Back on the rock, nice and easy.

For the past three days I've been icing my forearm and taking it easy. Thankfully its been raining during this time and so I'm not even remotely tempted to climb. I also don't have to feel pressure from Adrian as he isn't interested in slogging around in the rain either.

The time has been good. Its given the scratches and cuts on my hands a chance to heal. The forearm after three days is much better but still experiencing some mild discomfort in certain positions.

Yesterday I had a migraine so I ended up spending the better part of the afternoon meditating in bed, since I couldn't sleep. I have to be pretty thankful for the headache though, itwasn't too painful but it force me into doing something I had intended to do on this trip but thus far hadn't made the time for. The meditation session was really productive and after 3 hours of focusing on my breathing I came to a few realizations. I'll share them with you all with only a little minor editing. I'm sure some of you will find it rather hokey but its the realizations I have come to and it might not be a reality that resonates with you.

"
I can flow with love and accept what the universe is offering. I can breath into the moment, I don’t need to think about “What should I be doing?” or “That must be done.” These questions imply I’m trying to control reality. I can only become what I can conceive if I continue to attach to this thinking. The possibilities the universe offers are far greater than my mind (conscious mind) can touch, so I should just accept and flow. Trust with love that what I have been taught so far will come out. Trust in my actions and movements. Love and accept myself when I make mistakes and move forward in the moment.
"

Today the clouds broke. I woke up late because I was up last night till 3:30 AM. It seems the meditation counts towards sleep as I wasn't able to get to sleep earlier than that. To be fair, I normally get to bed at around 1:30 AM and wake up around 9:45 - 10:30.

In any event, with the change in weather Adrian was eager to get out the door. I was interested as we have been being sedentary for the past three days hasn't really done much for my excitement level. Since I'm still a bit touchy with my injury we went to a new location today which as some easier routes. Le Rocher de Saint-Julien which is another massive fin that overlook Buis-Les-Baronnies the closest town to where we are staying. I will post pictures of the village next time I'm there and top out. This will likely be tomorrow provided my forearm doesn't take a turn for the worse.

To get to the base of the climbs its about a 15 minute hike in uphill. The hike in is well worth it because the climbing is beautiful. I started the day with a 6a (5.10b) called "Prise de Tete" which wasn't in any of the guide books we had. It didn't look hard so off I went for the onsight. The first pitched finished 30 meters up in a shallow cave. Adrian followed then linked up two pitches to top out. I waited down below because the next pitch was graded 6b (5.10d) and I wasn't ready to push the grade with my forearm still sore.

We both lowered to the ground. I then top roped (top roping is when the rope is already at the top of the climb so you can't really fall, if you let go the rope just stretches a little) both were fairly easy "La plante a scion" at 5c (5.9) and "Trop de vin rouge" at 6a (5.10b). Next we decided to do another multipitch called "L'Espadon", I started by linking pitches 1 and 2 (linking means you keep climbing when you could stop for a belay, if you rope is long enough you can save time by doing this because you don't have to stop and setup all the gear to belay which takes 2-3 minutes and sometimes more). The grade was maybe 5b (5.8) and 5+ (5.10a) for these pitches and finished in another shallow cave. Adrian followed and then lead the next two pitches to the top.

The route were we supposed to follow was rated 5+ to the top and involved traversing out to the right and up an easy line of weakness. Adrain began the traverse and then followed a bolt line straight up over some fun and easy climbing. It turns out that this was not the 3rd pitch of "L'Espadon" but instead was a climb called "Equinoxe" 6a+ (5.10b). This was fun but just made for a bit of a runout to link the end of this pitch with our intended route.

I climbed and cleaned the route as I went, the top out was amazing, you literally look down on the village. It seems like you could almost reach out and touch the church in the center of town. As I mentioned before I'll bring the camera next time for the topout so that I can share with you guys. We lowered off. I was feeling pretty good after climbing 7 pitches of 25-30 meters and the forearm wasn't giving me much in the way of discomfort. I decided to call it a day and see how things go tomorrow.