Tennessee Wall December 2025 with Gabe

 

Enjoying the perfect December sending temps

December 20, 2025

T-Wall day, first time out with Gabe

Dirt Bag (5.8) - Harder than expected.

Razor Worm (5.8+) - Crux comes in the middle.

Hidden Assets (5.10a) - Bouldery start, crux in the middle, lots of hand crack.

Cake Walk (5.10a) - Most casual I've ever felt on it. Right foot in the pod when moving through the crux.

Stone Wave (5.11a/b) - I can do the starting crux just reaching all the way from the slopey rail to the ear, I did it today. I didn't need to turn the right hand upside down or bring the right foot up before lunging for this ear. My only fall came right over the wave. Here the beta is the same as outlined before. Try to turn the right hand around into a hand jam instead of a finger lock when and if possible. 

Stone Mountain NC November 2025 with Wes and Jason

 

Jason takes a break after his incredibly impressive lead of Orange Blossom Special

November 29, 2025

I joined Wes and Jason for a late breakfast on this chilly but beautiful morning in November before heading over to Stone Mountain before lunch. With lows around 25 F overnight but the sun hitting the mountain all day, conditions were nearly perfect for friction slab climbing. This was my first time meeting Jason. He turned out to be an incredible climber with impressive drive.

Grand Funk Railroad - Wes's lead. P1 is a tenuous slab up 30 feet, then a traverse to the right across delicate terrain to a dyke. It finishes up and left along this dyke to the anchors. P2 follows the dyke farther up and left on easier terrain to another bolted anchor.

Amtrak (5.10 X) - Jason's lead. Delicate slab climbing the whole way. I was aiming for the next good foot or the next good hand, and sometimes even both! Protection consists of only a few very marginal pieces: a taped hook, a shallow small TCU, two shallow nuts... A truly impressive lead.

Orange Blossom Special (5.11a X) - Perhaps even more impressive than Amtrak, Jason's first pitch of this climb was free solo to the bolts. P2 followed with 5.10 climbing to a bolt, then 50 feet of 5.11 (thin!) to some OK but not great horns which Jason slung for protection. The climb finishes up some 5.8 terrain to a final bolted anchor. Absolutely incredible that Jason led this one!

Woodcock Cove November 2025 with Jamie

Climbing into the money on Beasters

November 16, 2025

Woodcock Cove with Jamie, Abbie, and Alex

Joint Hypothesis (5.10+) - Bottom half was a chill crack moving into crimps. Top half was more slopey crimps and significantly harder.

Potato Chip (5.10b) - Plentiful, smaller holds up a vertical face.

Beasters (5.11c) - Very easy climbing to the second bolt, then hard face climbing on small edges and crimps, with the hardest climbing near the top.

Insurrection (5.11a) - A fun, solid sequence of 5.10 moves the whole way, with a few 5.11 moves thrown in for good measure.

Tokémon (5.10+) - A bouldery start and easy middle lead to more overhung terrain on smaller crimps.

2025 Wind River Range - Cirque of the Towers

Wolf's Head (left) and Pingora (right) - view from our campsite

Day 1

On Saturday September 6, 2025 I flew to Rock Springs, Wyoming where Dave H. and Dave L. picked me up, having made the drive up from Colorado that morning. We spent one night in the town before making the two hour drive to the Big Sandy parking area. This was my second trip to Wyoming's Wind River Range this summer, and I was just as excited, if even a bit anxious, this time around. The hike into the Cirque of the Towers was about 9.4 miles, including a few detours, and took us about 6.5 hours with our 60 lb packs and making a few stops along the way. We chose a camping spot in the meadows south of Pingora, pitched our tents, and were just settling in when a storm rolled in dropping heavy rain and lowering the temperature significantly. This was not the beginning we had hoped for! And we all began to think about what it would be like to be trapped in a similar storm atop one of the peaks towering around us.

View of our campsite in the meadows below Pingora

Luckily the skies cleared relatively quickly and we could prepare for the following week's adventures. Looking back at the end of the trip, the weather turned out about as well as we could have expected it to, with a small bit of rain almost every day, but mostly in the afternoons/evenings and never enough in the mornings to interrupt our climbing. This was very lucky indeed.

Day 2

We awoke around 5 AM, ate breakfast and were on the trail by 6:50. We had decided to climb Pingora's Northeast Face, one of North America's "Fifty Classic Climbs". For this first day out I climbed with Mike, and the two Daves partnered up. However, all the climbs we did this week were done together in two groups of two, so we were never far apart.

Dave H. and Mike were psyched to use fix-and-follow techniques. This would be my first time using these methods and I was definitely a bit anxious about it. What if I needed to be lowered a bit? What would it feel like not to have constant rope-based feedback between leader and follower? How would the margin of safety change with the follower constantly untied from the rope, relying solely on progress-capture device to keep him attached? By the end of the day I was more comfortable with the technique and had some nebulous answers to all of these questions, but I will admit that the far more standard technique with the leader belaying the follower from above is still my preferred technique, especially if there is any chance that the route might wander or become overhanging. Yes, fix-and-follow does give a lot of rest to the leader, but there are significant downsides to this advantage.

Mike chalks up while leading up the Northeast Face

P1 - my lead, with some tricky route finding through an unprotected bulge/traverse over to the corner at the base of P2. The climbing was not especially difficult, but (at least the way we went) a foot slip in the wrong place would have meant a nasty pendulum fall both for leader and for follower (in opposite directions). In fact, another two parties directly behind us bailed off the route even before completing this pitch.

P2-P4 - also my lead, and much more straightforward. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think these were mostly clean, beautiful corner crack the whole way.

Mike led all the pitches after this to the top, probably starting somewhere in the middle of P5. The wide 5.8 section in the middle of P7 felt harder than anything that had come before. The 5.8 section in P9 also was more challenging. 

