Category Archives: Climbing

Posts about…you guessed it – climbing! Trip reports, anecdotes, and musings about my favorite recreational pasttime.

Ten Sleep Canyon, Part 1 – French Cattle Ranch and Valhalla

Aug 08 2018

Not sure about your summer, but ours has been nuts – especially the month of July. Last Friday I had vocal cord surgery (don’t worry I’m fine), and the week before that we were at the beach with extended family. So it’s hard to believe that it was just a little over 3 weeks ago that we were living the climber’s dream out in Ten Sleep, Wyoming! Since Ten Sleep is one of my very favorite places in the world, I could go on all day about it, but I’ll spare you the day’s work, and try to limit myself…Read the rest of this entry →

Death by Chocolate and Coming Up Short

Jun 13 2018

As much as I would love to have this post be a final “send”-off trip report (see what I did there? ;)) before we head west to climb in Ten Sleep, it just didn’t happen for me this past weekend at Hidden Valley. Certainly not for lack of trying. Maaaaybe for lack of good conditions. But I think more than likely I’m just mid-way through the process and it’s not my time yet. Let me back up – my last post mentioned a route that CragDaddy and I played around on called Death by Chocolate 12d. It’s only 40 feet…Read the rest of this entry →

In Jungles and in Floods…Trying Hard

May 31 2018

Spring in the southeast has gifted us with just about the absolute worst weekend warrior climbing weather we could have asked for. But we’ve got not choice but to go with what we’ve got, right?!? Whether it’s Amazon-level heat and humidity at the New, or monsoon flood warnings at Hidden Valley, our cragfamily has been out there trying hard the past few weeks! Our Mother’s Day spring-that-felt-like-summer weekend ended up being a lot more profitable than we’d first anticipated. On our first day we went to Area 51 at the Meadow. Amongst several moderate lines, CragDaddy and I were classy…Read the rest of this entry →

Kid-Free at the Red!

May 02 2018

I have never been to the Red River Gorge without a child – there’s either been one on the inside of me (like on our first trip in 2009), or one (or two) clinging to the outside of me (like EVERY other trip since then!) So when CragDaddy’s parents graciously gifted us with a 3-day kid-free climbing weekend this spring, it was a no-brainer to head to Kentucky! We had 3 PERFECT weather days…PERFECT. It was so good I’m tempted to go on and on about it a little more, but I don’t want to jinx this upcoming weekend, so…Read the rest of this entry →

Friday is the New Saturday

Apr 18 2018

What do desperate climbers do when the past umpteen weekends have had a crap-a-delic forecast? Play hooky and make Friday the new Saturday! While our last-minute decision to leave a day early made for a hectic start to our earlier-than-normal weekend, it was well worth it for us all – and we got plenty of rest on the back end of the weekend to prepare for the upcoming week…I think I could get used to this strategy! While the New was beckoning to me like a singing siren to a delirious sailor, we ended up going to Hidden Valley so…Read the rest of this entry →

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