When finishing off in Missouri we drove through St. Louis and stopped at the Arch which is something I had wanted to see since i was a little kid and really I wasnt unimpressed. The arch really is an impressive sight to see!
We drove on through to Kentucky and started our climbing. I haven't had any climbing shots yet unfortunately but I will have some soon. Still I did manage to run into a new friend in the climb. I got past my first piece and got to a ledge where I turned and said "Theres a big snake here!"
I watched it for a little while and noticed it decided to take the same route which I was doing. Oh well. I guess we can use the same protection.
Then I thought, hmmm thats about he best hold Ive seen all day! So I called the snake Sling.
Then I continued on the climb and finished. The next day I climbed real hard and hurt myself...doh. Maybe it will make me get more pictures!
Finally I got to hang from some ropes and take pictures here in the Red River Gorge although a week off I found myself a little rusty. I decided that I wanted to climb hard since I was here and I have been getting my butt kicked by the awesome climbs here.
The first climb we did had some loose flakes on it which are often found and X'd as a climber passes them. John decides not to use the X blocks.
With that done he flies on through the route. The colors of the Red are amazing.
John's long arms often allow him to reach longer then the rest of us.
Finally past that John takes a moment to rest.
Richard was up next and followed in style. He is getting back into leading and its nice to have him flying up climbs behind us.
Here he shows the "hide from the clip with a rope in your mouth" technique.
On the next route I began to complain that John was always hiding behind his hat and I never got facial intensity shots so he threw this one at me.
And then he went back to business.
After climbing 5 routes we decided to give the classic climb Twinkie (5.12a) a go and geebus was it intimidating. It went up a slab for a bit then went into a wild overhang for the rest of the route. It was intense but we both lead it and had an awesome time. This is the only picture I have of John climbing it since I was belaying him. Its not a good picture but it helps give an idea of how overhanging it was.
Journeys forum seems a bit slow this last week! So I'll keep posting pictures.
We continue our climbing extravaganza of the Red with a day at the Military Wall which includes a classic called Fuzzy Undercling. It is a great climb and we climbed it because of Hype.
We did a few climbs to warm up. First we hopped onto a 5.10a. John holds onto seeming nothing as he makes this clip.
Climbing in his classic "I'm not going to fall" style John cruised through all the climbs of the day without a single fall or take.
Best way to do that is take rests are the large holds. Here John cruises a 5.10c
Sometimes it seems as though his height is an advantage.
Then we hopped on the Fuzz. It is a beautiful route with difficulty just at the beginning then its just a fight the pump kind of route to the finish. Wonderful climbing.
At the shootout Marc told us about arranging images in Photomerge that really don't fit together and seeing what we could come up with. I really liked the idea and gave it a shot and here is what I came up with.
What a great climbing trip. You guys are champs! I can't imagine that much climbing in so many successive days! I wouldn't be able to climb my way out of a sleeping bag after about 5!
What a great climbing trip. You guys are champs! I can't imagine that much climbing in so many successive days! I wouldn't be able to climb my way out of a sleeping bag after about 5!
Thanks! Its been a great trip. I have actually been keeping a trip log on climbs and between all of us we have climbed 108 different climbs.
Bit of a photo overload but this place is really beautiful. So we took a hike around to the Natural Bride Arch and generally enjoyed our day.
We took a hike through the trail which lead us through a nice stairway down Devils Gulch.
The hike was beautiful but it still felt like something was missing so we headed to climbing and decided to look for animals instead! There were a few otters playing nearby which gave for our first bit of wildlife.
But they didn't like their picture taken.
So I told John that I had never seen a Salamander in the wild. I figured this was a good a place as any! We headed downstream.
The colors of the leaves were intense.
Aha life! This time its a little crawdad that didn't much like his picture taken either.
Still though not what we were looking for so off we went. The finally!
With that achieved we decided to look for a bigger one!
Instead we ran into this rather unsavory character. He didn't like it us much.
