December 2017 Trad Climbing at Tennessee Wall

Rachel getting ready to climb at T-Wall

I went to T-Wall on Sunday, December 10 with Rachel. This was only two days after the storm which had blanketed Atlanta in a few inches of snow. However, there had been no precipitation more than an hour's drive north of the city, and T-Wall was plenty dry. The day was cold but still plenty warm with appropriate clothing when we were climbing in the full sun of this crag's southern exposure.

First up was Nappy (5.7) for a warmup.

Next was Art (5.8), a super-fun climb. I was wearing my Mythos that day instead of my Miuras, which I had sent off to be resoled. Near the start of this climb my foot slipped, but I managed to hold on  tightly to the wall with my right hand. That was lucky; a fall from this low probably would have put me completely on top of Rachel at best. Higher up I tried to smear at one point, but my foot completely slipped (I think there was too much dust on the soles of my shoes), and I took a big, unexpected whipper. I had just placed a very solid #2 camalot, so the fall was safely caught, but it definitely shook me up, and I pulled Rachel several feet into the air. At this point I was quickly losing confidence in my abilities.

I followed that up with Shivas Last Dance (5.9). This one actually felt pretty easy. Continuing in my klutzy spirit, however, I dropped a 0.5 cam halfway up and almost clocked Rachel on the head (she had forgotten to bring her helmet with her, too).

To the left of Shivas we top-roped Don't Tell A Soul (5.10d). I climbed it cleanly, but after working all the moves I was plenty happy that I hadn't tried to lead it. This one was a lot of fun.

Feeling more confident, I decided to hop onto Day's Work (5.10-). This climb starts in a chimney with a crack in the back. Proving that I had not learned my lesson last month, I tried to crack climb this one instead of using the chimney. That didn't work out so well, and I was forced to retreat, leaving a #1 camalot (which I had overcammed) behind in the process. Ugh. I'll need to head back to try this one again, along with Finger Lockin' Good.

For our final climb, we did Crash Position (5.9). The guidebook assured me that there would be plenty of "gear depots" along the way for protection, but I quickly discovered that these were few and that several were marginal at best. The climb was fun, but I was nervous the entire time about the gear placements until I got very near the top of the climb. I don't think I would climb it again.

The sun set around 5:30 PM ET, ending a short but fun day out.

October Red Rock Canyon

On October 27, 2017 I flew to Las Vegas with John I. where we met Nick M. at the airport. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, with temperatures just cool enough for me to wear a long-sleeve t-shirt. The main reason I was there was to climb Epinephrine with Nick. John was along to relax in nature and to hike around on the various approach trails.

As a warmup on the first day Nick and I climbed Birdland (5.7+). We all hiked in the relatively short approach together. Before we started the climb, I actually had the opportunity to try out a new wag bag, the Restop 2, which worked out great. Highly recommended. Nick and I climbed Birdland pretty quickly. I don't remember much about this route, other than that we had a fun time on it.

The next day we got up at 3 AM to give us enough time to eat breakfast and hike in to Epinephrine (5.9). Despite our early start, I don't think we got to the parking area until around 4:30 AM. The "road" to the parking area was rougher than I had expected. At one point I actually drove off the road and didn't realize my mistake for 20 yards or so. By then I had completely scraped the right side of our rental vehicle on a cactus. After doing a 10-point turn to head back the other way, I of course succeeded in scraping up the left side of the car on the same cactus. Go figure. When we reached the parking area, I could see huge, long scratches all the way down the sides of the car. With the auspicious beginning, we set off down the approach trail.

Nick starts up the very first moves of Epinephrine

The approach turned out to be a bit tough in the dark. Yes, in the end it was relatively straightforward, but several times we wondered if we were supposed to continue up the wash, or whether we should leave the ditch for higher ground. I'm quite sure we didn't end up taking the easiest route, but we did find the climb finally. I had trouble seeing the lines of bolts up the face that should have been a clear signpost in daylight. It turns out we weren't the first party on the route, anyway. When we got there, another two guys had already started up the easy start beginning line a few minutes ahead of us. Soon another group of two arrived behind us. Uh oh. The last thing I wanted was to feel rushed on this challenging adventure, but that's exactly what ended up happening. Nick started up the climb at 6 AM, and at the top of the ledge, he and I waited for the party ahead of us to finish the first pitch. We had a good bit of time to converse with the other two behind us, too. They were clearly more experienced.

