Trip Report: Climbing Half Moon at Red River Gorge

Sometimes great adventures are well-thought out and planned. This is not one of those adventures. Last Saturday we sat around the campfire sipping cider trying to decide what to do the next day. We had two requirements: it needed to be in the shade and it needed to be a trad climb.

Flipping through our guidebook, we noticed that Half Moon had routes and that they were in the shade. For the non-Red River Gorge initiated. Half Moon isn't really a climbing area, or at least it hasn't been since the 1970s. Nowadays it's populated by drunk tourists, who don't understand why you're not allowed to camp on a trail and that you shouldn't be following a trail on a sketchy ledge inebriated. We don't go there very often.

But there's a classic 5.7 multi-pitch trad route up the Half Moon, which sounded absolutely perfect. We did a little bit of quick research, Mountain Project makes the route sound crappy (it's not) but had good beta and Red River Climbing said it was good but didn't have useful information. We were intrigued.

The faint trail down to the base of Half Moon started at the arch and wasn't much of a trail. I did more "butt hiking" than feet hiking. The directions weren't great and the trail was more of a memory than a path, but we followed the cliff line until we found a likely crack. After comparing it to the guidebook we knew we were there. And we were alone in the woods under a classic easy route. That's hard to come-by at the gorge.

There are other routes at Half Moon, but the guidebook has few pictures. We bushwhacked around, identifying cracks that we might try to climb another day before heading back to our target, Full Moon.

The bottom of Full Moon is a little bit manky, but take a couple steps up the wide crack and it's dry, perfect stone. If you can't deal with a foot of moss on an otherwise excellent climb, then it's probably time to sell your trad rack. Even though it's wide, there are plenty of placements for horizontals along the way. If you're comfortable walking cams, you can manage with a standard rack, plus BD 5 & 6 cams.

Pitch two and three are the money pitch, the perfect layback crack with jugs leads into a wide chimney with two cracks. After some analysis, and consulting with the spider guardian of the right crack, we chose the fist crack on the left wall of the chimney.

My boyfriend emerged from the chimney to the cheers of onlookers across the valley at Chimney Top. One of the perks of climbing in a tourist-heavy area: you become the entertainment. The day was perfect, the climb was perfect and the applause felt like the perfect end to a lovely summer day.

Trip Report: Weirdos in the Woods

I spend almost every weekend camping in the woods, usually Red River Gorge in the beautiful Daniel Boone National Forest. I love the solitude of the small campsites along river and ridge lines, as opposed to the crowds at Miguel's or any of the other climber campgrounds. Usually, it's uneventful and quiet. Usually. Can you tell where this is going?

I feel like I should start by saying this is a funny story. Nothing bad happened to us or anyone else. It ended with a lot of laughter and probably embarrassment for the other campers.  But part of me wonders what could have happened in different circumstances.

Let me paint the scene for you. We're sitting in camp chairs behind my car basically tailgating. We're too lazy to carry all the food and cooking supplies down to the campsite and back up again so we ate in the gravel pull-off along the narrow winding road.

It's dark. We're winding down because we have another day of climbing planned. Suddenly, with no flashlight or headlamp, a stumbling man walks up to our car and says, "I need help."

I'm not going to pretend to be altruistic and  kind. My first reaction was "I don't want to deal with this." I assumed someone was injured and we would be making a hospital trip with a stranger.

Then he says maybe one of the weirdest things I've heard in the woods. "I think my friends are going to kill me."

Behind him, we see another person walking up the road. My boyfriend asks "Are you planning to kill him?" The second guy throws up his hands and informs us that he is not planning to kill anyone.

After much coaxing, the two men admit that they're high. The first man who stumbled into our tailgate ate an edible, wasn't used to it and got extremely paranoid.

He's lucky he ended up in our campsite. Over the past couple of weeks I've though about what could have happened. Stumbling around in the dark he could have been hit by a car, fallen into the creek or down a hill. If they'd been camping along the cliff, it could've been much worse. Many campers, most drunk, high or stupid, have died falling off of cliffs in Red River Gorge. Thankfully, he went back to his campsite with his friends and we ended up with a funny story.

