Days 47, 48 and 49: Shelf Life

I didn't get far driving on Saturday night after spending the whole day climbing Diablo Canyon and overindulging at a Mexican restaurant.  In fact, only an hour outside Santa Fe to the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico that is.  I parked at a visitors' information center in the city and since I couldn't really gauge my surroundings, felt less comfortable than usual.  During the night, a couple of cop cars pulled up to the center and got out for a security check.  They drove away after about 5 minutes and just as I was getting back to sleep another officer walked past the few cars in the parking lot, shining his light as he passed.  I layed still because I didn't want to risk being seen and asked to leave and sure enough he left me to sleep. 

New western time zones - daylight savings time = early mornings.  That's how I got an early start to my Sunday morning.  I was headed to Shelf Road, one of Colorado's best winter climbing destinations.  On my way up I25 this blog was weighing on my shoulders so I decided to stop in Pueblo, CO to use the public library.  The libraries in America are great and I'm sure they will be valuable facilities on this leg of my trip where I have fewer friends and family to stay with.  I killed time at a Mexican restaurant during lunch as the library didn't open until 1:00.  Once there, I typed away the beautiful day and traded a day climbing for a day writing. 



Dave surveying a few of the
thousand+ climbs at Shelf Road

 I finished the final stretch to Shelf Road after the sun slid behind the mountains around 5:30.  I both like and dislike night driving.  On the one hand, driving at night frees my day to enjoy the outdoor activities I love to do.  On the other hand, I miss the scenery, make more navigation errors, and lack much knowledge of my surroundings.   Finding Shelf Road was fairly straightforward and when I thought I had found the entrance I pulled into a turn around to get my bearings and let a car pass.  The car stopped and I heard a voice call out "You lost?".  "Are you a climber?" I replied.  "Hell yeah I am!" he answered back and that was how I met Dave, a climber saturated in stoke. 

Cactus Cliff is just one of many
limestone crags at Shelf Road

Dave was sleeping in his car too so I asked if I could tag along to the parking lot and trade a beer for some beta (a term used by climbers meaning information about a climb or crag).  We spent the next few hours trading stories, reading the guide book, planning climbs and getting pumped up for the next day.  It turned out that Dave had a whole group of friends, about 10 strong, coming the next day to meet up.  Dave kept promising me I'd love it there and it turned out, he was right. 



A well deserved fist pump
 after sending the Cactus
Cliff classic Dihedrus

 Since his friends would be a little late, we decided to get a few climbs in before they got there.  Dave had a few classics that he wanted to introduce me to.  We started with a great warm up called Crynoid Corner (5.7).  It was good relaxing climb that gave me a good feel for the integrity of the limestone we were climbing.  We moved onto another warm up nearby called Kalahari Sidewinder (5.8) which happened to be right beside a four star dihedral climb fittingly named Dihedrus (5.10b).  The routes in the guidebook are given stars based on their popularity and Cactus Cliff, the Shelf Road crag we were at, was not short on four star climbs.  After stemming my way up an open book dihedral, I reached the anchors and ticked my second four star climb of the day.  

We decided to go meet up with the rest of the crew who had just arrived and so we headed back along the cliff until we saw them.  Dave parted with someone else to climb and left me with Bill and Lee to do a fun and reachy climb called Slicer (5.10a/b).  I spent some time with the guidebook and found a couple of four star 5.10s nearby.  The next climb was Blackman's Burden (5.10c), a thrilling 75 foot route that had a good variety of face and crack climbing through corners and along flakes. 



Lots of great climbs in
this corner including
I Claudius and I Lean

 We left the rope up for others to top rope and continued along the cliff to find the others in a big corner that had a few routes in it.  That was where Dave pointed out a beautiful crack that snaked its way up nearly the whole 80 foot wall.  Cracks to climbers are like peeling waves to surfers or fresh produce to an inspired cook.  In what most people see as just some ordinary feature or object they see something special, something that they can use their talents to interact with, to create feeling and accomplish goals. That's how I felt when I saw the crack I Claudius (5.11b); it needed to be climbed. 



Jam feet, reach with
hands, step up, repeat.

 I'm not a very experienced crack climber, so when I started up the hand-sized crack flanked on both sides by featureless stone I wondered if I'd get through this climb with all my gear (if you retreat you leave gear).  The moves down low were mostly jamming (camming your hands and feet in the crack).  The key to crack climbing seems to be trusting your hand and foot jams and with every crack climb I do, my trust does indeed grow. 

