Oct 5 - 13: Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and Rocktoberfest

After months of planning it was finally time to head back to my favorite climbing spot, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch for several days of climbing with my friends, M, R, D and S. M and I had met R at climbing camp last summer at HCR and this was the first time the three of us had climbed together since then. M and I met in St. Louis Friday night, then made the rest of the drive on Saturday, but not before we filled our stomachs with some Waffle House for breakfast. We had hoped to do a bit of climbing on Saturday afternoon, but Mother Nature rained on our plans. At least we didn't get caught in the rain like several people we saw in the campground. Fortunately, we didn't need to set up our tents in the rain, as D&S invited us to crash at their cabin for the night. R arrived later that evening and we all went to bed fairly early, hoping to awake to blue skies in the morning.

Sunday morning was beautiful, so we headed out to find dry rock. I put up Paul's Redemption to warm up, then we had our First Event of the trip when I sprained my ankle tripping while still on the ground. Grrr, but it could have been much worse. Speaking of worse, we witnessed some bad belaying next to us - ATC user with his hand often off the brake strand. M tried giving him a lesson, but it didn't appear to sink in. Event Number Two happened a little while later when R's rope got wrapped around a chicken head while she was cleaning so S had to climb up and free it. What a morning! We headed down the cliff line and knocked off a couple more climbs before Event Number Three happened, when S mistook a 5.11 route for an 8. This night not have been so bad had the start not involved standing on a stack of rocks and then stemming against a tree. It was a no fall zone and fortunately he didn't; one lower leg injury per day is enough! After a few more climbs to build our appetites, we went into town for dinner at the Ozark Cafe. We started off with fried pickles (outstanding) and then devoured a variety of burgers. I had the Flamethrower again, but it wasn't as hot as the last time I had it, so I had no excuse to order ice cream to put out the flames. However, we did get a bonus dessert - a deep-fried cinnamon roll. Heaven!

We started our climbing day in the North 40. M put up a trad route (Dancing Bears) while S tackled the classic The Greatest Show on Earth. After a couple more routes and lunch, we went to the other side of the canyon to try a new area. We started on some fairly new 8's in the Cliffs of Insanity area, then moved over to Roman Wall to tackle a few more classics. M set her sights on the "best arete in the canyon," Commodus. It took her a while to work out all the moves (it's definitely a tricky one) but she eventually made it to the top. Perhaps if she had seen the snake that was napping in the area sooner, she would have made it up more quickly! I ticked another climb from the Chicken Head Check List in the latest guidebook from Fixed Pin, sending Acree Prime. We ended the day on Sybarite (another climb on the CHCL.) After M put it up, R decided she was going to lead it. About halfway up, she kicks off Event Number Four, traversing right to the next route, instead of following the draws and giant jug on the climb she's supposed to be doing. Eventually she got to a bolt and went in direct while we figured out what to do. We got her some draws so she could finish the other route, then there was some type of rope routing and traversing to get all the gear back and her down safely. Quite the adventure! Actually, the adventure wasn't quite over because we had to hike out as the sun was disappearing and no one brought a headlight, but we made it back to camp safely. We got a nice fire going and cooked up hot dogs and steak for dinner.

We went to Magoo Rock on Tuesday morning so we could try the "best pure 5.9 jug-bash in Arkansas," Man Servant, but not before we warmed up on a couple of easier routes on that rock. There was some disagreement between the two guidebooks as the the ratings - one said 6 and 7, the other 7 and 9. After climbing them both, 6 and 7 sounded right, although I'd buy 8 for the second one. Next up was the eagerly awaited (at least for me) Man Servant, with a nice overhanging start. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to get off the ground, what with the lack of feet. I made it to the third bolt, but by that point, I'd had enough of leading, so M took over and took it to the anchors. I later TR'd it and am looking forward to leading it on my next trip. After lunch, we met D&S for a couple more climbs, including Orange Crush, the tallest route in the canyon. In the evening, we headed over to D&S's cabin for a fabulous dinner of sriracha beef tacos. Mmm.

The start of Man Servant

D&S had to make the long drive home on Wednesday, so it was just M, R and myself heading out to the Circus Wall section of the North Forty. We were all eager to lead and started with a Spam then moved to beautiful Green Goblin. Having reached the top of a seven and eight, we next went up a nine, Ace in the Hole, which featured fabulous jug hauling after the low crux. We were all feeling pretty

Ace in the Hole

good and thought the 10a Season of the Storm looked like fun, what with it's juggy roof finish. I was up first and cruised up until I hit the crux, which took me a while to figure out but I eventually got it and then had fun going over the roof to the top. Looking forward to doing it clean next time. M came very close to leading it clean on her go, but her initial sequence through the crux didn't work, but option number two did. R was up next and in her typical fashion, moved through the crux using different beta. We were getting pretty pooped,  but still had a couple more climbs in us, so we walked to the Crimp Scampi area and went up Leonid. Not a fan of aretes and this route didn't make me change my mind, but it was good to challenge myself and climb it. We ticked off another climb from the CHCL, Sundial, to end our day.  We walked back to camp amongst a parade of goats.

