Devils Tower,WY

Thursday morning we packed everything up from our camp site in the Black Hills and headed for Spearfish Canyon. We really didn't want to leave the Black Hills but knew we had to. We really could have spent weeks there climbing and just hiking around. Our drive to Spearfish Canyon was only about 45 minutes away. We entered the canyon scenic highway in the afternoon and started looking for some of the climbing areas we researched the day before. We found one called the "Sunshine" crag. We parked the car and headed uphill for about 10 minutes or so. We looked around for a bit to get our bearings then moved on to an area known as the "Light Bulb" for some climbing. We got all harnessed up and just about tied in, and realized we left the Gri Gri (belay device) in the car. Buzz kill. I hiked back down to the car, then back up. What a great way to start the afternoon. We tied in and warmed up on a 5.9. After the 5.9, we pulled rope and did a 5.10a just to the left. As soon as we finished with that climb, it started to rain. We tried to wait it out, but it hung around for a good 30 minutes. After the rain stopped, most of the routes were pretty wet, and it was 5pm, so we decided to call it a day. We packed our things up and headed for the town of Spearfish for some dinner and a place to stay. On our way to Spearfish, we saw signs for a waterfall about 2 miles off of the road. We decided to check it out and get some pictures. The hike in was short and the waterfall was great. Below is a picture of the waterfall.

After the waterfall we continued on to Spearfish where we ate at a local restaurant called "The Chop House", in which we both had a burger and a beer. Then we stayed at the motel right next door for an early night.

Friday we sleep in till 9:15am, showered up and headed out to hit the canyon again to find more cliffs. First, we stopped at a local coffee shop in Spearfish to get a cup of Joe and a breakfast sandwich. Then we drove up the canyon a couple of miles until we hit the "Skeletal Remains" area at 10:30am. This was possibly the shortest approach to a climb ever. 1 minute total. That is partly why we picked this area. We climbed there all day and really had a ton of fun. Climbing on limestone is totally different then climbing on sandstone or even the granite we were getting used to. We found limestone to be very soapy, polished, and with very little to no friction. It also was somewhat chossy in sections. It took us a couple of climbs to get our rhythm, but once we did we were on it. We both decided at the beginning of the day to treat this as an endurance day. We were really missing those long endurance days in the gym or outside. So with each lead came several laps. By the end of the day we were both close to 40 laps. We lost count after 30. By about 6pm we both were toast. We packed our stuff, got in our car, and headed for Devils Tower Wyoming. From Spearfish to Devils Tower is about a 45 minute drive. We got to Devils Tower about 7pm and set up camp at the Devils Tower KOA, which is literally right across the street from the tower itself. Below is a picture of our campsite and Devils Tower. I think we got the Honeymoon Suite...

Saturday was going to be a rest day from climbing, but couldn't resist the urge to go up to the tower and try and jump on something. We knew from the start that it wasn't going to be a summit day for one good reason. We both don't have the solid knowledge needed for multi-pitch trad climbing yet. So instead, we were hoping to just get in and do some single Trad pitches. We got there around 9:30am and checked in at the ranger station. We filled out all required paperwork and started chatting with the ranger on duty. I was telling him what my ability level was for Trad and also asked if there were any sport routes. He laughed and told me that he knew of only a couple sport routes on the tower, and that most of the stuff on the tower is Trad. I was asking him what routes he would recommend for Trad. He told me a couple and then asked if we had 2 ropes. Jodi and I both looked at each other and asked "why do you need 2 ropes". He laughed again, and said the pitches were so long on the tower, that in order to get down form most of them, you need 2 ropes. We only had a single rope. Guess he could tell we were sport climbers. Anyways, he directed us toward a section of the tower that was all shorter single pitch stuff. (1 60 metre rope) After talking with the ranger (which we are glad we did) we headed over to the "South Shoulder" area to set up some climbs. Of course we spotted one of the sport lines right away and climbed that for a warm-up. (5.9) After an couple of burns on that we moved over to try a Trad line next door, which was 5.7. The ranger had recommended this climb to us, and said the anchors were a "little hard to find" and they would be "out right" then what the guidebook had said. We eyed the pitch from the ground and couldn't see the anchors. We figured they would present themselves once I got up there. I started the climb and was nearing the end, and still couldn't see any anchors. I got up onto a ledge and looked around forever. The only thing I saw was anchors way, way out right, a good 40-50 feet. This couldn't have been what he was talking about? I kept looking, but found nothing. The only choice I had was to down climb about 20 feet or so to another ledge and rap off a tree. After that little episode, Jodi and I decided to call it a day from climbing. We went back to the car and dropped off our gear. We headed back to the tower and took the hiking trail around it, which took about 45 minutes. We shot lots of pictures, and it was also very cool to see it from every angle. Hopefully someday when our multi-pitch skills are a little better, we will come back and try for a summit. We will also make sure to bring 2 ropes. After the hike, we headed back to camp for some early dinner (tuna and pasta) and a relaxing evening. Below is a picture of Jodi and I in front of Devils Tower.