Once we reached 3rd class territory we scrambled unroped to the true summit. Dave H. and Dave L. by mistake kept climbing into some 5.10c hand crack up to a false summit. Here they were forced to rappel back down to the ledges to join us on our scramble. From the top we scrambled down to the K-cracks rappels. Combining our two ropes, we were able to descend in just raps. 

Overall I feel that this climb lived up to its hype and served as a wonderful introduction to climbing in the Cirque.

Celebrating atop Pingora

Day 3

Today we again left camp at 6:50 AM with the East Ridge of Wolf's Head as our objective. The approach may have been the most exciting part of the day. We approached via a series of grassy ledges, very steep in places, at least 4th class and maybe even low 5th. I did not feel secure here and honestly would have preferred to have a rope. Despite gray skies and humid air threatening to unleash storms all around us, we continued upward, trusting (perhaps unwisely) the rain-free forecast we had obtained earlier in the morning via our InReach devices.

At the col between Wolf's Head and Tiger Tower I started us off by leading a good two rope lengths, simul-climbing with Dave H. on the other end. This section consisted of a long ridge traverse with plenty of protection and very easy climbing. Dave caught up to me, and we continued to simul climb from there on similar terrain. Reaching the first tower pitch, I again took the lead. Here there was a memorable chimney where I removed my backpack and moved from the south to the north side of the ridge. It was easy climbing but a tight squeeze. Chimneys like that make me claustrophic!

Simul climbing up the first pitches of Wolf's Head East Ridge

Dave took the following "piton" pitch, moving across the slab and up to the right. He also linked this pitch into the next one, finishing across a knife edge traverse where I ended up straddling the ridge and shimmying along it, then down climbing about 10 feet to a stance below an overhang. 

I took the next pitch, moving left around an arete/boulder and back onto the south face. Here I traversed along a beautiful hand crack with delicate feet below for quite a ways until I reached a chimney. Climbing this shallow chimney I encountered a few loose blocks. At its top I literally dove through a hole back onto the north side. I was forced to remove my back pack to fit through this hole and still became semi stuck a few times by the gear on my harness catching on the floor and walls. 

Dave H. squeezes his way through the hole after the chimney on the East Ridge

From here we simul climbed to the top with Dave leading the way through one final hard move right below the summit.

To descend we made a series of bolted rappels between ledges, then a long walking traverse southwest to gain a low point on the west ridge. Here we crossed back over the ridge from the north to south side and made a final rappel into the gully between Wolf's Head and Overhanging Tower which led us to 3rd class terrain and back to our camp.

The climbing this day was much easier than the previous day, but it still felt like a proper adventure.

Day 4

Today we "rested", doing no physical activity other than to hike around and think about what we might want to climb on the following day. It turned out we still covered 1,500 vertical feet of elevation! We were trying to decide between Black Elk, Brown Cow, and Mitchell Peak's North Face Center. We walked south along the western side of the Cirque to the top of Jackass Pass but couldn't get a good view of Warbonnet's southeast face from there. Instead we hiked east over to the base of Mitchell Peak and then even farther south where we finally gained the vantage we needed. By now the wind had really picked up and we started imagining what it might be like to be climbing on either Black Elk or Brown Cow with 30 mph wind gusts tugging at our clothing and slings. So we hiked all the way around Mitchell Peak to its Northeast Face where we ate lunch and inspected the line up the center of this wall. Here was more sheltered from the southwesterly winds we had experienced earlier, and we decided it would make the best objective for the following day.

Which way should we go?

Day 5

We left camp earlier today at 6:20 AM, finally getting efficient about our morning routine. Hopping across the boulders and up the talus slopes to the base of North Face Center (Ecclesiastes), we racked up for the final day of climbing. Today I would be partnered with Dave L.

Approaching Mitchell Peak

The climb starts under an overhanging flake in a hand crack.

Mike on the first pitch of Mitchell Peak's Northeast Face Center

P1 - A bit dirty and wider than hands but with lots of handholds.

P2 - A long 5.7 traverse, very wandering and hard to find the right gear and right path.

P3 - ?

P4 - Lieback traverse with solid hands in an undercling, then a corner with many flakes to the next belay.

P5 - Moved right around an overhang into a wide crack for a shot section, then much easier climbing through broken rock in a corner.

P6 - Moved up through an overhanging corner on very easy terrain but still filled with broken and untrustworthy rock. Moved up onto a ramp that trends left to a very comfortable ledge, I completely hit the end of my 60 m rope at this point and tied directly into the anchor with a single locking carabiner.

P7 - Flakey, slabby face climbing with flakes poorly attached to the face and marginal protection. 4th-class climbing to the back of the "bowl".

P8 - A rather wide chimney/gulley with two potential paths, one up the left, the other up the right. Each way has a wide crack to follow the whole way up. The pitch stops on the best belay ledge of the day, maybe 70 ft below a large overhang.

P9 - Continued up the gully on loose, large flakes that look as if they might want to come off in your hands. Worked our way through another easy chimney again with loose flakes and gained the top through choss and large boulders.

The descent from this climb took us over the false summit and then down to the right (north) along grassy ledges/slopes towards Jackass Pass. We even experienced a bit of sleet on the way down, and the stiff gusts of wind that buffeted us confirmed we had made the right decision not to climb over on Warbonnet today.

My overall impression of this climb was not overly positive. Some folks on Mountain Project had compared it to the quality of climbing on Pingora, but I thought it wasn't nearly as good or as fun as what we had done earlier in the week.

Descending from Mitchell Peak

Day 6

Checking the weather forecast in the morning, we decided we would hike out today. We packed up our camp, spotted Dave H. on a boulder problem he had spied the day before, and made our way back past Big Sandy Lake to the parking area.

2025 Western Trip - Idaho Cragging (City of Rocks)

August 4, 2025

Wes and I spent the last day of our trip cragging at City of Rocks. This place is huge, and filled with a wide variety of climbing from boulders, to sport, to trad. It reminded me a lot of Joshua Tree.