Rock Climbing Goat
more pix

R decided she was going to sleep in and take the day off, since she was staying through the weekend to climb with friends, so it was just M and me for our last day. Our original plan was to climb at the Greatest Show Wall, but the goats must have partied there the night before, because it was covered in fresh and fragrant goat poop. The odor was somewhat better at The Walls of Controversy, so we warmed up on Cotton Candy then got on The Controversy. While I was getting reading to climb, a young man asked us if we were with R and we said yes. He had met R at the pavilion earlier and was in town for a couple of days but didn't have a partner. We invited him to join us and since he climbed a little harder than us, we got to try a 5.11a, Sonny Jim. The guidebook said that people above 5'9" think the climb is a mid-10 and those below thing it's mid-11's, so the author split the difference; we agreed with the distinction, as the crux move was much easier if you were taller. Oh well, it was fun trying. We met R back at the campsite and all went out for dinner at the Ozark Cafe before M and I started our drive to St. Louis to wrap up another fun trip to HCR.

I woke up early, did laundry and enjoyed a waffle from the free hotel breakfast before we started the drive back to Louisville to pick up L on our way to Rocktoberfest at the RRG. Friday nights festivities included the Reel Rock 8 screening and all four movies were good. We got up early Saturday morning to get in a couple of climb's before T had to take off and to beat the crowds. We went to Phantasia, but avoided the overrated Creature Feature and went up Pogue Ethics and a couple others instead. We called it a day by lunchtime, given the hordes of people, and got on with our afternoon plans of eating at The Rockhouse and hanging out. The evening featured more hanging out, but with the addition of a fire. On Sunday, some of us took part in the climbing clinics and I had a great time at my Intro to Trad course led by Shingo Ohkawa. We met back at the campsite afterward and said good-bye after another great weekend.

A rocking the crate stacking comp

The Climbs

Sunday
Paul's Redemption 7 L
sprain my ankle
Lion Tamer 9- T
Sin Nombre 9- T
Ides of March 7 T,L
Groovy 8+ T
Tres Equis 9- T
Molt 9- T

Monday
Greatest Show on Earth 8 T
Dancing Bears 5 T
Stiff Neked Fools 8+ T
Arizona Bay 8 wT
Sphagnum Esplande 8 T
Aphrodite 8 T
Acree Prime 7 L
Sybarite 9+ wT

Tuesday
Flying Daisha 6 L
Memoirs of a Daisha 7 L
Man Servant 9+ La3b, T
Orange Crush 9+ wT
Rubber Chicken 6 wL

Wednesday
Spam 7  L
Green Goblin 8 Lw
Ace in the Hole 9 Lw
Season of the Storm 10a Lw
Leonid 9+ Tw
Sundial 7+ L

Thursday
Cotton Candy 6 L
The Controversy 9 pLw
First Normal Form 10a Tw
Sonny Jim 11a Ta

Sep 13-22: Colorado with D&T

After a few weeks back in Chicago, it was time for a road trip. I headed to Louisville to meet with my partners for the trip, D & T. Passing the Big Banana Car was the highlight of the uneventful drive. We met at T's, loaded my Forester with all our gear and started the long drive around six. It was odd being a passenger in my own car, but I was glad other people were driving. Did you know there is a National Churchill Museum in Missouri? Neither did I until this drive.

Eventually, we made it to Denver and crawled the last couple of miles to our exit, since I-70 was closed for a non-flood-related construction project. We went to Snooze for breakfast, along with a good chunk of Denver, given the 90-minute wait. Afterward, we headed to Sloan's Lake Park to relax in our hammocks. Well, T and I did. D learned the straps are sold separately, so his hammock served as a blanket until we hit the REI later that night.

It rained on Sunday, so we got our climb on indoors before setting up camp at the KOA south of Colorado Springs. The nearby creek was much, much higher than it was when R and I were there in June, thanks to the once every hundred years rain the area had the previous week, and we were warned at checkin that there was a slight possibility we'd have to evacuate if the creek flooded. (It was ten feet below flood level at that point.) With the idea of maybe needing to leave quickly in mind, we decided to sleep in our hammocks, as our tent pad was was under a roof.

The creek near our campsite after a once every hundred years rain.

On Monday morning, we woke up to good news and bad news. The good news was the river didn't flood. The bad news was there was blowing misty rain all night that ended up getting our hammocks and the outside of sleeping bags wet.  Given that it was still raining, we opted to go out to eat instead of getting groceries to cook as originally planned. T took us to a truck stop café he used to go to when he lived in Colorado, then we drove to Shelf Road in search of dry rock. We found it and went to Cactus Cliff for a couple of climbs including an impressive lead by T on Black Slabbeth. We called it a day

Leading Alexi

early so we had time to verify where we needed to go to hike the Barr trail the next day, get a couple items that we realized we might need in case of wet/cold weather at the summit and buy groceries for dinner. We took advantage of the Kamper Kitchen to make rigatoni with chicken, broccoli and mozzarella. The challenge was my cookware is fine for one or two people, but not three. We got some aluminum baking pans at the store and those worked great. After polishing off our meal and cleaning up, it was off to bed, since we needed to be up early the next day.

Pre-hike dinner

We got up at 4:30 so we had time to get breakfast, drive to the trailhead and get on the Barr Trail by 6:30. We made it to the parking lot early after breakfasting at The Dunkin and were on the trail by 6:15, hiking by headlamp. Only 12.6 miles and roughly 8000 feet in elevation gain to go! We made pretty good time over the first half, arriving at Barr Camp  (6.5 miles, 10,200 feet elevation) within three hours. We took a break at the camp to eat some snacks and enjoy a cup of coffee brewed by the new camp caretakers Renee and Anthony. We were joined at the camp by a couple who decided they would hike Pike's Peak for their anniversary. After about a 45 minute rest, we continued up the mountain.

