Red River Gorge Suicide Run II (ROCK CLI MBING)

“hey, meangreen! i may be able to offer you a ride if my financing comes thru!”

“gettin' a new ride, crash?

nope, haven't picked out a crag yet. i'll look at the book tonight. talk about crappy planning! lol!

nope, no change in plans. it is as is posted on the trip page. i would only ask that everyone remember that i may not arrive until early sat morning. i have to fly back from tornto on friday and will drive through the night to get there saturday morning... blech! i'll be there early am and might just crash in my car. also, my friends from the gym will be lookin for the group in the Pioneer parking area (the designated camp site) so PLEASE don't switch camp sites on them. lol! i expect they will be rolling in pretty late as well since they can't leave chicagoland until the last one gets off from work.

looks like we will have a great weekend!”

“lol! didn't get the book picked up last night. i'll take the book with me on my flight to toronto this afternoon and do some reading on the plane.”

“It's looking like I'm down to a slim maybe. Kid issues this weekend. However, I have been know to sneak in at the last minute. I can find you!

Where are you camping Saturday night? I might sneak up there with Grace.
last edited: 9/08/08 6:57:08 AM”

“tbd. either in the same place as friday night or somewhere in the backcountry.”

“My wife and kids are coming up so I may not be able to do the courthouse rock camping thing... Unwise from a family politics to leave them behind. Kat wants nothing to do with climbing on the rock. So we may well just camp and cook out at the pioneer lot (on trip page).”

“i'd rather do that, anyway, since this weekend is supposed to be about climbing, i'd rather not use a bunch of time getting to and from camp”

“dude, that so warms my heart!

i just parked my truck at o'hare long term parking... loaded with car camping and climbing gear. that includes my steel grill which we will flop down on the fire pit after we get the charcoal good and nuclear hot. bring anything you want to cook on the grill.. steaks, burgers, brats, etc... whatever. also potatoes, corn, etc. i'll have foil. we had one heck of a feed the last time we did this.

my plane lands on friday night at 8pm and i'll depart from o'hare for the gorge. i should roll in around 4-5 am. i'll crash in the back of my pickup. kat and the kids should roll in around 9-10am.

talk about a long night of driving! when i say i am going to show up for a trip you can bet i'll show.

hey, do ppl want to snag breakfast at the hemlock lodge? that or we could tour the arches on the east side of the park and then hit the lodge for lunch. just a thought.”

“The lodge doesn't open till noon on Sunday... FYI.

Yo Crash! It's lookin like I'm gonna be driving so I can drop the younguns off in Louisville to see their mom, if I go. I justify my trips to RRG by making it a twofer and saying it's so the girls can spend a weekend with their mom since she is too much of a POS to come up here to see them. LOL! wrong, wrong, wrong.... Oh well. phug-em if they can't take a joke. Dude, if you don't get the loan, or don't wanna drive or what ever, you are welcome to ride w me. The detour should only take about 15 minutes cause we don't speak to each other still. LOL! There'll be plenty of room. You will need to call me though. I'll e-mail you my numbers.
later.”

“I'm ok with camping at Pioneer on Saturday night.”

“sorry cant make this one, yo bear!”

“yo bear!

you stink!

:)

dude, that is such a bummer. hope you are well!”

“so far it's turning into a small group but that's ok because it means we can climb more... :)

i have a crag picked out... lots of easy climbing for you top-ropers... it's in the northern gorge and there are LOTS of climbs.

gotta talk captain jack into showing up!

crash, text msg me your phone number. when i changed jobs my 'berry got wiped and i lost all my phone numbers!”

“Yo Bear!!! Muproom says hey! She's 10 now, you old geezer, can ya believe it?!”

“talk about time passing... my oldest just entered high school and got his first cell phone. jumpin' jiminy cricket! when i call home and he answers the phone it's like talking to a young man... prolly because he is. it sort of sneaks up on 'ya!

my daughter, 12, is like a giantess and about 100x smarter than i was when i was in school.

it's a blessing when your kids seem to do so much better and struggle so much less than you did and still turn out pretty good.”

“Since I'm a climbing newbie, I have a question. The forecast is calling for scattered thunderstorms. Climbing on wet rocks is slippery. What's your take on this honorable trip leader?”

“well... scattered means scattered! we do what we always do at the red: show up and hope the weather holds.

the crag we will be at gets a lot of sun and as long as the rain is spotty and moderate we should be ok. many of the cliffs (not the ones we will be at!) are so steep they can be climbed in a torrential downpour (the military 5.12 wall is a good example).

the rock at the red is very gritty standstone... tough and with good grip even when wet. i am always shocked at how quickly it dries up. i would think it would suck up the water like a sponge.”

“what time is everyone getting there on Friday night? I may stop in Lexington for dinner with my sister so I should roll in around 9 or 10.”

“stomper, there have been a lot bailers on this trip. my climbing buddies (great guys) will be arriving fairly late... perhaps around 9-10 actually. i will be arriving VERY late... like 5am saturday morning! i do not know when crash or captain jack will be arriving. you have my call phone number and my airplane lands in chicago around 9pm... actually it should get in earlier but feel free to call me after i land as i am driving down to the red.”