Sunday morning we said goodbye to Devils Tower and hit the road for a full day of driving. The goal was to reach Missoula, Montana. After 600 miles and about 10 hours, we finally made it to Missoula. Our first stop was the REI, to pick up a local climbing guide, so we know were we wanted to climb. After that we checked into another KOA, where we set up camp. After setting up camp we drove to Wal-Mart, were picked up some dinner and stocked up on other supplies. We got back to camp, cooked some hambugers and had another relaxing evening. Tomorrow is going to be another climbing day.

Climbing In the Black Hills

Monday morning we woke up early and headed into town to check out the local gear store for some guide books and local beta. We walked in the store and the people there really helped us out. They showed us all the right guide books and also gave us suggestions on some good places to go. We headed out of there and headed for the Mt. Rushmore climbing area, South Seas to be exact. We found the parking no problem, but the routes were a little more difficult to find. The most recent guide book for the area was printed in 1995. Nothing like trying to find some routes, with 25 year old info and hand drawn sketches of rock. We did our best and had a great time climbing all day. We met up with some locals in the afternoon and they showed us some of the area classics. Jodi led a tough 5.9 with a little scary part at the second bolt. (ground fall potential). The highlight for me was leading "Ankles Away" (5.10) on the "X Marks The Spot" Pillar. This is a mixed route which had to be lead on gear for the first 20 feet, make a spicy move, then you clip 2 bolts on your way to the anchors. Side Note: As I'm making the spicy move above my gear, a bat flies out of a crack in which I have my foot in. It flew into my leg and then flew away. Scared the @#$% out of me, almost ripped. Below are some pictures of me at the summit of "X Marks The Spot"

By now it was 5pm and we had decided to call it a day. Once we got back to the car we realized we were really close (2 miles) from Mt. Rushmore. We headed up there to take a look at the monument before dinner. As we rounded the corner to the parking lot, there stood Mt. Rushmore high up on the mountain side. What an amazing sight to see. We parked the car and headed up to the grand view platform. Below are some photos we shot while up there.


After visiting the monument for about an hour we headed back to camp to cook dinner and get some sleep.