Somewhere between Barr Camp and treeline

It all went pretty decently for me, albeit not as quickly as T and D, until we hit the tree line (roughly 9 miles from the start and 12000 feet elevation). It was a beautiful sunny day, which was nice for pictures but not so nice for hiking in. The first part of the trail above tree line was this pebbly sandy mess that was not fun to climb in. I was just grateful that two steps forward, two steps back song by Paula Abdul and that dude didn't start going through my head, although that was a pretty accurate description of the hiking. Then we lost the trail for a bit (not my fault for a change, since I was bringing up the rear) but found it, and soon the sandy pebbly stuff ended. Not that this seemed to help my hiking, as I continued to move more slowly as I fantasized about a bottle of gatorade, since I really could have used one at that point. Having decided that it just wasn't going to get any easier (in fact, it was just going to get harder the higher we got) I slogged on with my water and snacks. Eventually, though, the altitude and heat got to me and I had to stop for a bit. Napping in what little shade there was helped with the heat and tiredness, but not with the nausea. Ugh! At this point, we were about 1.5miles (and over 1000 feet in elevation) from the top, so we decided to continue, figuring worse case T and D would carry me out. With about 1.1 miles (and 800 feet elevation) to go, I got my second wind after I puked. Unfortunately, the second wind only lasted about a quarter of a mile, and we resumed a shuffle to the summit, but at least it was nausea free! We finally made it to the top around 3:30. Yay! I had been looking forward to eating the famous Pike's Peak donuts, but could only manage to eat half of one :-( Boo to altitude sickness. Our next step was to figure out how we were going to get back down. We hoped to get on the last train, but if that failed, we were going to have to hitch a ride with someone who drove to the top. The anniversary couple made it to the top about a half hour after us and had cleverly purchased their tickets in advance, so they were good. The conductor squeezed us on and we made it down. The guy next to me on the train told me he once completed the Texas Water Safari, a 260 mile canoe race, which sounds both nuts and intriguing. We polished off a lot of pizza for dinner and enjoyed cannoli for dessert. Mmm.

We made it!

On Wednesday morning, we packed up and drove to our next destination. We took the scenic route, but not as scenic as planned, since some roads were closed. Our first stop was Paradise Cove. Although it was too cold to take advantage of the swimming hole, it was still a nice place to hang out for a bit.

Paradise Cove

We drove to Breckenridge for a late lunch and I was stoked that my burger was served with tater tots. Mmm. Our next stop was Golden Gate Canyon State Park, our campsite (at roughly 9000 feet) for the next couple of nights. The highlight of the evening was eating ice cream by the campfire. Brilliant! (The ice cream was Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie. Mmmm.)

It started raining around 6:30 in the morning, so no one rushed out of bed early. Eventually it stopped and we got up, made breakfast and headed toward Boulder to climb at Movement, since outdoor climbing in the Boulder area wasn't an option due to the flood. It was a bit of a challenge to get to there, because the most direct roads were still closed, but we eventually made it. As far as Movement goes - wow! After many climbs, we headed to Morrison to grab dinner before the the Furthur concert at Red Rocks, my first, T's 13th. Most amusing moment of the concert was seeing a guy that looked like a deadhead version of my brother.

D was the first one to get up on Friday and was kind enough to start a fire - now that's a nice greeting in the morning. We broke camp and headed into Golden for lunch then went to the High Wire crags at Clear Creek Canyon for an afternoon of climbing. After we climbed Nickels and Dimes, I seconded T on the 3-pitch People's Choice. Awesome lead by T, especially the third pitch. Once we did two raps back to the ground, we all went up the first pitch of People's Choice and then carefully hiked the class four trail back to the road via headlamp. After a filling dinner at Woody's, we set up our tents for our last night in Colorado and crashed out.

T near the end of the third pitch.

We didn't want to waste time on our last day, so we got up, packed our stuff, grabbed breakfast and got on the road to the Catslab crag. D put up the first route, thinking he was on the 5.9+ Mungajerry , but he was on the 5.10a Rumpleteaser. Given how most things rated 5.9+ climb, it probably wasn't that big of a difference. It was a fun route with great movement and I'm glad we got on it. (A slab I like? It happens on occasion.) Our second climb of the day, and last one of the trip, was the fun 5.7 Skimbleskanks. After a great week, it was time to get back in the car and make the long drive back to Louisville and Chicago.

Rumpleteaser
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August 9-15: RRG and NRG

In retrospect, it probably would have been just to stay with friends in Louisville instead of driving five hours to Chicago on Tuesday and then seven hours back to the Red on Friday, but then I wouldn't have had the opportunity to eat two Purvis burgers in one week. After a delicious stop for lunch in West Lafayette, I drove to Lago Linda Hideaway to meet friends for our weekend of working at the Johnny and Alex Trail Day and climbing. It was raining when I arrived, but fortunately there was a covered area where we could set up our tents. Since I had a roof over me, I decided this would be the perfect time to test my new hammock and see if I could get a good night's sleep in it. The hammock was fine, but the people yapping in the nearby pavilion with the lights blazing until 3am didn't make for a restful night.

