I think it is important to start this blog off by letting you know I am now a professional SD Hot Spot Seeker (meaning I am well versed in finding street parking now so I don't have to pay for garages, except on Fri/Sat). 
My Friday started at 7am arriving at work with my packed gear for the weekend at Joshua Tree for the youth from the foster academy and some nice waffles that I overflowed and made an incredible mess at the hostel. Met Juan and Mario who were helping with the trip (Juan has been with the program for 10 years) and Mario just joined the leadership program.
We arrived at Joshua Tree and started off with some scrambling so we could understand the route that we would be taking the kids on. My favorite part was where you had to lay on your back because the rocks were so narrow, scoot yourself up like an inch worm and then reach up and pull yourself up to get out of the cave like area. Sound sweet? Yea, that's cuz it is. We had to be careful who we took in there though because its a tight spot, I probably only had like a foot of space between my chest and the rock wall. My knees got pretty banged up as well!
Followed that up with a 5.7 climb at Echo Cove (I think it was Deceptive Corner) and then finished it up with a 5.7 crack climb at Double Cross. For those that don't climb, 5.5 to 5.9 is an intermediate level. The reason crack climbing takes practice is mostly the act of figuring out how to create "holds" from vertical cracks. You need to learn the finger, hand, fist and foot jams to climb. There is a lot of bending your legs and jamming your feet in sideways into a crack and shoving your hands into a crack, trying to make a fist, and then pulling yourself up on these. Needless to say your hands get ripped up and look like they went through razor blades, but gnarly hands are all part of the sport! We finished by eating Thai in town and then setting up camp for the youth that would be coming tomorrow. After my boss went to bed, Juanito, Mario, and I went for a late night hike/scramble session under the stars and moon and then ended it with headlight wars (don't ask). It was pretty amazing sleeping under that sky without a tent and hearing the coyotes!
The next day we had breakfast, ran through the scramble again to check our times, did a short hike and then met up with the kids. I took a few of them on a nature hike with Gregorio while the rest went to the scramble area. I picked out the kids that weren't interacting much and asked them about their hobbies, food (cuz who doesn't like to talk about food), and what activities they were looking forward to. The nature hike is fairly short, so we did some sight seeing, pictures, and planking (again, don't ask). Ended it with a nice game of poker.
We headed back to camp, had the kids set up their own tents, had a delicious dinner (peppers, chicken, and rotini) and ended it with ghost stories and s'mores. A lot of the kids actually wanted to sleep outside rather than in tents, which I thought was totally boss sauce (by the way, I got them to start using that term!) Apparently, the kids academy campus is haunted, so the ghost stories weren't a great idea and many of the girls asked to sleep near me.
Woke up the next morning, had the kids take down their tents and distracted them with talk while one of the leaders went to go grab breakfast that we left in the other car. Then we had PANCAKES for breakfasts! I had banana chocolate chip and there was nutella and peanut butter on the table, so you can imagine how the rest of them turned out (delicioso!)
We then took the kids out to a secluded climbing area and set up four climbs ranging from easy to hard. It was great to see their reactions: some were stoked and did all four, some had never climbed and went up as far as they could and then convinced themselves to finish and some at least attempted more than once even if they couldn't get far. I loved talking to them after they came down to ask them what they thought. After lunch, finished with a short hike and then said goodbye to the kids. I got two HUGE hugs from one of the very quiet kids that didn't hang with others and one girl who is planning on going to college and studying abroad.
These are big deals, these kids live on a family-style campus for foster youth, and aren't permitted to leave unless taken out by the academy leaders. A typical adolescent foster youth moves between homes an average of 10 times, and attends five or six different high schools, 83% of foster youth are held back by the third grade, 75% complete class work below grade level, 35% are in special education, and as few as 15% enroll in college - so as you can see, having a positive person in their life, giving them opportunities to learn and achieve a goal, and just allowing them to have fun and be a little less stressed means the world to them. They are great kids too, only once on the trip did we hear any attitude and it was pretty early in the morning so I can understand that. The guides and me then packed up and did inventory on all gear, went back to camp, packed up the car, drove back to work, unloaded all the gear, did a de-brief, washed all the dishes and I got to come back to the hostel! After 3 days in the Mojave Dessert without shower or WATER for cleaning, I was happy to take a nice long shower and put some CLEAN clothes on.
Oh also, after finding a great parking spot, sorting out my clothes to take into the hostel, and then walking to the hostel I came upon a homeless individual screaming at a man at the top of her lungs about how this was her San Diego and her stuff. I decided to cross the street before reaching her, but as I waited to cross, some man ran up behind me yelling "SDPD, undercover cop! Ma'am I'm an undercover cop, what's the problem?!" I was like, "ok, not waiting for the light to change, just going to cross now," I then heard her yell, "I'm NOT HOMELESS! This is MINE!" and him saying, "Do I need to call back-up?!" and then saw two couples that were 4 feet away from them turn around to cross the street as well. Good times. This morning as I went to grab my car to move it by 8am I saw these leftovers from the interaction. Oh San Diego.....
Now off to meet up with Lauren and Joey - beaches, hotdogs, Gas Lamp District, and possibly Balboa Park. YAY for friends! More people need to come visit me...as soon as I found a place.
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