Stretch Marks (5.9) - I led. Starts in a tunnel. One hard move in a finger crack.

Intruding Dike (5.7) - I cleaned. Very fun. Easy climbing with a huge variety of hand and finger jams to just play around with at low angle.

Tide Country (5.10a) - I led. A bit runout at the start. Exciting but very secure jams in the overhanging roof, my rope got stuck in the crack (after surmounting the roof), and I was forced to downclimb to release it.

Interceptor (5.11a) - Wes led. Very good jams, but very overhung and very pumpy. Wes "wanted his mommy". Both of us sagged on the rope twice to get through the overhanging section. I struggled in particular with the transition from hand jams to fist jams.

Kenton sinking his arm as deep as he can on Interceptor

2025 Western Trip - Idaho Sawtooth Range

View of The Elephant's Perch from our campsite

On Friday, August 1, 2025 Wes and I drove from Ketchum, Idaho to the Redfish Lodge near Stanley, where we parked our car, paid $24 each for a round-trip ticket on the ferry/shuttle, and took the 10-minute boat ride across Redfish Lake to the trailhead for the Redfish Creek-Baron Creek Trail in Idaho's Sawtooth Range. The hike in to our destination, The Elephant's Perch, was shorter (4 miles) than our hike into Deep Lake the previous week, but it still took us longer than expected (almost two hours) because of the intense elevation change in the last mile (about 1,200 ft). This hike took us through woods, across a creek, and up a rocky trail to the base of the Perch, where we camped on the far side of the Saddleback Lake. After pitching our tents and generally getting our camp set up, we decided to climb the first few pitches of Astro Elephant.

View across the Saddleback Lake from our campsite

Astro Elephant (5.10c)

P1 (5.10-) - Wes led this. Liebacks and awkward hand and fist jams with bad body position.

P2 (5.10-) - I led this. More liebacks (Wes did more stemming here than I did). Thin gear in places. Then an arching corner.

P3/P4 (5.8) - Wes led this as a single pitch. It was easier than the first two pitches but still solid 5.8 liebacking. The roof pull was awesome. This pitch led us to a large ledge.

On the ledge we traversed right, still roped up (but short roped), until we felt comfortable. Then we hiked down the descent gully. This gully was OK, but not great - it was filled with loose dirt and rocks. Near the bottom is a single rappel (two solid bolts) that allowed us to avoid downclimbing the very hardest portions.

The following morning (August 2) we left our camp around 7:00 AM and had started climbing by 7:45 AM.

Direct Beckey (5.11b)

P1 (5.11b) - Wes led this, the crux pitch. There was a layback and press move to get standing under the roof. Lots of gear was placed near the roof. Eventually we both both cleared the roof with a bit of gear pulling. So, I guess this pitch went at 5.10 C1 for us. After the roof there was another traverse.

P2 (5.10c) - My lead, a left-facing corner layback on reasonably small fingers. I screwed myself near the top of the crux corner section by plugging a cam (BD 0.3) into the key handhold and was force to hang on it briefly. Above this the pitch continued for another 20 ft or so.

P3 (5.10b) - Wes led, a thin crack in the face starting right off the belay. 

P4 (5.10-) - I led. Blocky easier climbing. These blocks seemed tenuous but at the same time we felt they were secure enough.

P5 (5.10-) - Wes led, he moved right from the belay and then ascended a huge flake back to the left that you can literally straddle. There was more handcrack above this.

P6 (5.10-) - My lead and one of my favorite pitches. Started with a short chimney, then a stem box, followed by easier climbing up to a roof. There is a nice sharp flake just below the roof to sink one's fingers into. I placed a BD #2 cam under the roof and pulled it without trouble on the right side.

By now both Wes and I were starting to cramp in our arms, and we had to decide if we wanted to make a summit push or start rappeling. We took a break, drank some water, had some snacks, and decided to go for it!

P7 (5.10-) - Wes led. Twin parallel cracks, we climbed the left one. 

P8 (5.8) - Wes also led this, a bit of blockier, ledgy 5.8 climbing. 

P9 (5.9) - My lead. A right-facing dihedral up to an arete and face moves protected by ancient hardware (the Beckey Bolts). The trick here was to move right and use the arete in combination with small hands and smears to get above the bolts. This pitch ends at the "Beckey  Tree".

P10 (5.8) - Wes led this, a long, long traverse. 5.easy with a short 5.8 corner. A full rope length the way we did it. 

P11 (5.8) - My final lead, a low angle corner up and then moving left to steeper but still easy terrain. A final traverse under a huge horizontal crack brought me around the corner to 3rd class ground, and from here I ran the rope to its end.

P12 (3rd class) - 20 feet of simul-climbing to the top. 

The descent was pretty straightforward. We followed the ridge easily to the south where we located a saddle which dropped us into the same gully we had descended the day before. From here we walked/slid down the scree and loose gravel gulley and did the final rappel.

Kenton clipping gear from a solid stance

One of several bolts we found on the Direct Beckey which did not inspire confidence

The next morning we packed up, left camp at around 9 AM, made our way back to the boat across Redfish Lake, and drove south to Twin Falls, Idaho to spend the night.

2025 Western Trip - Wyoming Wind River Range

On Friday, July 25, 2025 Wes and I drove from Rock Springs, Wyoming to the parking lot for the Big Sandy Trailhead in Wyoming's Wind River Range. This is a truly remote area in an already remote state in the country. I was looking forward to several days of quiet, seclusion, and exciting climbing. Our rental car did fine on the drive along a bit of a rough dirt road, but I would have preferred a vehicle with higher ground clearance. The hike in to Deep Lake from the trailhead was about 7.5 miles with 1,500 feet of elevation gain and took us about three hours, taking us through wooded areas, some marshes, and finishing on rockier terrain. Arriving mid-afternoon, we pitched our tents between Deep Lake and the even higher Clear Lake near a fast-flowing stream and swimming hole and right under the shadow of Haystack Mountain.

