another early morning December 26
We went to Red River Gorge again!
Continuing the after Christmas travel tradition, a few friends and I planned a quick climbing trip to take advantage of the warm weather in RRG. This was also a great excuse to test the systems I plan on using for my “2020 Jeep setup.” I packed up the Jeep with almost everything I plan on bringing on the 2020 trip, which was mega overkill for a 3 day trip to Kentucky.. but a fun test. Everything worked well! Spent my first nights in the new roof top tent, mounted the solar panel and wired it to the house battery, connected the 12v fridge and a few lights. Holy shit it’s so nice to not worry about ice and water damage to produce from a cooler… The solar also held up great, even though it was overcast most of the time. Will definitely need to invest in a 12v charger to use on rainy days though, will be nice to charge the external battery from the Jeep’s alternator. Made a few mental notes about organization and prioritizing what needs to be easily accessible.
Back to the trip, we left early on Thursday the 26th and met in Muir Valley, one of the more popular climbing areas in RRG. I got there a tad later than expected and hiked around for an hour or so before meeting up with Adam, Zoe, and Ethan at the Bruise Brothers wall. They climbed a few fun looking routes in the dark and I opted to wait until the next day to climb. We left the crag, drove to a small grocery store to stock up on supplies, and picked up a giant pizza for dinner. Ethan and Adam spent the next hour driving looking for firewood while Zoe and I set up camp at Lago Linda Hideaway. We spent the night building a wet fire, eating pizza, and solving the worlds problems (mainly what exactly is boxing day?).
Friday we headed to Chica Bonita, an awesome crag located in PMRP. Adam and I warmed up on a nice and easy 5.8, while Zoe and Ethan jumped on a challenging 5.10a with a 5.11 start. It took a bit longer than I anticipated to get used to climbing on “real rock.” The entire first day I felt a little off with my climbing and was pretty frustrated with myself.
However, the last route we climbed that day helped shake the feeling completely. We decided to stay late each night and do some night climbing by headlamp. We all finished the day by climbing a route called Brown Eyed Girl, a nice slab 5.10a. I think we all came down from the route smiling and just so stoked about it. Climbing in total darkness and total silence is really special. You can only see what your headlamp lights up, and only hear your breathing and movements/gear. Truly a special moment for me. It felt extremely meditative, I could have climbed that route 3-4 times and been happy as can be. We ended the night getting another couple of massive pizzas, building a fire and sharing a few beers/whiskeys before climbing into our tents for the night.
Each morning Ethan and Adam made giant bowls of yogurt & granola with bananas and pomegranate.. which was awesome. After breakfast on Saturday we headed out towards MFRP to find the Camelot crag. Each day we would take Adams car so I wouldn’t have to break down the roof tent. He had a lot of fun driving down the dirt trails to the climbing areas! Camelot had a really nice range of climbs, we started on some easy 5.8s to build up some confidence and warm up. Eventually moving down the wall towards more 5.10s. Towards the end of the night Ethan and Zoe went down to The Holy Grail, an awesome corner route rated 5.10d. It has two sets of chains, the first being a 5.9, and the second a 5.11. Once again we had the most fun on the best climb of the day last, and in the dark. Finished the night with a camp made dinner of French Toast, avocados, scrambled eggs, and onion/potatoes cooked in butter & coconut oil. It was amazing. Thanks Ethan for cooking!
Sunday, the final day of climbing was rainy, so we hunted down some overhanging walls to stay dry. We were all pretty exhausted from the previous days. We climbed one route that day, Typhoid Mary, an awesome feeling 5.10a. We couldn’t finish it and ended up leaving a carabinar behind. I know we could have gotten it, but I don’t think we had the energy/heart to push past the scary last bolt to the chains. Next time for sure. Ended up hiking a lot and exploring other crags to climb in the future.
We left around 3:00 and drove to Louisville to eat a nice dinner. I ended up feeling a little too tired to drive, and with no reason to be back that night slept somewhere 2 hours out from Chicago in a Pilot parking lot. Made a makeshift bed in the back out of my rope, blankets & sleeping bags. Tested out the new insulated curtains I made for the Jeep too! They worked great, much better than draping sheets everywhere... Got home early on Monday morning and went climbing at BKB with everyone after a quick nap and shower.
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We went to the a bunch of different crags a climbed a ton of routes.. trying to remember!
Muir Valley
Ethan, Zoe & Adam climbed a few routes at Bruise Brothers, not sure exactly which
PMRP - Chica Bonita
Pocahontas Path [5.8]
My Way or the Highway [5.9]
Raindance [5.10a]
When Rats Attack [5.10b]
(I think) That’s What She Said [5.10c] that Adam and I couldn’t get up
Brown Eyed Girl [5.10a] is a wonderful slab to climb at night
Miller Fork - Camelot
Castle Awed [5.8]
See you on Thursday [5.8]
Ralfe The Wonder Lama [5.8]
English Pip Dogs [5.9+]
Ham and Jam and Spam [5.10a] Super fun tiny crack section, really cool route
The Holy Grail [5.10d] is a fantastic route, especially in the dark. LOVED it.
European Swallow [5.8]
Miller Fork - Chaos
Didn’t do much climbing due to rain, but looked like a lot of fun
Dyslexics Untie [5.7] too wet.
Miller Fork - The Infirmary
(Typhoid Mary [5.10a] was a wonderful route to jump on, that I would like to get back on soon)
