This weekend we went with the crew to Mammoth. We climbed at Bachar Boulder and Clark Canyon. We would have gone to Yosemite, however, Hiroko suffered from AMS so we hung out at Bishop. We ended up floating a river and watched a movie.


Mark Hsieh (Me) on Like a Virgin


Hiroko Ostuka Hsieh Climbing a high ball at Bachar Boulders


Some Sand Bagged V5


Kenny Suh, Bachar Boulders


Melissa Aoki Catching Air, Photo by: Marty Galang


Kenny Suh on Like a Virgin


Marty Galang on Like a Virgin


Hiroko Otsuka Hsieh Climbing and Melissa Aoki Spoting


Ernie Leal Assaulting the Rocks with his Guns


Above the Owens River Gorge, Hiroko Otsuka Hsieh and Ernest Quiambao


Marty Galang


Melissa Aoki Staring down the Virgin


Conor Eldrige Climbing


Me and Hiroko at Convict Lake.

Thursday dinners are somewhat of an intermittent tradition. We have them for a while and then we stop. However, ever since Josh has been back he has done a good job of contacting us about getting together. This week however was wednesday because it was the best time that we all can meet. Normally we eat and cook at someone’s house, however we decided it would be nice to eat out. We went to some nice Korea restaurant off lemon and Golden Springs.

It has been nearly a month since Hiroko has been climbing. She has been healing from climbing injuries and stomach problems. We decided to take it slow and just climb one route at Riverside Quarry. We climbed Trundle Trophy 5.10d.


Mark Hsieh (Me) and Hiroko Otsuka Hsieh


Hiroko Climbing Trundle Trophy 5.10d

Look at my cell phone time. I was put on hold for all that time and decided to hang up. I’ve only had Verizon for the last 3-4 months and i’ve been over charged 600 dollars and customer service sucks.

1-800-Verizon for 1hr and 8 minutes.. ridiculous.

Young had been talking about taking me and Kenny out on a multi-pitch climb one day. So on Wednesday, this week, he set a date and route. Whodunit 5.9 (more like 5.10ish) @ tahquitz. I was super excited. I have never climb past 400 feet and Whodunit is about 700-800 feet. I was very unfamiliar with the complicated rope work of multi-pitch climbs and am ready to learn from the best. Our day started at 5:00am and did not end till about 11:00pm. It was long, but also well worth it. Spent some time with Kenny Suh and Young Chu. It was great.


Kenny Suh Making the sketchy moves on lichen, 5th pitch.


Mark My Hsieh (Me), look how small the trees are.


Group Picture: Young Chu, Kenny Suh, Mark My Hsieh (Me)


Kenny Suh Belaying.


Young Chu heading off into the sharp end.

I’ve decided that I need to get fit. The office work at Mad Rock has gotten me aerobically weak. After work I made the decision to go ride the Fullerton Loop. It has been a while since I’ve been mountain biking. I had to spend a good amount of time to tune my bike back in to riding condition, even then, it was still ghost shifting and not making it into the lowest gear. Though I was struggling on most of the ride I enjoyed it. The ride brought me to places that brought back memories. The weather was great and the dirt was perfect for riding. The ride took me about 1:50 minutes. Hopefully I can get Hiroko a mountain bike, so i can take her on this ride.


This is the tunnel leaving the golf Course.


This is what the whole fullerton loop looks like.

When do we know that we have too much clothes? Its was only last night that me and Hiroko talked a little about our closet possibly collapsing due to too much weight. It was today that our talk became reality. Our closet came crashing down today while I was at home playing Wii Mario Kart. Here is the aftermath.


A sign for too much clothes?


The missing section of clothes from the picture above.

What I though was going to be another boring afternoon turned in an adventure. I headed down to Lowes and did some shopping. Ending up with a 10 feet Conduit Steel Pipe. Got home, stuffed the original wooden pole down the metal pole, drilled some stuff, screwed some stuff, and whalla. A fixed closet with with better clothes sliding action.