On Saturday, July 26 I woke up at 4:30 AM and we left camp around 6 AM. Our objective was the Southwest Arete on Lost Temple Spire. By 8:30 AM we had reached the base of the route and begun our ascent.

Looking back at Clear Lake and Deep Lake from the base of Lost Temple Spire

P1 - I led this. It did not feel especially hard, but there was some loose rock, so I took care both with my protection placements as well as with what I chose to step/pull on.

P2 - Wes's lead, an acute corner with difficult flared jams. Some smears and dishes on the right wall for feet. 

P3 - my lead, a straightforward hand crack. 

P4 - Wes's lead...

P5 - I led this pitch, starting with a portion of 5.9 crack (part of the traditional previous P4) and leading into 5.10a layback pitch. I thought this was actually pretty straightforward, if powerful. I was laying back the corner and using smears on the right wall for feet. There were not many really solid footholds, but the handholds and jams were good enough to keep steady pressure on those smears. I did find myself needing to grovel around the final lip where the corner changed directions, but I got it done.

P6/P7 - Wes led this as a combined pitch, a series of finger pods with very insecure feet and “technical” (thin) protection leading to a roof. At the roof he traversed way right and built an anchor (a fully hanging belay). 

P8 - I tried to lead this while keeping my backpack on. Chimney is not my strength, and this pitch starts with a chimney, with only a few footholds, wide enough to not feel completely compressed inside. But there was little to no protection for a long portion of the chimney, and with the backpack hampering my progress, I was forced to retreat to the belay, hang my head in shame, and give the sharp end to Wes. He showed me how much easier it was to climb the chimney with the backpack dangling from two shoulder length (120 cm total length) slings below my harness. He ran it out in the “5.7” chimney nearly to the top, got some pro in, then pulled a 5.7 roof and finished up a 5.7 hand crack. Maybe each of those in isolation truly were 5.7, but in combination it sure felt like a much harder pitch! Here we unroped and scrambled to the top, where we actually found that we had cell service!

Wes celebrates in style atop Lost Temple Spire

I believe we reach the top of the route around 2:30 PM. We rapped the entire rope with a single 70m rope (rather than using a tagline), thinking it was possibly a better choice given the nature of the route and the potential for ropes to get stuck on rappel. On the way down we replaced several of the rap stations (tat nests) with fresh cord and also backed up the stations for the first one heading down (Wes).

The raps were over by 4:30 PM but there was still a long, somewhat intimidating 3rd and 4th class walkoff with lots of loose rock, loose dirt, and scree. The party to (skier's) right was raining down large rocks into the descent gully which then funneled them down towards us at one point.

All in all the day's expedition was a serious undertaking. 

Sunday, July 27 was a rest day. I read a book and bathed in the swimming hole.

Kenton preparing to get very cold in the swimming hole above Deep Lake

On Monday, July 28 we decided to try something also long but a bit easier and with an easier approach and descent. Leaving camp at 6:50 AM, we reached the base of Haystack Mountain and had started climbing the Minor Dihedral by 7:30 AM. To reach the first pitch we traversed left across low angle slab from a grassy field/patch. 

P1 - Wes led this first, very long pitch. It consisted of a right-facing corner, then a slabby section, more right-facing corner, a delicate rightward traverse, and a left-rising ramp to a grassy ledge. 

P2 - Wes's lead, another short right-facing corner, then a cruxy beta-intensive slab traverse to the right to grab a rail and gain a right rising ramp. To do the traverse there was a very good foot far out right, but trying to move directly into this with the right foot put me too far off balance. Instead, I put my right foot on a tiny, closer jib and the  stepped through with the left foot to the good foothold farther out. After that the right-rising ramp was easy 5.4ish climbing that put us at the base of a handcrack. Wes stopped here. 

P3 - Wes climbed another 120ish feet in the straightforward handcrack to the bottom of the large namesake dihedral.

P4 - My lead, a splitter dihedral with decent feet in most sections. There was a memorable crux where I had to smear on the left wall, and here I almost fell but managed to hold on to a good hand jam. This pitch went a long way, almost the full rope length.

Kenton leading the way up the namesake dihedral pitch of Minor Dihedral

P5 - I led this, a pitch starting with low-angle easier climbing to a roof. The roof should have been easy too, but the feet were bad, and I felt very heavily weighed-down with a lot of rope out and my backpack on. I finally shimmied my way over it, using my body to wedge against the wall to help out. 

P6 - My lead again, a very easy section (5.6?) of broken rock for a full rope length. I built an anchor, brought up Wes, and we continued unroped to the top.

Victory selfie atop Haystack Mountain

For the descent, we scrambled up and right over a small ridge which then led down to a scree chute. We crossed the scree chute (and Wes reminded me the scree chute was not the descent path!), crossed over another lip, and gained the "Grassy Goat Trail". This was relatively straightforward with a few class-4 butt-sliding or down-climbing sections that were OK as long as I moved slowly enough. There were many cairns. We were back at camp by 2 PM.

We packed up, left camp at 3 PM, and were at the car around 6 PM, with very sore feet but stoked about our successful expedition!

2025 Western Trip - Idaho Sport (Wolftone)

July 30, 2025

Sport climbing with Wes at a small crag in Idaho called Wolftone

The Horror (5.10a) - Harder start than finish. The best hold's were marked with X's hahaha.

Blue Bird (5.10a) - Consistent and slightly overhung the whole way.

Fifty-Three (5.11a) - Has an overhanging bulge in the middle.

Newby (5.11d) - A bouldery start required several tries for me to figure it out and get through it. Then consistent overhang but easier climbing with good footwork.

Toxic (5.11a) - Pretty hard start with a few cruxes to a rest. Then a crux where a key hold needed to be found out left. Then another crux where I had to reach way high to a small hold to make progress.