It must have been 15 minutes or so when one of the climbers ahead dropped a rope and rappelled down. What was going on? He informed us that his partner had developed a blister, and that they would not be able to continue on. He was shortly joined by this partner, and the two of them returned to the ground. All I can say is that, if a simple blister stopped them that early into the adventure, I hate to think how they would have responded had they made it to the chimneys. Nevertheless, their misfortune was our gain, because it cleared the route up for us as the party in front.

Nick again led the first pitch. I followed and immediately got off route onto some tough face climbing to the right. I was supposed to head left into a more straightforward crack, but Nick had run the rope out so far that there was not protection holding it in place over there, and I had followed the rope instead of my instincts. I downclimbed a bit, breaking a hold off in the process, and made my way back onto the main line. The climbing was especially difficult for me at this point, because I had a pack filled with 4 liters of water and a 70 m rope on my back. Nick also led the 2nd pitch.

The 3rd pitch was where the fun started. We had originally planned for me to lead the 1st and 3rd chimneys (P3 and P5?), but after climbing the first one, Nick announced that he didn't want to lead any of them. He was really struggling with the heavy pack on his back. We were using double ropes at this point, so at least that he didn't have a rope on his back, too, but the 4 liters of water and extra gear were really holding him down. In the end I led every one of the hard chimney pitches. The 2nd one in particular really scared me. The last one I climbed the face on the left, which probably had about three bolts, but these were very widely spaced. Luckily it was easier climbing at that point. I was definitely afraid in these chimneys. Yes, there was generally good gear in the crack at the back, but it was a lot of really sustained climbing, and I got very tired. The slick nature of the rock walls often led to my feet slipping off from the faces just when I thought I had settled into a good chimney position. Overall, I think we would have been more comfortable on the climb if we had been better prepared. I was unhappy with our management of the two ropes, and I felt that we had brought too much gear in a single pack. I would have preferred to do the climbing with a single rope, trailing a much thinner line for us to use if we wanted to rappel. And I think that we could have divided the gear between the two of us in smaller packs.

At last we reached the top of the chimney pitches. From this point on we generally swung leads. Near the top, my arms were getting so tired that I struggled to even haul the extra slack up after reaching a belay. But the climbing became progressively easier, and it was generally good crack and face climbing now, not chimneys. That made it seem so much more casual. After the final pitch of real climbing, Nick pulled in a good bit of slack into a coil, and we simul-climbed the last few hundred feet. This was easy climbing, but it still took some time. The final traverse was casual and yet exciting. I reached the end of it, pulled a few easy moves, and arrived at the lone pine tree.

Looking down at Nick beginning the final traverse

Finishing up the final traverse, with the famous pine tree in the background

A selfie from the top. Yay!!!

I realized at the top that I hadn't taken a single picture between the first moves of the climb and the final traverse. I had just been too scared and tired to think about taking my phone out of my pocket for photographs. But I had least had the photo to prove that we made it the whole way!

The descent also took a good while. We started in daylight around 6 PM, but we had to put on our headlamps after a half hour or so. The trip back to the car was almost as big an adventure as the climb up the wall had been. I was giving thanks over and over again to the many previous adventurers who had left cairn after cairn for us to follow on the descent. Maybe it wouldn't have been so unnerving in the daylight, but both Nick and I really wanted to get back to the car that night, and we didn't want to get off-route on the hike down. We finally got there about 8 PM, where John was waiting for us after a relaxing day of hiking around in the canyon. Would I do it again? I'm not sure, but I'm sure glad I did it at least once.

