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

Category Archives: North Carolina

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly…and a new Facebook Group.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly…and a new Facebook Group.

Our original weekend plans included a climbing trip to Boone, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans.  With all of our family travels and such it had been almost a month since we’d gotten outdoors climbing, so we were definitely itching to get out.  But because the forecast was so sketch, we ended up just staying in town and climbing locally at Hidden Wall.  Considering the weather reports from friends in other parts of the state, it seems like it was the better choice, although conditions were still mediocre at best. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly… THE…Read the rest of this entry →

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Over the River and Through the Woods…to Grandmother’s Boulders We Go!

Over the River and Through the Woods…to Grandmother’s Boulders We Go!

Slowly but surely I’ve been whittling away at my 2011 Hit List, and finally dragging my crash pad up to the Grandmother Boulders in Boone brings me one step closer to crossing off #7 from my list, which was about exploring new climbing areas.  These quality boulders are sitting around 5000 feet or so, making for a welcome summer respite for NC climbers drowning in humidity at lower elevations across the state.  There’s not guidebook of course, because thats the way NC bouldering rolls, so we were delighted that our friend Matt was up for showing us around.  The temps were in the 70’s, and…Read the rest of this entry →

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A Day of Hot Flashes

A Day of Hot Flashes

Don’t worry, this post has nothing to do with skewed hormones and ticking biological clocks.  For those readers who are non-climbers, here’s a quick little lesson in climbing linguistics… Onsight – Completing a route from bottom to top with no falls or rests on the rope the first time you attempt it, without any prior knowledge about the route. Flash – Same as an onsight except that you had some helpful beta (info/tips) before attempting the route – such as observing someone else climb the route, reading someone else’s ascent notes, etc. Redpoint – Completing a route from bottom to top with…Read the rest of this entry →

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Hidden Projects

After a long week of working our tails off unpacking boxes, moving furniture, hanging pictures, and organizing shelves and drawers, we decided to reward ourselves with some climb time at the crag on Sunday afternoon.  One of my favorite parts about our new location is that we now have a local crag that is actually “local,” instead of 2 hours away!  So Sunday morning we got up leisurely, headed to church dressed in our climbing clothes (which by the way I also love – a church without dress codes…), and then were out at the crag by 1130 or so. …Read the rest of this entry →

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Crowder’s Mountain – Our New Local Crag!

Crowder’s Mountain – Our New Local Crag!

We’ve been in Charlotte for a little over a month now, but hadn’t had a chance to explore any of our new local rock until this weekend.  We’d been to Crowder’s Mountain before two other times when we were relatively new climbers, but not since 2007, so it felt like a new area.  Crowder’s Mountain is located near Gastonia, NC, and is only 35 minutes away from our new digs!   I can see why Crowder’s doesn’t always have the best reputation among NC climbers. It can get overrun with red-helmeted boy scouts and biting flies during the summer, hikers stand in amazement gawking at those “crazy folks…Read the rest of this entry →

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