10_2012 A Quick Jaunt to the Red River Gorge

Dave and I took a little time out to play at the Red River Gorge. Our friend Michelle has been out there for weeks  and we made a quick jaunt to visit and climb with her.  Also there was Bob S.  I am climbing with Bob and Michelle at the gym these days. Great people and strong climbers.

While all fun, climbing does seem to draw some blood. :)

This rural destination is gorgeous, and we hit the changing of the leaves just correct.

The Red is known for its steepness for good reason. Still, not everything is totally steep. In fact, my favorite wall there (Drive By) is just slightly over-hanging. Dave hadn't been to the Red in over a decade. It was a weekend destination for me when I was in STL.  I loved it there. Think Dave did too on this trip.

Rural areas always have a lot of fun scenery and just odd things around.  By odd, I mean the painted sign, not me. :)

Another not-so-steep wall. This area has the best rock ever!

Check out the tunnel ahead. One-lane actually means 'barely one lane'.

Dave cruises up some steep something. Many say the Red is soft on grades. I think most folks who have been there know that someone who says the grades are soft have never been there. Or they are damned liars!

Though a sport climbing destination primarily, the Red is home to many awesome (and many very difficult) trad climbs. Good thing about the trad climbs is that they are generally available.

Here I am getting my butt kicked (and not having fun) on Rock Warriors. A total friggin' sandbag. I did it years ago and clearly the difficulty had disappeared from my memory. Maybe this is the most sandbagged climb of the Red?

Some over-hanging-hueco-y climb at the Red...

Here is the crew. L-R: Callie, Dave, Michelle and Bob.  Michelle runs her own business and Bob is a Professor Emeritus at the Colorado College of Mines. He's an Environmental Engineer. Michelle's husband Dan (you may remember him from the City of Rocks Trip) spent a week at the Red before we arrived.

Leave it to climbers to trespass....Ha! Check out Michelle's stick clip. The Red is notorious for hideously high first bolts. Many a person has fallen before the first bolt and ended their climbing career (hey Paul!!).  We all recognized that we didn't need any stinkin' broken bones on this trip. Unfortunately...the stick clip can't prevent all of that. :/

Not really sure how I managed to upload more photos of me climbing than Dave. Especially given that Dave climbed more than I did. Odd.

Here is a good perspective of how steep much of the climbing at the Red is. I am standing beneath a climb that Bob's son Jonathan had recently 'sent'.  (for non-climbers, that means he climbed bottom to top, no hangs, no falls - pure success.) I think he named it 'Pure Imagination.' Suffice it to say it is THE hardest climb to date at the Red. Jon is a STRONG and motivated guy. Currently he's in Yosemite with Tommy Caldwell working on a very difficult climb that has never been climbed cleanly. This is quite a wall! And the holds really small. Pretty sure I could climb the first 15' and that's it!

You know, even neater is that Jonathan is a nice guy. It'll be fun to watch the trajectory of his life. He's going places.

Here is a nice view of our cabin in the morning. Dave was up very early every day to go for a hike while the rest of us continued sleeping. Beautiful photo.

On a rest day we rode up the lift to see Arch Rock. Gorgeous day!

At the top of the lift....

So this area is home to this trees with enormous leaves! Check these things out. No one can resist using them in clever ways as we did. :)

So, I've dropped hints about broken bones. And in fact, the trip ended on a broken bone-ish note. On her second to last day of her trip, Michelle took a funky fall and zoinked her foot. She and Bob spent time in the Emergency Clinic (cheaper than the ER). She went home in a leg cast/boot/thing.  Today, she's still hobbling around with some nasty bruising, soft-tissue damage, and it seems broken somethings in there. It's a part of climbing, but it still blows.

You can hardly tell these are not a part of Dave. :) Free Blog Counter