Lay-backing through
the crux of I Claudius

The top part of the climb was the crux for me.  Just as my arms were beginning to pump out, the crack narrowed and I switched to the physical technique of lay-backing.  In this position I was able to pull on one edge of the crack with my hands while smearing and walking up the opposite wall.  It relies on two things, the friction of your feet and the  opposition force held by your hands.  Needless to say I took a quite a few whippers (falls) before finding the solution to pass the section, but in the words of Ozzy Brian (a climber who came through Taiwan a while back) "if you're not flying, you're not trying."

Shelf Road climbing friends

I was so pumped, both physically (tired) and mentally (excited) when I reached the anchors that I wasn't even thinking straight.  While I was still on the route someone had asked if anyone could lead and set up a top rope for Chunky Monkey, a 5.10c/d with a really powerful start over a roof.  I, of course, volunteered and got myself in way over my head.  It took me at least 15 minutes to pull the first move and I couldn't even do that without frenching (pulling on the gear).  Since the gear wasn't even mine, I knew I had to reach the anchors so I could clean the rest of the gear off the wall.  Somehow I did it and managed to get down safely to end a long day of climbing. 

Even though I had leftover rice to eat, I was too tired to cook and opted to my new friends for pizza in town.  I was glad I did because not only did I have great pizza and a refreshing beer, but I also organized a partner for the next day.  Carl, pictured far left above, said he was game for climbing the next day and we meet in the same parking lot around 9 am. 

I'm up there somewhere
near the anchors on
Three Quarter Ton 5.10b/c

The nights in the high Colorado deserts are cold but the days are deceivingly warm.  The previous day I'd been in a t-shirt most of the day and even felt hot in the sun, despite the highs of just 62 degrees.  The weather reported indicated that a cold front would be coming and the forecast for Tuesday was just 50 degrees.  For anyone interested in going to Shelf Road, don't be put off by low temps, it's so much warmer when you're really there.  Maybe its the higher altitude or the dry air, but 50 at that crag feels like 75 in the sun. 



Carl at the anchors
cleaning I Lean (5.11a)

 We climbed 7 more routes in the day and nearly all of them were four stars.  In order they included, Oscare de la Cholla (5.9), Three Quarter Ton (5.10b/c), The Alignment (5.10d), Crynoid Corner (5.7), Politically Incorrect (5.10c), I Lean (5.11a) and Poquito Mas (5.10c).  I put the draws up on each except for Crynoid Corner which Carl led on trad for practice and to have me critique his placements (I can't believe anyone would trust me to do that).  All the other routes for both days were sport routes since limestone's thin but hard shell doesn't hold trad gear as well as other more solid types of rock.  By the end of the day my arms were crying and my finger tips were raw, but I felt great.  I left Shelf Road at dark and headed north through the snowy weather of Colorado Springs, past the mile high city (Denver), and to my future step-sister's place in Boulder. 

Big thanks again to Dave, Bill, Lee, Carl and all the other folks who made my Shelf Road trip a blast.

Days 42 to 46: From lush forests, through flat praries to vast desert mesas



Thanks to the farmer whose land this was.

 I left Nashville with an important decision left unmade in my mind.  Where would I sleep that night?  Among the many choices, two were narrowed down as best; somewhere in the Ozark National Forest or at a rest stop along I40.  I mulled it over while tucking into some Memphis Tennessee ribs and driving 3 hours through a rain storm, and when I still wasn't sure what to do, I turned to the supreme source of information, the Internet.  Using the free wifi from a Mcshit parking lot I found a few biking trails that ran through the national forest and that was good enough reason to go out of my way a bit and spend the night on some secluded forest road.  I found a mostly flat place to park in a small field just behind a seemingly empty barn, cooked dinner, and crawled into my soft, four wheeled cave.  



I spotted a bald eagle
along this river in AK



Lots of fun trails in Ozark
National Forest, AK



I was excited to see my surroundings in the morning so I quickly made breakfast and headed to where I thought the trail was.  Actually, I couldn't find it so I kept going to check out the fee charging campsites I had avoided the night before.  The Redding campsite also charged for day use, but I was able to avoid that by parking down a flood evacuation road and beginning my ride from there.  Riding on the dirt trails was fun and it took me to a small river where I spotted a beautiful mature bald eagle about 50 meters away.  At that moment I wished I had my camera, but I also cherished the fact that the sighting was exclusively for my eyes only.  The flood evacuation road wasn't too long so I circled around and found a great hiking trail and took my bike on it.  I had the whole park to myself and thoroughly enjoyed the forested ride over plush orange pine needles. 



