Fun in ol' Kentucky

Greetings from Washington D.C. Lauren and I are taking a long weekend to visit with her sister Maureen and see the sights of the nation's capital. Unfortunately, the government is kind of blowing it, so most everything is closed right now. We still plan on taking in the sights from afar, but we're content just hanging out and watching netflix. 

The past two weeks in the Red River Gorge have been a blast. We spend our days getting pumped and trying hard at the crag and spend our evenings eating pizza and laughing with friends. Life is good. 

Lauren on Jingus at Bronaugh Wall in PMRP. Check out the
rope in the trees behind her, that's vertical. STEEP!

The Red is much more expansive than either of us anticipated. There are a ton of crags scattered throughout the forest surrounding the town of Slade. Getting to our destination each day usually involves a fifteen minute drive from Miguel's (campground/pizza place we're staying at) and a ten to fifteen minute hike. So far, we have visited a new crag each day. This has allowed us to sample the diverse climbing styles offered at the different cliffs and zero in on where we want to spend our time for the remainder of our stay. Some of our favorite spots so far are The Military Wall, Bronaugh Wall, and Drive-By Crag. 

As many of you know, I hurt my shoulder about a month and a half ago. Consequently, I hadn't climbed for well over a month coming into our stint at the Red. I was definitely concerned about how it would hold up to the physical climbing characteristic of the area. My first day of climbing I took it pretty slow, carefully testing out my shoulder on easy climbs. It felt a bit unstable, but definitely strong enough to continue climbing; so I did. My shoulder has been feeling stronger every day. It has been really exciting to feel stronger and fitter each day climbing. 

On top of the great climbing, we have been hanging out with an awesome group of friends. Our first night at Miguel's we met up with a couple of our Australian friends, Ben and Ryan, that we had met in Smith and hung out with in Squamish. They are some awesome dudes; we have a lot of fun exchanging cultural nuances and just generally shootin' the shit. I've grown very fond of the Australian vernacular and do my best to make the Aussies feel right at home with such masterful sentences as: "I drank too much grog, now I've come down with the wog. Bitumen!" The Aussies introduced us to Sara, Colby, and Hailey, we ran into our friend Alan who we met in Squamish, and we've made new friends from all over, like Nick from Florida and Zane from New Jersey. Everyone has been really fun and supportive to climb with, and a hoot to hang out with. Every night I go to bed with sore abs from laughing so much.  

Ben on Like a Turtle, Bronaugh Wall PMRP

Colby on Table of Colors, Left Flank

Lauren getting some cool shots up high

Some very unique rock. And it's bomber! 

Belly of the Beast, Bronaugh Wall PMRP

We head back to the Red on Monday and plan on staying there for the foreseeable future. We have loose plans to check out the bouldering in the Southeast and possibly Hueco; but if we're still psyched, we may just stay in the Red until we have to go home. Stay tuned for more from Miguel's.

Mark and Lauren