Monthly Archives: May 2011

The Quest for the Perfect Approach Shoe

May 31 2011

Just when I was beginning to lose hope that the perfect approach shoe actually existed, along came the Hedgehog GRX XCR (by The North Face) – a perfect balance between comfort and performance! Let me back up. Until recently, I’m pretty sure that not a climbing trip went by where I didn’t have some sort of complaint about my shoes. Not my climbing shoes, mind you – I have no qualms about packing in 4 pairs of shoes for 4 different routes, because each of my shoes have a specific purpose – I’ve got my technical edgers, my aggressive down-turned…Read the rest of this entry →

New River Rendezvous Recap

May 26 2011

After skipping last year’s ‘Vous b/c Cragbaby was still really new on the scene, we were back this year, this time as a family that was bigger (and I like to think C has made us better…) than before! The weather was great – the driest trip to the New we’d had in a really long time! We had a whole posse of friends that met us up there, ran into tons of folks we hadn’t seen in a long time, and of course met lots and lots of new friends! We rolled in just before dark on Thursday night…Read the rest of this entry →

Sentimental Snapshots: Happy Campers!

May 25 2011

This week marks the anniversary of Cragbaby’s first camping adventure! He had just turned 10 weeks old, and we spent three days and three nights climbing and camping at the New River Gorge, West Virginia. (To read about that particular adventure, click here). In some ways it seems like that experience was forever ago, and in other ways, it seems like its hardly been a month or so ago that C was that small! Just like most things concerning parenting, there is a learning curve when it comes to babies in the wild, and we certainly made our fair share…Read the rest of this entry →

Don’t Forget to Look Out!

May 23 2011

I’m a little better about it now, but when I first started climbing outdoors, I was notorious for climbing to the top of a route, getting lowered down, and then proceed to hear every person that climbed after me rave about the spectacular view they had when they turned around to take in the gorgeous views of the world around them. I would tell myself as I was tying in and putting my shoes on, “Make sure you look out this time,” and invariably, it would not come to my mind again until I was back on the ground untying…Read the rest of this entry →

Green Hour Connection: Stopping by Woods on a Sunny Morning…and a WARNING!

May 19 2011

Having only been in our new home for a week and a half, there is still plenty of exploring and discovery to be had! On one of our Green Hours this week, we decided to see what was beyond the dead end of our street, about a quarter mile away from our house. We’d noticed that there appeared to be a few trails heading off into the woods, and had been wanting to check it out. So we loaded up into Cragbaby’s bright red “birthday wagon” and took off down the street. Within minutes we were transported into a whimsical,…Read the rest of this entry →

“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN