Hopefully it will pick up the momentum again. I completely missed seeing it.
Ken, great to read your exploits and have your insight. I am so glad your climbing again. Any time your up this way let me know. Its a great time of year to climb on Saint Helena. Hope your business is flourishing.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Nov 22, 2013 - 03:37pm PT
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I had no idea of your illustrious past. You sing a darn good acapella! Now I see why. Cheers, lynnie
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