“I'm gonna have to bail too. I was a maybe but I really wanted to go, anyway... maybe next time.”

“ill be there sometime this afternoon”

“BAILER!

cash, r u pikkin up the captain?”

“he wont be there til later. he said hes trying to leave around 430”

“I'm still in. I should be at the red @10.”

“I should be rolling in around (gag!) 3am! My plane just landed in Chicago.”

“im at miguels, just got my pizza, heading back to the campsite now”

“Sweet! I am 2 hrs out. Damn sleepy.”

“Posting from Pioneer camp! We had a heck of a day. We went to Fortress Wall. Crash got a "crash course" in belaying a leader the resulted in the most terrifying 5.4 60' lead climb of my life. Hehe. I rigged a top rope and stomper and crash climbed the route twice! Sweet. We may go find a route tomorrow AM after breakfast... At Hemlock Lodge. Great day but hot (92). Tonight is 72 and a little muggy but no rain so far.

We flopped the grill on a bed of coals and cooked steaks, burgers, and sausages. Great food!”

“Sounds fun!

Go Crash - Go Stomper.

Climb on.”

“I made it hom. So did stomper. No word from crash yet. We hiked auxier ridge today and scrambled to the base of haystack rock and followed the base of the cliff to find auxier chimney (for a future climb). Then we hiked to courthouse rock where crash climbed the 4th class chimney to the top... Free solo! What a stud. It was a great day.

No rain but it was hot and muggy! Nothing BUT rain at home. 80/94 was CLOSED due to flooding at the cline ave exit. Terrible! We skirted around the flooding (thanks to the am radio traffic update) but when we got back on course some dude was driving on the wrong way on the expressway... And it was NOT me.”

“Glad to hear you all had a good time and made it home.”

“Hey guys! I just got my computer working again after the power was out from Sun-Mon and then the monitor went out. I grabbed the old monitor out of the garage and it works. Takes up the whole desk but it works. I think I'll write up a trip report and post it later.”

“glad you are up and running!”

“Crash and I met at the campsite on Friday night. It was warm and muggy. The air was still and the moon was almost full. We shared some Bailey’s along with some good conversation. We turned in around midnight hoping for a cool breeze to lull us to sleep.

Yogisan came into camp around 9 am. He got to the parking lot around 4 am and slept in his truck. He set up hammocks and tents while waiting for his family to arrive. We left for American Crack, the crag we were going to climb, not long after they got there.

We found the crag pretty easily. After a full lesson in how to belay a lead (forgive me if my terminology is wrong, I’m still learning the lingo), Yogi climbed up to hook into the anchors at the top so that we could top rope.

Young James was first. He had a good time making it to the first ledge and decided it was enough for him. Crash went next but didn’t get to far. Then it was my turn. :)

I was determined to make it to the first ledge. I did. Then I tried to make it to the second ledge. I did – although I wasn’t quite sure how. I stopped several times to rest and evaluate my next hand and foot hold. The last push to the top was harder but I managed to get to the top. Wow! I did it! How did I do it? I tried not to look down but what goes up must come down. Yogi told me to sit back in the harness and push off the wall with my feet. “Bring me down SLOW” I called. He did. I made it back to earth and was jumping for joy. Hugs all around!

Crash tried again and powered up the wall with no problem. Why is it easier the second time around?

I tried again and made it almost to the top and decided that was good enough for me that day.

At some point during the afternoon I split my pants and got stung by a honey bee in my armpit. That was fun! :(

We headed down the hill and back to camp to enjoy a dinner of steak, sausage, hamburgers, smores, and other goodies. It was a nice evening. A little cooler with a full moon.

Sunday morning we broke camp and headed to the lodge to clean up the breakfast buffet. Then we went on a day hike to Auxier Ridge. Yogi and Crash headed down to checkout Haystack Rock while the women and children hung out on the cliffs.

We explored around Courthouse Rock. James and I climbed part way up the rock. Crash climbed up and enjoyed the view from the top. Yogi and kids climbed up a shorter rock but they wouldn’t let the dog come. Go figure!

We enjoyed a nice hike back. The wind started blowing and we finally got our cool breeze. Yogi and family headed home but Crash and I stopped at Miguel’s before we hit the highway. My drive back home was an adventure of its’ own but that is another story for another time.

I enjoyed meeting Yogi’s family, hiking with James and getting to know Kat. William, E-beth and I had some good times together too.

Yogi, you are a great instructor. I appreciate your help and encouragement so much. You rock!!”

“Crash and I met at the campsite on Friday night. bow chicka. It was warm and muggy. bow chicka wow The air was still and the moon was almost full. bow chicka wow wow We shared some Bailey’s along with some good conversation. bow chicka wow wow wow We turned in around midnight hoping for a cool breeze to lull us to sleep. bow chi..awwwwww!”

“hehe... you ppl crack me up!”