Black Scar (5.11b) - Tough start, then eases up a little to a crux 2/3 of the way up. I whipped when the hold I was on with my left hand broke off, and the ensuing pressure on my right hand gave me a beautiful blood blister on my index finger.

2025 Western Trip - Colorado

July 19, 2025

Flew last night to Denver

This morning met up with Wes at 5 AM, we drove to the Lumpy Ridge trailhead and hiked in to The Book area.

J-Crack (5.9+) - I led the first pitch. I definitely felt a bit nervous even on this easy climbing as it was my first time back on real rock since breaking my face three weeks before while trail running. P2 moved up only a short distance before an exciting traverse left to the base of the eponymous crack. Wes led this pitch, and with style. The crack is sustained and insecure. It is slightly less than vertical, so my arms didn't get too pumped, but the flaring nature of the jams meant that the entire thing felt rather insecure. My feet and ankles got tired quickly from the endless jams. Wes also led the headwall third pitch, which we both ascended in aid style by pulling on a few cams and nuts. I did The Cave Exit (5.7+) for pitch four and it nearly broke me, as my pack got stuck below a draw clipped to the piton there, preventing me from standing up to clear the roof. I managed to get a high enough foot that I could pull myself around and finally stand up.

On top of J-Crack

July 20, 2025

Got up at 2:15 AM, met Wes at 3:00 AM and we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were in the parking lot and hiking out by 4:30 AM and at the base of Better Than Love (5.8) by 5:45 AM. Long story short, we climbed from here to the top of Hallett Peak, but I don't think either of us is quite sure the route we took. After climbing what we thought were the first two pitches, Wes reached a wide sloping ledge, built a belay, and we discussed our options. Somehow we had ended up on the first buttress at this point instead of the second. We decided to traverse right across easy terrain back onto the second buttress to try to get ourselves back on route. From here I led up through what was probably the highlight of the day, an enjoyable left-facing dihedral for a ways followed by a right-facing dihedral. These two corners used up most of the rope. Wes joined me and led up through the rest of the right-facing corner, then traversed left and moved up on much easier ground. From here I led the final pitches of Love Route (5.9) to the top. This was a bunch of chossy rock protected by an assortment of old pitons and poor cam placements leading to a juggy roof. After pulling the roof, the climbing gets much easier, and I only placed a few pieces on the way from here to the summit.

Sunrise from the base of Hallett Peak

The descent was slow. After doing the two rappels, I again was nervous about all the scree in the path/gully back to the base. I am definitely feeling gunshy about slipping on pebble-covered rocks after my bad experience slipping on wet rocks three weeks ago, and this means that I'm slowing down, keeping my center of gravity low, and reaching for handholds in places where I might not have done so before.

July 21, 2025

We had a leisurely morning before doing some sport climbing at Upper Dream Canyon. We started at the Oceanic Wall.

The Deep (5.11c) - I led this. It has a tricky start. I got my hands high and then needed to smear and high step. In the middle, I hung on a quickdraw at the crux, then did the move by pulling on two very small, very sharp crimps with no chalk on them (there were also slopey crimpers with chalk nearby, but I chose not to use these). The feet were very insecure tiny pebbles and smears. Above the crux the character of the climb changes significantly, becoming far easier but also more run out.

Sargasso Sea (5.12a) - Toprope. I had to pull on the first piece to clear the first crux. Then the climbing was straightforward until another crux halfway up. Here I had to pull on gear again to reach a side-pull which allowed me to do the move. The final crux was doable but very height-dependent; it required reaching way above my head while standing on a small pebble to reach a semi jug and smear up from there to the top.

In Your Dreams (5.11a) - On lead. Steady 5.10 moves most of the way. I'm not really sure where the crux was for me, but there was a place where I did have to think a good bit: near the middle of the climb there is a move off a big rail that then traverses right to small holds from which you reach high to a jug. This was delicate and balancey.

We then moved uphill to the next crag, the Dream Dome.

Tales of Power (first pitch) (5.11b) - We climbed the first pitch of this route but rappelled from here, forgoing the hard slab of the second pitch. Wes led this, while I merely followed on toprope. It consists of solid climbing up a slab, through a roof, and into a wide stemming sequence. At the top of the stem box nightmare (Wes's description) I was able to stem just a few inches higher and get my right foot on the face in front of me, not directly on the flat slab, but rather where there was a small indentation/foothold. From here it was possible, just barely, to throw up over the left wall for some semi-jugs to pull the final move.

July 22, 2025

We tried to climb March of Dimes at Eldo but made a poor showing.

March of Dimes (5.10c) - Wes admirably led the first pitch after I backed off after climbing only the first 10 feet and placing a single cam in a pod. After toproping it and meeting him at the belay, I can say I was perfectly happy that he took the sharp end. It's kind of a sequence of pods with poor feet that leads up to a handcrack, followed by much easier climbing on very chossy rock to the bottom of Werks Up P2. I led this pitch (Werks Up P2) but hung at two places. This on a climb that I have already sent clean a few years ago! My hand even started cramping in some of the hand jams, and I decided Wes was right: I was tired after three days of solid climbing. Wes took the lead for the final finger cracks and small edge face pitch three, and we rapped in two raps back to the base. So, this climb remains unfinished business!

July 23, 2025

Derek and I headed to Staunton State Park, a new crag for both of us, to do some sport climbing for the morning before storms were predicted to roll in.

Reef On It (5.10a) - Thought-provoking climbing on slightly over hung, highly featured sandstone. Every time I thought it was getting harder, I just needed to look around for better holds to continue. 

Jerry The Gnome (5.10b/c) - Starts with a short corner, followed by a cruxy featured face and bulge. Getting over the bulge required me to move left to a crack. Then there is slab for a while, leading to a final more vertical section with thinner holds at the top.

Ginger Snap (5.10a) - Not quite over hung, with many holds to choose from. No standout crux.

