Magic in the Red

Sunday - August 14, 2016

At about 7:00 in the morning, the air conditioner went off. Sandwiched between Michelle and Patrick, I could feel their body temperatures rise causing me to break into a sweat, unable to fall back asleep. I decided to run over to Julie's room, where there would be two big beds to choose from and lose myself in. The two hours of rest that followed recharged me more than all the hours I had gotten prior. To everyone's delight, Jessica was planning a brunch for all the attendees of her wedding to come and have one last meal together. On the way to brunch, I picked up Katie from the airport. It was a quite a leap of faith that brought us together. A mutual friend whom I had ice climbed with once about three years ago mentioned to her that I was traveling on a climbing road trip and suggested that Katie try to contact me. She sent me a text message out of the blue asking if it would be possible to meet up and my response was essentially: "OK!". I brought her to meet all of the sisters while we enjoyed our last few hours together. Katie and I loitered around Louisville for a while longer, killing time at coffee shops since our rendezvous with Teresa would be later in the day. Armed with an accidentally acquired stick clip and Jessica/Mike's Red River Gorge guide book, we were finally on the road. It is wonderful to find such beauty in such an unexpected and unassuming place. A mysterious mist hung over the rolling farmlands of Kentucky against forests of ivy and shingle oak, giving it a most enchanting feel. We pulled into Miguel's and happily observed the changes they had made to the campground over time. A large pavilion had been erected since I was there two years ago and the gear shop was moved to the basement of a home beyond the tenting fields. Shortly after we arrived, Teresa pulled in and we all sat down to enjoy some delicious slices of Miguel's pizza. We made a quick run into Stanton to grab some provisions for climbing and cooking meals then settled into our tents, filled with excitement for the days to come.

Monday - August 15, 2016

One could cut through the humidity at the Red with a knife. I set up a 5.6 at the Grand Wall in Muir Valley and came down pouring with sweat. The heat made us lethargic which made it much more challenging to climb up anything with the ease we were accustomed to with warm up routes. After raining down sweat bullets to my belay partner on Bitter Ray of Sunshine, we decided to move along to Bruise Brothers, where one can find many excellent moderate routes. The clouds were relatively ominous all day. As T reached the top of Send Me On My Way, strong winds came whipping down past Katie and I carrying debris and branches that rapped us on the heads as they sailed through the air. When T hit the ground so did some drops of rain and we rushed to pack up our things and head back to the car. Although I was aware of the storms to come, I neglected to bring my rain jacket, but the rain that came was incredible and refreshing, running down my arms and legs, washing away the accumulations of sand and chalk from the day. Water cascaded down the trail as we worked our way up the hills and steps to the parking lot. We camped out beneath the pavilion in the Muir Valley parking lot to wait for the storm to pass. Back at Miguel's, we laid out our gear to dry as we made dinner. We perused the guidebook, looking for a spot that could be dry despite today's weather. Phantasia Wall was our next destination - we went to sleep hoping for a better day to follow.

Climbs ticked: La Escalada (Sport 5.6), Glory and Consequences (Sport 5.7+), Bitter Ray of Sunshine (Sport 5.10a), Ohio Climbing (Sport 5.8), Send Me On My Way (Sport 5.9-)