October Jamestown

The three of us at the end of a great day

On October 14, 2017, Nick, my son Malcolm, and I drove up to Lost Wall near Lafayette, GA. We also brought along Nick's cute golden-doodle, Locks. Lost Wall turned out to be a mistake! The entire area was closed for hunting. We decided to turn lemons into lemonade, so we drove an additional half hour to another nearby climbing area called Jamestown. This is an area I had heard some good things about in the past but had not yet had the opportunity to explore. It was also my first chance to climb in Alabama. To access this area, we needed to unlock a gate and drive along a dirt path for a few hundred yards. At one point, I tried to continue up a big, muddy hill with deep ruts, but I had to back up and park when I got concerned that the Subaru couldn't handle the terrain anymore. We got out, packed up our trad gear, and hiked the short (15 min?) walk to the crag.

Nick led Truth or Consequences (5.8) for the first climb of the day. This climb has a mini roof. Malcolm followed after Nick, and we managed to get him over the roof by hauling on the rope. The rest of the climb he did with no problem! I went next and cleaned the gear.

Malcolm following Nick on Truth or Consequences, with the mini roof 10 feet above him. Plain Truth is visible to the right.

I led Plain Truth (5.9), a crack climb with a roof, just to the right of Truth or Consequences. I actually had to hang on gear at the roof, because I got too tired and sketched out! Malcolm followed the route after I had come down. I had to help him a bit over this roof, too. Nick cleaned this one.

Malcolm following on Plain Truth

Locks, getting into the climbing spirit

Nick tried to lead a climb called Pigsty. This had an off-width crack which was very wet. Rather than push his way through, he lowered from the climb at this point. I tried to finish it for us and had to pull on a bunch of gear to get through the scary wet section. Maybe this would have been fun if it hadn't been wet, but as it was, I don't recommend it.

For the last climb of the day I led Medusa Tree (5.9). This climb is very fun and well protected. I managed to place 4 nuts on this route! It follows a path straight up, then traverses to the left, over a mini roof and finishes right up a ramp. I did have to hang once on gear when I got nervous at the crux. Malcolm followed me and managed to get halfway up the climb. Awesome! Nick cleaned the route.

All in all, it was successful day of climbing. I recommend Jamestown as a fun trad area close to Atlanta. I will definitely be heading back there to finish the climbs I didn't complete cleanly.

We ate dinner at Pasquale's Pizza and Pasta in Rome, GA. This didn't turn out to be my favorite restaurant, but Malcolm loved the all-you-can-eat buffet. He ate three pasta bowls, one salad, two pieces of pizza, and two ice-cream cones. He loved it.

Pasquale's all-you-can-eat buffet

September Sunset Rock

Locks and Kelley

Went to Sunset last Saturday (September 23, 2017) with Kelley. Weather was warm and humid, but not oppressive. Explored the area closest to Craven House parking lot. Not very crowded. My endurance level was rather low.

Slip Stream (5.7+)
Harder than expected. First half was harder than the finish.

Bubble Bath (5.9)
Hard right under the roof. Placed #5 nut in thin crack 4' below roof. Took on #1 cam under roof. Then clean to the top.

Devil Dog (5.9)
Had two falls on gear at the off-width crack. Was forced to aid through this section. Exhausted at the top. No bolts. Used tree for anchor.

Kenton on Devil Dog

Jefferson Airplane (5.10-)
Just running out of endurance by this point. This is a beautiful climb with great exposure. Was forced to take on gear three times at the roof crux. Will have to come back for a clean ascent.

We finished with dinner at 3rd Deck Burger Bar. This is a bizarre restaurant on the top of a river boat permanently moored on the riverside in Chattanooga. Seemed almost like a casino restaurant. Would not return to this joint.

Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R)

On Friday, April 28, 2017, I ran the Grand Canyon from the South Rim to the North Rim and back again. Accompanying me on this trip were two of my closest friends, Brad and Derek. We left the South Kaibab trail head around 4:50 AM and returned to the top of the Bright Angel trail at about 8:10 PM, for a total time just over 15 hours. This run was my first attempt to cover anything close to such a long distance, and I had been training for over a year.

I can't seem to get inspired to write a detailed post about the adventure, so I'm just going to post a few photos to mark the occasion.