On the drive out with contentment in our minds we passed a few horses and I heard "Oooh horses!" and I figured WHY NOT! So we stopped and Tracy got her horse fix.
Then we continued the loop the long way back to Miguels for a night of sandwiches and sleeping.
That day we went and rigged a rope jump at the Gemini Bridges.
I've only recently began to have some time to actually look through my images from the shootout, etc. I have many more shots to come, but I wanted to share this with you already; I hope you don't mind sharing it in your thread. It may take a little bit of time to load. I uploaded it in very low quality, but it's still over 2MB:
I've only recently began to have some time to actually look through my images from the shootout, etc. I have many more shots to come, but I wanted to share this with you already; I hope you don't mind sharing it in your thread. It may take a little bit of time to load. I uploaded it in very low quality, but it's still over 2MB:
Niice.
Ivar, awesome sequence.
Cuong
"She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
We have finally decided to leave the Red River Gorge and Kentucky and we made our way down through Tennessee. There are lots of climbing areas here but we decided just to spend the day at one and chose Obed. Didn't really know what to think but the first route we saw we knew we had to climb it and it turned out to be an awesome route.
And here it is.
I started on the route and took my usual few falls and John flew up it in style. The route goes up and directly out the massive roof over the climb.
Here John enters the great climbing through the roof.
For an idea of what it looks like from below. Tracy belays John as he nears the anchor.
We climbed a few more routes which I really enjoyed and then decided to call it a day. We have been climbing pretty hard lately and are feeling a bit worn!
But! Before we can take a break we had to drive through Alabama after a quick stop in Georgia for dinner at Larrys buffet in Trenton. We drove on to Sandrock which we heard had some climbing.
Looks a little steep..
John pulls into an overhanging bulge on this rather stiff 5.10a
And with the clip done he goes for the big move.
And then he shows everyone his double clipping technique at the anchors.
After a few climbs we were raided by the dogs and people to a point we didn't much feel like climbing more. Then I also dropped onto a large boulder on my back and now walking is hard too. Doh! Oh well just needs a few days off. The view from the top of climb was suprisingly beautiful since we drove in during the night we had no idea what we were coming into.
And were off to a new place. Were going for five states in five days. Lets see what we do next!
Well after getting injured its better not to push yourself to hard and try to continue climbing. What would one do to keep from climbing however? Well with a short...very short discussion we all decided that taking a dip in the Gulf of Mexico was the way to go and we were soon off to Florida, where most of us had never been. We arrived at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Pensacola late in the night and camped on the beach.
my eyes opened as the sun began its gentle rise from the other side of the world and although I was tired I knew I didn't want to miss it.
The colors of the ocean during a sunset or sunrise are always amazing.
The birds gave us things to shoot for while we awaited the morning heat.
and every now and then they would pose for pictures.
After the sunrise we ate a nice breakfast of ramen or canned soup and found this little guy running along the pavement.
They do well at camo when they bury into the sand.
We cruised around the town for a while waiting for the day to heat up so that the swimming would be optimal. The beaches here are incredibly white and stretch for miles.
Richard and John fell in a sinkhole and had to eat sand to get out before the tide took them. Ruff area this body of water is.
John fared much better then Richard who took a turn for the worst.
When we finally made it to the water John put our Spider Man boogie board to the test!
I made this stitch and it could use a bit more work but I thought I would post it. We are headed to New Orleans next. Hoooray!
Thanks for the swim Florida.
Nice shots - you really got the bird nailed well and must have been low light too
I know how hard it is to get up in the morning as I don't do mornings so kudos for the sunrise photos
Cheers, Jase
We got lucky that we happened to be sleeping directly on the beach so it wasn't fare to go! and by that I mean we were curled in sleeping bags laying in the sand. Ahhh the dirtbag way!
Thanks a bunch for the replies! We love dgrin and I know theres a lot of pictures that I take just to post here!
So heres so more!
We woke up in Florida and Tracy and I really wanted some Jambalaya. So we figured we had better go to New Orleans. We drove on through Mississippi and stopped for lunch in Biloxi. First thing we did was hit the farmers market and get some plums.
