Wow, so much has happened since Gavin and I came back to Japan. The weather is crisp and feels very clean now that spring is here. Gavin and I have gone climbing almost everyday since our return. We have mostly been going sport climbing lately, so I am happy to report that my endurance has improved rather nicely in the last couple of weeks.

Several months ago I was doing some research and decided that my Nikon D5000 was not up for the tasks at hand anymore. I was not seeing the picture quality and video quality that I wanted. So I bought a Canon 5D Mark II with the 24-104mm f/4 pro lens. I have only had the camera for about five days and I can already see the difference that this sensor is making. The sensor is twice as large as the D5000 sensor. Not to mention that it seems that Canon has really "got it" in terms of color awarness. Many photos and videos to come.

The Walkers and Team G went on our first family camping trip this past weekend. I took everyone to Mizugaki yama for some fric-tastic bouldering and climbing. There was a chance of rain, but we decided to go anyway. As it turned out, it rained all day Saturday. But we made the best of it. Saturday we went for a hike and I showed everyone one of the many areas here that Jack and I are developing. Totally rad here!!!! We played cards and went to the onsen for an very relaxing soak and dinner.

Saturday night the skies cleared and Sunday morning was glorious. Blue skies and sun. The granite at Mizugaki dries very fast. So by the time that we made it to the area I picked out, several of the problems were dry. On Thursday the previous week I established a very fun tough V3 on a 25 foot block and though that this would make a nice boulder to start on. It turned out to be very tough for the group, but everyone seemed to enjoy the whole experience.

On Monday Team G went into Tokyo for some good old sight seeing. We went to Jack's shop Calafate. Jack took us to a fantastic ramen restaurant. I really love ramen. In Japan ramen is the most popular noodle. When you go to a ramen shop it is more than just the ramen and soup that you are there for. It's the atmosphere. The cook right in front of you making your bowl of ramen and the continuous slurping all around you is priceless. In the states ramen is not treated the same way. I will sure miss the wonderful ramen when we move back home.

After an oishii (delicious) lunch, Team G headed to Shinjuku for some sightseeing. We journeyed to the top of the Japan Metro building for a free 360 degree view of Tokyo. It was so clear that we were able to see Fuji yama. We walked around Shinjuku and headed to a very nice IPA bar. After five glasses of tasty IPA we hopped on the train and headed west. A sweet weekend all-in-all.

Today I went to on of our closest climbing areas the Towers. I was able to climb 6 routes. A couple 10a's and 10c's, an 11a, and a 11b. Fun day. I will post pictures from today tomorrow. Now I must get to bed, I am super tired. Tomorrow I am headed to boulder at Mitake.