Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

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A Cross Country Driving Adventure with Kids!

A Cross Country Driving Adventure with Kids!

If you’ve been following our family on social media at all, you’re probably aware that we just got back from a summer escape to Ten Sleep Canyon, WY. When we first started going out there 8 years ago, we had no idea we would keep coming back again and again…,and again! We’ve tried all manner of “getting there” options. In 2012 we flew into Rapid City, SD and also climbed in Spearfish Canyon and the Custer State Park. In 2015 we flew into Salt Lake City, UT and sandwiched Ten Sleep in between Wild Iris and Logan Canyon. Then in…Read the rest of this entry →

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Summer Training (aka 10 Sleeps Til Tensleep)

Summer Training (aka 10 Sleeps Til Tensleep)

If I would’ve told you 6 months ago that I would spend the whole summer training for a climbing trip almost exclusively on the same 5 boulder problems + hangboard combo, you probably would’ve told me not to get my hopes up.  And I probably would’ve agreed with you.  It certainly wouldn’t have been my first chocie, but Covid 19 pretty much destroyed most everyone’s first (and second, and third) choices in these past few months.  Summer Climbing Recap Let me back up.  For those of you that might not be aware, our family’s big quarantine project was putting together…Read the rest of this entry →

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CragKid on the Sharp End!!!

CragKid on the Sharp End!!!

Despite the rocky start to our climbing year, our family has been trying hard to make up for lost time the past few weekends, and it’s been refreshingly awesome. Typically by this point of the year we are tired of melting off the rock and ready to exchange our climbing gear for paddleboards and kayaks. But after all the spring clovid closures, we have been far less picky with conditions than we usually are by mid-June! Not to mention, the weather has been seasonably tolerable, especially up at Hidden Valley, which is where we’ve spent the past couple of weekends.…Read the rest of this entry →

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Melrose Mountain Climbing

Melrose Mountain Climbing

One of our family’s first forays into post-quarantine climbing was Melrose Mountain, a small cliffline just outside of Tryon, NC. If you’ve never heard of this area, it’s probably because public access was just negotiated with the town of Tryon in 2019, courtehsy of the Carolina Climber’s Coalition and Blue Ridge Mountain Guides. Coming straight out of all the closures and having not climbed outside in months, a grade range of mostly 5.10 and under seemed like a good fit. And as a relatively unknown climbing spot, we felt pretty good about avoiding crowds. The weekend we went was hot.…Read the rest of this entry →

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Quarantine Reads for the Whole Family

Quarantine Reads for the Whole Family

As I sat down to write my first “quarantine” blog post, I happened to glance back at my most recent blog post prior to this one – all about the climbing goals I had for this year, 2020.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  So much for that.  Anyway, I haven’t written anything up until now because, to be honest, I just couldn’t summon the motivation to.  But over the past few weeks, I’ve stumbled upon a couple of good books for climbing families that I think are worth sharing sooner rather than later. The first book I’d…Read the rest of this entry →

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