We wandered around town looking for a good place to eat and roamed to a boat yard. Still it wasent quite what we were looking for.
Then we found a pier and figured it was perfect.
After lunch we were off to Louisiana, another state visited.
We knew there were a few things we wanted to do when we came through Louisiana and just one was to visit New Orleans and the French Corridor. The other was I had never seen an alligator in the wild and I planned on doing so!
We drove into town and searched for Jamblaya!
I knew the least about the French Corridor but found it to be quite beautiful.
The colors of the buildings were beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around in this city fully remembering the fact that a year ago it was deserted. Interesting how I couldn't even tell!
Ahhh....finally. Success.
The doors reminded me of the doors of Italy and Spain.
After cruising around we knew our parking limit was ticking and so we decided to go look for alligators...especially since it was the first time we had ever said that and had the possibility of doing so! We hopped in the car and drove to Barataria Preserve and headed to the trails.
We were quickly surrounded by the wildlife. Spiders abound.
Some were more camouflaged then others.
I kind of biffed this picture and may have to fix it later! Does anyone know what kind of snake this is?
And then the real prize! The alligators began to make themselves apparent
In all we would count 8 alligators! It was an amazing day where we saw egrets, herons, alligators, snakes, frogs, spiders, and much more. What an amazing place!
Walking by a tree I noticed these little guys watching us as we strolled the trail.
We all really enjoyed the trip into the jungle. I also have some Pano images I hope to stitch soon. I was really surprised how beautiful the area could be so close to the city. Well we are off to Arkansas for some more climbing and visiting of John and Tracy's friends.
Hello again! In our blazing through the US we keep hitting states we have never been to and figure we had better get some climbing done! We visited some friends of John and Tracy's and then head off to Mount Magazine for some climbing. Mt. Magazine is the highest point in Arkansas. We climbed a few routes and really enjoyed the peacefulness of the area.
John climbs a 5.10b called Nymphomaniac
Since we are always on the lookout for wildlife a stick bug was spotted! He was a very colorful guy with red down his back. Tracy, always the bug and animal connoisseur, stayed and kept him company.
The view from the climbs was really nice with red tree's and a lake off in the distance. We started climbing at 3pm this day so we didn't get a whole lot of climbing done but it was enough to satisfy.
Climbing hardware in the rock.
The cliffs at sunset.
On the walk back I found this guy waiting for bugs and the sun.
We drove on to Oklahoma and ended up there in the middle of the night at Robbers Cave looking for a place to sleep. After driving around for a while, and being followed by idiots leaning out their window screaming and looking like....idiots, we found a great place down by a lake to sleep.
We awoke and drove to the climbing area and by the time I came up to John he yelled, "Ive climbed 3 routes!". He didn't have a rope on which lead me to believe that the routes were generally easy. From that point on we went on a soloing frenzy and climbed 14 routes up to 5.11c, Tracy brought the ropes out once so that we wouldn't feel we brought all the gear for nothing. Turning the place into our own climbing gym.
Richard tops out on this nice easy 5.6
John found another 5.6 that was overhanging where you climb these pockets with thick card holds.
Everyone gets in on the binge.
John climbed this 5.9 in style.
Tracy has been wanting to do an aid climb for quite some time so we got her on a crack here.
Testing her placements.
Making funny Joker faces.
And putting gear in places it just does not belong. She lowered off of this!
This is the gear we brought which we ended up not using except for one single aid climb.
The area is full of all kinds of life.
Should we wake him up?....
Okay so he was already awake. We were just having fun with this Tarantula that John found. Even Tracy got in on the fun.
After playing with the spiders we hopped in the car and drove our way to Texas where we are picking up Shasta and heading to Mexico!! Yay!