The somewhat chossy but fun boulder



The forest facing side of
the boulder was higher and
a great crack/face climb



It was 10:30 and time to leave.  Driving back towards I40, a road sign grabbed my attention; White Rock Mountain Rd. it read.  I love driving these graveled forest roads and since this seemed to be my last opportunity in the foreseeable future to explore one in the eastern part of the country, made a right and began gaining elevation.  Near the summit I realized why they called it White Rock Mountain; most of the sandstone outcrops are covered in a type of white moss or lichen.  Suddenly I spotted it.  A roadside boulder about 25 feet high that was just begging to be climbed.  I went to inspect the rock and decided that it looked fairly easy and really fun.  I put my shoes on and did a few laps up and down.  The rock quality wasn't great so I climbed this wilderness boulder delicately, always knocking to hear how solid each hold was.  When I topped out I found a couple pairs of bolted anchors so obviously I wasn't the first person to be drawn to this highball boulder.

Cooking to scale to save time was great
for the first 5 meals.

The desolate prairies of Oklahoma
and Texas

It was 12:00 and really time to go.  I wanted to be across Oklahoma and at an Amarillo, Texas rest area by bedtime.  There's not much to say about Oklahoma.  It's big, flat (but not as flat as Kansas), windy and sunny.  The endless prairie crossing was broken only to cook up a mean batch of zucchini, onion, pepper, and olive Spanish couscous.  It got me through each meal for two days before I dropped it on accident and threw away the rest.  I reached the rest area in Texas well after night fall, ate my dinner, and read some more of Travels With Charlie, a John Updike novel that Aunt Marylin gave me.  Its great to note the similarities between our cross country trips both in planning and execution.



The landscape of New Mexico was
immediately more interesting than
the previous two states.



Eat breakfast, refill water, brush teeth and drive.  That's the typical rest stop morning routine and this one was no different.  I sped across northern Texas noting a few cattle farms that looked like the ones in the film Food Inc. (I had also seen Tyson chicken farms in Arkansas; the chicken coups were the only new buildings in miles and I wondered what conditions their modern facade hid).  I drove about 4 hours and with the time zone change, reached Santa Fe in the early afternoon. 



The Rio Grande River
from the Overlook in
White Rock, NM



With some time to kill before meeting a climbers club somewhere in the area, I hung out in the public library and took advantage of nice tables and free wifi to update my blog and get some final directions to the crag.  The group, called Los Mountaineers, posted on their website they would be meeting a  place in White Rock, NM called the Overlook at around 4:30 on Thursday.  I was there at 4 but they never showed.  It was a bummer because that was a time and destination I had been aiming for since leaving Nashville.  My hopes were to 1) climb 2) meet someone who would be able to climb the next couple of days and 3) to have someone invite me to stay at their place so I could avoid my first desert camp out.  I wandered around the top of the crag for a while and finally saw a couple of guys who I thought might be climbers.  I struck up a conversation and it turned out they were Germans who lived in Los Alamos.  They invited me to surf their couch and also said they try to put me in touch with some of their climbing friends.  That was great and allowed half of my hopes to come true that day.  After hiking around the area a bit more and enjoying great views of the Rio Grande River snaking its way through endless mesas, I picked up some beer and headed to Rene's (the German) house for dinner. 



A dusk scene of the Jemez Mountains
heading toward Los Alamos 



Los Alamos is a small town at about 1900 meters elevation that is populated by tons of scientists.  It is home to the National Laboratory, the place where the bomb and who knows what else was made.  Rene and his visiting German friend were both physicists and Rene was working on his thesis at the lab.  Over the course of my stay in Los Alamos, I only met one person who wasn't employed by the lab so most of the conversations were interesting and intelligent.  It certainly was a very intriguing aspect of the demographics there compared to anywhere else I've been.

 

A view of the Santa Fe National

Forest from the bike trail.

 

Some of the more
technical parts of the trail



With no one to climb with on Friday, I used the Internet to find a bike trail in the Santa Fe National Forest.  I read the directions many times, filled my car up with gas (one of my nightmares is running out of gas in the desert), and drove south to the forest.  The forest road was extremely dusty and after I'd stop a cloud of dust would engulf my entire car.  By the time I found the trail head my car was cover in dust.  The trail was mostly really good and followed a double track trail through a juniper and cacti forest.  The sun was warm but the air was cool and after riding for about 2 hours I'd had enough of the barren landscape. 