More than just the laughter, that's what stayed with me about this story. If you make a poor choice, like you first experience with an edible, a fun-filled weekend can turn tragic.

I finished two books (and it feels like a miracle)

Lately reading has been difficult. I'm not even positive when this problem began. My whole life I've loved books and stories. But then somewhere in the past two years, whether it's blogger drama or things in the real world, my reading began to slow. When I read, I still read quick. But lately I've found other things to do besides reading (hello podcasts).  I'm working my way out of my rut, requesting library books again and trying to read on most of my lunch breaks. Not today, because I just finished the two library books I had and didn't have anything to follow them with. I don't have an unread book that I want to read in my possession right now. Weird, I know.

But thankfully, the two books I finished were both good and worth reading.

Arclight - 4 Stars (Goodreads | Amazon)
I have to give this book a lot of credit because it's what pulled me out of my reading rut. It's an interesting sci-fi novel with an intriguing mystery. The stories danger lurks in the unseen and the story follows a character who feels like an outsider (but actually for good reason for a change).  The book hinges on her believably, and I bought Marina's story wholeheartedly. This was a good that kept me up at night, in the good I-can't-put-this down-way.

The Hate U Give - 4 Stars (Goodreads | Amazon)
Do I really need to review this book? I feel like everything has been said by someone else because I'm literally a year behind the trend on this book. Timely without feeling preachy because the characters are well-developed and believable. It's just as good as everyone says so you should go ahead and read it.

Backwoods Bouldering

Before I was a climber, I was a hiker. Being from Southeastern KY, there was a lot of ground to explore. I spent most of my childhood running wild in the small forest across the street from my house. At the time it seemed gigantic, a kingdom of my own. On a recent drive through the old neighborhood, I realized when the leaves were down you could see straight through to the open field beyond.

Some places get smaller when you revisit. Others expand with new hidden gems and opportunities. Last summer I went hiking with my brother on one of my favorite short trails, Dog Slaughter Falls near Cumberland Falls.  We always do the short version from FS Road 195, which is a perfect trail that follows a creek to one of the prettiest small waterfalls I’ve visited.

This time was different. Not only did we take two of our family dogs, but I threw my climbing shoes and chalk into the backpack because I’d heard there were boulders in these woods.

I didn’t find the boulders I’d read about on the trail before the waterfall. I found one thing that I could traverse, but the roof problems didn’t jump out to me. Maybe it’s because we could only do so much with our doggie friends, or maybe they’re further off the trail than I expected.

But past the waterfall and along the Sheltowee Trace, we started to find ample boulders to explore.  According to the Kentucky Bouldering wordpress, most of them were down a sidepath to the river. Because the water looked swift and Hank the dog loves water we avoided getting close to the river. And because I didn’t have a bouldering pad, I didn’t try much of anything.  I did a couple of V0-V1ish problems.

Normally when I climb I have a guidebook, pictures and do a lot of research ahead of time. This was different.  I’d done a little research but without pictures and a guidebook, it wasn’t like any climbing I’d ever done before. It was a small adventure, exploring this little boulder field more than a mile away from any parking. The woods were full of the unknown and possibilities, a beautiful peaceful place where it was just me, my brother and our dogs. It was perfect. Only thing I’d change? Next time I’m bringing a pad.

Room - Audiobook Review

Room (Goodreads | Amazon)
4/5 stars

So I’m a few years behind the curve on reading this book. When it was popular and then when the movie came out, it never spoke to me. Sometimes I’m in the moods for trendy books. A lot of the time I read them when I get around to them. Room happened to be available on my library’s digital audiobook collection so I downloaded it. (And to be honest that’s probably the only reason I read it).

For those who miss the trends as often as I do, Room is the story of a young woman who was kidnapped, locked in a soundproof room and eventually had a child with her abductor. The story is told through the eyes of her five-year-old son Jack.

The narration was excellent, the young child narrator worked well on audio. I can see how that would be a struggle in the paper version of the book. The narrator, Jack, knows so little of the world and understands so little. The way he talks is strange, he often confuses what is real and what isn’t because as far as he’s concerned, their little room is the only world he has ever known.

