Climbing and Sleeping at the New

One important aspect of OAR is taking full advantage of three day weekends. So, as Labor Day approached, I jumped on the first trip I saw: climbing at Red River Gorge. Unfortunately, the weather prevented our large group from going to the Red, so instead, Brice organized a climbing trip at the New River Gorge. I don't quite understand why, but only four of us ended up going despite there being over 20 people signed up for the original trip. Either way, Brice, Michael, Carolanne and I headed up to the New for a weekend of climbing (them) and sleeping (me). On the way up, we were so excited to have an abundance of space in the car. This was until we stopped at my parents' house in Jacksonville for dinner. My mother equipped us with a giant cooler full of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as several pounds of homemade pasta salad. She also bought us pita chips, hummus, brownies, rice krispie treats (also homemade), and cookies. Suffice to say, we filled the car with an entire persons' worth of food. 

Driving through the night, we arrived at the New ready to climb. We set up ropes and tackled the wall, taking turns climbing and belaying. At one point, I ventured over to a large boulder and napped for over an hour. I didn't realize at the time that I was sick, but I ended up sleeping through most of this trip as a result, only climbing a few routes each day. I also learned from Carolanne how to clean a route and attempted doing so. Unfortunately, the way it was set up made it difficult for me to get everything together and I ended up stuck on the wall in slings for over half an hour. Cue rainstorm. I worked even more quickly and finally got it, sprinting to the car as soon as my feet touched the ground. I had large bruises on my hips and legs from sitting in the harness, which made climbing the next day rather uncomfortable. 





That night we found a wonderful campsite along a river and spent the night by the fire. The next morning, we woke up and headed to another wall at the New. It was more crowded than the other one had been and a decent hike from the car. I attempted a few routes but the bruises made even just wearing a harness painful. I ended up napping on some rocks, sleeping most of my day away while the others climbed.

We returned to our campsite the next night and in the morning, we all played around in the river. Michael, Brice, and Carolanne all have hammocks, so they set those up right alongside the water. Any time one of them left their respective hammock for whatever reason, I hopped in immediately. Soon thereafter, we headed back to Gainesville and I, still not feeling well, had them drop me off in Jacksonville with my parents. Despite not climbing as much as I would have liked, I still really enjoyed the trip. The best part aside from climbing and typical OAR adventures? Listening to the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter book on tape every time we got into the car. 

Events occurred: August 31-September 3, 2012