Tuesday - August 16, 2016

We traveled to the North, swooping down the switchbacks of 77, through the long stone corridor known as Nada Tunnel and pulled off to find Phantasia Wall. I had been there once before and my intuition was telling me that the wall was nearby, but there was no easy approach to be found. We walked up and down the road searching for at least an hour. Finally after deciding to drive back down the road a ways, we found it. Creature Feature is one of the great classics of the Red and it was poised and ready for us as we approached the wall. I was just short enough that the roof I had to pull between the second and third clips made it challenging for me to get my next quickdraw in, so after many attempts of nearly getting it, I switched off with Katie. Her arm span allowed her to reach the bolt with ease and she sailed through the rest of the climb. Thankfully, when it was my turn to lead the route once again, I was able to clip the lower carabiner of the draw with minimal difficulty. Lord of the Flies presented very different problems for Katie because a majority of the start was moist AND an obnoxious wasp kept interrupting her lead. That's climbing outdoors for you! Overlord was a stellar technical climb. Both the guidebook and the comments from Mountain Project considered the route to be a very non-traditional Red River Gorge climb and because of that I loved it. I cruised through the beginning portion of the climb, working my feet up gradually, keeping my hips into the wall and shifting my body weight to continue moving up. At the second to last clip, I took a fall after getting too pumped from trying to pull up onto a crimp to get to the next bolt. While I did not get it clean, it was still the first 10b I had ever led outdoors - and it was a phenomenal climb. We took our time on the route and cautiously moved over to Pogue Ethics (Sport 5.9), keeping one eye on the long, juggy line off the sandstone arete and another eye on the darker clouds beginning to move in overhead. Teresa decided to get a headstart to find the car and move it closer to the approach trail while Katie and I stood at the base of the climb, eager to jump onto it but uneasy about the high first clip above a rocky slope. Frequently, when climbing outdoors, the first clip of a Sport climb can present the most difficultly, especially in places like Smith Rock or the Red River Gorge where erosion keeps eating away at the base of the walls, making the first clip higher and higher. A difficult first clip can be the dealbreaker for many climbs because failing to get this first clip could mean taking a bad ground fall. Over confidence can lead to broken ankles, broken arms or worse. After losing some skin on some attempts to work the first few moves of the climb, we decided to opt out and return to the car. Upon reaching the pavement, we realized that we had no idea where the car was or if Teresa had moved it. Thankfully, just as we rounded the corner we saw her silver Corolla and booked it over to beat the rain that was beginning to fall. Rained out again at the Red - maybe the third time is the charm!

Climbs ticked: Creature Feature (Sport 5.9), Lord of the Flies (Sport 5.8), Overlord (Sport 5.10b)

Wednesday - August 17, 2016

After reviewing the forecast the night before, we realized that Wednesday would have to be a rest day since thunderstorms were expected to begin by 8:00am. I was frustrated to wake up and find that the forecast predicted rain later in the morning, which means that we could have tried to get up early and beat the storms. We headed to Military Wall, where supposedly there is good cover from the rain, only to get caught smack dab in the middle of a storm at the parking lot. We drove back towards the highway while lightning crashed only a mile away from our car. We decided to take the rest day and head to Louisville. The two hour drive passed quickly and soon we were exploring the city, we: went to the visitor center, investigated an amazing antique shop, roamed through the streets, gazed at the Ohio River,  checked out some museums and headed to Jessica's house for dinner. We collectively made a fantastic tumeric okra dish and pasta with tomato sauce then basked in the glory of our amazing teamwork. It was great to see her again since the wedding party had been such a jam-packed weekend. I was sent off with big hugs from my big and we drove the long drive back to the Red River Gorge.

Thursday - August 18, 2016

The saying goes that the early bird catches the worm - I do not care for worms but I am always down for bagging 10 climbs in one day. We made coffee and quick breakfasts then headed back to Muir Valley. We started at Practice Wall which consisted of a variety of moderate routes on very short walls. As I began up the first climb of our day, I realized that I had a strong feeling that today would be a phenomenal day. We jumped on an easy climb which started with a chimney then transitioned to a short, slabby scramble to the anchors. We went from a moderate, more sustained route into a very interesting, slightly overhanging line. To our dismay, we began to hear the pitter patter of precipitation high up on the trees above us as we moved to this climb. Thankfully our particular route was directly beneath a small roof, keeping the climber and belayer under cover. Katie was excited to jump onto the route and was soon met with a terrible sequence - a low sloper off her left hand into a high jug with her right with mediocre feet. She worked and worked and worked the route and finally topped it out and came down. Teresa decided that she wanted to jump on next and we were stunned to see her send the route immediately by making a few simple moves to the right to work her way up the wall. When it was my turn, my curiosity set in as I tried to work through both variations. Somehow BOTH Katie and Teresa's paths seemed impossible. The sloper to the high jug off badly positioned feet was completely uninspiring and not something I was interested in attempting at all. The moves to the right felt pumpy and too big for me to be able to do. After trying both ways, Teresa kept reassuring me that if it felt difficult, it probably was not what she did. And so, I felt around with my right hand to find two crimpy sidepulls, gradually moved up my feet and was able to reach the big jug above. Crux averted! It is truly an incredible thing to watch how different people can approach the same problem and come out with completely different results, but still manage work through it and accomplish the goal. These differences do not necessarily lie in how "strong" the climber is, but rather each person's perception of the path of least resistance. Balance, technique and body type also play a big role in how each person approaches the same route. What is most intriguing about this concept is that watching another person climb a particular route can change your perception of how you "should" do the route. This is perhaps my favorite part about climbing outdoors - yes, there is generally always a path of least resistance up a wall which ends up being the traditional route, but the rock is the rock. With some creativity and patience, you can easily choose your own adventure and make every climb your own unique work of art.