Tuesday morning we woke up early again with the goal of climbing all day and exploring new areas. We first headed over to the Mt. Rushmore climbing area called Monster. This was right down the road from where we were climbing yesterday. The reason we chose this area was because I have seen pictures of a classic climb there called "Gossamer" (5.8) This route takes gear for the first 15-20 feet or so, then 4 bolts to the anchors. It is super exposed on a razor sharp edge all the way up. We had to try it. We hiked in to the Monster area, and found the route we were looking for. We had the whole place to ourselves, which made it even better. It was quite chilly that morning and a pretty strong breeze. We really like that kind of weather, so we couldn't be any happier. I tied in and placed 2 pieces of gear before my first bolt. Kind of heady, because the first move or so you are traversing, and ground below falls away. So as you make your first move, it feels like you are already 20 feet of the deck. After I placed my 2 pieces of gear, #6 nut and #10 nut, I headed for the bolts. Clipped the first one, and then starting looking for the next ones. I only counted 2 more before the anchors. This is one short of the 4 they said in the book. It really didn't bother me, it just made a section a little more run-out, but doable without hitting the deck. Clipped the last bolt and headed for the chains which is almost straight left, and run out. Would have been one heck of a fall/swing if I didn't make it, but I did. Clipped into the anchors and sat back into my harness. At that moment I realized the climb I just finished was probably one of the best pitches of rock climbing I have ever done. It certainly wasn't the hardest or longest, but it sure was the most enjoyable. It really felt like you were out there being adventurous and having fun. Below are some pictures of me at the top of "Gossamer"

Below is a picture of the scenery which was all around us. Amazing!!!

After we finished that climb we headed over to the "Marker" area, which is right next to the "Monster" area. We found a really cool climb there which we both did. We thought maybe in the 5.10ish range. What drew us to this was that it looked like a quality line and it was long. (9 bolts) It looked fairly new and figured why not. Again most of the climbs we climbed were not even in the guidebook. It was actually kind of nice just picking out lines based on appearance and cool factor. After the Marker area, we decide to head over to one of the other areas the locals were talking about, "The Chopping Block". We drove down the road and parked were we did the day before. Hiked across the street and was presented with a plethora of climbs. We spent all afternoon just climbing left to right on the wall. Picking off climbs one by one. Again we had the whole place to ourselves and really enjoyed it. By about 5pm or so our fingers and feet were toast. We packed it up and headed back to the car. Since we still had some day light left we decided to drive the "Needles Highway", to soak up some scenery. If you have not driven this road before, DO IT. What a very cool drive. So we took the Needles highway into Custer State Park and followed it all the way into the town of Custer. We pulled off along the way to snap pictures and admire all of the stone. One place in particular we really liked was the "Needles Eye", which you can climb. This rock formation was mind blowing. Super intimidating, super exposed, everything about it is super. It also goes at 5.8-5.9 trad (with a bolt or two). A little over our heads right now, because I'm just breaking into the whole "Trad" thing. If you do tons of Trad, this is the pitch for you. (Jamie: Have Chuck belay you on this. He will be more scared watching you, than you would be climbing it) Some day, when I'm a better Trad climber, I'll be back to do this climb. Below is a picture of Jodi in front of the "Needles Eye"

After riding on the Needles Highway we headed into the town of Custer to grab a bite to eat. We found a really good restaurant in town, and had a relaxing dinner. After dinner we headed back to the camp site and turned in for the night.

Wednesday was going to be a rest day, from climbing. We would hardly call what we did that day "resting". We did sleep in a little (8:30am) ate some breakfast and starting thinking of the activities we wanted to do. Jodi suggested we look up South Dakota's "High Point" (highest point in the state) We found that it was located right down the street from where we were camping. That was going to be the majority of the day right there. First, we really wanted to head back to see Mt. Rushmore one more time. We were reading that the President's "moods" change due to the time of day, because of the shadows. We also wanted to get some more pictures of us in front of the monument. Once there, we found a trail to another lookout closer to the monument. We headed down there and took some more pictures. After our loop around the park we headed out and toward Harney's Peak. Below is another picture of Mt. Rushmore.

In order to get to Harney's Peak, you have to get on Needles Highway and enter Custer State Park. We parked at the Sylvan Lake Parking lot and located the trail head. We read that the hike would take about 4-5 hours and an elevation gain of 1,500 feet over 3 miles. We were really excited and raced for the summit. It took us about 2 hours or so to get up to the top of Harney's Peak. The views were breathtaking. After having a snack, and some time to rest our legs we headed back down the mountain and back to the car. Below is a picture at the top of Harney's Peak. The stone Fire Building at the top was really cool.