The Opportunist (5.11a) - Steady overhang with good holds the whole way and a few powerful moves.

Three Bite Burrito (5.11a) - Thin holds to a roof. I passed left of the roof. Much easier climbing to the top.

Ddong Chim! (5.11b) - Also a steady overhang with good holds the whole way and a few thoughtful moves. Plenty of places to shake out and recover.

2025 Road Trip - June 27

We drove two hours from Montpelier, Vermont to Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire and climbed three challenging routes today. We chose to make it a cragging day instead of a long multi-pitch day out of concern that the weather might turn bad sooner rather than later (there is rain in the forecast for the evening of June 27 and all day/evening on June 28). We spent our time at the North End which has a comically short approach.

Staring up the second half of They Died Laughing

They Died Laughing (5.9) - Tons of gear. Mostly finger jams and hand jams. Some corner action near the top. It was my lead, and I fell halfway up onto a black totem. I pulled myself back on and climbed to the top. After Wes had climbed it, I climbed it again (cleanly this time) on the pre-placed gear.

The Slot (5.10b) - Wes led this and fell on his first attempt at the crux halfway up. I followed and fell at roughly the same place. I completed the route and came back down so that Wes could take another shot at the route, which he did cleanly this time. I tried to follow it again and again fell in the exact same spot when my foot slipped on the polished rock. Wes kindly lowered me back down to the start so I could make one final attempt and I did it cleanly. Three times is the charm! This climb is almost exclusively finger locks and thin feet. I really had to trust my feet and put as much pressure as possible on them. Many of the finger slots/pods are very good, but some are pretty useless. Trying to apply pressure on the feet while using these almost-useless finger locks didn't work well. On my final attempt I bypassed these and tried instead to reach higher for better jams.

Bird's Nest (5.9) - My lead. Lots of finger pockets. The bottom was harder than the top. Wes says I should have used the face more for my feet and I was making it more difficult for myself than it needed to be. Full value 5.9.

2025 Road Trip - June 26

A short rest before heading up the pitch four hand crack

The weather held out for us in the morning today. It was spitting in the early afternoon, so we decided to drive east into Vermont rather than continue climbing. But it never really started to rain. Temperatures have cooled way off, with highs in the 70's. Our objective this morning was Gamesmanship, another awesome four-pitch climb at Poke-O-Moonshine. Pitch 1 and pitch 4 on this climb both were great, with an off-width on P1 and a splitter hand crack on P4. We climbed far more quickly than we had the previous day.

Gamesmanship (5.8+)

Pitch 1 - Wes's lead. Very tricky start. Fist jams and off-width.

Pitch 2 - My lead. Chossy blocks and cracks.

Pitch 3 - Wes's lead. Very easy climbing through blocky terrain.

Pitch 4 - My lead. Splitter hand crack for 100 feet. Just stellar!

I brought Wes up to the top of pitch 4, and he traversed directly over to the rap slings at the top of the central rappels (same rappels as yesterday).

Kenton starting up the pitch four hand crack

2025 Road Trip - June 25

Yesterday (June 24, 2025) we made the drive all the way from North Carolina up to Lake George, where we spent the night. This morning we made our way casually the rest of the way up to Poke-O-Moonshine wall. What an incredible spot! The weather held out for us - no rain today, and the temps were about 10 degrees cooler than the scorching heat wave that had taken hold until last night. Our objective was The Fastest Gun, a spectacular four-pitch "5.10a". Each pitch on this climb gave full value, from the off-width on P1, to the parallel cracks on P2, the slab on P3, and the challenging roof and corners on P4. I did not climb quickly.

The Fastest Gun (5.10a)

Pitch 1 - Wes's lead. A flake to an offwidth. The offwidth was small enough that I felt secure with my whole arm inside. There were footholds on the outer wall for my left foot which helped make upwards progress. This was followed by jams and laybacks.

Pitch 2 - My lead. Two parallel cracks led to a small roof and easier climbing. Thin fingers and hands.

Above the small roof on pitch 2

Pitch 3 - Wes's lead. A hard slab climb with a very tenuous move near the start protected by a bolt. I was able to do to the move by smearing my foot in the tiny corner below the bolt.

Pitch 4 - My lead. And incredibly strenuous move off the belay to clear a roof and move left. There just were no feet, and the smears felt slippery, too. But the hands were good. I ended up hanging on gear before conquering the move. This was followed by endless moves up a left-facing corner (hands and thin fingers), where I again was forced to pull on gear (black totem?) near the top - here there just weren't any hands at all, just tenuous friction for the feet. A traverse way out left under a large roof was followed by more corner climbing with thin fingers.

At the top we hiked left to the central rappel station and reached the ground in two long rappels (with a short 4th class downclimb).

Finally through the crux near the start of pitch 4 of The Fastest Gun

June 2025 Roadtrip - Day 1 - Moore's Wall

I'm starting a week-and-a-half long road trip from Atlanta up to New York and New Hampshire to try to find some cooler temps for climbing in late June.

June 23, 2025

Climbing at Moore's wall with Wes

Do or Dive (5.10a) - My lead. #6 stopper in diagonal right crack above mini roof crux. Even hot and humid it felt easier than P5 on Groover.

Quaker State (5.11a) - Wes led. Thin features on positive holds. Crux is two-thirds of the way up.

Stab in the Dark (5.10+) - My lead. Bouldery start. I wasted a lot of time placing pro after this (pink tricam and 0.4 Totem under the mini roof), so had to hang on the rope. Moving around the arete, reach high and place a #10 nut in the vertical crack. You can put your entire arm into the crack/hole above this piece (I still had to hang on the rope again after pumping out placing gear). Strenuous moves getting up thru this vertical crack system. 0.75 in the horizontal out left. Then easier climbing with thin/sparse pro to the top.

Nutsweat from below

Nutsweat (5.9+) - Wes led. Starts with large blocky climbing. Moves into a right-facing corner. Finishes with a mini roof. Large holds the whole way. Incredible exposure and views.