Such a wicked road trip! One question, how are you carrying that 20D around when your climbing?
www.lonewolfstudios.us
Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"
Thank you for taking me on your journey and your subtitles (fabulous sense of humor)...I REALLY ENJOYED it....but I think I will keep my feet on the ground and keep to fun hiking...:D
I loved the photos with the caves and streams...and true that photo of you guys in the hole could have been a cover!!
AWESOME thank you!!
Donna P.
You're only as good as your next photo....
One day, I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote
At the shootout Marc told us about arranging images in Photomerge that really don't fit together and seeing what we could come up with. I really liked the idea and gave it a shot and here is what I came up with.
Looked interesting anyway.
I love this.........
You're only as good as your next photo....
One day, I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote
Hello again! Its been a little while since I have posted mostly because its hard to find internet sometimes in Mexico! So heres a post to catch everyone up!
Thanks much for all your replies! I love getting online and seeing what others have to say about our odd adventures.
rokklym - I have a waistpack on with my big camera and two lenses in it. It often gets heavy and in the way!
Tentacion - Glad you enjoy my photo's! I like the photomerge odd shot as well. I liked it too!
DoctorIt - We will just make sure to check which ones are poisionous first...
griffon - Thanks for the well wishes, we need them on our way home through the snow!
And now to Texas!
We were driving into Texas to pick up Shasta who decided to come to Mexico with us! First we stopped in Waco, Texas for lunch.
I saw some underground tunnel areas which looked inviting but they were covered with fence.
and there were some ugly birds...
in uglier places...
In walking back to our cooking area on a park bench I found a nice little memorial.
We stopped by the Alamo in San Antonio for historical effect and found the area quite closed.
It was neat to see the wall where bullets were fired in the Mexican- American War.
The scenery seemed to continously improve as we continued along toward Mexico.
I don't know the history behind this but this giant tree was in the courtyard at the Alamo.
After cruising the mall for a restroom and finding a river flowing through the center we continued our trek toward Mexico!
We made our way to El Potrero Chico in Northern Mexico and walked our way to Virgin Canyon and began climbing. Shasta and I didn't know what we were getting on when we climbed our first climb and it ended up being the most difficult climb that Shasta had ever done. And quite the workout for me!!
Climbing the second pitch the The Flamingo Wall (5.8,5.8,5.11c/d)
The first two pitches were really easy. Then we came to the hard stuff. Not knowing what I was getting into this successfully took me by surprise! Shasta followed in style.
Its a long way down.
John and Tracy were next to us on a different wall climbing Blind Faith, (5.11a 3 pitch)
Shasta Nears the crux of the climb into harder territory then she had ever attempted...and she doesn't even know it.
Pulling hard sometimes just takes gritting the teeth.
And hoping everything sticks!
We finished the climb and went down to Join John and Tracy as they finished up their climb.
We took a few days off to enjoy Hidalgo and check out the market and then made our way back to climbing on Supernova, an 8 pitch 5.11a.
Shasta spent some time following but also lead on this climb and did really well.
John and Tracy climbed below us.
and sometimes caught up quickly. John pulls a lieback move on a 5.9 portion of the climb.
Hauling camera and all.
I was leading the final pitch when something unexpected happened!! Can you see what is wrong with this photo?
How about this guy?! I was climbing up and he was directly underneath my stomach before I even noticed him! Almost got me.
So I had to climb past him..wonder where he was on the route?
Yup I was that close.
I then hooked some caribiners together and tried to scare him off the area so that everyone could follow me up and when I was going in he took of down the climb. I yelled "Here he comes!!! And the snake fell 8 feet from Shasta after flying through the air much to her surprise. She would later in the same spot find a giant Centipede. I love Mexico!!
Comments
We drove on through to Kentucky and started our climbing. I haven't had any climbing shots yet unfortunately but I will have some soon. Still I did manage to run into a new friend in the climb. I got past my first piece and got to a ledge where I turned and said "Theres a big snake here!"
I watched it for a little while and noticed it decided to take the same route which I was doing. Oh well. I guess we can use the same protection.
Then I thought, hmmm thats about he best hold Ive seen all day! So I called the snake Sling.