Once we got back to the car, we decided to take a quick hike around Sylvan Lake. The hike took us about an hour or so and really enjoyed it. The hike was relatively flat which was a nice change from all the hills heading up to Harney's Peak. We checked out some climbing areas around the lake, and also some bouldering spots. There were lots of people there swimming and having picnics. Below is a picture of Jodi and I hanging out by the lake.

After the lake we still had a couple of hours until we needed to head back for dinner, so we headed over to the Crazy Horse Monument. It took us about 20 minutes to get over there, but once there it was amazing. The scale of this monument will blow you away. 4 times the size of Mt. Rushmore when completed. We headed into the visitor center for a quick video history of the monument, in which Jodi and I learned a lot. After the video, we took a bus ride to the base of Crazy Horse, were the guide answered all questions we had. This monument is still a work in progress and its estimated completion date will be sometime in the next 40 years. So maybe when Jodi and I are in our 70's we can go back and see the finish product. We really enjoyed the story behind the monument and left there feeling privileged. Below are some pictures of the "Crazy Horse" Monument.

After the Crazy Horse monument tour we headed into Custer to get some groceries for dinner. Tonight is going to be TACO NIGHT!! It might not sound exciting, but it was for us. Brought taco stuff back to camp, cooked them up, and chowed them down. Hung out for a bit, Jodi did a load of laundry, and then hit the sack. Thursday we are heading up to Spearfish Canyon to crank on some Limestone!!!

Side Note: The rock in the Black Hills is so much different then what we are used to back home. This has a lot of granite, quartz crystals, mica, and shist. It really tears your hands up, and your shoes. So far we have found most of the routes to be very delicate and balancy. Also, a lot of the routes have some pretty good run-out sections. We found these past few nights to be more mentally tired than physically.

Black Hills, South Dakota

Saturday morning we woke up early from the KOA in Louisville South, and headed out toward Wisconsin. Jodi was the work horse for the day. She drove us all the way through Indiana and beyond Chicago, where we stopped for lunch. I then took over the driving duties and continued on. We were planning on staying at another KOA in Oakdale, Wisconsin for the night. As we approached the KOA we realized we were ahead of schedule and also gained an hour to to the central time change. Since we had a couple of hours to hang out, we decided to go to Devil's Lake. I have read that this is one of the best climbing areas in Wisconsin. We checked in at the park entrance, and the lady there showed us where all the climbing was. By the way, the National Parks Pass worked great, already saved us $10. Thanks again guys for pitching in. Anyways, we took a couple of photos by the lake then grabbed our packs and headed for the cliffs. We hiked for about 20 minutes straight up into some high rock bluffs. The cardio workout was great. We ran into some locals up there who told us what some of the routes were. Most everything up there was top-rope. You could lead some pitches on gear, but the locals were saying they were sandbagged and the friction at the cliff was awful. The reason being, is that the rock is mainly quartz, I believe. Not the typical friction we are accustomed to at the NEW. We decided to "play it safe" and just set up a top rope on a 5.6, just to get a couple of burns in. Jodi and I had a blast. The cliff overlooks the lake below, and the cooler temperatures made for a perfect afternoon. Below is a picture of the rocks and Devil's lake.

After our little top-rope session, we headed back to the car and continued on to our KOA in Oakdale for the night. Side Note: As we entered the parking lot from climbing, we noticed a car with Virginia tags on it. I asked the young couple what part of Virginia they were from, and she told us Lovettesville. We both couldn't believe it, they lived about 10 minutes away from where we live now. What a small world. Below is a picture of our KOA campsite in Oakdale, Wisconsin.

Sunday started off like Saturday did, early start to get on the road for a full day of driving. Our goal was to get to Rapid City, South Dakota (about 10 hours). Once in Rapid City, we wanted to spend a couple of days in and around there climbing and sightseeing. We were on the road for about 30 minutes, until we crossed the mighty Mississippi River. We stopped, took a couple of pictures and then continued on. Below is a picture of us at the rest area overlooking the Mississippi.