Pierre enjoying the hammock

The rain stayed away and we were able to proceed with the trail day. My group built a new trail to the Purgatory Wall in the PMRP. We enjoyed good food and good music at the party afterward. On Sunday, we headed to The Shire for some climbing. The rock was a bit wet, but the leaders did a good job of getting the routes up. Unfortunately, our day was cut short by rain and I got to clean another route in the rain. On the plus side, A and I ended up getting an early start for our drive to the New River Gorge.

 After a fabulous night of sleep, A and I headed into Fayettesville for breakfast at the Cathedral Café. Mmm. Sufficiently fueled, we headed out to see some waterfalls and to hike at Nuttallburg, an old coal mining town and complex. It was a beautiful hike, and we got a bonus workout swatting at all the bugs. All that hiking and swatting made us hungry, so we grabbed a tasty dinner at DiOgi’s.

Nuttallburg

We started Tuesday off right with quiche and an outstanding cup of coffee at Musical Grounds. (Their motto “Without coffee, life would be a mistake.” Sounds about right to me.) After our relaxing morning, we got into a raft with other adventurous types and went down the Lower New for the Rapid Run trip. The water levels were much higher than normal for August, since it had rained a lot the previous couple of weeks, so the rapids were, well, rapid. I had an absolute blast, but the fun was tempered by the knowledge that someone on another raft drowned on his trip. The good meals in Fayetteville streak continued with dinner at Gumbos. Fried pickles – mmmm.

Wednesday was climbing day (yay!) so we headed to Summersville Lake to tackle the Orange Oswald Wall. The hike in took about a half hour and was absolutely gorgeous.

Summersville Lake

A absolutely rocked it as the rope gun, putting up several routes including her first 5.10a, Orange Oswald. A group in a boat applauded her effort when she got to the top. The wall is right on the lake, which makes for a convenient way to cool off on a hot day, which we mercifully did not have. That didn’t stop a guy in another group from floating around on the inflatable dragon he brought with him. We went to Secret Sandwich Society for dinner, and Hoover is a much better as a sandwich than he was as president. (The Hoover is a fried chicken with honey butter, pickles and green. Mmmmm.) It was a cool night at the campsite (I had to break out the puffy coat) but at least it didn’t rain.

A and I packed up Thursday morning and went our separate ways, DC for her and Chicago via my mother’s house for me. It was a great trip and I am looking forward to another hike/raft/climb adventure with A and others in the future.

A and graffiti
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July 18-25: Boston Peeps and Climbing in Rumney

The morning of the 18th was overcast, perfect for a lazy morning at the campsite because it wasn't blasting hot for a change. Then the clouds cleared and it wasn't so nice, so I packed up the car and started driving toward my next destination, Burlington, MA to visit my old coworkers. The seven-and-a-half months was the longest chunk of time that I had been away from the Boston area since I moved there almost 24 years ago. Wow. On the drive up, I had a major IHOP craving and finally found one. Unfortunately, a brat-filled family also found it, so dinner, while tasty, was not exactly enjoyable. Oh well, at least I don't have to live with these people. After a long drive and lots of traffic through the NYC area, I finally stopped for the night in Milford, CT, where the temps had cooled to 81 by 1am - yay for hotel rooms with AC! I made the rest of the drive to Burlington the next morning, excited to see my friends. After catching up, I went to the climbing gym. Dinner at B's house (my home away form home for the weekend) capped a good day. The heat wave that continued to blast the eastern half of the country was mitigated somewhat by a pool party at B's mom's house Saturday afternoon. I caught up with my friends G&J from college in the evening, sharing good times over a great burger grilled up by G topped with avocado, grilled onions and spicy mustard. After dinner, I caught their left-hander in the backyard and gave a small pitching lesson. Fun times.

The GC Burger

I hit two different climbing gyms on Sunday and Monday, including the recently opened Central Rock in Watertown. Wow! Makes me even more eager for First Ascent to open in Chicago. Or maybe I should just move back to Boston, what with the climbing gym explosion happening there. (There were already three gyms, Central Rock became the fourth this spring and Brooklyn Boulders opened in August.) I regret I didn't have time to visit the Plumbing Museum, which is next door to the gym, but I was meeting friends for dinner at Punjab. As the hot food lovers at the table, J and I split the Paneer Vindaloo at max heat level and found it pleasantly hot, a strong kick with no regrets.

The good eats with friends continued on Tuesday, when I met St for lunch and caught up with some more coworkers. I helped Sc try to fix his washer in the evening,  first for me. Well, British James was probably the actual helper, I just held the flashlight and passed tools.

So, this is what a washing machine looks like without a cover.

On Wednesday, I met up with a nice young man from Mountain Project for a day of climbing in Rumney. The heat wave had finally passed, so it was a pretty busy day. We had to hike for some time before finding something that was both a warmup and unoccupied and eventually came to Triple Delights, a pleasant 5.4, and Loose and Baggy, a deceptively pumpy 5.8+.

My first climb in Rumney

Next, we moved over to the Jimmy Cliff area and climbed the classic 5.3 multi-pitch Clip a Dee Doo Dah. We finished with four more climbs, ending with Things I Never Learned (5.9), which featured a nice boulder problem at the start. I crashed out that evening at the Barker River Campground, but not before filling my tummy with a delicious meal of surf and turf (baked stuff haddock and BBQ ribs) at George's Seafood and BBQ. Mmmm. Another treat was having to put on a sweatshirt because it was actually cool at night!

