TAG '09

Bonfire and party Saturday Night


Howard's Waterfall

Stephen's Gap




October 8-11
We drove up to TAG thursday. Joey and Aimee couldn't come up till Friday night after work. We set-up camp with the Nashville Grotto and Will and his friend Carolyn stayed by us. It was rainy and dreary all weekend so that put a damper on the partying but the caving was good. On Friday Jason, Will, Carolyn and I went to Steven's Gap and did some rappelling. We got there just as another group was leaving and rigged the keyhole. Not long after about 20 people showed up so they had to rig in on the other side. Will and Carolyn didn't have any verticle gear and Carolyn has done rock climbing but no SRT so we took turns sharing gear and I helped get them on rope and Jason took pics and was available for a bottom belay if need at the pedastal. The second time Will rapped down his beard got stuck in the rack. Luckily it was at the bottom. Jason had his knife out and was about to give him a haircut when he realized Will just needed to stand up and undo the rack. Jason got behind him and lifted him up so he could get unstuck. Catastrophe avoided.
It started raining just as we were leaving and severe weather was moving in. We had perfect timing all day.
Saturday Jason went with Joey and the Nashville crowd to Mystery Falls. He said it was really cool. It is 290 feet deep and is the deepest pit in TN. It has water flowing through the cave and there is a dam built before the pit with a gate so you can dam the pipe up and then release it when the pressure gets built up. I think we need to go back so I can do it! Aimee, Will, Carolyn and I went to Howards Waterfall and did a easy horizontal trip.

Red Rocks

November 5-10
On our last climbing trip to Moab Carl, the owner of the guide company we used, turned us onto Red Rocks just outside Las Vegas so we hired him to guide us. We flew out to Vegas on Thursday morning and Carl picked us up at the airport and took us straight out to Red Rocks so we could start climbing. We went to the "second pullout" and climbed the "magic school bus" area. We did two 5.8 climbs and a 5.9. As the sun was setting the girl climbing next to us took two lead falls and sprained her ankle. Michele wrapped it in an ace bandage and Carl tried to salvage their draws. He went through a lot of work to get one but then forgot to give it back to them. oops. Michele and I didn't prepare for this trip like we usually do and it showed. After the first climb Michele had lost the skin off one finger and by the end of the day she had no skin left on 4 fingers and I had 2 major blisters.We had to keep our fingers taped for the rest of the trip. Carl couldn't believe we were still climbing:-) We went back to the hotel and had dinner and went to bed exhausted. Michele had enough points to get us a room at the Belagio for almost nothing. We were always too tired to do much at night and we have very little interest in gambling anyway so we went to Vegas and stayed at the Belagio and never gambled. I don't know what it is about sister trips but we are always up before 5am and exhausted at night.
The next day we had a fab breakfast and Carl picked us up at 7am and went headed back out to Red Rocks. This was our first experience with big wall climbing. We climbed a 5 pitch, 600 foot route named "Birdland". I didn't enjoy this as much as I should have because I was so tired but it was a great climb. When we got back to the hotel it was not time to go to sleep yet so we walked around the whole hotel and watched the fountains out front as well as had a good Chinese dinner. I also found a gelato parlor. I think the gelato every night was the best part of the trip.
That night I slept for 8 hours and the next morning I was like a different person.
Carl picked us up at 7 again and we went to the "panty wall". Carl set up some anchors and we did a ground school on building anchors. Before we finished a large group showed up from the local college so we decided to go somewhere else to climb. We climbed "man's best friend", a fun 180 foot 2 pitch bolted climb. Carl led it the first time and we all rapped down then Michele and I mock led the first pitch with a top rope. Then I led it without the top rope one time. We got back early and my brother who is stationed out there picked us up and we had dinner with him and his family.
Sunday Carl picked us up and we went back to the panty wall. We did some lead climbing and built and cleaned our own anchors. Finally, real lead climbing:-)!!! Poor Carl was very nervous about having us off top rope while under his care. It got crowded again so we went back to man's best friend and Michele led the first pitch, Carl climbed second and I cleaned the route. Then I led the second pitch and Michele cleaned. In one day we went from lead climbing to lead climbing multi-pitch routes. We went to Bonnie Springs for dinner. It is a replica of an 1880's mining town just outside of Red Rocks. We sat around a big fireplace and ate appetizers and hung out.
Monday ended up being a hiking day. We were going to climb Cat in the Hat but it is a very popular route. We hiked an hour to get out there and found that we were third in line with more people coming in behind us. Carl doesn't do lines and I don't do crowds so we turned around and hiked out. We went to another area and hiked another hour to "the schoolroom" There were several easy trad climbs so Carl led them and left his gear in place so Michele and I could lead them. Then we hiked back out in the dark.
Tuesday we flew home in hurricane Ida. I don't know how we did it but we flew home straight through a tropical storm and didn't have any delays.