Kenton and Brad with the South Kaibab switchbacks visible on the left

Derek next to the South Kaibab trail steps

Just before the tunnel approaching the Kaibab trail bridge across the Colorado river

With the first half of the North Kaibab trail in the background

Brad in front of the Supai tunnel

Halfway done!

Don't step too far left

Can I take this home, Mom?

Almost down North Kaibab

On the Bright Angel trail bridge across the Colorado River

Are we there yet? (on Bright Angel trail)

Early Spring Sunset Rock

Nick holding Locks

Went to Sunset Rock with Nick and Jacob on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Beautiful weather. Cool fleece temperature in the awesome morning shade, hot t-shirt weather in the afternoon. Explored the area farthest from the parking lot. It was super crowded. Too many dogs, too.

Blond Ambition (5.7+)

Nick on Blond Ambition

Second Sun (5.9+)
Harder than our first climb. Jacob led and was forced to take low down on the face with two solid cams. Then he needed to bail to the right near the top because of bad pro and shared anchors already in use to the left.

Jacob leads on Second Sun

I cleaned. Some idiot climbed below me on the 5.7 to the right, and I was worried I would drop a rock on him. Then when I was lowering, I was worried I would run into him. So Nick didn't even climb this route.

Mercenary Territory (5.8)
Nick led and pulled on the tree to get through the low-down crux. This was a blocky 5.8 with a nice roof for the grade. Jacob cleaned and I top-roped. The face section at the top was difficult to protect but had good holds.

Nick on Mercenary Territory right before the crux

Northwest Conversion (5.9)
I led this two-pitch route in a single pitch. The first pitch was so easy it felt more like an "approach". The route was not as hard as I had expected, but it was a bit chossy, so I was afraid to pull out rocks if I fell on pieces. The line meanders quite a bit, especially when done as a single pitch, so I was rather careful to extend pieces and place them thoughtfully to avoid rope drag. There is a fun, thin crack at the top.

Here I am on the start of Northwest Conversion

Nick had an easy time cleaning this, and Jacob top-roped it. The sun was coming out by now. I had been cold and wearing my fleece in the morning, but after this I stripped down to just my t-shirt and sunscreen.

Pancake Flake (5.9-)
Jacob was rather nervous about leading this route, but it was not as hard as he expected. It is a long flake that forms an undercling/crack that makes for some great hand-jamming. It had lots of features to work with. Weird, but fun. I cleaned, and Nick top-roped. I had to place several directionals on the descent to keep Nick from swinging if he fell.

Jacob belays Nick on Pancake Flake

Train Time (5.10a)
I led this easy 5.10. This is a fun climb with a little of everything thrown in. We were really warm at this point. Near the top I traversed too soon where the climb rejoins the more direct 5.11 route. I had to rest on an alien cam that I placed there. Then realized that I only had to continue up a bit more before traversing right and the going became much easier. Nick cleaned the route, and Jacob top-roped it for the last pitch of the day.

Kenton near the crux of Train Time

All-in-all a great day. We each had the opportunity to lead two routes and climb six.

Heading back to the parking lot...

Winter Paddling the Okefenokee Swamp

The Brown boys chillin' in the swamp

On Thursday, March 9, Cooper, Malcolm, and I left Atlanta in the early afternoon to make the roughly five hour drive down to Okefenokee swamp. On the way out of town we picked up my brother Preston and his son Phillip from the airport. This swamp is a national wildlife refuge near the Georgia/Florida border with a whole network of canals and waterways marked out for canoeing. I had been wanting to visit this park for over a year and was super excited about the trip. It is a treasure trove of wildlife, overflowing with alligators and birds.

The first night we spend in a Best Western in Waycross, GA, where we met up with Jeb, John, and their sons Simon and Nick. The closest real hotel to the swamp I could find, it was still a good half hour drive to the park entrance the next morning.

