El Cajon Mountain: The Ramp

El Cajon Mountain

I hurt my rotator cuff at CorePower yoga last Tuesday. I had a huge plan to go super extreme mountain climbing with Scott this weekend, but ended up having to cancel. Well, semi cancel. Instead of succumbing to my lame attempt to sit on the couch all weekend, Scott said we should go on a nice long hike on El Cajon Mountain. And, oh yeah, bring your climbing shoes.

I totally fell for it.

The View from El Cajon Mountain

I even brought my camera. Click here to see more pictures

7am parking space.

This is Scott.

Scott is an excellent friend of mine. He brought me along even though I am an extreme novice at outdoor climbing. He quite literally shows me the ropes.

The hike was long. We cross 3.5 ravines on a 2 hour hike getting to the spot.

I like how the light hits this bush

This where we stopped to rest for 5 minutes.

The view was breathtaking.

This is my favorite picture

The view from my camel pack

The crag was actually way crowded. The walkways were a bit narrow, and at the climbing location you had to make sure to step over people safely.

Scott chose "The Ramp" for us to climb because he determined a 45 degree angle friction climb wouldn't aggravate my rotator cuffs. He was right, it didn't. He made it sound SO easy though. He made it sound like we didn't even need a rope. I am so glad it was there, because everytime I hit an outdoor climb, I just feel like I can't do it.

Everytime I do, though, I am just overwhelmed by what hurdles I can overcome, and how much opportunity there is in the world.

I shouldn't talk it up though, It was a pretty novice climb. Baby steps, though, baby steps.

View from the top. In this photo, I am clipped at the top of the first pitch.

AHH look how steep it is.

It's dumb to bring a DSLR rock climbing!

Scott had the repel skills. I'm so lucky he is my friend!


Scott taught me how to set up my own repel.

It might be lame to say this, but at one point I was so overtaken by beauty and accomplishment that I started to tear up a bit. No, its totally lame. Scott thought it was hilarious. Its just, standing on top of that mountain after brushing off the fear of death and pompous inexperience, I felt like I've overcome so much in my life. I felt like I did when I took my last final in college. I felt like I did at mile 23 of that marathon. I felt like I have taken control of my life at so many moments that no one could disagree that I, and I alone, shaped who I am today. And that has always been my greatest wish, my greatest goal. I, at 25, own who I am.

I can't decide if I would risk dropping my camera and most expensive lense off the top of a mountain while actively climbing again.