View from the top of Nutsweat

Laurel Knob with Derek

 June 20, 2025

I drove up to Highlands, picked up Derek from his hotel, and we made our way to Laurel Knob. We were a bit concerned that it might be too wet to climb, so we were pleased when we arrived to find that most of the climbs were dry. This was only my second time making the hike out to this incredible cliff, and the first one had been a (soggy) bust. We were surprised on the hike out there at the condition of the trail - it doesn't seem like that many people are traveling on this trail these days, and we found ourselves nearly bushwacking on a few occasions.

Our plan was to climb the original Groover line. Derek had been trying to talk me into climbing this for years, and the day had finally arrived when his schedule, mine, and the weather all came together at the same time to make it a possibility.

Groover (5.8+) - We swung leads. I led the first pitch, stopping at the tree at the top. This gave me an opportunity to get my lead-head dialed in for slab climbing, not a style I get to explore very often nor one with which I feel entirely comfortable. I looked around for a set of bolts that Derek told me should be just a bit higher, but I couldn't find them. So, I anchored to the tree and brought him up. My biggest issue here was the ants which kept trying to crawl onto my legs - they have taken up residence in the tree roots. Derek led P2, moving right of the tree into a left-facing corner/crack and up to the main Groover feature. I led P3, following the crack/corner on my left as it arched gradually up and to the right. Over the bulge, I climbed a few more feet before building an anchor under the shadow of the wall on the left. Derek came up, we swapped gear, and he moved up another 20-30 feet to place a high (#4?) piece, clipping it into one of the two (double) ropes we were climbing with. This enabled him to be on toprope for beginning of P4, a downclimb and traverse over the to right, a somewhat dicey sequence following a quartz dike around the corner, down a slope, across one water groove, and up into another water groove before finally finding some decent gear. I led P5 and it sure did push me. There was water running down the groove between my legs the entire time, which meant that no matter how much I wanted to get my legs directly beneath my center of gravity, instead they were always stemming out on tenuous smears and vertical edges at the mouth of the water groove. I was very pleased to find three bolts on this pitch, because it would have felt nearly suicidal without them. Gradually making my way up, making small, careful movements with only friction to hold my feet on the wall in many places, I passed all three bolts and made the crux move. I had reached the thank-God finger pockets and was preparing to readjust my stance and just a bit higher when my foot slipped and I took a tumble. What a disappointment! No clean send today. But at least I wasn't hurt. I got back up, placed two cams in a shallow horizontal crack on the right, and continued on to the tree at the top. Derek led the final pitch and pulled me up to a pair of bolts.

Kenton negotiating P5

We spent a good bit of time trying to decide where we were supposed to descend from here. We thought maybe we were supposed to hike out right to find a different set of bolts, but we were unable to find them. So, Derek made a rappel with a large pendulum to the right to the Forbidden Fruit anchors/belay. I had thought it would be relatively straightforward to continue the rappel from here, but I was mistaken. I made the rap and found the next station relatively easily on the right. Derek went next. But on the fourth rappel I was supposed to bypass the first set of anchors I saw (Forbidden Fruit P4 anchors) and stop at the second set. Well, I only saw one set of anchors. After messing around for a while trying to get back up to these anchors on rappel (and worrying about all the scraping of the rap ropes against the rocks while I was doing this), I ended up tying myself into a single bolt below, and Derek came down. He rigged the rappel 30 feet above me and went down, thinking he would make it to the tree ledge. Well, he passed by the next set of anchors (only about 120 feet below) but didn't make it to the tree ledge. So, we were in reversed roles - he anchored himself to some cams on a ledge, I rappelled down to the rings he had skipped and rigged another rappel there. After a few more shenanigans, we realized that the ropes from here were finally reaching all the way to the base of the climb, and we made it down.

Then there was the final hike out. I had not realized how much downhill we had done on the way in, so I was not so happy to find myself hiking back up again with tired, sore, legs nearly to the top of the Knob. I was seriously dehydrated at this point and losing energy. Getting back to the car, we started driving to Derek's hotel when my entire body cramped up from exercise and dehydration! I found myself pulling over in a parking lot, jumping out of the car, and writhing on the ground while Derek went looking for salt tabs for me to chew on. With the cramps subsiding, I was able to drive back to Atlanta, but I ended up drinking almost a gallon of Gatorade on the drive before my system felt it had enough fluid and electrolytes. Lesson learned: even in the shade, I need more than 2 L of water on a hotter day, and even when the humidity is high. 

Eating salt tabs and waiting for full-body cramps to subside

Kenton and Sarah gearing up for Double Cross

On May 30, 2025 I made another trip out to Joshua Tree this week, this time to climb with Derek and his family. It was a wonderful morning chasing shade near Intersection Rock, catching up with these close friends, searching for lizards in the dark nooks and crannies between the boulders, and struggling my way up another few moderate climbs. No matter how many times I climb at J-Tree, I always feel I'm being challenged, even on the "easy" stuff.

We climbed Double Cross, said to be one of the most popular climbs in the Park, followed by trips up Sexy Grandma (a tricky arete) and Dogleg (a hand crack with a really tough start).

The day finished with a car tour all the way through the Park to the southern end. Along the way we saw new sights to me: a white cactus "garden" (Cholla Cactus Garden?), and a grove of trees/bushes that looked liked oversized seaweed (Ocotillo Patch?). It was worth the extra driving time to see these things!

Double Cross (5.7+) - It was an ominous start to the day when I slipped ten feet up and fell to the ground while trying to do a much harder variation left of the actual start. Duh. I then moved to easier climbing on the right which, 15 feet off the ground, traversed back left into the hand crack. I needed all the larger gear brought (doubles up to 3's) for this route, and I would have felt even more comfortable if I had brought along a #4 but had not done so. After the start the climb turns into a rather straightforward hand and fist crack.