Post-climb dinner

I wrapped up my trip by meeting my friend L for coffee and catching up before heading to Ohio to hang with my family. It was good to see all my Boston peeps and I look forward to doing it again.

The Climbs, Rumney

West Crags, Triple Corners
Triple Delights 5.4 (lead)
Loose and Baggy 5.8+

Jimmy Cliff, Left
Clip a Dee Doo Dah 5.3, 2 pitches
Teacher’s Pet 5.7+
Piece of Cake 5.5 (lead)
Things You Should Have Learned in Kindergarten 5.6
Things I Never Learned 5.9

July 11 - 17: NRG & Seneca Rocks

My next stop was one of the few states I have never been to – West Virginia. My friend M and I were going to the Chicks with Nuts trad clinic in Seneca Rocks, WV over the weekend, and decided to do some climbing at the New River Gorge on either side of it. Our friend D joined us for some climbing at the New. I got into Fayetteville in the afternoon and grabbed  couple of sites at the AAC's campground for us. Since M&D weren't going to be arriving until after midnight, I went to the store and bought some glow sticks to mark their site so they could find it without waking me. (Having taken such measures, I was wide awake when they arrived at 2am.) The campsite is still under development, but the tent sites themselves are very nice, and the wooded location kept the morning sun from cooking the tent too early in the morning.

We eventually woke up and fueled ourselves with coffee and breakfast fajitas (thanks to the leftovers from the family vacation). We picked the Beer Wall at Bubba City for our introduction to the New, since it was nearby, in the shade and had numerous climbs in our grade. We started with Micro Brew and Gilded Otter, then stepped it up a few notches with St. Pauli Girl, a 5.10b that looked intriguing and D was particularly stoked to try. He worked the bottom well and looked great, but eventually got shut down at the crux. M gave it a shot, and I thought she was going to get it, but she backed off. Pretty sure I wouldn't have got it, but it started raining, so I left a bail biner and cleaned the route. We hiked out, grabbed dinner and said goodbye to D as M & I drove to Seneca Rocks for the weekend. We arrived at Seneca House, a sweet hostel, and set up our tents, noticing we were the only folks who opted not to sleep inside. Oh well, it was a nice night to camp. 

D on St. Pauli Girl

There was a very nice rooster that made sure we didn't oversleep on Saturday. Everyone gathered at Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides before tackling the rocks with their guide. M & I worked with the awesome Kelly. We spent the morning, with its threat of rain, working indoors on gear placement (they have a cool rock wall) then headed across the road for more learning (knots, ground anchors and other stuff) and climbing (Ecstasy Junior) in the afternoon. Dinner back at Seneca House was fabulous. In the raffle, M won some alpine draws and I won a sweet Chicks with Nuts t-shirt.

Climbing Ecstasy Junior

Sunday was a perfect day for climbing, and we spent it learning how to escape the belay (among other things) and climbing Old Man's, a nice multi-pitch. The day seemed to fly and before we knew it, it was time to go :-( At least we had one more day of climbing left at the New.

Seneca Rocks
more photos from the clinic

We found D at the campsite and quickly pitched our tents and got some sleep. We grabbed breakfast at Tudor's Biscuit World (I got the politician biscuit - bologna, egg and cheese) then made the long hike to the Tattoo Wall at Bubba City. We did two long climbs, Bobby D's Bunny and Geisha Girl. Girl was about 100 feet tall with a nice view at the top, once you finally reached it. We went to dinner in Charleston, where I said goodbye to D&M as they went back to the real world and I crashed at a hotel for the night. I was glad to be in the room, because somewhere in the previous 24 hours I ate something that clearly did not agree with me. Food poisoning - ugh!

View from the top of Geisha Girl

I took advantage of having a dark, air-conditioned hotel room and slept in. I spent the afternoon performing the laundral arts and Febreezing the car, both of which made it smell much better. (The laundry was extra toxic for some reason.) I went back to Fayetteville to camp, explore and hike for a couple of days before I went to New England to visit my old workmates.

Cathedral Falls
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July 4 - 11: Columbus and Hocking Hills

I finished my drive east on the morning of July 4, arriving at my sister's house in the early afternoon. We didn't do much all weekend, just hung out and made sure we had everything we needed for the upcoming trip to Hocking Hills.

After a tasty and filling breakfast at Bob Evans, we packed up our cars and drove to Hocking Hills Monday morning. We started off with a nice hike at Ash Cave, then drove over to Old Man's Cave for ice cream and more hiking. Given the amount of rain the area had been having, the waterfalls and Devil's Bathtub were looking much more impressive than last fall. Next, we checked into our home for the next few nights, a very nice lodge by Cabins by the Caves. Dinner was northern Ohio-style, with Root's shredded chicken sandwiches, Ballreich's chips and Smith's chip dip. Mmmm.

