Stone Fort and Lilly Boulders, Tennessee

After our days of fun at Rocktown we left Georgia and headed to Tennessee to climb at Stone Fort (aka Little Rock City). It's a strange climbing atmosphere because it sits directly on a golf course. So, as you are climbing you hear the tink of golf balls and can watch the carts driving around the course.

We have few of our own pictures because the charger broke on our brand new Canon camera, so we were without a camera for a bit. The new charger has arrived though and we're back in working order. All of the photos from the Lilly boulders and some from Stone Fort were taken by Nikki and are on her flickr photostream here.

Nikki on Sternum v5 - Stone Fort

great v0 -stonefort

We spent the day wandering around looking for stuff to climb. We weren't terribly impressed at first probably because we didn't have a guidebook which made finding the really good climbs a bit difficult. Eventually we ran into a group of climbers from Chattanooga and they gave us some advice on a few climbs we would like. There  was a v6 that Matthew flashed and Cassie got her second or third try. Matthew did Sternum v5 and Cassie did Ribcage v3 in a few tries. While talking to one of the climbers named Shay he asked us if we knew Ian and Nikki from New York. We were blown away that he knew them and told us they had just left there the day before to head to the Lilly boulders, which is where we were planning to head next. We had met Ian and Nikki in Moe's Valley Utah and had talked about meeting up in the Southeast, but didn't think it would happen and never made definite plans. So, armed with this new information we decided to only do a single day at Stone Fort, and head on to the Lilly boulders.

Monster,Nikki,Ian,Cassie,Matthew at the swimming hole

It's not the jump that's scary... It's the cold water.

We arrived at the Lilly Pad campground the next afternoon and immediately ran into Ian and Nikki who were stunned to see us. They had been thinking about leaving for West Virginia, but decided to stay since we were there. They showed us around the bouldering area and we found it to be a very nice little place. Definitely not as big as the other areas, but well worth the visit. The campground was Del and Marty's place and we found them to be excellent hosts. Their dogs are absolutely hilarious with one named "monster" chasing our car down the road every day to make us take her with us when we went climbing. Tipsy was another dog that loved to bark at vultures circling in the sky, Soldier was a big old dog who patiently waited around to clean off your plates and dishes. We bouldered until we were all sweaty and then headed down to the swimming hole that had an amazing place to jump off the cliff into the water. Cassie climbed an excellent v7 in just 4-5 tries called Jack Slap. Matthew did a great v4 called Hooker. Other than the ticks we had an outstanding time and were sad to leave after a few days.

Nikki works Jack Slap v7

Ian flashes Obediah - v5

Matt - Hooker - v4

I am not putting my hand in that hold. 

We said goodbye to Ian and Nikki on Friday and left for Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We arrived at a cabin Matthew's friends from Dayton had rented for the weekend and his friends arrived shortly after. We drank far too much that night catching up with everyone and stayed up much too late. The following day we took the crew climbing for their first outdoor climbing experience. Everyone had a good time though they struggled on the steep 5.9 we put them on. Everyone felt like it was quite an accomplishment to get as far as they got and were exhausted by the end of the day. We stayed up late celebrating Jim's birthday with bourbon and ale8. The next day we hiked to Natural Bridge and enjoyed the view. We drove on Sunday to Matthew's sister Elyse's house in Columbus, Ohio. We stayed up talked, watched a movie and the next day hung out, went out to eat and caught up on each other's lives. It was a great, though short visit.
Now we are at Matthew's parent's house in Howard, Ohio. It's a farmhouse on a river and is a bit of a hippy haven. We've cleaned out the van and are starting to get out stuff ready for going abroad. We leave for New York City in 4 days so time is short.

heron

Rocktown Georgia

spring flower - we made it through winter!!!

crazy sandstone formation - i call it "the ice cream cone"

Located in the northwestern corner of Georgia is another amazing sandstone area. The rock feels very similar to HorsePens 40, but has iron veins swirling throughout the rock, since the iron is harder than the sandstone it erodes more slowly and leaves crimper rails that make for great climbing. Our first day we arrived and went for a hike into the boulders just to get oriented and see what the area was like.

The first area we made it to was called The Orb area and we ran into a small group of very friendly climbers from around Cleveland, Ohio. They were so friendly, in fact, that they loaned us the preliminary copy of the new Rocktown guidebook that isn't even published yet! It had color photos and was much much better than our little black and white guide that we got for free online. The nice guy we borrowed it from (Nate) just asked we return it back at camp and if we liked it, buy the guide once it comes out. Armed with our new guide we took off running through the boulders and became like kids in a candy store. We found tons and tons of boulders all with stellar looking climbs on them that we were very excited to try. The climbing was steeper than HP40 and with better holds. Considering the temperatures we knew that this style would be better for harder grades than HP40 since that is mostly slopers, it's also a style more to our liking. We explored into the middle Maze area and were stunned at all of the climbs we had found. The place is just outstanding. Normally we don't find v0-v2 climbs that are all that exciting looking, some of them might climb well, but with just casual observation it can be easy to dismiss them. Not here. There were tons of climbs that looked easy, but outstandingly beautiful and each one very very unique. That night we walked over to Nate and Liz's camp to return the book. They asked if we were climbing the next day and said they were taking a rest day so we should keep the book, and even let us borrow their Stone Fort area book as well! We were very happy to meet such cool people that were so friendly. We spent the evening hanging out at their campfire and shared stories.