The rain abated so we moved over to Bruise Brothers Wall. Because the lower wall was occupied, I decided to run up a 10b in the upper tier. It was a really wonderful climb: you began by shooting up the right side of a broken block, making awkward moves to pull onto the top of the block; then you moved left onto the face and worked up to the crux which was a small roof, above which was a tiny crimp for your left hand and an interesting pinky for your right. After a few attempts I was able to pull the roof and work my feet up. To my dismay, I found that clipping the anchors off of a flat crimp at the top to be incredibly pumpy and after fumbling with my quickdraws several times, I took a big fall. Parties near by whooped and hollered and gave me encouragement to continue up. Angry that I could not get the clip after already making it to the anchors, I jugged up the rope to my last clip and hung out, shaking my arms out and working through the sequence in my head. When I reached the anchors again, I nearly dropped my quickdraw below - THANKFULLY, the draw fell into my lap instead of coming crashing onto my belayer's head and I found a much better lockoff with my right hand to clip the anchors and came down. The climb was awesome and I was happy to have pushed myself to try to set it up. Once I came down, I began chatting with a pair of guys climbing an 11a next to us. They were two hilarious kids from Ohio and as we swapped ropes to get some variety into the day, we challenged each other to comment on how the different regions pronounced certain words or referred to certain things. They were surprised to find that we called the liquor store a package store or "packie". I enjoyed making fun of friends from Wisconsin (you know who you are) that pronounce milk as "melk".

In any case, we moved through a number of moderate climbs and threw Rat Stew into the mix as one of the last harder pitches of the day. It was a great, sustained 10a that moved from a slab coated with nubbins and pockets up to a long slightly overhanging jug haul off great plates to the top. We decided to call it a day. Back at Miguel's, I chatted with a pair of friendly French women who had recently moved to Montreal. We congratulated each other on our successes and wished each other luck for our last days in the Red. I prepared some chicken with peppers, zucchini and onion using some phenomenal barbeque sauce purchased from the Beer Trailer. Teresa and Katie comically attempted to make rice in the meanwhile and a conversation kicked up between us and a large group of guys sitting one table over. They were coincidentally also from Ohio and after some chatting and clinking of West Sixth Brewing Co's Cocoa Porter, we all decided to head to the Gallery in the morning. I piled into my sleeping bag while Katie headed off to get some laundry done and instantly fell asleep, pleased with the big day we were able to have.

Climbs ticked: Dragon's Mouth (Sport 5.8), Crescendo (Sport 5.8+), Crescent Moon (Sport 5.10+x2), Little Viper (Sport 5.10bx2), Jungle Trundler (Sport 5.11a), Bee's Business (Sport 5.8), Rat Stew (Sport 5.10a), Sweet Jane (Sport 5.8-)

