Travels

So we’ve been held up in NY state for a while but we managed to sneak away for a couple days this weekend. Work brought be down to Brevard and we managed to make it an exploratory mission for a possible next home base. I convinced Kir that we might as well start our real estate search at the top and work our way down. We toured the ol’ Vanderbuilt pad and realized we’d have to rent for a while and build something from scratch. I managed to drive our trusty little Prius to just about every major city in the whole state. So, this was the first stop on the where should we move tour, and it looked promising…we’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, enjoy some photos of the Biltmore Estate and the AMGA course I shadowed at Looking Glass and Crowders(crowded) Mountain.

This is a little late, and i’ll actually be retro-posting a note on an Adirondacks soon too. A couple of weeks ago I got to spend a couple of days ‘guiding’ at Cannon with a graduate from our program. I dragged Sophie kicking and screaming through an epic talus field and up the wildly exposed Whitney-Gilman Ridge (Grade III, 5.7). Okay, so it wasn’t that crazy, but it was a ton of fun. Enjoy the photos.

Well, rest day yesterday, because we were sore and it was hot. Simple.

Back on the rock today with a mission: Black Crack. We approached via an enjoyable route appropriately named Fun House. Then Carl had first whack at this horrific steep offwidth crack. After a brutal fight he topped out and lowed back to the anchor.
After watching the amount of motivation needed to win this battle, I summoned all I had and worked my way up. Awesome Climb! Not for everyone, but we had fun. I posted all of the pictures we’ve taken up here so far, so check them out.

Well folks, the road trip is officially over, but the travels continue. After a great weekend with family in Rochester, Kir is down in Baltimore and i’ve made my way up to New Hampshire to climb with Eric and Carl for the week. We’ve had some amazing weather and it’s been great climbing. I tried somewhat successfully to on-sight guide Eric and Carl up the Prow two days ago. We went for a beautiful flight that evening with Eric’s new pilot privilages. A hard days climbing was rewarded in spades with an amazing arial view of the route we had just climbed.
Carl and I took Cannon by storm yesterday, cramming almost 2000′ of vertical gain in 10 hours or so. This morning has Carl still in bed and me up in N. Conway grabbing some coffee, internet, tips for my upcoming guide exam, and rest for the body. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to post some pictures from the past couple of days soon. Hope all is well with everyone else.

Well, I suppose now that we’re on the home stretch we can spill the beans. We have been racing through the night in a effort to suprise Nicole for her birthday tonight. After some calculations and some frustration with the inefficiency of the ‘highway’ in Ontario, we re-routed through Michigan and Ohio. So, we’ll roll through Buffalo soon and maybe even get a shower in at Mama Sue’s before Nicole gets off work.

Well, we had a great day on the road yesterday and just as the scenery started changing, it got dark. We checked into a lakeside room in Kenora last night, and have extended our check-out time a bit to rest up before heading off again. We’re happy to have gotten the bulk of the drive out of the way so we can take our time and explore Ontario for the rest of our trip. Nothing against Saskatchewan, or Manitoba, it’s just they’re big and they all look the same. Much like Kansas and Nebraska. Well, back on the road today, one that doesn’t go very straight, onward and eastward. Hopefully dinner in Thunder Bay and then who knows?

Well, I am currently riding shotgun of our first major driving day of the trip. We left Edmonton this morning and hope to sleep In Winnipeg this evening. We have found out three major points today: first, the Canadians have a different idea of major roadway. One lane in either direction. Second, they farm up here too. Third, the car is a little cranky today and refuses to go as fast as we would like it to. I guess to make sure we don’t miss anything along the way. Passing has been an exercise in patience though.

Well, we’ve just spend the weekend sport climbing in some areas around Jasper. We were joined by our friend Bronwyn. A great way to end the climbing portion of our trip, although the style of climbing did a good job of highlighting some of the weaknesses in our climbing fitness. We also experienced the first rain in a long time last evening. Great fun was had by all and we’re excited to be in a big city again (Edmonton). I will try to post some pictures of this last leg sometime this evening; before we start the marathon driving section of our trip. Hopefully we will make it back to the east coast in time for a wedding this weekend. Well, more to come this evening, so stay tuned. Tech FYI:  Don’t be afraid to use the Google search bar on the right side of this page, it works the same as the regular Google search page. Tootles.

Hello! We’re staying in what we hope to be our last hotel stop for the trip. Managing to sneak some internet time in and a little rest and relaxation befoe 3 days of climbing and many days of hard driving. We spend the morning in Banff, which is beautiful, under construction, full of Rv’s and basically a large shopping mall for tourists. Banff is also home to The Banff Centre for the arts, which would be really neat to check out for one of the many festivals they host, including the popular mountain film festival. We are now down in Canmore, enjoying a homecooked meal in our hotel kitchenette. Tomorrow, we’ll do a little loval sportclimbing and then start our journey up the Icefields Parkway to climb with our friend Bronwyn for the weekend. I’ve posted out pictures from the last couple of days, so enjoy!

Sorry for the slow update, but we are in the land of many tourists and little internet. This is coming from my phone. Kir and I have been camping In Yoho National Park and did some great sport climbing on the back side of lake Louise. It was really funny to hike through all of the tourists to get to the cliff.
We will stay one more night in Yoho and the are what Banff and Canmore have to offer. We found a campsite that is a 400m hike from the parking lot that is sufficient to filter out all the RV traffic. Still pricey at $17 a night for a spot to pitch a tent. Sure is pretty though. I hope to post pictures tomorrow afternoon/evening. We can’t believe it is the 10th of July already!