On Tuesday, some of us went ziplining and all of us enjoyed Jd's lasagna for dinner. We all hiked Cedar Falls in the morning and found ourselves with a bonus creek crossing. After we fashioned some semblance of a bridge, we all made it across. Jk, Jd and I went to Rock House next, while the kids went gem mining. We all got in a round of (not particularly well-played) putt-putt in the afternoon and fed some goats before a storm blew in. We got back to the cabin to discover we, along with most everyone else in the area, didn't have power. Fortunately, we had a grill and my camp stove so we could make dinner - chicken and steak fajitas. We didn't get power back before we left the next morning, but it didn't really but a damper in the fun. A good time was had by all and we're looking forward to next summer's vacation.

more pix

May 31 - June 17: Climbing in the Red and hanging in Louisville

After saying goodbye to J in DC, I drove to the Red and to meet with D and K from the Chicago meetup for a long weekend of climbing at the Red. On Friday, we went to Muir Valley. Seeing that the parking lot was fairly empty, I joked, "Did we miss the notice that this was take your toddler to the crag day?" We rolled up to the Land Before Time Wall and what do we see - toddlers! Apparently, this was the first time they got to pee outside, which the boys seemed to be fans of and kept wanting to do it, but their mother told them they wouldn't need to pee again for at least another 45 min. After one of them got into the kids full body harness, he declared "I think I'll climb after my nap." The parents nixed this idea. We did a few climbs,  then went to Bruise Brothers. Had fun putting up Send Me on My Way then another group let us climb on the 10.c (Working for the Weekend) they put up while they climbed on Send Me on My Way. We ended early and had another fabulous meal at the Rockhouse. Later, I had a snack of pizza at Miguel's after T arrived.

On Saturday, we went to Fortress Wall for some trad climbing after stopping off at a spring for water. T led an easy pitch and then went to set up a top rope on a harder route. It wasn't as easy as he thought, abut eventually he and D figured it out. However, there was lots of loose rock near the top of the route, which D knocked off when setting up a directional. One went whipping over my head while I was off using the facilitrees (fortunately, I still had my helmet on) and another bounced through T's legs. After well all made it up whatever that route was, we moved over to Bedtime for Bonzo, a multi-pitch 5.6. D led the first pitch, then we all followed. T led the 2nd pitch, which had a couple of interesting moments, but he made it. The view was great from the top, but none of us brought the camera. Oops.

K on the first pitch

D & T on the first pitch

We went back back to Bruise Brothers because the forecast called for rain. This turned out to be a good call, because it started pouring, but we stayed dry. I took a nice lead fall on Stay Off the Radio Jeff.  We waited until the rain stopped then hiked out, fairly cooked after three days of climbing. It did not appear to have rained at Miguel's as the tent was dry. Said goodbye to my friends and drove to Louisville to hang with M&L and deal with a cold that I felt coming on.

The cold I felt coming on arrived in force on Monday morning. Ugh. Oh well, at least it wasn't food poisoning. When I wasn't blowing my nose, I climbed at gym, enjoyed being indoors and celebrated M's birthday on Wed with friends.

Went back to the RRG on Fri night with M&L, stopping in Lexington for dinner at Hugh Jass Burgers. Mmm. M&L had rude awakening when setting up their tent - the air mattress that someone borrowed last year was put away wet and was now gross and the tent, after 15+ years of service, has seen better days. Fortunately, they were able to get a room at Miguels. We met up with J&A and some other folks and hit a new area for us on Saturday (Crossroads) and got on some nice climbs. The day ended a little early, since the last climb we wanted to do had a bunch on angry bees on it. We climbed at Muir on Sunday. A bit of a scary moment when the belayer (using an ATC) next to us thought she was going to pass out; J rushed over, had the climber go in direct and then got him on belay. I got caught in rain again, only this time I wasn't in a sheltered area, so I cleaned the route in the rain. The rain stopped, so we rolled the dice and waited for a climb to open, but it started raining again. As the rock was now going to be too wet even if the rain stopped, we hiked out, getting absolutely soaked. Not fun.

I spent the next two days drying out the gear, then M and I went back to the Red on Tuesday night to meet J&A, who were there for the week. We stopped for dinner in Lexington at Sidebar Grill. Delicious fried pickles. Wednesday was hot and humid, 90+ degrees and 90+ humidity, not great conditions, as even the rock was sweating. We managed to get up a few routes at Chica Bonita, The Shire and The Gallery, but it wasn't the best climbing day. There was rain in the forecast on Thursday, so we went to Bruise. It didn't rain until after we got there and stopped at some point. The rain soundtrack apparently was just what A needed, because she was on fire as out rope gun! After we climbed everything in that area that was dry, we hiked out and just made it back to the shelter when the skies opened and more rain came down. Dinner at Rockhouse tasted good - love the chips and guac! J&A stayed and M and I went back to Louisville, since she had to work on Friday. We were back down on Friday eve, for some more climbing. We spent Saturday at Chica Bonita, where we climbed several routes and wasted a lot of time looking for a 10b the guidebook said had sweet holds. We never found it. After our hike, we did a few more climbs, including the nice Baby Blue Eyes; I am looking forward to doing that one again. M took the honors as our rope gun, with five leads, three in the 10's. Sweet!  On Sunday we did a trad clinic with Torrent Falls, which was awesome, right up to the point where we got rained on. T and stayed another day and did a few climbs at Tectonic and Johnny's Walls. T did his first 10 leads and took his first lead fall. A fine day of climbing was capped with delicious nachos by L when I got back to M&L's house.

