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

Yearly Archives: 2010

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble…

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble…

I think most non-climbers probably assume that picking your climbing destination for the weekend is pretty straightforward – what kind of climbing do you want to do?  What distance are you willing to drive?  Pick out a place that answers those questions, and go there, right?  Au contraire my friends.  If only it was that simple.  Yes those questions are important ones to consider, but the most important factor of all is totally out of your control and only mildly predictable – the WEATHER.  For the weekend warrior, watching the weather forecast and planning around it can turn into quite…Read the rest of this entry →

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A Perfect Fall Weekend in the Highlands

A Perfect Fall Weekend in the Highlands

Great friends, stellar rock, and perfect weather all add up to a wonderful weekend in Grayson Highlands, VA!  We arrived late Friday night to the campground, and were pleased to find out that it didn’t get nearly as cold overnight as the forecast had predicted.  After enjoying a nice breakfast with Manbert, we met up with a hodgepodge of folks at the Contact Station before heading to the Olympus/RockHouse area. We warmed up on Cherokee Dihedral (V1), which felt kinda heady for a warm-up, but was a really pretty line up a dihedral with an interesting transition onto the right…Read the rest of this entry →

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Four Days of Dirtbaggin’ in Tennessee

Four Days of Dirtbaggin’ in Tennessee

With Canaan’s arrival this spring, Steve and I were way too busy to plan a big summer climbing trip like we usually do – so when our friend Christie said she had a few days off from grad school coming up in October and wondered if we’d be up for heading somewhere to climb, we jumped on the opportunity!  Steve had a business trip to Charlotte planned for the beginning part of the week, so on Wednesday afternoon, Canaan and I hopped in the car with Christie and Doris and made our way to Hickory, where we met up with…Read the rest of this entry →

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Hound Ears Competition 2010

Hound Ears Competition 2010

The beginning of October marks the start of one of my favorite times of the year – fall.  Warm days, cool nights, pretty leaves…and the Hound Ears Bouldering Comp!  For those of you that don’t know, Hound Ears is a private resort in Boone, NC filled with giant vacation homes.  The woods surrounding these gorgeous homes also just happen to boast some of the best bouldering in the region.  Though seldom taken advantage of by the residents, this rocky playground sits mostly untouched for every day of the year except for the first Saturday in October – when over 400…Read the rest of this entry →

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Mama’s got a brand new bag (and Cragbaby’s packin’!!!)

Mama’s got a brand new bag (and Cragbaby’s packin’!!!)

The past few weekends have been really busy for us, but long weekends with spectacular weather are just too tempting to pass up, so we were off to VA again for some more bouldering fun.  After spending a fun evening with Canaan’s grandparents (both sets!) we were off bright and early the next morning to meet Manbert at Grayson Highlands State Park.  The low humidity and highs in the upper 60’s felt amazing – and I sure was glad that I had bought Canaan some fall clothes right before we left! This was a landmark trip for us, since it was the test run with our…Read the rest of this entry →

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