Coosa River Challenge October 3 , 2009

Friday after work Jason, Kristin and I drove up to Wetumpka and met Chris Coleman(Jason's partner) at Coosa River Adventures for check in. There was a little mix up and even thought I registered by computer Kristin and I were put in the co-ed category. We got that straightened out and dropped off our boats and bikes and went out to eat. The next morning we had to be at the finish line for orientation at 7am then we went up river to the start. We had to find our bikes and establish our transition area and get warmed-up. There was a staggered start so Jason and Chris started about 20 min ahead of us and we were in the last group.
The first leg of the race was a 4 mile trail run. At around mile 2 there was an obstacle. First you had to play even-odds with the race official to determine which team member was going to complete the task. Jason and I were both chosen out of our teams. There were two ropes strung across and small ravine and you had to walk on one and hold onto the other and cross the ravine. Then after you finish the run you end up back at the transition area to start the 7 mile mountain bike leg.
A week before the race I got new clipless pedals(your shoes clip to the pedals) and we came up to Wetumpka to practice on the course and I fell over about 10 times and cried and wanted to forfeit the race. I went back to my regular pedals before the race and managed not to have a breakdown.
On the first half of the course a lot of people passed us and I was going really slow but by the second half I was able to go faster and we passed some people back. About half way through Kristin and I were so tired we wished we had never heard of the Coosa River Challenge. My quads were like jelly but we made it and actually passed some co-ed teams that had a 10 min head start on us. Again half way through we had to stop and do a little challenge. You had to carry your bike over a fence across and 2x4 laid over a mud hole and then under a fence. Then you end up back at the transition area. We got our kayak stuff and set off for a 1 mile run to the river. Once you get to the river you have to traverse a boulder field then take a navigation test with a compass then climb batman style up an 80 foot hand line to the top of the "slabs". At this point you draw out of a hat to see who rappels. Again Jason and I both completed the challenge. Chris and Kristin went back down the hill and swam out in the river and Jason and I went to the top of the hill and rappelled down then swam out to our team mate and on to the boat ramp to get our kayaks. At one point I was backstroking with my eyes closed and I hear Kristin shouting at me. I open my eyes to find I got turned around and am swimming back to the slabs. We looked real professional.
So finally the 7 mile Kayak portion. Kristin and I were in the orange barge which is exceptional in its slowness. Jason and Chris rented a boat but neglected to sit in it and get the seats adjusted so we were all pretty miserable paddling. At the first island you had to get out and portage(carry) your boat across the island. At the second island you had to do a little run and swim through barrels submerged in a mud hole(this was Kristin's favorite part). Then paddle,paddle, paddle. We were so bored we started singing just to keep going. I did a little yodeling and I think we even sang the Star Spangled Banner. Next was a 1 mile poker run and finally right before the finish you had to swim out to a lock(brick wall) in the middle on the river and jump off about 15 feet then swim back to your boat and cross the river to the finish line. Jason and Chris's finish time was 4:10:00 and they placed 9th out of 42 teams in their age group. Our finish time was 5:19:00 and we finished 6th out of 13 teams in our age group. Kristin and I won the award for best lock jump. We did a short Taekwondo routine and did flying side kicks off the wall.