We continued on for several hours until Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We got some gas and switched drivers. Again, we were aiming for Rapid City but found ourselves ahead of schedule, this time due to the mountain time change. We decide to change course and head into the Badlands National Park, which is right outside Rapid City. (40 miles or so). Jodi and I were blown away by this place. Below are some of the pictures we took. What an amazing place.

After the Badlands we continued on to Rapid City, where we stopped at the tourist information building to get information about the Black Hills. We talked with the lady there and told her all the things we wanted to do. She suggested we head up to Hill City, right in the heart of the Black Hills. We did exactly that. We got to Hill City 30 minutes later and found a place to set up camp for the night. We liked Hill City so much, that after we set up camp at the campground, we decided to head into town to grab a bite to eat. We ate at a local bar, and each had a beer and a buffalo burger. After dinner we headed back to camp, and into bed. Monday is going to be a climbing day.

On The Road.... Again

Well, we have some better news this time after all of the bad from the previous days. As most of you know Monday was awful and really couldn't get much worse. Tuesday was plagued by an injury and thought we were done for. Wednesday started with some time to regroup and figure things out. Since the finger injury on Tuesday, we decided to take the day off from climbing and have a "rest day". We did however make the most of our day by going on a 1-1/2 hour mountain bike ride around the New river gorge. It was nice to get some exercise in and not just sit around and get bored. Most of the afternoon Jodi and I contemplated different scenarios for our given situation. We decided to "sleep on" some thoughts we had, as we didn't want to make any hasty decisions. That evening some really good friends of ours invited us over to their house for dinner. It was great for three reasons: 1. It is always nice to see friends. 2. The food was amazing!!! 3. They gave us some really good advise into our current situation, and possible solutions we did not think of. (Thanks Tracy and Joe)

Thursday stated early by meeting up with Joe (from previous nights dinner) at his house. We wanted see if we could get some climbing in somewhere. The night before we had some rain, so we were not very optimistic. But none the less it would be a good "exploring/hiking day". We headed over to Bubba City to see if any of the rock was dry in the Beer Wall area. Since most of those climbs in that area are pretty easy, this would be a great time for me to "test" out my bum finger. I really wanted to see how much strengh/range of motion I had in it. We hiked down to BC and everything was soaked. We quickly turned around and hiked out. Since the outlook for dry rock was near impossible, our focus now turned to exploring some new crags. Joe took us over to some newer areas by the Meadow river. They all turned out to be soaked as well, but it was nice to see the quality of stone there and all the potential. After a couple of hours of hiking around, the skies seemed to have lifted and were once again in search of dry stone. Joe, having a number of years Trad climbing, suggested that Bridge Area might be dry. We had really nothing to lose so we checked it out. Rounding the corner to the Cliff, the parking lot in the distance showed signs of life. We were starting to get excited. Sure enough there was a boy scout group there and they were climbing. We grabbed our packs and headed for the cliff. Joe saw that "Zag" was dry and asked if we be interested in climbing it. The answer was yes, so we did. I tell you, right now, crack climbing is hard!!! This is coming from a pure sport face climber. We had tons of fun climbing that crack. Totally different ballgame. I can also tell you, we learned a lot that day. After a couple of burns on that we headed right next door to an 10a arete climb. (Angles Arete?) We climbed that several times and had a blast. This climb was a little more our speed. Thin, balancy, technical. All the stuff we like. The best part, was after climbing all day, my finger really didn't hurt. This tells me that it might not have been as serious as originally anticipated. We both left the cliff feeling rejuvenated. Friday we would tackle the car.

