Crap. Double Crap.

The first fail came when I realized that a large majority of the internships I was interested in started in May. The second when my dog started to limp.

Let me elaborate.  In order to graduate, I must complete a minimum of 10 weeks of internship.  My plan, of course, was:

Fall quarter: Epic climbing trip
Winter and Spring quarters: Finish up course work
Summer: Internship

In my exuberance in thinking that I could once again take Fall quarter off and have everything work out perfectly, I failed to spend the few minutes it took to go online and see when the internships I wanted to do started.  Well, I did that the other day and realized that most of them start in May.  And Spring quarter doesn't end until the second week of June.  Recognizing that it would be foolish and irresponsible to jeopardize my chance at the internship I really want, I decided that I would indeed have to take classes Fall quarter.  So as of Sunday, the plan was to take a shorter (about six weeks) trip, probably mostly to Squamish, starting on August 1, and return in time for the start of school in late September.  Then, I would finish my coursework in March and have until May to climb.

The plan wasn't as awesome as the original, but it would certainly work.

Star with her party beads

That was the plan as of yesterday.  Today, things took another interesting turn.  I decided to take Star to the vet again as she has been having some limping problems, mostly exercised induced.  The vet decided that she would need X-rays, so I had to leave her there.  A few hours later the vet called and told me words that I hoped I would never hear.  Star has a partial tear in her ACL.  And she needs surgery.

Noooo!

I went back to the vet and saw the X-rays and the vet explained everything.  Apparently it is nothing that could have been prevented, but due to Star's bone structure it is something that was bound to happen, and could have happened at any time.  The vet recommended that Star have a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, otherwise known as a TPLO.  Basically I think they chop out part of the bone, put in a plate and a bunch of screws and tighten everything up.  Does that sound expensive to you?  It is!

The good news is that the surgery is very effective, and Star will able to go back to her 100% normal, functioning self.  There is also a very low risk of re-injury after the surgery.

Out climbing with Star

So now it looks like we might get a couple weeks in Squamish before Star's surgery is scheduled, and then it will definitely be time for me to get a job and put climbing on the back burner for awhile.  I'm just glad that they will be able to fix my Star Baby, and I hope everything will go smoothly.

The Buttes

Hello!  The last few weeks have been full of fun.  I got to spend some time at my parent's house in the Bay Area, which was great!  While I was there, I participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Cycle for Life, a 75 mile bike ride through San Francisco and Marin.  I did the ride in memory of Tim, and it felt really good to raise money for research and complete the ride.  My brother Mike also participated in the ride.

After spending some quality time with the family, Eric and I headed up to Tahoe for some sweet Donner climbing!  We got to climb a bunch of fun cracks in the last week, and clip some bolts up at Big Chief.

Me following a sweet crack at Donner on the Black Wall

In an attempt to avoid the crowds for 4th of July weekend, we headed to the Sierra Buttes.  I had never been there before and was psyched to check it out!  After some driving, a very, very steep hike (that included a coiled and rattling rattle snake in the middle of the trail) we made it!

The beautiful Buttes

The Buttes are incredible!  The setting is breathtaking- snow covered peaks, beautiful boulders, mountain streams and pools...  And to top it all off, we were the only ones there the entire time we were there!  We had an awesome time running around the mountains, climbing boulders, jumping in the ice cold streams and enjoying the solitude.  Now we are back at the Lake enjoying the company of friends, and in a few days we will head to Colorado for my cousin's wedding.

Titan is tired after backpacking his and Star's food up the mountain

Awesome campsite on top of a flat boulder

One of the places we went for a swim

Eric on a hard problem

Me on a cool traverse