We showed up at the Okefenokee Adventures facility around 9 AM. This outfit is the group I had decided to hire to provide us with a guide for our adventure. I had been a bit tentative about planning the trip entirely without help, because I don't have much experience with paddling, and Okefenokee really is in the middle of nowhere. Also, the guide outfit was going to provide all of the food, drink, tents, canoes and paddles, etc. which seemed awfully convenient. The water level in the swamp has been particularly low this winter because of the drought we've been experiencing in Georgia, so there has been less opportunity to book overnight campsites. Okefenokee Adventures managed to choose a paddling route that they thought would be OK for younger boys, and they even booked the campsites for me with the park service. If I went back to the swamp again, I might plan the trip entirely by myself. But then again, maybe I wouldn't - it was awfully nice to have someone along to cook all the meals for us!

Nick "tempting" fate in the Okefenokee parking lot

We met our guide, filled the canoes with our gear, and set off on the adventure. This first day took us from the parking lot to Monkey Lake. We started by paddling 2 miles along the historic Suwannee Canal, which was dug in the late 1800's in a failed attempt to drain the swamp.

The official National Wilderness Area entrance on Suwanee Canal

We then turned off into Chesser Prairie and paddled the remaining 5.5 miles across wet prairies dotted with cypress, bay, and shrub islands. The order of our little band of paddlers was established early on, with Preston, Phillip, Jeb, and Simon pushing ahead hard while John, Nick, Cooper, Malcolm, and I hung a bit farther back, sticking to a more relaxed pace. I think the competitive spirit between Simon and Phillip (or was it Jeb and Preston?) was super alive!

Cooper and Kenton getting ready to head into Chesser Prairie

Cooper captured this image of a spider on his paddle

From the beginning, I was stunned at how many alligators we saw. I remember Phillip telling me that by the end of the trip he had seen over 70, and Malcolm counted around 40.

This bird on the bank was extremely well camouflaged

One of the many alligators we encountered

The second day started off on a sad note, as Cooper woke up early complaining that he wasn't feeling well. I have to congratulate him for his self control, as he managed to get himself out of the tent and over to the side of the platform before vomiting up all of the previous night's dinner. Was he food poisoned? An hour later, Malcolm expressed his own desire to use the bathroom. But too soon after entering the porta-John he emerged, and he too began throwing up. I wondered if he had just been sickened by the smell of this hole in the ground, but as he and his brother continued to throw up during the next hour, I realized that they were ill. As nobody else became sick that morning, I'm pretty convinced it wasn't food poisoning. My two boys lay there on the floor of the platform in their sleeping bags, miserable, sick, but stalwart as the rest of us played cards, and I tried to decide what we should do. It would still be a good day full of paddling on my own to get them back to the parking lot and into our car. And I would hate to cut the trip short. But if their health didn't improve soon I would have no choice. Luckily they stopped throwing up after a little while, so we packed them into my canoe, tried to force some fluids into them, and decided to take our chances with starting off on day two. The highlight on our way out was seeing an owl (after hearing him for several minutes first).

A waterflower (on a lily pad?)

Cooper celebrates with Nick after recovering from his sickness on day two

On this second day we voyaged from Monkey Lake to Coffee Bay Shelter, a full 9 mile journey. We paddled back across Grand and Chesser Prairies, turning onto the Tater Rake Run to reach Suwannee Canal again. This first section was hard paddling, on both the first and second days, because the water level was low enough that the bottoms of our canoes were often scraping against plants growing up from the bottom. Once we reached the canal, we paddled about 3.5 miles to our shelter.

The whole crew on the last stretch of day 2

This was significantly easier, as the canal is deeper and clear of the weeds we had encountered earlier in Chesser Prairie. The shelter was a small platform that was nevertheless large enough for us to fit our four tents underneath. We were a bit concerned about overnight rain, so we wanted to try to keep the tents fully covered if possible. Well, it didn't rain that evening, but it did turn out to be Phillip's turn to lose his dinner. Now I was more convinced than ever that the kids were suffering from a virus, not from food poisoning.