Friday morning we woke up early and finalized our plan for the road trip. Our decision was to rent a car for 6 weeks and continue with the trip. The reason 6 weeks was chosen was due to our budget. Renting a car for such a long time is expensive. We still wanted to go ahead with the trip, and figured 6 weeks, although somewhat rushed, would give us enough time to see and do what we wanted to. We ate a quick breakfast then headed to Beckley regional airport to rent a car. That place happened to be the closest/least expensive around. We chatted with the lady behind the counter, who was super nice, about our situation. She said we had the option of extending our trip by two weeks to make it a full 2 months, if Jodi and I decided to, we would just call her from the road and pay the differance. We were very excited about that. She gave us the keys to the car and headed back to load up our car, once again. Below is a picture of us repacking our new 2010 Toyota Corolla rental car, with 31,500 miles on it.

After we packed the car we left to see how far we could get. We left Fayetteville around 1:30ish and headed for Kentucky. We drove for about 6 hours and stayed the night at a KOA just south of Louisville, KY. Below is a picture of Jodi all set up ready to cook some dinner. Tomorrow our plan is to put in a long day of driving and see if we can get up to Wisconsin somewhere. We will keep you all posted soon. Thanks again for eveyone's support through our rough start. We are both looking forward to brighter days.

Not the start we were hoping for

Day #1


Well I hate to inform you all of this, but we have a major problem!!!! The car has some major problems with it. We drove down Saturday morning to a sleepy little town 45 miles west of Asheville North Carolina, called Dillsboro. Jodi drove the first 5 hours in the morning to Whythville Virginia with no problems. We stopped for gas and as soon as I took over the problems began. The engine was running hot, very random times thought out the drive down. The worst is when we were on 26 heading toward Asheville going through the mountains. It was so bad, we had to pull over and let the engine cool for 30 minutes or so. We nursed it all the way to Dillsboro, where we meet my folks. We told them the problem and soon found out that the radiator hose was missing to the reservoir bottle. Let me first say I know nothing about cars, but I sure got a crash course in radiators and how they work. Anyways, we thought we had solved the problem. Since the auto parts stores was closing down for the evening, we decided to tackle fixing it in the morning. Jodi and I hung out with my parents that evening. We took a ride with them to see a potential spot for retirement, and after that headed into town for a beer (which was needed) and a pizza. Shacked up with my parents that night for the first night on our road trip.

Day #2

We woke up early and headed straight to the auto parts store. Got the tube I needed to connect to the radiator and picked up an extra gallon of coolant, just in case. We headed out of town aiming for the Red river gorge in Kentucky, we were feeling really good despite our bad luck. We didn't make it 5 miles down the road and we were running into the same problems. We pulled over on the side of the road to let it cool down and then nursed the car back to the town of Sylva, which is right next to Dillsboro. We didn't know what to do, we were really stuck. We were frantically looking for a auto mechanic, but it was a Sunday and all of the local shops were closed. After an hour of searching nearby city's, we finally found a Firestone shop in Asheville that was open, and they could look at our car that day. That's if we could get it there. We had no other choice but to try and get it to Asheville. We set off and hoped for the best. Upon entering the highway, the car once again acted up, running hot for a minute or 2 (red zone), then back down. This behaviour continued all the way to the Asheville where we dropped it off to have Firestone take a look at it. After waiting about an hour, the mechanic brought me back to explain a few things. This were it gets bad!!! He told me I had failed a "block test" which means there is something leaking inside my engine. Either form air being trapped or a crack in the engine, were coolant is leaking out. I told the mechanic about the previous history of the car (replaced blown head gasket, replaced thermostat, water pump and timing belt, which cost me 3 grand a couple of months prior). He told me that it was too much risk to preform any services on the vehicle, like a system purge, because if it went wrong the engine could be completely destroyed. Firestone could not take on that responsibility, because if they screwed up, they would owe me a new engine. He told me my best bet was to check with Goodyear which was across the street (Open on Monday) and the Subaru Dealer (Also open on Monday) He also recommended "not driving the car far" because he thought it might not make it. Jodi and I had no choice then to spend the night in Asheville and take our car over to Goodyear in the morning. Hopefully they could tell us whats wrong and fix it under their warranty, since all the work done a couple of months ago was by Goodyear. By this point Jodi and I are extremely frustrated and couldn't believe this was happening to us. Also, our faith in our car was slowly being diminished. We headed into Downtown Asheville (less than a mile) parked the car a walked around. We did find a climbing gym, which was nice just to get our minds off of the car for a while. We climbed for a couple of hours then headed back to the hotel for a shower before dinner. For dinner we headed back into Asheville, were we ate and drank at a small pub called "Jack of the Wood". We really enjoyed ourselves, despite everything that was happening. Got to bed semi-early to tackle the next day.

