Tom Grundy's Kentucky 2011 Trip Page
Once again I journeyed to the Red River Gorge region of Kentucky in the fall for some overhanging sandstone sport climbing. Once again I wasn't strong enough when I got there, but I worked on it.
My first day climbing I went with Ed to Torrent Falls. It was fun climbing but cold (it snowed) and I was weak. After flailing on a 5.12 I tried a 5.11b and ended up having to stick clip past the crux. I could see I had a lot of work ahead of me to get the fitness I needed.
A few days after I got to Miguels there was a big halloween party. I dressed as a carrot with orange coveralls and helmet with greenery out the top. Unfortunately I neglected to get a picture of myself. Maybe one will show up eventually. It seemed like half the people immediately recognized me as a carrot and the other half had no clue. There were plenty of other interesting costumes including a tea-bag, tea pot, Max from "Where the Wild Things Are", Vasco Da Gama, an imperial AT-ST, Edward Scissorhands, Jessica Rabbit, Lara Croft, The Honey Badger, double rainbows, Carmen Miranda, a teddy bear, the black swan, and many more. Joe deserves special mention for shaving the top half of his head as part of his costume. There was a bonfire and a dj. It couldn't match the Dance Party 2005, but it was fun.
Halloween party at Miguel's
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Matt wore a child's teddy bear outfit
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Joe was all too realistic
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more costumes
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Derek climbs up a map of Africa at Muir Valley
(not a good warm up)
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Derek climbs at Fantasia
(a much better warmup)
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Derek crushes his onetime nemesis "mosaic"
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The days passed with me falling off increasingly longer and steeper routes. I mostly climbed with Derek and Janet and whoever else was around. In the evenings after dinner we hung out in the basement either on the internet or playing cards or liars dice or other games with occasional time around a fire outside. For the most part the weather was excellent with a number of warm sunny days. There were a few rainy days and some of them were very rainy resulting in some flooded tents. I had a tarp up over the back of my truck to provide a bit of space for cooking and drier entry and exit.
I last saw Kim in California
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here Kim finishes the crux on "tissue tiger"
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Zac cruising something at driveby
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About the time I had developed the endurance to start working on projects it was time to go. I need to either go for longer than 3 weeks or I need to show up with better fitness - ideally both. Still, it is always fun to climb at the Red and to catch up with the cast of characters there.
Another unfortunate thing was my back decided to make life difficult. At the worst point I had trouble putting on my shoes. Climbing wasn't so easy either, especially high steps. I am not sure exactly what brought this on. I think it was a combination of things that added up at the wrong time. Luckily there were only 2 or so days that were really bad. I did discover it is particularly difficult sleeping in a small truck when you can't bend enough to sit up in it (or even roll over without pain).
Ben on something hard at the Chocolate Factory
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Ben at the top with Erik taking pics
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Will relaxes at a rest with some easy reading at the motherload
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late afternoon sun at Eastern Sky Bridge Ridge
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deer head in the roadside rest area trash can
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natural bridge at the state park
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