Travels and Vagabonds
Unwritten Law – Hanging at the chains
Brisk November morning, I picked KC up at his apartment and we made the drive out to Blowing Rock, NC to climb at the Dump. Word was that this was good winter crag that gets southern sun, and gasp, it may actually have some bolted sport routes!
It’s that time of year again, hunting, exploding pumpkins, intense bingo matches, mass amounts of turkey, firewood gathering, and maybe something a little random. It is Thanksgiving time! After being stuck working the day before thanksgiving for the 1st time in a long time, we made the haul from Charlotte at 5:30PM on Wed. With Car pizza, (the greatest thing ever) we made it up to Crabtree, in about 7hr 15 mins, really good time.
First Grouping of Routes at Rocky Face
Looking at my Tick list for 2014, I knew I was near a record high point for # of pitches outside. (At least since I started to religiously track them 2 years ago, thanks mountainprojecT.com). The plan was hatched with Matt that we do a mileage tick list at the new easy and possibly only sport crag in NC, ROCKY FACE.
Twall in November
Chattanooga has been in the back of my head since move down into the southeast. Fables and whispers are told of sandstone gorges that house massive roofs and overhanging walls, with splitter cracks in between. A spare weekend and good weather was all that was need to chase down these tells of rock.
Continue reading “Chattanooga – Twall to Sunset Park Sampler”
Grayson Highland Ponies
I haven’t spent much time in Virginia’s Mountains, but with a birthday party to attend in Roanoke we scrambled to put together some adventures. Friday we drove up to Natural Bridge, VA and stayed at the historic Natural Bridge Cottages and aimed to end the weekend at the Grayson Highlands.
Continue reading “Virginia – Natural Bridge and Grayson Highlands”
Looking Glass Again
We took another trip to Looking Glass, this time, to camp and hang out with Matt, his wife Jodie, and John. It was just the breaking into the fall in North Carolina so which mean it was prime time to camp again. We left Saturday in the morning and coordinated to meet Matt at the North Side. Continue reading “Looking Glass – Wet North and Dry South, Camping”
Pumpkins at home
Back in PA fall had started to creep up into to full swing. The pumpkins with were planted back in springs were ready for harvest. Sadly to say I lost the planting battle against Marty and Shawna. Also, none of the North Carolina pumpkins plants bore any fruit.
Corn
After partying at the Charlotte Oktoberfest, we went to the Cleveland County Fair in Shelby, NC. The fair is 90 years old and in a well-established location. It was a mix of culture and fine deep fried food. Continue reading “Shelby, NC: Cleveland County Fair and Corn Maze”
Alexis and I took off to Brevard for some late summer hiking and camping. We left early on Saturday, and got to the Trout Hatchery pretty quickly. After feeding the aggressive and hungry trout (if only we had more quarters we would have feed them all), we hiked up the Cat Gap trail.
Continue reading “Looking Glass: John’s Rock and Southside of LG”
Wrapping up the Duck
Plans came together while drinking beer and eating pasties at the Greek Festival in Charlotte. With sugar, pulsing through our veins and complete disregard for the forecast for tomorrow, plans were solidified for Alpine-esk departure from Charlotte to go climb Dopey Duck at Shortoff Mountain.
Continue reading “Linville Gorge: Shortoff Mountain – Dopey Duck”