Day #3

Today woke up early (7am) drove the car across the street to drop it off at the Goodyear for them to take a look at. First off, the guy behind the counter couldn't have been more rude to me. He didn't seem to care one bit about our situation. He told me he would "try and get to it today" which we found to be very frustrating, because that car is all we have right now, and no where to go. After we dropped the car off, we headed over to Cracker Barrel for some breakfast and just chatted about different options we have. We waited for the car until 3, and we couldn't take it anymore. We went over to the shop to check on the process. The guy gave me the typical run around and told me it was a bad thermostat. The parts should be under warranty since I had all the work done to it in February. He called the warranty department and they said they wouldn't cover it, because it is a 1 year or 12,000 mile warranty, and I had 12,497 miles since the service. Since I was 497 miles over they would not warranty the parts or labor. Long story short I skated out of the shop at 6:00pm $160 poorer. We both were tired of hanging out in Asheville, and had to head out. We decided to head to the New River Gorge were we could regroup, do some climbing and figure the rest out. No more than 12 miles up the road my car, was running HOT AGAIN. We were down right pissed. We had no choice but to keep going and hope we make it to the New River. 5 hours later we finally made it to the New and set up our tent to get some sleep. We were hoping the worst was behind us.


Day #4


Slept in to around 8:30 then fixed breakfast, packed our bags and headed down to Kaymoor to do some climbing. We started off pretty easy doing a couple of laps on a 10, then pushed on to some harder stuff. Went around the corner and sent "Hardcore Female Thrash" which was awesome. Jodi and I were finally feeling like we were staring to have some fun. We ate some snacks and proceed over to 7-11 wall for a quick burn on "The Sting". I feel on my first go which was no big deal. I told Jodi I wanted to finish it up then clean it, then move on. Second go, fell again. Third go, cranked on the crimp side pull and blew my ring finger on my right hand. I heard a pop, finger went limp, and had no power at all in it. Having done this before I knew exactly what it was. That was the final nail in the coffin for us. We both hiked out of Kaymoor with complete disgust and though that this trip was never meant to be. We are both going to take a shower tonight and head over to Pies and Pints for some all you can eat pizza and tons of beer.


As of this posting, both Jodi and I have no idea what we are going to do. Our car doesn't work and now I can't climb. These truly have been the worst 4 days of our lives. I hate to inform you all of this, but wanted to let everyone know what has been going on. Thank-you for all your support and hopefully can bring you some better news shortly.

Ready to Head Out

By now, most of you know that Jodi and I are taking some time off from the "real world" and heading across North America on a 4 month long road trip. The plan is to leave July 17th 2010 and return November 14th 2010. We both have wanted to do a trip of this magnitude for some time now, and have decided that now is the perfect time to do it. Although only in our early 30's, we are not getting any younger and we feel the older you get, the more chances like these pass by. The main goal for this trip is to rock climb many destinations that we have only dreamed of. Intermixed throughout climbing will be lots of hiking and mountain biking. When taking a rest day from said activities, we plan on seeing the sites. Our plan is to camp most of the trip, with occasional visits/stays with family/friends.

We wanted to create this blog to share our experiences with you all as we travel across the United States. We will post blogs as soon as we can during our trip. We will miss all of you very much and hope you will check in on us once in a while to see what we are up too.

Below are some pictures of the Subaru geared up and ready to go.