A couple days prior to Thanksgiving, I moved locations from Rumbling Bald, North Carolina to polar opposite Rock Town, Georgia. Good bye granite crimps, hello sandstone roofs. Goodbye sending, hello ass-whoopin’. =)
Issa on The Scoop.
Tommy crushing an extension to Crock Bloc. Awesome.
One of the Ohio boys climbing Turkish Resin.
Eric working The Vagina. He is so close to sending this one.
Joe on a crimpy warm-up near the Hueco Simulator.
Issa on Double Trouble.
Me working Police Brutality.
CB’s first encounter with Balsam. Um… yeah.
Amy and Trip, from Sheffield, UK. Such a cool couple who I hung out with for quite a few nights, including Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving feast included good pasta, sushi, chips and salsa, wine and Lindt chocolate. Quite the eclectic culinary mix but it was all so delicious. =)
And, of course, the obligatory picture of the CragBaby. Here she is soaking up some sun while I worked in La Fayette.
After the Red River Gorge I hit the road again with my friend Pierre (from Quebec), with the destination being Boone, North Carolina and its abundant gneiss boulders.
My whole vacation, which started on August 1st, has been a little “off” with lots going on at home and on the road for me to worry about. Problems ranging from moving, car wreck, dealing with insurance companies (and in this case it was particularly long taking about 2 months to solve), looking for a new house and new car, breakups, job interview, car problems while on the road, the climbing accident and one of my dear friends at home being extremely sick (I actually considered calling the trip for the last two reasons.)
I usually climb to forget about my worries, but even climbing became stressful as being a sole traveler means that I am climbing with new climbing partners daily who I don’t know and who I am unsure know the technique of the soft catch. Add to that the fact that the bolt placements are more sparse in Rifle and the Red in comparison to home, and I catch myself really NOT wanting to fall. Falling is always scary (my head still being messed up from the broken ankle) but knowing there is a potential for a big fall on a belayer I don’t know is even more stressful On top of all that, there are so many strong climbers on the road and especially in the Red that my projects are often everyone’s warm-ups, resulting in me really starting to wonder if I truly am a “climber” since I am unable to climb 5.13.
But the past two days have started to turn around with me being truly happy each morning and excited to be on the road. I think it is because a lot of these worries have started to clear up: my car is working, the girl in the accident is doing real well and I am starting to mentally recover, my good friend at home is home from the hospital and it is just real nice not to be stressing about rope climbing. Though I’ve never considered myself a “boulder-er” since my focus has always been more towards sport climbing, I have loved my time here in Boone and perhaps the end result of all my worries will be me also loving this form of climbing. =)
I am having such a good time in the Red, but today am a little bit bummed. I thought I would take a minute to write up a gratitude list as usually my discouragement is silly and can be discarded by simply remembering all the good that abounds. I am bummed for a small handful of reasons.
I am getting my ass-kicked here in the Red and am just super tired from climbing at my top level every single day. I think I just need to find some other climbing partners, those who climb more in my range. Right now I am working on 5.12’s EVERYDAY and am just tired… simply tired…. and am getting burnt out rather than climbing for fun.
At home I was dating this fab guy for the past year and a half. Well, due to different stages of life and me needing to travel, we are both single again and just real good friends. I think I am slowly but surely remembering how tricky the single life is. Ha ha. Geez, there are a lot of people out here with baggage over ex-girlfriends and ex-wives. It is already getting a little old… Ha!
I wish I could volunteer somewhere. I really miss volunteering on a weekly basis as it seemed to keep my life in check. Now that I live on the road, my whole life is completely selfish as I just honestly do what I want every single day. I looked to see where the nearest blood center was located, but it is a couple hours away. I need to brainstorm another volunteer activity…. perhaps there is something I can do online?
Enough complaining. =) Here is the list of ten things I am grateful for today.
I have met some really great people on the road. Seems like there are many fellow travelers who have unique stories to tell, who have worked interesting jobs and are also apprised of current events.