Loaded up for a day of climbing
more pix

May: Friends, Family and Baseball

Sweet home, Chicago, at least for a little while. Had a good time catching up with all my Chicago peeps and playing with A's dog G. Unfortunately, he had hurt his leg a few days earlier, so our games of fetch were limited, but got better as time went by. The weather was perfect for baseball, and I needed to get in shape to play in a tournament over Memorial Day weekend, so I met up with my baseball peeps as much as possible. C and I started the month off with a nice game of catch at Winnemac, followed by dinner at Byron's Hot Dogs. Gotta love a place that has Green River on tap.

In addition to playing lots of baseball, I got together with my climbing gals for a night of climbing and eating. And then there was eating at all my favorite neighborhood places which I hadn't been to in months. Mmm. Baseball, climbing and eating, yeah, that's pretty much the life! On a more practical note, I unpacked my car and left behind most of the winter gear. It's nice not having the car so packed, but I wouldn't exactly call it roomy.

G, hoping to get packed into my car

After one last baseball practice, I got back on the road and drove to Ohio for Mother's Day, hanging out with my mother and sister for a couple of days before driving to Atlanta to visit my brother and his family. I picked up some of the stuff I had left there over the winter that I wouldn't be needing until the weather got better. I was supposed to meet some friends for bouldering and bluegrass festival at HP40, but the forecast called for rain so we skipped it. Not getting to climb was bad enough, but then I got food poisoning that same weekend. Ugh. Fortunately, the illness was short-lived and I was recovered enough to meet with my friends B&S from college, participate in the annual lunch at the Chinese restaurant to celebrate the last day of school, and eat some of J's delicious lasagna before I had to leave town on Thursday.

Pierre and Chunky

My baseball team, the Chicago Gems, was going to play in the EWBC's Memorial Day tournament, so I started the drive to Baltimore on Thursday morning, in the hopes that I'd miss DC-area holiday weekend traffic on Friday if I only have to drive the last few hours. The highway in North Carolina had  beautiful displays of wildflowers, which made the drive more pleasant. My plan worked, as I had to get through minimal traffic on Friday before settling into the tournament hotel. I headed over to the batting cages to take some swings then came back to hang with my teammates as they arrived. The Boys were very excited to be sharing a room yet again with their friends B&C.

The Boys with their friends B&C

It was great seeing all my baseball friends (both on my team and on others) and playing baseball all weekend. The women's baseball community may be small, but it's a lot of fun. I got a pretty good workout in just from laughing as we were hanging out at the Green Turtle Sunday night.

Chicago Gems at 2013 Baltimore Tournament
more pix from May

After the tournament, I hung out for a few days at my friend J's place in DC. Of course I took advantage of being in the one area in the US that has Nando's and enjoyed a couple of lunches. We also checked out Chupacabra, which had recently opened just down the street. Mmm.

May was a good month, but there was no outdoor climbing. It was time to get back on the road and touch some rocks.

What's New

No writing just yet, but I added three albums to the pictures page from my adventures in May and June.

April 23-30: Visiting my friend P in Scotand

I guess one of these days I should stop being so busy doing nothing and summarize my trip to Scotland.

Great hanging with my friend from college, P.

Ate both veggie and regular haggis. I particularly enjoyed the veggie haggis burrito. Mmm.

After many years of hearing P rave about how beautiful the Isle of Arran is, I finally got to see it.

Took a bus tour.

More later.

more pix

April 20-21: Road Trip with M, Part 3, Bouldering at Rumbling Bald

The last stop on our road trip was Rumbling Bald in North Carolina for some bouldering. We drove out to our campsite, passing a sign inviting us to visit the "original Carolina hillbilly." (We opted not to.) We got settled, grateful that the forecasted rain stayed away, even if the cold and wind hadn't. We built a decent fire, but it would have been better if we had had some smaller pieces of wood to get the thing going. (Note to self: get some type of axe to cut the logs.) The rest of our group arrived in the middle of the night, since they left after work.

Eventually, we all rolled out of bed and made breakfast, a delicious combo of bacon, scrambled eggs, avocado and cheese, served on the plate or in a breakfast taco. It was nice to share the cooking and cleaning duties with others. Sufficiently fueled, we drove to the boulder field and got climbing. We were very happy to see that the place either didn't get much rain the day before or dries quickly. We warmed up on a few V0's in the Gateway Boulders area, then worked on a V3; congrats to S for topping it out. Next up were some more V0's on the Devil Boulder. The problems themselves were quite comfy, but the heart got racing once I noticed the snake sunning itself on the top. It wasn't near the problems, just something you passed while getting off the boulder.

Look out for snakes at the top of the problem!

We tried a V2 with a super long move that none of us made, then gave the pretty Crescent Crack a shot. We walked around a bit, then played around on the Classic Overhang boulder before heading to Bart Simpson. We had fun on Marge, but Bart still remains a mystery. After one more climb, we hiked back out to the parking lot to meet L for dinner.