Friday - August 19, 2016

The Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preservation or PMRP as it is more commonly referred is notorious for an awfully steep and wavy hill where the closest parking lot to the climbs can be found. If you do not feel that you have tested the 4-Wheel-Drive on your car and you would like to, this is the descent for you! We overshot the pulloff for the Gallery lot and actually slipped a few times on pocketed, gravel hill on the way down. Top this off with a solid 30 minute hike in the opposite direction of the wall and I knew we were going to have a slow day. When we finally reached the wall I jumped onto 27 Years of Climbing, unafraid of the moist looking, slopey start. From a previous trip, I had remembered the anchors being much more awkward to clip and had built this concern up in my body as I continued higher and higher, only to find a huge hold that made it perfectly easy to finish the climb and come down. As our trio switched off to climb the route, our friends from Ohio paraded up the trail. Pat, Brandon, Scott, Whit and Emily walked up and set their packs down to observe The Gallery. Pat soon set off to climb Johnny Be Good, an 11a, that this group had been raving about the night prior. Soon we were swapping ropes and getting to know one another. After the bulk of the group had climbed Johnny Be Good, our jovial get together was interrupted by a huge downpour. The rain came in so heavily and quickly that it created a waterfall in the ampitheater nearby. We all huddled under the roof beneath A Brief History of Climb as we waited for the rain to pass. This rain was very bad news to our new friend, Brandon, who wanted to send Johnny Be Good in one go - but the top of the climb moved from a juggy overhang into a slopey arete, which was undoubtedly soaked with water now. Sure enough, when he was moving to clip the anchors, we watched below as he moved cautiously up the final leg of the route, testing many holds and chalking up his hands until he finally ended up getting pumped out and taking a whip. He finished the route soon after, with encouragement and support from his friends after he came down. Teresa, Katie and I had just all completed A Brief History of Climb and we told Emily that she could definitely finish it if she wanted to try the route again. Unfortunately for her, I was negligent coming down off the route and did not clip in any quickdraws on the overhang. As she climbed up and worked through the low crux, we experienced first-hand the consequences of this mistake. I think it was the toughest belay job I had ever had, as I worked with her to untangle ourselves from each others ends of the rope and pull her back to the block. Each fall off the wall resulted in a much more significant and energy expending sequence of moves to get her back, until she finally decided to come down. Though she did not make it up the wall, we were happy with our teamwork and the friendship we had unknowingly stepped into.

Katie made great ticks to her climbing career throughout this week, however today was a very special day for her as it was the day that she led her dream climb of the Red. A Brief History of Climb had been beyond her the last time she visited the gorge and she was surprised that her skill level had reached a point where she felt confident enough to go for it. Her surprise largely stemmed from the fact that she had spent the past nine months in Brooklyn, managing largely only to get in some bouldering after work. Bouldering, I would argue, is the perfect way to prepare for a trip to the Red. Although bouldering does not allow one to build endurance to sustain long climbs, it does require powerful and solid movement, both of which helped her work the sequence. The crux was down low and presented the only real 10c move of the whole climb: moving from good jugs and solid feet off a right facing block, up to a small left handed crimp that led into a series of bumps to higher and higher holds that grew in size as you worked your way up - why was this move the crux? Because you need to have faith in your feet as you smear both against different faces against the rock. Her wing span allowed her to move through the crux easily and gracefully and she sailed through the bulk of the climb. She bagged the climb with one take and one whip from the anchors, but the point was that she pushed herself to get up the wall and just do it. I, on the other hand, was exceptionally beat after the work we had put into the past few days and therefore made a promise to myself that I would come back to the Red to lead this classic line. Soon we all left The Gallery, hoping that our cars would make it up the atrocious hills after the downpour. Thankfully, enough time had passed that the mud patches began to dry up, but I had Katie and Teresa wait for me at the top of the hill anyway. I threw on some salsa music to get me through as I cut the wheel right then left to find a good path of travel over big dips, working my stead of a Highlander up the hill. There was about 5 seconds when I was not sure that the car was going to make it, but with my expert maneuvering, I finally got the car up the hill. Teresa and Katie cheered as my car easily rolled up the rest of the hill to pick them up and we were off! Cruising to my Latin mix, we partied past our Ohio group (who had not wanted to chance the steep hill - rightly so because I do not think a Mazda 3 would have ever made it up), then sped down the highway back to camp. We made a quick stop at the Beer Trailer where we chatted with the very friendly owner and got the opportunity to meet three incredibly adorable kittens. Back at Miguel's, we all ordered pizzas to celebrate our last full day in the Red River Gorge and relax. Teresa, Whit and I played Horse - I had Whit on the scare for a majority of the game! But then lost it with some farther shots on the 3-point line. The crew grew and shrank and folks went to organize their things, change clothes or shower. I sat happily on the benches as we drank our beers, told stories and enjoyed the company of our new friends. To our excitement - the fun would not stop there! Whit, Katie, Emily and I planned to get a few hours of climbing in the next day before parting ways to our respective destinations: Ohio, Kansas and North Carolina. The number of beer cans in the recycling bin grew - I might have managed to drink some water before crashing for the night...but I am not entirely sure...