Then I continued on the climb and finished. The next day I climbed real hard and hurt myself...doh. Maybe it will make me get more pictures!
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
The first climb we did had some loose flakes on it which are often found and X'd as a climber passes them. John decides not to use the X blocks.
With that done he flies on through the route. The colors of the Red are amazing.
John's long arms often allow him to reach longer then the rest of us.
Finally past that John takes a moment to rest.
Richard was up next and followed in style. He is getting back into leading and its nice to have him flying up climbs behind us.
Here he shows the "hide from the clip with a rope in your mouth" technique.
On the next route I began to complain that John was always hiding behind his hat and I never got facial intensity shots so he threw this one at me.
And then he went back to business.
After climbing 5 routes we decided to give the classic climb Twinkie (5.12a) a go and geebus was it intimidating. It went up a slab for a bit then went into a wild overhang for the rest of the route. It was intense but we both lead it and had an awesome time. This is the only picture I have of John climbing it since I was belaying him. Its not a good picture but it helps give an idea of how overhanging it was.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
We continue our climbing extravaganza of the Red with a day at the Military Wall which includes a classic called Fuzzy Undercling. It is a great climb and we climbed it because of Hype.
We did a few climbs to warm up. First we hopped onto a 5.10a. John holds onto seeming nothing as he makes this clip.
Climbing in his classic "I'm not going to fall" style John cruised through all the climbs of the day without a single fall or take.
Best way to do that is take rests are the large holds. Here John cruises a 5.10c
Sometimes it seems as though his height is an advantage.
Then we hopped on the Fuzz. It is a beautiful route with difficulty just at the beginning then its just a fight the pump kind of route to the finish. Wonderful climbing.
At the shootout Marc told us about arranging images in Photomerge that really don't fit together and seeing what we could come up with. I really liked the idea and gave it a shot and here is what I came up with.
Looked interesting anyway.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
What a great climbing trip. You guys are champs! I can't imagine that much climbing in so many successive days! I wouldn't be able to climb my way out of a sleeping bag after about 5!
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
Thanks! Its been a great trip. I have actually been keeping a trip log on climbs and between all of us we have climbed 108 different climbs.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
We took a hike through the trail which lead us through a nice stairway down Devils Gulch.
The hike was beautiful but it still felt like something was missing so we headed to climbing and decided to look for animals instead! There were a few otters playing nearby which gave for our first bit of wildlife.
But they didn't like their picture taken.
So I told John that I had never seen a Salamander in the wild. I figured this was a good a place as any! We headed downstream.
The colors of the leaves were intense.
Aha life! This time its a little crawdad that didn't much like his picture taken either.
Still though not what we were looking for so off we went. The finally!
With that achieved we decided to look for a bigger one!
Instead we ran into this rather unsavory character. He didn't like it us much.
On the drive out with contentment in our minds we passed a few horses and I heard "Oooh horses!" and I figured WHY NOT! So we stopped and Tracy got her horse fix.
Then we continued the loop the long way back to Miguels for a night of sandwiches and sleeping.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
:lurk :slurp :food - more!
Jase // www.stonesque.com
Niice.
www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
Cuong
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
And here it is.
I started on the route and took my usual few falls and John flew up it in style. The route goes up and directly out the massive roof over the climb.
Here John enters the great climbing through the roof.
For an idea of what it looks like from below. Tracy belays John as he nears the anchor.
We climbed a few more routes which I really enjoyed and then decided to call it a day. We have been climbing pretty hard lately and are feeling a bit worn!
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
Looks a little steep..
John pulls into an overhanging bulge on this rather stiff 5.10a
And with the clip done he goes for the big move.
And then he shows everyone his double clipping technique at the anchors.
After a few climbs we were raided by the dogs and people to a point we didn't much feel like climbing more. Then I also dropped onto a large boulder on my back and now walking is hard too. Doh! Oh well just needs a few days off. The view from the top of climb was suprisingly beautiful since we drove in during the night we had no idea what we were coming into.