It’s amazing how much can happen in the mind of a child, especially when the book mostly takes place in a single room. Because of his captivity (which he doesn’t know about), Jack is an unreliable narrator who doesn’t realize what he’s missing. To him the room and his ma are real, the world he sees on TV is only make-believe. Yet somehow, the novel is captivating and I couldn’t stop listening.

Using Jack as the narrator for the story was a bold move, and at least for my experience it paid off.
Based on other reviews I’ve read, I recommend reading/listening to this book an audio. The acting was great, and it made Jack’s sometimes confused worldview easier to understand.

A look at my (failed) 2017 goals and ahead to 2018

I don't believe in New Year resolutions. I'm not one of those grumpy people who is going I to hate on your resolution. If for you, “new year new me” works then GREAT! For me, it’s always new year, same me. I’m goal oriented, but my goals work on their own timeline (and sometimes not as all).

For my goals, 2017 was a bit of a mess. I accomplished none of them. Sure, I took up fishing and bought a fishing kayak which was great. But it wasn’t anything I planned to do. (Sometimes I look at the two kayaks in our bedroom and wonder what happened). Life was grand - still going strong with the boyfriend, got a hilarious new cat, spent a lot of time outside, etc etc.
But when it came to goals, it was a mess.

2017 Goals

1. Get back into blogging - FAILED. It felt like there was so much going on last year between politics and other news, it never felt right. And my old blogging circle seems to have disappeared from Twitter. Then I lost my old domain name and spent days going through the nine circles of Google hell before just buying a different one.
2. Climb 5.12 - FAILED. Between my boyfriend (and main climbing partner) getting hurt, then suffering a finger injury, that goal went nowhere. But hey I learned to climb trad better and succeeded in my goal of leading a pitch of a multipitch. 
3. Goodreads challenge - FAILED. First time I haven't met my goodreads goal. *shrugs* Should I be more bothered?
4. NanoWriMo - I didn't even participate. I tried to come up with a list-minute Nano idea but I had nothing. Broke my streak.

2018 Goals

1. Less screen time (and by screen time I mean TV/Netflix).
2. Get back on track with fitness - seriously last year was a lot of FAIL in that as well.
3. Read more but remember that the numbers aren't what matters. Enjoy reading.
4. Climb 5.12...this will be my third season with that goal. So we’ll see.

Into the Drowning Deep: The mermaid book I was waiting for

Into the Drowning Deep (Goodreads | Amazon)

5/5 stars

For years, I have been on a quest for a good mermaid book. Mermaid mythology fascinates me, especially how it popped up all over the world simultaneously with some different aspects, but so much similar that it feels nearly true.

Most books delving into the subject disappoint me. Maybe that’s because I want so much from the book that it’s nearly impossible to live up to my expectations. Sometimes I just don’t bother with mermaid books because I’ve been burnt too many times. But Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire), knows how to write a good story.

And this, my friends, is more than just good.

This genre-blending book combines fantasy and science as only Grant can. In her writing, the science of the impossible feels not only possible, but likely. She does her research, from zombie viruses to mythological creatures, and it makes a huge difference. But she doesn't get bogged down in being scientifically-sound. Grant builds a world, characters and a story that work hand-in-hand with the science.

Into the Drowning Deep is the terrifying mermaid horror story you need to read. After spending most of last year in a reading slump, it felt wonderful to start 2018 with such a great book. I didn’t watch Netflix, didn’t go to sleep and found myself reading every chance I got. I needed to know what happened next.

Into the Drowning Deep follows a group of scientists, funded by a reality TV network, on an expedition to unravel the mysteries of mermaid folklore. It’s not the TV networks first voyage to the legendary Mariana Trench, where mermaids are said to live. Seven years prior to the story in this book, a different crew set out. That ship was found adrift, with no one on board, without even bodies to tell their story.

The scientists on the second journey have different reasons for coming - some are looking for answers, some want to find mermaids and some believe it’s a hoax but want a payday. None are looking for a massacre, but when monsters lurk beneath the waves nobody’s safety is guaranteed.

Here there be monsters...and it’s worth every heart-stopping, terrifying page to find them.