Climbs ticked: 27 Years of Climbing (Sport 5.8), Johnny Be Good (Sport 5.11a), A Brief History of Climb (Sport 5.10c)

Saturday - August 20, 2016

In the early morning, Teresa rolled out of the tent and gave me a brief reminder that Emily was planning on waking up at early so that we could get to the crag by 7am. I opened my eyes and asked myself, "Just how many beers did I have last night?". I turned away from her and said that I had set an alarm for 6:15am and would wake up then when she told me that it was already 6:30am. My eyes shot open and I checked my phone - blast you, iPhone, for giving me the very convenient option of setting alarms for specific days of the week. I had switched on my work alarm, which was obviously intended to go off right on time any day from Monday thru Friday, and therefore would not wake me up on a weekend. I refused to get up until I had a quick 10 minute snooze, only afterward did I begin to pack my things.

I groggily walked to the pavilion as my Keen's and pant cuffs soaked up the morning dew. The gang (minus Whit) was up and about and water was being boiled for coffee. As the group began to get ready to part, Teresa headed out to get started on her long drive back to Connecticut, and we returned to the Military Wall Left Flank for a second attempt at some climbing in the area. Emily, Katie and I trucked through the beautiful forests of the Red. We commented on how, even though the exposure and vistas at the Red do not compare to other climbing destinations, finding walls full of climbing tucked behind layers and layers of trees was like finding hidden treasure. The approach was short and I was delighted to find that the climbs in the area were more technical, balancey routes up a slightly slabby upper wall. I put up two routes: one that had many delicate and somewhat awkward moves and another that had a wicked runout that COULD have been protected by a #1 cam, if I had bothered to bring it. Falling at the top of the runout would easily mean being able to high-five your belay partner. It was a heady bit, but relatively easy climbing as long as you got your right foot jammed into the crack. We chatted with two men for a bit: one from Germany and one from Czech Republic. The German man was traveling with his wife writing climbing books - he joked that they were always on the job. The man from Czech was visiting his son who had just began college nearby and somehow the two of them met just the night before and decided to go climbing together.

Climbing has helped me to create a unique and broad network of friends throughout the world. As I continue to travel to climb and meet people along the way, I have found that connections made through climbing last a surprisingly long period of time. On our last climb of the day, Katie gave me a big booty bump while Emily hauled me past the muddy and slippery start. I climbed through the rest of it, happy for the friends that I made on the trip and the relationships I strengthened over just a few days. Drops began to fall as I was descending the climb and we packed up and left the Red in the rain for the last time. Somehow, the forests looked more incredibly beautiful today as we were leaving than any other day. Tall trees overhead stooped over to create a hallway of branches that we passed through with a creek running on our right-hand side. At the cars, we took a quick group photo and exchanged hugs with the promise of climbing together again in the future. Soon we were on the road: wet, probably smelly, and slightly uncomfortable in our car. Katie had the brilliant idea of grabbing some curly fries from Carl's Jr. before hitting the road so we set off from the Red River Gorge, richer in friendships, climbing experiences and deliciously cylindrical curly fries.

Climbs ticked: Mr. Bungle (Sport 5.8), Face Up To That Crack (Sport 5.8), Fast Food Christians (Sport 5.10a)