And were off to a new place. Were going for five states in five days. Lets see what we do next!
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
my eyes opened as the sun began its gentle rise from the other side of the world and although I was tired I knew I didn't want to miss it.
The colors of the ocean during a sunset or sunrise are always amazing.
The birds gave us things to shoot for while we awaited the morning heat.
and every now and then they would pose for pictures.
After the sunrise we ate a nice breakfast of ramen or canned soup and found this little guy running along the pavement.
They do well at camo when they bury into the sand.
We cruised around the town for a while waiting for the day to heat up so that the swimming would be optimal. The beaches here are incredibly white and stretch for miles.
Richard and John fell in a sinkhole and had to eat sand to get out before the tide took them. Ruff area this body of water is.
John fared much better then Richard who took a turn for the worst.
When we finally made it to the water John put our Spider Man boogie board to the test!
I made this stitch and it could use a bit more work but I thought I would post it. We are headed to New Orleans next. Hoooray!
Thanks for the swim Florida.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
I know how hard it is to get up in the morning as I don't do mornings so kudos for the sunrise photos
Cheers, Jase
Jase // www.stonesque.com
We got lucky that we happened to be sleeping directly on the beach so it wasn't fare to go! and by that I mean we were curled in sleeping bags laying in the sand. Ahhh the dirtbag way!
Thanks a bunch for the replies! We love dgrin and I know theres a lot of pictures that I take just to post here!
So heres so more!
We woke up in Florida and Tracy and I really wanted some Jambalaya. So we figured we had better go to New Orleans. We drove on through Mississippi and stopped for lunch in Biloxi. First thing we did was hit the farmers market and get some plums.
We wandered around town looking for a good place to eat and roamed to a boat yard. Still it wasent quite what we were looking for.
Then we found a pier and figured it was perfect.
After lunch we were off to Louisiana, another state visited.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
We drove into town and searched for Jamblaya!
I knew the least about the French Corridor but found it to be quite beautiful.
The colors of the buildings were beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around in this city fully remembering the fact that a year ago it was deserted. Interesting how I couldn't even tell!
Ahhh....finally. Success.
The doors reminded me of the doors of Italy and Spain.
After cruising around we knew our parking limit was ticking and so we decided to go look for alligators...especially since it was the first time we had ever said that and had the possibility of doing so! We hopped in the car and drove to Barataria Preserve and headed to the trails.
We were quickly surrounded by the wildlife. Spiders abound.
Some were more camouflaged then others.
I kind of biffed this picture and may have to fix it later! Does anyone know what kind of snake this is?
And then the real prize! The alligators began to make themselves apparent
In all we would count 8 alligators! It was an amazing day where we saw egrets, herons, alligators, snakes, frogs, spiders, and much more. What an amazing place!
Walking by a tree I noticed these little guys watching us as we strolled the trail.
We all really enjoyed the trip into the jungle. I also have some Pano images I hope to stitch soon. I was really surprised how beautiful the area could be so close to the city. Well we are off to Arkansas for some more climbing and visiting of John and Tracy's friends.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
John climbs a 5.10b called Nymphomaniac
Since we are always on the lookout for wildlife a stick bug was spotted! He was a very colorful guy with red down his back. Tracy, always the bug and animal connoisseur, stayed and kept him company.
The view from the climbs was really nice with red tree's and a lake off in the distance. We started climbing at 3pm this day so we didn't get a whole lot of climbing done but it was enough to satisfy.
Climbing hardware in the rock.
The cliffs at sunset.
On the walk back I found this guy waiting for bugs and the sun.
Beautiful sunsets over the hills of Arkansas.
Sunset and the lodge at Mt. Magazine.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
We awoke and drove to the climbing area and by the time I came up to John he yelled, "Ive climbed 3 routes!". He didn't have a rope on which lead me to believe that the routes were generally easy. From that point on we went on a soloing frenzy and climbed 14 routes up to 5.11c, Tracy brought the ropes out once so that we wouldn't feel we brought all the gear for nothing. Turning the place into our own climbing gym.