Adam on a nice dihedral
crack; this was my first
climb in NM (5.8+)

 When I returned to my car Rene's friend, Stephanie, had emailed me detailing her plan to go climbing with a small group to Diablo Canyon the following day.  I couldn't wait!  With the afternoon still young I dropped by the Overlook in White Rock to see if any climbers were around.  Plan B was to hike down to the Rio Grande River but I was in luck.  Just as I was arriving I spotted a pair of climbers heading down the trail to the crag.  I got my stuff ready and took the trail to the top of the climbs.  I heard them below and poked my head over to ask if I could join.  It was a couple named Adam and Natalie and they had no objections to me tagging along. 



Natalie on the fun crack line I set up



The rock there is basalt, which is formed from rapid cooling of lava, and I was really excited to climb a type of rock that I hadn't climbed before.  It was smoother than most sandstones I'd been on and had a similar friction to unpolished limestone.  The rock felt pretty solid despite a few high pitch sounds like heavy ceramic when I gave it a knock.  We climbed an easy crack and then a moderate face climb next to it.  I was glad to have my trad gear because after those two climbs I got to lead a nice 5.9 crack and TR another face climb next to it.  They were both really cool people and invited me back for dinner as well as offering a spare room they had. 



The same Javez mountain scene as
above only in the morning.



When I arrived at their house I could smell dinner from the front door.  We hit it off well (these were my kind of people; laid back and always able to contribute to an interesting conversation) and the vegetarian enchiladas, fruit salad, and Spanish rice provided great nourishment as well as a break from the continual couscous.  They too both worked at the lab, but unlink my last hosts worked in the biological labs.  After dinner we soaked in their hot tub and had a few more beers before hitting the hay.

At 8:30 in the morning I went to a local Los Alamos cafe to meet Stephanie and friends.  There were 8 of us and together we made a diverse group representing Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and the Philippines.  They all worked at the lab except for Stephanie and seemed to be friends through that affiliation.  Three of the guys were moderate climbers and the three girls and one other guy were more beginners.  I climbed mostly easy to moderate stuff there including Drunk Rednecks with Golf Clubs (5.9), Winter Warm Up (5.8 trad), and a great 5.10a/b called Class Act. 



The high basalt walls of Diablo Canyon



Winter Warm-up (5.8 trad)



 After those three climbs, we crossed to the other side of the canyon.  The descent was worse than the already bad approach as it was down the steep rock slide.  The canyon had a warm breeze running through it and the rocks on the opposite radiated great heat in the cool shade.  I lead a huge single pitch sport route called Post Moderate (5.9).  It had 17 bolts, was 165 feet and even with my 70 meters of dynamic rope I couldn't reach the bottom and we had to think up an alternative plan to lower me down (we used a rope that was set with top rope anchors beside the route I was on to lower me down all the way).  We had a beer in the parking lot where I met an older couple who were headed to Shelf Road, Colorado for climbing around the same time I was.  It was a great trip and although I debated staying in Los Alamos a few more days, I decided other places needed to be explored.  Thanks again to Rene, Adam, Natalie, and Stephanie and friends for showing me a great time in New Mexico. 



I'm just to the left of the plane trail
high up on Post Moderate (5.9)



Stephanie and friends in the Diablo
Canyon parking lot after a great day
of climbing



Days 37 to 41: Nashville Halloween!

I arrived to Adam and Craig's house, located in a southeastern suburb of Nashville, around 8:30 on Wednesday evening.  They didn't waste any time introducing me to some local Nashville nightlife and after a brief tour, we were on our way to a neighborhood pub which was having a karaoke night with free hamburgers.  We met up with some of Adam's co-workers, had a few beers and caught up on old times before retiring relatively early back at their pad. 

Lots of variety everyday!

The next day I took a 20 minute drive into Nashville to explore the city on bike.  I parked in an expensive lot and rode away toward the Nashville Farmers' Market.  They've got an excellent year round farmers' market and a great food court where I stopped for lunch before finding out what produce the market offered.  The long southern harvest season provided a wide range of veggies including broccoli, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, eggplant, and lots of sweet potato.  I picked up some local honey, kale, onions, and a big basket of sweet potatoes which I hope will keep well along the rest of my trip.  In addition, I found one special food that really reminded me of Taiwan; hog jaw. 