S on Crescent Crack

After another tasty breakfast Sunday morning where we finished off the last pound and a half of bacon,  we packed up and went to the east side at Rumbling Bald for a few more hours of climbing before we had to drive back to Louisville. We hopped on some V0's and V1's on the warm-up boulder, then got on the very nice Land of Dreams (V1). After a few more problems, it was time to leave. We stopped at Wicked Weed in Asheville for one more meal. The menu had many excellent choices and we each chose a different sandwich, which was awesome, because then we got to try all of them. I went with the fried chicken + kimchi + miso mayonnaise. Mmm. L's burger with lobster and avocado was quite tasty as well and the trout, veggie burger with fried okra and bison burger were all nice. Sharing food with friends was a great way to end the road trip. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

fried chicken + kimchi + miso mayo

The Climbs

Saturday - Rumbling Bald, West Side 

Gateway Boulders

A few V0’s and worked a V3

Devil Boulder

A couple V0’s, tried a V2 and Crescent Crack (V2)

Classic Overhang

Played around a bit on the Classic Traverse (V2) and did Right Side V1

Bart Boulder 

Marge V1. minus the top out

French Maid V0

Sunday – Rumbling Bald, East Side

Breakfast area

Warm-up Boulder - V0 and V1

Morning Star Boulder - Land of Dreams V1, Travis’s Arete V1, Flounder V1

Berry Patio Bouder,- Mega Scoop V0

April 18-19: Road Trip with M, Part 2, Rest Days in Asheville, NC

After climbing for five straight days, it was time to rest, so we packed up the car and headed to Asheville, NC to hang for a day or so before continuing our climbing trip at Rumbling Bald over the weekend. For the record, whacking your funny bone on the edge of the car door is not funny at all; it hurt less when I broke my wrist, although I was glad that nothing was broken. Oh well, it gave me the opportunity to learn I can drive my car while having an ice pack strapped to my elbow.

We checked in to the Sweet Peas Hostel, then ventured out to explore Asheville. Our initial destination was an art store we passed on the way in, but before we got there, we saw the Gourmet Chip Company. Since this sounded delicious and we were both hungry, we stopped for a snack and we were glad we did! After a thorough reading of the menu, we decided on the Americana chips, a delicious combo of gouda, bacon and pepper. Mmmm. We decided that we'd have a progressive meal, having a bite to eat a various places as we walked around downtown in the afternoon and evening.

Course 1 - Americana Chips

As we finished our chips, the worker brought us and the other customers some bonus chips, Belgium Caramel flavor - chocolate shavings, caramel drizzle and sea salt. Heaven!

Course 1.5 - Belgium Caramel Chips

Our next food and beverage stop was Wicked Weed Brewing Company. We split some citrus marinated olives.

Course 2 - Olives

After some more walking to rebuild the appetite, we walked into Asheville Brewing Company. The menu said the salsa was amazing and M and I agreed. The queso was pretty good, too.

Course 3 - Chips, Salsa and Queso

The bathroom decor in this place was awesome as well!

Love it!

Our next course was liquid, ginger ale for me and a flight of beer for Mandy at Green Man Brewery. We played darts there and I won. Not that it was a very good game of darts.

Course 4 - Ginger Ale and Beer

Four hours into our progressive dinner, it was time to get some actual dinner. We went to Farm Burger and split chicken pot pie fritters and a burger with cheddar, caramelized onions and FB sauce (aka The Number 1). Both were fabulous and I finally found a burger that topped the one I enjoyed (several times) when I was out in J-Tree. They served the burger medium without even asking and it was prepared perfectly; it would have been a shame to cook this burger to well-done.

Course 5 - Chicken Pot Pie Fritters and No 1 Burger

We got our second bonus dessert of the day, a mini vanilla shake. I guess washing our hair and leaving the baseball caps in the car pays off!

Course 5.5 - Vanilla Shake

We headed back to the hostel, since our planned dessert stop was located in the same building. Unfortunately, it's not the only bar located in that building, which we found out when we walked in and discovered we were at The Southern. We decided on a spontaneous course of deviled eggs, which we had seen on the menu at several other places. M discovered a beer that she really liked, so it was a fortuitous mistake. The eggs were tasty, but by this point in the evening, I felt a bit like Cool Hand Luke eating them.

Course 6 - Trio of Deviled Eggs

Our seventh and final course was dessert at The Lab. There were many tasty choices, but we went with the rhubarb sundae - rhubarb ice cream, candied peanuts, chocolate coveted pretzels, rhubarb caramel and cinnamon whipped cream. It was a great way to end the meal!

Course 7 - Rhubarb Sundae

Despite all that we ate the night before, we were hungry when we woke up. The guy working at the hostel recommended the Early Girl Eatery. It was a great recommendation. M and I both got the Early Girl Benny (grit cakes topped with tomato, spinach, poached eggs, tomato gravy and avocado) with a biscuit. Both the meal and the condiments were delicious; the jam was tasty, the O'Yeah sauce provided a touch of heat with excellent flavor and the Fire from the Mountain Smoked Habanero hot sauce gets my coveted* "Not for Wimps" designation.

Early Girl Benny

Yummy Condiments

We did more exploring and then went to some beer store so M could pick up some brews for the weekend, but mainly we were just killing time until we were hungry enough to eat again. Second breakfast was beignets. It made a fine pre-climb snack, since we were heading over to the local climbing gym, ClimbMax, afterward.

Beignets

The only thing better than a pre-climb snack of beignets is a post-climb meal at Farm Burger. Given all the tasty restaurants in town, it seemed a bit silly to repeat, but that burger was really good, plus, we didn't sample the fries. We ordered the No 1 again, plus the No 6 (bacon, sunny side up farm egg, pepper jack cheese, salsa verde) and an order of the pimento cheese and jalapeno fries. Delicious again!

Burgers

Fries

Our time for eating in Asheville was over. We drove to our campground and got ready for a weekend of climbing and camping.

Asheville is a great place to get your eat on!

* Coveted by exactly no one.