 The next day we walked into the bouldering area and got started at the Hueco simulator wall. It had a bunch of easy climbs, that were all quite good climbs and perfect warmups. Our favorite was a v2 called Ripple that was just perfect. We walked down to another area and got on a sweet v1 called Mr. Softy and then did El Bano v3 (the bathroom). It was very good climbing. After that we did triple slaps v3, and then tried Nose Candy v6. I sent and Cassie came close but had trouble with her reach.

Cassie warming up on the Hueco Simulator Wall

Perfect v1

Nose Candy v6

 The next day we climbed with Nate,Liz,Mike,Dunk, and Matt. We warmed up at the Orb area and did a bunch of incredibly fun easy climbs including one of the best v1s we've done which starts on a roof and then goes up iron rail jugs. It was beautiful. Cassie tried Nose Candy again, but didn't quite pull it off. The Scoop v1 was one of the best v1s I've ever done. Hopped on Anti-scoop which was an okay v4. We tried Golden Shower v5 which is one of the best 5s I've ever tried but just didn't have the juice to send. It began to drizzle, then downpour and by the time we made it back to the car we were soaked. We decided to make lemonade from lemons and used the rain to wash up with some soap :)

Matt trying Golden Shower v5

The Scoop V1

Having spent two days climbing a lot we opted for a rest day and a free shower at the local community center. After getting cleaned up we went to a place called Pigeon Mountain Country Store. Nate had mentioned that they had good bbq (called 'cue down here in the South) and free wifi. So, we arrived and ordered a plate of the ribs and sides of baked beans and potato salad. We sat down on the porch and fired up the laptop only to hear someone say "that's the biggest black widow I've ever seen" we ran toward the voice (maybe not the smartest thing to run toward) and saw a huge black widow. It was truly a beautiful creature, though a bit scary looking. The 'cue turned out to be excellent and we sat on the front porch eating ribs, uploading photos and enjoying a nice cool afternoon. We made friends with the guys running the store named Jared and Joe who make the ribs and the lemon bars we devoured and vowed to be back someday. We spent the evening back at camp drinking burbon, scotch and watching the fire.

Black Widow

'cue from the Pidgeon Mountain Country Store

Our final day at Rocktown we went to the Orb area and got on Double Trouble v3. It came out another roof on a perfect iron rail. It was excellent. We then did Soap on a Rope v4 which has to be one of the harder 4s we've done. It was a very good climb and was well worth the effort. Matt tried The Orb v8 and got to the crux easily but was shutdown on the hard move. We tried Little Bad v5 which Matt flashed, and another v5 that Cassie flashed. We checked out a few more boulders but started running out of skin and energy. The rock is basically coarse sandpaper and wears out the tips of your fingers. At one point I counted 3 layers of skin missing off the tip of my middle finger.

Soap on a Rope v4

Today we are camped at Chester Frost State Park in Tennessee, charging up the batteries (both mental and physical) and are taking a rest before climbing at Stone Fort tomorrow. We are only about 2 weeks away from our trip to Thailand and are starting to get PSYCHED!!!

Horse Pens 40 Alabama

Cassie has Spirit v3

Matt on Stranger v2

When many people think of rock climbing they are immediately drawn to huge faces such as Denali or El Cap, but in northeastern Alabama there is a small sandstone bouldering area that packs quite a punch. It's known as Horse Pens 40.

We arrived in HP40 on Sunday after many days of driving from flagstaff Arizona. Along the way we stopped in eureka springs arkansas to see Don, my former step-dad who was around for much of my childhood. We had a great time catching up, seeing his plane making shop (those are handmade woodworking planes). He took us out for a nice dinner and showed us around town. We were quite impressed with the historic tourist town and are looking forward to going back sometime.

After that we drove the rest of the way to HP40 and arrive to very very unseasonably hot and humid temperatures. With temps in the around 85f and high humidity we knew that this slope mecca wouldn't give up its grades easily and so we focused on easier climbs. Even so, many climbs felt near impossible as our sweaty hands would grease off the holds. That being said we had an amazing first day exploring the myriad of boulders and we did find climbs we were able to finish such as Dope v2, Double Groove v3, Spirit v3, Stranger v2, and Eight-Ball v2.
At the end of the day I hopped on a great problem called Popeyv5 and came close to sending. We came back the next morning when it had cooled off and it went without too much trouble. We hopped on red arrow which proved difficult, though not impossible and then finished the day on bumboy v3. We didn't end up sending but both of us came reasonably close. It took a lot of skin off our fingertips, but we had a great time trying. It may be one of the most beautiful boulders I've ever seen.

Today we drive to near La Fayette, Georgia to an area known as Rocktown which is supposed to rival HP40 for quantity and quality of bouldering (plus free camping instead of the $30 a night for HP40 ouch!)

Cassie working Bumboy v3

Matt on Popeye v5