Hog jaw; fun to say and great to eat!

 I always admired the Taiwanese for being able to cook nearly every part of an animal and usually make it palatable.  The hog jaw in particular reminded me of "pork rice", which is stewed pork (chopped finely from meat to skin) over rice.  I hadn't yet in America seen pork sold with the skin still on it so the hog jaw immediately perked my interest.  It was a cured piece of meat fat and skin with a string through one end which was used to hang the piece during smoking.  It possessed an intense Hickory scent and best of all, I didn't need to be refrigerated.  I purchased a medium sized piece and brought I back to try. 

That night I cooked up some hog jaw with kale.  It was fantastic.  Cutting the fatty chunk into small bacon slices and frying it before adding the kale provided for the oil, salt, and plenty of flavor.  After dinner we got the house ready with decorations for Friday's Halloween party.  By the end of the night we were just about ready for the party and the only things missing was the keg, some fried cakes, and my costume. 

From right to left: that art guy, Ozzy,
toga man, Night Rider Hasselhoff, and
the crazy doctor

On Friday morning I picked up a box of fried cakes and went on a last minute Halloween costume hunt.  I hadn't put much thought into what I was going to be so, of course, no original ideas presented themselves.  Instead, I used a costume idea from my old co-worker and good Kiwi friend, Daniel, which was a crazy bloody doctor.  I located a costume shop and bought an overpriced costume before heading back to Adam's for some last minute preparations.

A beer pong table accented with Christmas
 lights about host another round

Alas, party time began as guests dressed in an array of characters arrived.  We had plenty to drink and eat (most of which went unconsumed) as well as some fun games to play.  Beer pong has apparently remained popular since I left America 7 years ago, now however, even when I win I still lose.  The party rolled by quickly as I mingled and conversed with new friends beside the fire pit, which was a key source of heat on the nippy Tennessee evening.  Finally, my head started to become heavy and I knew it would be best to hit the hay despite the ongoing fun.  A quick worship to the porcelain god ensured a morning in which I could actually function. 



Craig packing up camp
at a great free site which
featured a fire pit, logs,
and a stream for water.

 Saturday started late and slow.  Craig and I decided that it would be best to head up to Mammoth Cave National Park that night to camp so that we wouldn't have to make the drive into Kentucky on Sunday morning.  We arrived about an hour before the park offices closed and just in time to get a back country camping permit and pick up our tickets for the next day's wild cave tour.  We got the last site available and it was an easy 4.5 mile hike through fairly level forests before we reached our free camp site in the dark.  I put the hog jaw to the back country test and whipped up a mean veggie, quinoa and hog jaw mash beside a warm fire.  We slept through the cool night without the rain fly on my tent and the stars were prominent beside the waning moon. 

The next morning we quickly packed up camp and made the 75 minute hike back to the car.  We met in front of the visitors center just in time for the wild cave tour to begin.  The two park rangers who would be leading the tour greeted us and gave us a quick run down about what we'd need to do to get ready.  Their tone at first was forewarning as they have had people get in over their head in signing up for this tour.  I wasn't discouraged and no one else in the group seemed to be either.  Everyone was directed to put on a pair of coveralls and knee pads.  We also got a pair of gloves, a helmet and a head lamp.  Then the old school bus took us over to an entrance of the cave that had been blasted about 90 years prior.



Craig almost got stuck in the Bare Hole

 We began our tour on Cleveland Ave., a wide section of the cave with lots of small holes leading to different corridors of the massive underground labyrinth.  The guide had informed us that the first part of the tour would be something like a test.  How the group negotiated some tight fits and small passes would determine what we did after the lunch break.  The first test was a fairly small pass which required a sort of crouched, left foot forward slow motion gallop.  It was awkward exiting the narrow hole from that position and you even had to turn your helmet to the side to make it out. 

The next test was even tighter.  It was named the Bare Hole because it has a history of stripping passers' clothes off and baring all on the other side.  I made it through with some squirming and scratching; clothes intact.  I realized when passing through this and other crawling only spaces that I had unwittingly been practicing this motion every time I crawled into the back of the Pathfinder for a night rest. 



This advertisement for tonic was
written by candle smoke in 1869.

