I lived in Sacramento for 4 years in the late 90s, and visited the Sierra as often as I could for climbing, mountain biking and some road riding.

I remember visiting your trailer park and bouldering with you out at the Buttermilks on a couple of occasions.

Even though I’m a true Brit, I still feel pangs of “homesickness” whenever I think of those great open spaces, the awesome silence of the high desert, and the majestic backdrop of 12,000 foot mountains.

My best ever memory is sitting in the “crab cooker” hot spring out near Benton in the snowy, December desert at midnight, looking up at comet Hale Bopp shining through the clear air looking closer than the moon! No better way to recover from a hard day’s bouldering.