Ah, Bishop. It’s just a little bit of heaven on earth, if you’re a climber, or if you like hiking, or if you like tall snowy mountains, or if you like the smell of sage. And I feel sorry for those who don’t like any of that. I met up with some awesome friends from Sonoma County last week, including the Super Duper Sarah McKay shown in this photo. And although I didn’t send much hard stuff because I haven’t climbed since summer and bouldering scares the shizaz out of me, it was a wonderful escape and a really fun trip. While I was at Black Sheep (mmm, good coffee), I recognized the face of an online friend, Rachel Strate, a.k.a. Wasatch Girl. Small world. But it’s nice to know that online friends exist outside of Facebook and the Twitterverse.

Alpinist Magazine will relaunch under the direction of a former Climbing Magazine editor and I hope that this time the publishers will retain the honest virtues and develop a successful business model and not schlep out the same mag as Climbing, Rock & Ice, et al. While I love climbing and backpacking, I don’t try to summit huge peaks, such as Wilson Peak in this photo. But I related to Alpinist because the stories and photos emoted that satisfying thrill of being surrounded by wilderness that only those who love the outdoors understand. If their photos could talk, they would sigh with satisfaction, whereas the other mags’ photos would grunt with testosterone. I for one prefer that deep sigh.

The full moon this past week was pretty amazing. I was driving and had turned the corner when I was nearly blinded by this obnoxiously huge golden orb in my rearview mirror. Then, of course, I realized it was the moon, and I grabbed the camera and took about three hundred photos because I didn’t have my tripod and figured that I could be still enough for at least a few  to turn out decent. And I’m pretty pleased with this one. I didn’t happen to hear the coyotes that night, but if I were a coyote I’d have been going crazy over that moon. I actually saw a coyote on a nearby trail the next day, and was glad I had Bon on her leash, but it didn’t mention the moon as it speedily slinked away.