 Before we knew it lunch had come and it turned out that Craig and I were the only ones on the tour who were unaware of the fact that there is actually a restaurant in the cave.  Fortunately, the only thing we missed were overpriced and unimpressive sandwiches.  Along the cave walls in the bigger areas like where we ate lunch we saw lots of cave graffiti.  Actually, it was candle smoke writing from as far back as the early 1800s.  Some were advertisements some thanked guides and others recorded fond experiences or pioneering discoveries. 


Passing through these
corridors was the easy
part of this tour.



As we crawled, climbed, and found our way through the cave, I was fixated on how and by who this cave was originally pioneered.  It turns out that one of the original explorers (at least with recorded data) was a slave by the name of Stephen Bishop all the way back in 1838.  I couldn't imagine solo exploring the cave and going through some of his passes with a head lamp and modern gear, let alone with a lantern and candle. 



Cavers, not spelunkers

 The second half of the tour wasn't as claustrophobic.  We traversed through canyons and made one more tight squeeze through No Name pass, a 4 meter stretch of crawling with no more than 35cm of space from floor to ceiling.  We stopped for a moment and all turned off our lamps and kept silent.  My eyes couldn't even see my hand waving in front of my face while my ears struggled for a purpose in the absolute silence.  At the end of the trip we rejoined one of the main cave avenues and saw some of the more interesting formations that I'd expected to see the limestone make. 

When we finally exited the cave in the afternoon it felt like coming out of a movie during the day, when some how the light of day surprises your senses.  We'd learned a lot on the tour about the history of the cave, the ongoing exploration and that the difference between cavers and spelunkers is that cavers rescue spelunkers.  Hungry, we used Urban Spoon to find a great Mexican restaurant for dinner before heading back to Nashville. 

Some of the cool
limestone formations

Dark Star Orchestra, Halloween
night in Nashville, TN

We really had a full day and it was only half over at that point.  Craig had bought us tickets to go see Dark Star Orchestra, the Grateful Dead cover band.  Dark Star doesn't just cover Grateful Dead songs, but rather they try to recreate Dead shows by using original set lists and matching dates to actual previous Dead show locations.  On this special Halloween occasion however, they didn't keep to the set list and instead played two long sets of fun jamming tunes.  My favorite song of the night was Werewolves of London, to which everyone howled, danced and sang.  The show didn't end until 1am and we were all exhausted by the time we got home.  Lots of credit to Craig and Adam to making it through a long day of work after that night. 



Jack's is just one of
several BBQ joints on
Broadway Ave.



Southerners got the BBQ down, but
they've still got some room for
improvement with their sides
TN pork shoulder sandwich with
corn and chunky apple sauce

 On my final day in Nashville I headed back to the famers' market to stock up on some zucchini, onions, peppers and hog jaw.  I also had planned to go to a traditional black barber shop for a shave (a way of connecting with an unfamiliar group) but all the shops I had planned to go to were closed on Mondays.  So it goes; I can shave by myself anyway.  For lunch I stopped in for some more southern BBQ at Jack's.  It had been recommended and I wasn't let down.  I got the pulled pork sandwich and a Yankee's education on southern BBQ sauces.  I really enjoyed the sweet and smokey flavor of the Kansas City sauce they had, while the North Carolina vinegar sauce was good in moderation. 



Adam and I on J Percy Priest Reservoir
in his newly repaired boat

 I got back just as Adam was finishing work and we went to pick up his boat that was having some repairs made to it.  We took the boat out with one of his co-workers and her friend.  It ran well for being a 1986 and he showed me around some of the islands and coves on J Percy Priest Reservoir, a lake which is less than a mile from his house.  We smoked some chicken, cooked up some hog jaw collard greens and watched some Monday night football.  It was a lot of fun visiting Nashville and thanks a lot to Adam and Craig for their warm southern hospitality. 

Days 34, 35, and 36: Asheville Revisited

It was a tough call to decide whether to head back to Asheville or continue on to Nashville earlier than planned.  I had five solid reasons for returning to Asheville: see Brian and Kaitlin again, pick up my spare keys that I'd left there, climb Looking Glass Rock, play some disc golf on some acclaimed courses and to try the BBQ joint in Asheville, 12 Bones.  So the decision was made to head back to Asheville for a few days.  After all, it was one of my favorite places and I didn't know the next time I'd be back.



Kailin and Brian

 I fully relaxed and recovered on the rainy Monday, letting my finger tips heal and just lying around.  In the evening we headed over to Kaitlin's school for Monday's communal dinner.  Students, staff, and guests join together for a meal followed by a group discussion.  The event gave me a peek into the way her school operates, which is something like an outdoorsy summer camp with real classes.  I didn't attend the group discussion on gender that night, so Brian and I left with full bellies and chilled back at his place.

