Journeys: The Red - Day 1

I am sitting in Miguels Pizza of Slade, Kentucky. My forearms hurt, my elbows hurt, and my shoulders hurt. But most of all my legs hurt. Not from climbing though, but from driving in my truck for eight and a half nonstop hours from home base in Baltimore. I rolled into camp at 2130 last night and hung out with Steve and Marianna before racking out with my favorite pooch Poonaner.

Chuck B and a cuddly Poonaner.
Photograph by Steve Garrett.

Day one in the Red River Gorge area was awesome. Steve and I spent the day in the Muir Valley on two different walls. The first wall was Practice Wall where we put up five routes in the morning and Steve learned me on lead climbing and lead belaying. The routes that we hit were Acrophobiacs Anonymous (5.4), Yu Stin Ki Pu (5.6), Ai Ban Mai Fa Kin Ni (5.7), Slabalito (5.7), and TBD (5.8). Specifically, Yu Stin Ki Pu was my first lead climb and, even though it was only a 20 foot route, it was nerve racking.

Moving on down the trail in the afternoon, we blasted through two more routes on Bruise Brothers Wall; CH4 (5.7) and A-Beano (5.8-). Both routes were about 15 feet taller than the 20 footers at Practice Wall and were much more fun for some reason.

Chuck B clips a quick draw on A-Beano (5.8-).
Photograph by Steve Garrett.

Unfortunately, the day ended in despair when I fell apart leading The Offering (5.7). The route was described as "Begin near right of ledge. Follow easy crack system and ledges up and right to an exciting finish." The last two moves, the exciting finish, pummeled me into a mental terror dome from which I could not escape. I made a few miserable attempts at the anchors, but never made the last few feet of the 65 foot route. So, I began my down climb of despair and Steve and I packed it out for the day.

Until tomorrow...