A view of the swamp from the second night's campsite

We rose early on the third day for our trip back to the parking lot. It hadn't started raining, but the forecast still called for some morning showers. We put on our raincoats, made sure our rain pants were easily accessible, and set off. This trip was a shorter 5.5 mile paddle, back down Suwannee Canal, bypassing a section of the previous day’s paddle to follow a particularly pretty side run known as the Cutoff. It began to drizzle right as we were leaving, but we didn't think much of that at first. All of us were energetic and paddling hard this morning. Even John's and my canoes managed to keep up with Jeb's and Preston's for the first few miles. Malcolm was the cheerleader in our canoe, exhorting Cooper and me to paddle faster from his comfy and relaxed position in the middle of the canoe. After an hour or so it started to rain again, lightning started to flash, and the thunder rolled in. We began to paddle even faster, leaving our guide completely in the dust. It was the complete opposite of our leisurely trip up the canal the previous day, but we were really concerned about the thunderstorms, and justifiably so. The rain began to pour down harder, then even harder. The thunder rumbled overhead. And just when we thought it couldn't get any crazier, it began to hail! Small chunks of hail, about half a centimeter across, began to rain down upon us. It didn't last long, but by the end of the storm we were completely soaked. Malcolm was still wearing shorts, and he began to shiver. I paddled faster, as fast as I could, and we were soon back at the parking lot. Malcolm's teeth were chattering, and I urged him to change into dry clothes before his hypothermia became even worse. We finished up with lunch at the guide shop, then made the drive back to Atlanta in the afternoon.

Preston and Phillip arrived at the airport just in time to fly standby on an earlier flight than they had originally been booked onto. Lucky for them, but not so lucky for the person in the seat next to them, who got to enjoy the smell of two unwashed paddlers!

Winter Trad at Tennessee Wall

John Simpson and I went to Tennessee Wall last Sunday, February 26. It was perfect weather for climbing, cold, but not freezing in the morning, and with clear skies allowing the sun to bake the rocks for us.

We warmed up on Puppy Ride (5.9). I led and John cleaned. It had a tough start, but eased up after that.

John made short work of cleaning Puppy Ride. At the top, he traversed 10' to the left and set up a directional on another set of anchors. This way we could toprope The Heaven of Animals (5.11). It felt relatively easy on toprope, but it was fun nonetheless, and I certainly didn't feel prepared to lead it.

From there we moved a bit farther east to Precious Orr (5.10-). John tried to do the lead this time, but unfortunately he was stymied 2/3 of the way up at the crux. After a few takes, he asked me to lower him back to the ground. I don't think it helped that his hands weren't taped up, and he didn't have any crack gloves on. I followed up the section he had already protected and made short work of the final section with my crack gloves. This was a challenging climb filled with nearly pure crack climbing in places. It had a cool person-sized hueco 15 feet off the deck, large enough to stand inside and rest.

John standing in the rest hueco on Precious Orr

Fifteen feet to the right of Precious Orr is Golden Gloves (5.10). This is another great crack climb. The first half felt relatively easy, while the top half really kicked things into gear. In addition to straight-in jamming, there were also some powerful sections of lie-backing. Only 10 feet from the top I was forced to take on a #4 cam that I desperately threw into the slightly larger than fist sized crack. After several weak attempts at clearing this crux, I made a strong push, only to fall back hard onto the cam. Forced to reevaluate my game plan, I moved far left, found some small face holds, and shimmied my way to the top.

John in the chimney at the start of Golden Gloves

John lowering off after finishing Golden Gloves

Our last climb was People's Express (5.10-). Once again I tried to take the lead. That was a mistake. I was already completely exhausted from the first few climbs I had done, and I was unable to pull the roof at the start of this route on the first try. It took several attempts, by which point I was even more exhausted. Half way up the route I lost all my strength and motivation. I was sketching out placing gear, and as I stared up at a particularly technical section of crack climbing I lost my desire to continue. Now it was my time to shout down to John that I was done, and I had him lower me to the ground. It was his chance for redemption! John really shone here, quickly climbing up to the point where I had bailed, evaluating the situation above, and making short work of the remaining distance. I was so tired that I didn't even bother top roping and cleaning it when he was done.

We finished with dinner at the Tremont Tavern.

John lowering past the initial roof on People's Express