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

Tag Archives: Hiking

4 Days of Pump at the Red River Gorge

4 Days of Pump at the Red River Gorge

Spring.  One the two times per year that our family heads to the Red River Gorge with the sole intention of obliterating our forearms.  For those of you not familiar with the Red River Gorge, the climbing style is the polar opposite of the climbing we typically engage in at our favorite weekend crag, the New River Gorge.  “The New” is all about technical face climbing – long, intricate, well-defined crux sequences involving tiny crimps and great footwork.  In contrast, most routes at “the Red” lack a distinct crux – the difficulty comes not in the individual moves, but in linking them all…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

We finally had an entire weekend free to head up to the New River Gorge, which of course meant it was going to be snowing and in the THIRTIES (after highs in the 60’s the weekend before…).  But at least the weather was good in our neck of the woods, even if it did feel more like a warm winter day rather than spring.  And even though we had to settle for Plan B, it ended up being a weekend filled with important milestones! The whole family marched up to Red Wall at Crowders Mountain on Saturday morning.  Steve had his sights…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

New Gear From Red Fox NA

New Gear From Red Fox NA

  If you haven’t heard of Red Fox, listen up because their stores are popping up all over the world these days (literally!)  This outdoor company was started in 1989 at the base of the Caucasus mountains by Russian mountaineers Aleksandr Glushkovsky and Vladimir Moroz – and now in addition to over 30 Russian locations, Red Fox has brought its products onto the international scene.  In 2014 the company expanded to Nepal, Switzerland, and Colorado. My first connection with this company started last fall, when I was asked to write about their Speedster 14 pack on the Red Fox NA (North America)  website…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

How to Keep Warm on Winter Climbing Days

How to Keep Warm on Winter Climbing Days

Contrary to popular “non-climber” belief, the best weather conditions for climbing often occur during cold weather.  The crux moves on your project on a hot (or worse yet, hot AND humid) summer day can easily feel several letter grades harder than it would on a cool, crisp winter day.  With that in mind, sending odds can sometimes be dramatically increased for those that are willing to brave the cold.  And while how cold is “too cold” to climb varies from person to person, here are some ideas for turning miserable, finger-numbing weather into perfect sending conditions.  (Unless of course you’re a mountaineer…in…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

5 Tips for Family Geocaching

5 Tips for Family Geocaching

Recently our family has adopted a new outdoor hobby (because you can NEVER have to many, right?)  While I wish I could say it involved snow, it’s something that can be enjoyed with nothing but a smart phone and some enthusiastic explorers – geocaching!  For those of you that may not be familiar with the term, geocaching is basically a real-life treasure hunting game, played outdoors with the use of GPS.  Lately my oldest explorer has really been into searching (and finding!) type games – everything from traditional hide and seek to random, “easter egg hunt” type activities.  One day…Read the rest of this entry →

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