South East Trip

I've been home now for about a week from a trip to the Southeastern part of our great nation. What was supposed to be Becky's first real vacation since she started her big girl job, turned into a solo dirtbag ordeal. Long story short, Becky is having surgery to replace her ACL on Wednesday as a result of her re-injuring it a week and a half before we were due to leave. To say that she (and I) was disappointed would be a gross understatement.

In the end I went solo. Having canceled our vacation rental I opted instead to sleep in my rental car at one of the many local Walmarts. The plush living of a Walmart parking lot saved me some money, but I think I may have lost a small part of my soul.

The climbing, as usual, was stellar. I managed to climb one of the two problems I most coveted, Hot-n-Tot at Horse Pens 40. The line was FA'd by my friend and climbing mentor Randy Puro, which made it a little more significant for me. Unfortunately the only video I have from my time at HP40 is of another line, Stingray. This was the last video I would take with my old iPhone 4 before it decided to end its life prematurely.

After a few days in Tallahassee visiting my father I headed north to Chattanooga, TN. My first day at Little Rock City started out well with a retro-flash of the classic Celestial Mechanics (a problem I couldn't touch when I last visited in 2009). After that, I began working on The Law and after a few minutes I had done all of the moves. I decided that, to be safe, I would try and avoid a mono that is often used on the relatively easy moves at the end. I thought that with a heel I could just rock past the mono to some better holds. Unfortunately, when I pulled into the heel I heard, and felt, a rip high in my hamstring and I knew instantly what had happened. I was devastated and nearly booked a flight home that night.

After talking with Becky on the phone and after walking (limping) around a bit I decided to stick it out, and I'm glad I did. While I was certainly limited in what I could climb on, I was able to climb. I even managed a few relatively hardish ascents with my torn hamstring. Of course I also couldn't even touch a few things that normally wouldn't have presented me with much of a problem at all, but that's the nature of dealing with an injury.

In the following days I spent most of my time at LRC but I also visited the nearby area of Cumberland, which proved to be a pleasant diversion. Here are a couple of problems from that quaint little area.

All in all it was a good trip. I got to hang with a few friend from home on the last few days, which was nice, but I'll be glad to go back when both Becky and I are feeling 100% recovered.

Finally, here are a few problems from LRC. There probably won't be much media from me in the near future. Not only will I be dealing with Becky's recovery from surgery and my own rehab, but I'm busy as all hell with work and studying for my personal trainer's exam. Hopefully by May I'll be able to do some regular climbing. Until then I'm going to disappear for a while, maybe watch some baseball games...

Anyway, till next time.