Lost in Pine Canyon

The adventure leading up to this moment in the photo is by far more interesting. We walked around aimlessly for 3 hours looking for Pine Canyon at Mt. Diablo. We stopped three people on the way for directions. The first, a jogger, pointed us in the general right direction... he was the most trustworthy, being that he was a climber himself... but we still managed to stay lost. The second was a cyclist who, because of his nifty spandex outfit, probably thought he needed to sound well-informed and savvy on the area, when in fact, he was even more lost than we were. The third, a man in black jeans, combat boots, dark shades, w/ a leather canteen, who I firmly believe was some former military personnel that got booted out of sniper school, seemed pretty knowledgeable of the area, but at this point I was more concerned about my life than our destination as he seemed to find it appropriate to mention the fact that the last murder in Pine Canyon took place three years ago. He was careful to mention he wasn't around at the time.... but has been in this area for 10 years. Somehow the math didn't add up, and when we finally found a rock to climb I was more preoccupied with finding the reflecting glint of metal from a rifle from some perch in an oak tree down below than finding the next hold to grab on the crumbly sandstone wall. Despite the rough start in our day, here I am, climbing on mud, somewhat determined to figure out which holds will hold, but more determined to get the hell out and head to Ben N Nicks for a burger.