CB has really mellowed out! I had put her in an agression class prior to hitting the road, but being surrounded by so many dogs and people has been a huge catalyst in helping her social skills. She has actually even played with three dogs since we have been here, two big labs and one pug. I am real happy with her progress!
I think if I keep pushing myself here in the Red, I am either destined to get stronger…. or…. get so pissed off that I will stop climbing. Ha! I am hoping for strength rather than retirement.
I am grateful that I am able to travel for a couple months, while still being able to work for my firm. Rest days can be real boring usually, and I am extremely fortunate that I can work not only a job, but a job I love.
I think this time off can be a great opportunity for me to re-assess life. I read this blog post the other day and it really hit home. It was a bit more financial based, but I liked the theme of looking back on where you had dreamt to go and re-aligning so you really get there.
I really like who I am and I am grateful for that. I think I am a good person, career focused, well traveled and diverse.
I am grateful for all the good climbing here in Kentucky. I love the rock, the beautiful trees and the interesting culture that accompanies all of it.
Work is real busy lately, allowing me to work whenever I want and making my rest days cruise by.
I’m super appreciative of my friends back home. Almost daily I have an email or instant message from someone at home, just checking in to see how the trip is going. It is real nice of them and always makes me smile.
Lastly, I need to just remember that I am LIVING ON THE ROAD. It isn’t everyday that one has this great opportunity. =)
Whew… I already feel lots better. It is amazing what a simple gratitude list can do. =)
After the week in Rifle, the next planned destination was the Red River Gorge. Rifle was a 6 hour drive from Salt Lake City, and the Red River Gorge was a 21 hours (yes, you read that correctly) drive from Rifle. Whew.
The drive seriously consisted of a day and a half spent driving the very straight I-70. I actually got pulled over in Kansas for speeding (oops!) but was lucky enough to get a warning. I must admit that the warning did keep my speed in check for the whole rest of the drive.
The first couple hours outside of Rifle were probably the most beautiful and spent winding through these mountains.
I happened to pick the best Colorado rest stop to walk CB as up on the hill were these mountain sheep.
My travel mate. He he he… check out that tongue!
The beautiful Kansas sunset after the most torrential storm. The hail hitting my windshield made me really wonder if my windshield was going to break. To be honest, I called Shaft to see if he had heard of any tornadoes sweeping through Kanas. Um… there weren’t any… but the storm was amazingly intense. =D
After 1,000 miles on I-70, I saw this sign. I was so ecstatic that I would soon be exiting I-70, that a quick picture was mandatory. Yet I was so tired of driving, I was very tempted to go to Chicago instead of Slade, Kentucky.
At around midnight on September 25 I finally saw this beloved sign! I must admit that a new friend already camping at Miguel’s kept me motivated throughout the entire drive, telling me stories of the fantastic Red River Gorge climbing. To him, I am very grateful as the drive through Kansas truly is LONG!
After my first six weeks of vacation in Utah, I officially hit the road heading to Rifle, Colorado. I had been to Rifle a couple years back and completely gotten my ass kicked. At the time I was working on 5.10’s and 5.11’s and Rifle was definitely NOT the place for someone working on such grades. This year I am a bit stronger and so was excited to see if the climbing felt any better.
Beautiful Rifle canyon.
Screamer on one of the “do-able” 5.10 warmups, which were very few and far between.
Well….. unfortunately…. it was still ridiculously hard. I am working on low 5.12’s in Salt Lake, which means in Rifle I am working on 5.11’s. Also, the Rifle ‘word on the street’ is to stay off the polished 5.10’s and 5.11’s…… meaning I was once again scared to death. Sigh. I only climbed 4 days but honestly just wasn’t having any fun. I couldn’t get into the grove of the Rifle climbing technique (basically nothing pulling downwards and the bolts being spread out), I was scared to lead anything, plus, there was some stuff going on at home that was affecting the experience. I was so discouraged I almost drove home from the road trip and hung up the climbing shoes for good. Thankfully, I decided to cut my losses short and left for the Red River Gorge, Kentucky.
Scott on the stunning Feline route.
Perhaps I need to go back to Rifle if I ever hit the 5.13 level. Sigh.