Richard tops out on this nice easy 5.6
John found another 5.6 that was overhanging where you climb these pockets with thick card holds.
Everyone gets in on the binge.
John climbed this 5.9 in style.
Tracy has been wanting to do an aid climb for quite some time so we got her on a crack here.
Testing her placements.
Making funny Joker faces.
And putting gear in places it just does not belong. She lowered off of this!
This is the gear we brought which we ended up not using except for one single aid climb.
The area is full of all kinds of life.
Should we wake him up?....
Okay so he was already awake. We were just having fun with this Tarantula that John found. Even Tracy got in on the fun.
After playing with the spiders we hopped in the car and drove our way to Texas where we are picking up Shasta and heading to Mexico!! Yay!
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
Pictures | Website | Blog | Twitter | Contact
Olympus E3 w HLD4, E520, E510 11-22mm, 50-200mm,35mm macro, 14-42mm, 40-150, FL50R & FL36R
http://rokklym.smugmug.com/
We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life,to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.
- George Santayana, "The philosophy of travel"
I loved the photos with the caves and streams...and true that photo of you guys in the hole could have been a cover!!
AWESOME thank you!!
Donna P.
I love this.........
Thanks much for all your replies! I love getting online and seeing what others have to say about our odd adventures.
rokklym - I have a waistpack on with my big camera and two lenses in it. It often gets heavy and in the way!
Tentacion - Glad you enjoy my photo's! I like the photomerge odd shot as well. I liked it too!
DoctorIt - We will just make sure to check which ones are poisionous first...
griffon - Thanks for the well wishes, we need them on our way home through the snow!
And now to Texas!
We were driving into Texas to pick up Shasta who decided to come to Mexico with us! First we stopped in Waco, Texas for lunch.
I saw some underground tunnel areas which looked inviting but they were covered with fence.
and there were some ugly birds...
in uglier places...
In walking back to our cooking area on a park bench I found a nice little memorial.
We stopped by the Alamo in San Antonio for historical effect and found the area quite closed.
It was neat to see the wall where bullets were fired in the Mexican- American War.
The scenery seemed to continously improve as we continued along toward Mexico.
I don't know the history behind this but this giant tree was in the courtyard at the Alamo.
After cruising the mall for a restroom and finding a river flowing through the center we continued our trek toward Mexico!
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We made our way to El Potrero Chico in Northern Mexico and walked our way to Virgin Canyon and began climbing. Shasta and I didn't know what we were getting on when we climbed our first climb and it ended up being the most difficult climb that Shasta had ever done. And quite the workout for me!!
Climbing the second pitch the The Flamingo Wall (5.8,5.8,5.11c/d)
The first two pitches were really easy. Then we came to the hard stuff. Not knowing what I was getting into this successfully took me by surprise! Shasta followed in style.
Its a long way down.
John and Tracy were next to us on a different wall climbing Blind Faith, (5.11a 3 pitch)
Shasta Nears the crux of the climb into harder territory then she had ever attempted...and she doesn't even know it.
Pulling hard sometimes just takes gritting the teeth.
And hoping everything sticks!
We finished the climb and went down to Join John and Tracy as they finished up their climb.
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Shasta spent some time following but also lead on this climb and did really well.
John and Tracy climbed below us.
and sometimes caught up quickly. John pulls a lieback move on a 5.9 portion of the climb.
Hauling camera and all.
I was leading the final pitch when something unexpected happened!! Can you see what is wrong with this photo?
How about this guy?! I was climbing up and he was directly underneath my stomach before I even noticed him! Almost got me.
So I had to climb past him..wonder where he was on the route?
Yup I was that close.
I then hooked some caribiners together and tried to scare him off the area so that everyone could follow me up and when I was going in he took of down the climb. I yelled "Here he comes!!! And the snake fell 8 feet from Shasta after flying through the air much to her surprise. She would later in the same spot find a giant Centipede. I love Mexico!!
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