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

Tag Archives: Muir Valley

Spring(?!?) Break at the Red River Gorge

Spring(?!?) Break at the Red River Gorge

When we started planning our spring break trip to the Red a couple of months ago, we decided to reserve a cabin in lieu of camping, just because the weather can be a bit of a toss up this time of year.  Turns out that was a pretty good decision, because 4 days straight of high’s in the 40’s mixed with clouds, rain, and even a little bit of snow is not my idea of fun family camping.  To be perfectly honest, it’s not exactly my idea of fun family climbing either…but we decided to go for it anyway…and I’m…Read the rest of this entry →

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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 →

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Highlights from the Red River Gorge – and a “Giddy” Giveaway!

Highlights from the Red River Gorge – and a “Giddy” Giveaway!

Over the past few years it’s been tradition in our family to head to the Red River Gorge twice a year – once in the spring and once in the fall.  While we’d love to make it up there more often than we do, it’s hard to justify such a long drive when we can get to the New River Gorge in half the time!  Last spring I got cheated out of our spring trip due to a rather unattractive ankle boot, so this year a trip to the Red seemed like the perfect kick-off for the spring climbing season!…Read the rest of this entry →

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Rain and Rivers Raging at the Red!

Rain and Rivers Raging at the Red!

Considering that the last time we climbed at the Red was when I was 11 weeks preggo and under a self-imposed toprope restriction, it was great to finally get back there, and this time on the sharp end!  We headed up on Thursday afternoon to meet our crew of climbing partners at Lago Linda’s.  The weather forecast was not good.  In fact, it was downright bad.  But I’m so thankful we didn’t let a few rain drops get in the way of our having a good time!  Obviously with a large posse of climbers with  varying abilities, no two people had the same tick list,…Read the rest of this entry →

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Red River Gorge – great climbing, but where’s the river?!?

Red River Gorge – great climbing, but where’s the river?!?

In the few years that I’ve been climbing, I’ve had the opportunity to climb in lots of different places, but I’d never made it up to the Red River Gorge until this past weekend.  Steve and I had tried to go several times, but due to weather, schedules, injuries, etc., it seems as though the stars were never quite in proper alignment to make it happen.  But when several friends invited us to go, and especially after being able to finagle an extra day off of work on Friday, spending Labor Day weekend in Kentucky at the Red seemed to…Read the rest of this entry →

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