Stephen King's Library and The Balcony - Obed

My friends Wes and Brendan spent a week in the Obed sport climbing and bouldering whenever the weather conditions were favorable. I only had a day of free time so I made the drive on Friday night in the pouring rain, praying that the clouds would part and the sun would dry out the rock for the next day’s adventures. All three of us slept in our cars to avoid being soaked through the night. Thankfully Hotel Boone was just as cozy as ever. God really showed up the next morning, We got got a perfect day that was actually hot. I was in a tank top for the first climb of the day! Not what I expected for the first weekend in January but i’m not complaining.

We spent our Saturday working through Stephen King’s Library and The Balcony. Hiking in and seeing the roof on SK was incredible, not only is it one of the prettiest crags I’ve ever seen, we were climbing next to a beautiful waterfall the entire time. Choice.

We warmed up on a rough 10a Cheap Seats- not my usual choice of warm up, but hey you gotta bump up your climbing sometime…Then we headed over to Pet Cemetery 11a that links up to Rage 12c. This climb was amazing. I fell/hung plenty of times on it but I fought my way up to the start of Rage and got to the first perma-draw and it was just so fun the entire climb. I can’t wait to get stronger and go back to clean up Pet and hop back on Rage. Also we tackled “IT” 10a, and Gunslinger 11d. Gunslinger the hardest climb i’d attempted on lead and actually finished. I definitely think I can clean that one up the next time I visit the Obed. Another wishlist climb is an 11a called General Admission.

I was dead tired by the time I decided to give it a shot and it showed. I had blinders on and my brain was absolutely not working. I couldn’t find any beta and was falling all over the place. I finally figured out how to work some ridiculous heel hook move and pull out the crimps to the chains, but I was gassed and took a fall before I could clip anchors and had to climb back up to finish. I’ve got the beta on this one memorized and i’m gonna bag it next time. I’m so pleased with myself for trying hard stuff even if i’m failing. i’m using every single climb as growth this year.

My friend Wes absolutely crushed a mean slopey 12a/b called The Shining. It was awesome to watch his work on this through the day and pull out an amazing send right before the sun set.

The Obed seriously feels like a magical, tucked away, gem of a crag. Even though everyone knows about it, it just feels serene and calm. Can’t wait to go back and check out some other walls and the surrounding boulder fields. Also the weekend wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable without the friends I shared it with. Thanks for all the belays and words of encouragement, boys. Y’all are a treasure!

48 Hours in New Hampshire

I have a tendency to look at flights when I’m bored or maybe just feeling extra wanderlust-y. Just making up fake trips that I know I can’t actually go on but it technically could be possible makes me feel less stuck. Well, I was looking up flights to Boston to visit Annie again and I realized I had enough travel credits for a free round trip flight. Hello mini vacation!

The first weekend in May I flew out to meet up with my cousin in Boston and then drive up to New Hampshire to explore White Mountain National Forest and stay in a perfect A Frame airbnb. We didn’t have a lot of time - I got in at 12am on Friday morning and left at 7am Sunday morning - but we made the most of every minute.

Here’s our basic itinerary and you can follow along with the photo gallery below!

Friday:

• Breakfast

• Drive to NH

• Stop in Conway

• Check out the outlet stores because VACATION and LLBEAN and also it was raining

• Veggie burgers

• Check into the airbnb

• Find a tiny hike up the Foss Mountain Trail

• Get freaked out by “BEWARE OF TICK” signs everywhere

• Get caught in the rain

• Enjoy dusk on basically a private beach

• Practice headstands and relax in the cabin

Saturday:

• Find breakfast and coffee

• Hike up Moat Mountain

• Struggle

• Take in the most gorgeous panoramic views and take too many photos

• Find lunch and more coffee

• Took a scenic drive on the Kancamagus Highway

• Stopped at Lower Falls scenic walk a small trail and view the river and falls

• Drive back to Boston

Sunday:

• Uber to airport and fly home

So much packed into barely 48 hours.

New Hampshire isn’t a state I ever thought of visiting before this year, but I am definitely going to go back when I have more time. I’m quickly falling in love with all the East coast has to offer!

A Weekend With Strong Women

In January, Melissa, Paige and I took a weekend trip to Eastern Tennessee to stay at Pickett CCC Memorial State Park’s rustic cabins, get off the grid, have some bonding time, and hike out some stress.

These cabins are nearly a hundred years old and were built during the great depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. They aren’t bare bones by any means, but there is no cell signal and no wifi and it was perfect. Sometimes you just need to get away from regular life and spend quality time with people you love.

I’m not going to go into detail about every aspect of this trip, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but, we got to eat pancakes, dance by a fire, get absolutely frustrated during a game of UNO that wouldn't end, walk on frozen lakes, lick massive icicles, explore a giant cave filled with sand, hike up rock formations, pet cute dogs, drink all the coffee, and best of all, had plenty of wonderful conversation with two incredibly strong women. It's honestly hard for me to make friends with ladies. Many of them annoy me (okay, actually that's just most people in general), some  just have personalities that stress me out, and a lot of them actually intimidate me. So for me, it's truly special when I can connect deeply with some ladies that share my same morals, interests, and some of the same goals. Because of that, I'm able to truly be myself and feel at ease just spending time talking, listening, laughing, and growing.

Make time to get away and enjoy the company of your friends, those memories are the ones you’ll hang onto the longest.

"It’s a tough route but it's all there!"

“If the weather’s good, I’d love to go outside this weekend”. Usually that sentence gets thrown around at the gym and it’s a lot of “I wish I could, but”....and then the idea fades. Somehow this weekend the stars aligned and a solid group of seven all committed to Kings Bluff.

It was almost too cold when we left in Saturday morning, but by the time we arrived at the bluff, the sun was shining perfectly on the rocks, and we were all shedding layers after we tied our figure eights.

It had been almost a year to the day since I’d been sport climbing outdoors. It’s amazing how much harder a 5.9 is outside than in the gym. It was a lovely and humbling reminder at how much strength is needed when you’re outside doing the real thing. Gym grades are sometimes inflated or exaggerated, but none of that really matters. The main thing is to have a good time, enjoy the climb, make some memories, and come home in one piece.

I think my favorite thing about a group getting together to climb, is the description of the routes/the beta we give. If only I had written down the ridiculous things we'd say to one another. One I do remember is this little tidbit of advice given when my friend had taken a pretty good fall and was trying to figure out what she’d missed before a second attempt. “Well, it’s a pretty tough route but it's all there!”. Noted.

Anyway, I'm already itching for the next trip and a few more quotes.

P.S. Shootout to Clinton for snagging shots while I climbed!