The next day was just as rainy as Monday, with spots of sun trying to squeeze through the shifting rain clouds.  It put a big damper on my plans to play disc golf and climbing Looking Glass Rock was beginning to look like a  long shot as well.  I used my confinement indoors to cook up some granola bars, which are invaluable on the road and when climbing. 

That night, Brian's volleyball team had a couple of matches.  It worked out well for me because one of his teammates was out with a bad ankle and I could sub in for him.  I hadn't played in over 2 years, since before I broke my foot in a climbing fall 1.5 years ago, but once I got my hands on the ball it all came back to me.  I guess that's one of the benefits of learning a sport when you're young; the movements stay with you in your muscle memory for life.  That's not to say I played like I used to.  In fact, I felt like the weakest link on the four person team as my passing and hitting were a bit out of sync.  Overall, it was really fun and left me sore (in that good way) for the next couple of days.

Brian had the day off on Wednesday but with showers continuing all morning, climbing The Nose at Looking Glass Rock was out of the question.  Instead, we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which seemed even more colorful than when I had seen it just a week before, to the visitors' center.  We watched a movie about the history of the Parkway, another CCC masterpiece, and learned about some of the environment it runs through.  To me the CCC is proof that socialist policies can not only help get out of tough economic times, but also create some of the most enjoyable aspects of our country and to all those right wing pundits who speak about socialism like its a bad word, just stay out of the national parks.



We had to wait about 20
minutes, but it was worth it

 My stomach began rumbling as we were leaving to the Parkway which meant that it was time for the long awaited 12 Bones BBQ.  Brian had been talking this place up for a while now and after hearing that Obama has made a couple of stops to Asheville for the BBQ, I was anticipating more than a mouthful.  We got the blueberry chipolte BBQ ribs with some sides of corn pudding, green beans, and corn bread.  I haven't had great ribs many times in my life, and the only other place I really had to compare it to was Dinosaur BBQ.  Brian assured me that it would be better, but to be honest I can't agree.  They are both very similar and while the ribs seemed slightly more tender at 12 Bones, Dinosaur certainly has better atmosphere.  Both sauces are excellent and the sides are a toss up depending on what you like. 



Humble presentation is justified with
super taste.

 After the late lunch I got on the road as soon as possible and headed west towards Nashville, Tennessee.  I saved an hour crossing time zones and arrived in the evening to Adam and Craig's place.

Days 28-33: Six Days in the Red

Miguel's Pizza

After another good night's rest in the Pathfinder, I woke up in a Lexington parking lot excited about the days to come at the Red River Gorge.  Before I made the hour long trip, I stopped by a bakery and farmers' market to stock up on some food.  The veggies at the market were small and perfect for preparing dishes for just one.  By around lunch time, I had already arrived at my base camp for the next six days; Miguel's Pizza and Rock Shop.

Miguel's is a special place for climbers or perhaps better put, the place for climbers.  Not only do they sell pizza and climbing supplies, they also allow climbers to camp and use their facilities for only $2 a night.  I paid for 3 nights, set up my tent in a field behind the shop and took a drive over to the nearest crag, Roadside, to check out the rock. 



Miguel's is busy at night with most
campers making their own food.



Roadside's easy to moderate climbs and minimal approach make it a popular crag and it was no problem finding people to climb with.  The first people I met to climb with were a group of guys from Michigan.  They had already put up some draws on a route called Dragonslayer (5.10d), and offered to give me a belay.  I didn't get through the climb cleanly and took a number of good whippers at the crux, but it was a good taste of what RRG climbing embodies; steep, pockety, sandstone pumpfests.  I got on the climb one more time before heading back to Miguel's for dinner and realizing how out of climbing shape I was. 

Miguel's was packed with climbers drinking beers, cooking up dinner and swapping stories of heroic ascents of the day.  It was among this energized gathering of climbers that I met Mike and Andrew, two college friends from Kansas University.  We shared a table and stories as we cooked up our dinners and by the time we were finished they were kind enough to invite me to climb with them the next day. 