Sexy Grandma (5.9) - There are two cruxes on this climb. The first is making the moves just below the first bolt to get from the left to the right of the arete. The second comes halfway up the higher face. At the first crux, I worked my left foot up carefully in the crack on the left of the arete and placed my right foot in the dish on the right wall, then traversed to the right wall and started up the arete. The second crux is a sequence of tenuous face moves on shallow dishes and small bulging footholds using open hand pinches/palms. The climbing eases up after this.

Dogleg (5.8+) - A very very hard start, I pulled on a piece of gear to clear the starting moves. Are there holds missing? Derek was able to start farther to the right than I did and traverse back left into the route. After the start it is a pretty routine hand crack to the top, but not easy for sure! The descent is a rappel off the opposite face of the rock.

May Joshua Tree and Tahquitz with Will

 

Will and Kenton at the top of Space Walk

May 25, 2025

Will and I took a break from our family vacation to spend a morning climbing at Joshua Tree. We climbed three routes in the Hemingway area, after reading online and in the guidebook that this area provided "lots of shade". We had a great time climbing, but this cliff line faces northeast, and there was plenty of sun during the morning hours when we were there. Our first climb (Feltonian Physics) was in direct sun. For the second and third climbs we went farther right and around the corner to the north which was shaded. There were only a handful of climbs here but we were able to stay cooler. I was happy to get Will onto some trad routes. He was happy they were easy enough that he could avoid jamming to a large extent.

Feltonian Physics (5.8) - The hardest part of this climb for me was an awkward mantle into an small alcove at the top. I felt very crunched up, almost claustrophobic. This was almost certainly the wrong way to do the move.

Space Walk (5.8) - Tricky start, easy traverse two-thirds of the way up. This climb was shorter than Feltonian and overall felt easier.

Head Over Heals (5.10a) - We did this on top rope and did a variation that finishes in the same place that Space Walk does. I had to cut feet on the rail at the roof before moving my hands farther left to make a high right heel hook. From here I grabbed small edges for both the left and right hands above the lip, then cranked hard aiming for the crack way above (it is better just a few inches above its bottom).

May 26, 2025

The next day we left even earlier (around 5:30 AM) to drive to Tahquitz. Our first mistake was not realizing we needed a "National Forest Adventure Pass" to park at Humbert Park. These are sold at the gas stations in town, which didn't open until 7 AM. After this brief setback, we racked up at the car - I didn't want to haul a pack to the base, although I realized later on that doing so would not have been a problem: the descent route puts you back where you started. Our next mistake was thinking that we would be walking along the main hiking trail for 10-15 minutes before encountering the climbers' access trail. We pass the climbing trail and hiked for a good 10 minutes farther before realizing this mistake and doubling back. The hike up (and down!) the climbers' trail is a good quad burn for sure. Once at the base, we didn't have much trouble locating our objective: Fingertrip.

Fingertrip (5.7+) - I ended up doing the 5.8 variation on the first pitch to avoid the big traverse with loose rock discussed on various trip reports. This was very straightforward. On the second pitch I located tricky-to-see traverse by looking at a Mountain Project photo. I extended draws here and after the traverse to avoid rope drag. After this traverse the climbing heads up into an arching corner. I linked pitch 2 into pitch 3. At the top of the corner is a section of solid undercling but with only smears for feet. Past the undercling it is through an overhang and then easy climbing up to Lunch Ledge. We simul climbed the last 10 feet to this ledge so that we would both have the most comfortable belay in this portion. The last pitch first climbs through some large blocks, then I moved right to the 5.6 variation and followed a slabby small-fingers ramp/corner crack to the top. 

Will approaching Lunch Ledge on Fingertrip

We followed another party on the Friction Descent - this would definitely not have been straightforward to do without another group showing us the way. There are some very steep sections where it is certainly not obvious which way to go at first. 

At the top of Fingertrip

April T-Wall with Wes

Kenton working the boulder problem at the start of Stone Wave. Note the high left foot, the right hand palm down, and the left hand pulling on a vertical edge/side pull.

 April 13, 2025

First time out climbing with Wes, getting to know each other.

Wes is strong!!!

In Pursuit of Excellence (5.9+) - Wes's lead for our warm-up. Wet near the top. He traversed left sooner than I usually do, avoiding getting crouched up under the roof.

The Heaven of Animals (5.10+) - Crux comes pulling the roof and the first few moves right afterwards. In the vertical finger crack 2/3 of the way up, put lots of gear for courage. Equalize two pieces under the roof (I placed a blue and black Totem with a magic X), reach up to above the roof, use holds to make it to a shallow but useable rail directly overhead. Match hands on this rail, then get left foot up on edge right above the roof, and crank hard. Move to the seam way up and left. From here there is no more pro, but the climbing is easier on thin edges to the top.

Stone Wave (5.11a/b) - Refer here for my original beta on this climb. Now I revise it slightly (also see photo above). For the crux off the ground: put hands on slopey rails, place left foot high onto slopey edge out left, crank as hard as possible. Use left side pull (really just a flat edge directly overhead) with left hand to enable you to hold your weight long enough to turn your right palm upside down. Push hard on this palm-down hand and get the right foot up, then grab the triangle hold/ear high up and left with the left hand. Then move the left hand far out left to a very positive edge and stand up completely. For the crux at the stone wave itself, the best foot is right under the lip just next to the crack on the right hand side. Using fingers above the crack, stand on this with the right foot, then move the fingers higher in crack above (I actually put the two hands almost on top of each other with stacked finger jams), and stand up, then move fingers even higher, and get the left foot as high in crack as possible, putting the sole of this foot on the right side of the crack with the knee dropped outward to the left to stand up.

Centerfold (5.10) - Truly one of my favorite climbs at T-Wall, and always shaded. Good gear the whole way. Jugs the whole way. Just keep moving at the roof! Lots of fun.