A fun and relaxed climb on One
Armed Bandit (5.9)

 Muir Valley is an area of RRG with dozens of crags for climbers of all levels.  It happens to be on private land the but the owners are friendly and allow climbers access to the hundreds of routes, given they follow a few rules and sign a waiver.  Both Mike and Andrew had been to RRG a few time before so they had a good idea of which crags they liked and what climbs they had their eyes on.  It was obvious from the beginning that they were both pretty strong climbers as they easily sent a couple of 5.10s for warm up.  I was happy to be climbing with people above my level and to have someone put the quickdraws up on the route for my flash attempts.  We climbed a couple of 5.11s and then they let me pick an easier climb that I could just enjoy and relax climbing.  I picked one called One Armed Bandit (5.9) and we all climbed it before heading over to a super overhung crag called Midnight Surf to finish up the day. 



Natural Bridge of sandstone



This guy had a classic jacket



The next day I didn't have anyone to climb with so I cleaned up my bike and took a hike through a state park called Natural Bridge.  It turned out to be quite an impressive natural bridge and the walk up there felt easy without a pack of gear on my back.  There were lots of tourists on the trail and along the way I spotted an old guy wearing a funny jacket reading "Big Bone Baptist" and snapped a good shot of him.  I returned to the car by 3 o'clock and despite half my body telling me to rest, I headed back to Roadside crag to try to get in a climb.  I met two Notre Dame students as they were heading to another crag and they invited me along.  We climbed a wild route called Breakfast Burrito (5.10d) and checked out some other super hard climbs including a project Chris Sharma has that looks insanely difficult. 




Armadillo (5.10d)

 That night I met Jason and Lee, who invited me to climb with them the next day.  It sounded like they were climbing more around my level than a lot of people at Miguel's and I liked their 'just have fun' approach to climbing.  We went to a crag across the street from Roadside called The Zoo and had the whole place to ourselves all day.  We started on some slabby climbs which required some balancey moves while seeking out small holds.  Later on, we moved down the wall for some overhanging routes with lots of jugs.  Lee had a great DSLR with some fantastic lenses so we took turns anchoring at the top of the climbs to shoot each other as we climbed up.  I took a quite a few falls as the day went on and my forearms wore out, but overall it was a great day of climbing. 



Lots of tents in the fields behind
Miguel's.

 When we returned to Miguel's we treated ourselves to some of their famous pizza.  They have a huge list of ingredients to choose from so you can totally customize your pizza.  Throughout the night more and more people kept rolling in.  It was Friday and some university was having holiday and by the next morning, the field had doubled with tents. 



The Walmartification
of Trad (5.8)

 On Saturday, Jason, Lee, and some of their friends and I headed to some other crags in the Pendergrass area.  We took an alternative road to the parking lot that had us four wheeling through Kentucky forests and streams.  I started with a nice looking and easy trad line before moving on to some more sport lines in the 5.10 to 5.11 range at the Volunteer wall.  The weather was like it had been all week, 70s and sunny and the colors in the forest were bright and warm.   



Miguel's fire in full swing; what
an amazing place and community

 On the way back to Miguel's we stopped at the beer trailer (the county Miguel's is in is dry) to get some drinks for the night.  They make a fire every night but on that night there was a great crowd.  The nights actually got pretty cold and so the cardboard fueled fire was a great place to hang out at after dinner.  It was also a great place to meet people and hear about all the crazy things these climbing 'dirt bags' are up too.  In fact, I met quite a few people who were on the road like me or had been living out of their car for much longer.  There were people from all over the country and world, many of whom were staying at the Red for months at a time.  It truly is a world class climbing destination. 

Great pocketed sandstone
climbing on steep walls
Fifth Bolt Faith (5.10c)



What a crack!  Roadside
Attraction (5.7)



My final day at the Red was a bit more laid back; no 5.11s.  We went back to the Muir Valley and did all the climbs on Tectonic Wall including 'Gettin Lucky in Kentucky' (5.10b) and Fifth Bolt Faith (5.10c).  Finally, another Jason that was with us was interested in doing some trad climbing.  I had had my eye on an easy 5.7 classic called Roadside Attraction.  It was said to be the best 5.7 in Kentucky and after climbing it I would have to agree.  The moves were crack climbing at its best, with hand jams and laybacking up a solid, well edged dihedral. 

After a couple more Miguel slices, I was on the road headed back to Asheville for some real rest.  Thanks to Jason, Lee, Mike, Andrew and all the others I climbed with at the Red.  And on a final note, if you're a climber and haven't been to the RRG, put it on your list of things to do before you die.  You won't regret it!