When Michael approached me about road tripping to Boston, he knew me well enough to know that I would be a guaranteed "yes." The semester was over and I didn't have any finals left other than some papers I needed to turn in. I took a chance and figured I could write them on the road, which luckily didn't completely backfire. The deal was that Michael's younger sister Sarah goes to MIT and she wanted her car for the summer. So, we were driving up to Boston to deliver it and then flying home whenever. Michael and his girlfriend Carolanne had already booked their flights for Saturday, May 4th, but I decided to wait. Greek Orthodox Easter was on May 5th this past year and my family always has a huge celebration in New York that I have never been able to attend. I figured that I ought to go, since I would already be in the Northeast and I had become accustom to riding the bus between Boston and New York City.
The day after our last day of classes for the semester, I met Michael at his apartment in Gainesville. We packed my stuff into his car and headed across town to pick up our fourth. Her name was Rhea and I had never met her before. I had some reservations about Rhea because I had never met her before and we were going to be traveling together for over a week. As soon as I met her, however, all my concerns disappeared. Her cheerful disposition and her ukelele both won me over instantaneously. Carolanne also joined us and we headed for Panama City. The plan for the entire trip was to go to Panama City, where Michael's parents live, to trade his car for his sister's, and then drive to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to meet up with another OAR trip for some climbing. We went to the beach in Panama City and it was beautiful. The sand was pure white and the waves were lapping the shore gently. Rhea immediately collapsed in the sand, soaking up the sun and taking a nap. Michael and Carolanne explored the shoreline and I wandered aimlessly in circles before joining Rhea on the sand. Soon thereafter, we ventured to Michael's parents house, where we were welcomed with an incredible dinner and generous hospitality. We enjoyed our time their so much we ended up staying until close to 10 PM. We piled into the Corolla and headed toward Kentucky.
One important note about this road trip is that Sarah's car is a stick shift. Michael was a competent manual driver and he had taught Carolanne how to drive stick over a year before. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the opportunity to practice since then. Rhea could also somewhat drive stick shift but she struggled with getting the car into first gear. To quote her, she either "peels out or stalls out," which was fun to experience at 3 AM. I can also drive manual cars but I had only learned a few months before, when Mike took an afternoon to teach me. I had been driving my mom's car around Gainesville for a few months for practice but it was the only car I had any experience with. We also picked up an Auburn student in Georgia who had sent out an email to OAR, wanting to join the Red River Gorge trip and needing a one way ride to Kentucky. He had the most stick experience, learning to drive stick shift as a valet. Commence road trip.
The drive to Kentucky was a nightmare, merely because it is about a 12 hour drive or so and we started after 10 PM. I took one of the first turns driving and I was grateful for the opportunity to sleep during the worst shift of all: 3 AM to 7 AM. Luckily, the rest of the world doesn't tend to drive around at these hours, so our lack of manual driving skills were mostly unnoticed. We arrived in Kentucky at 11 AM and met up with the rest of the OAR group. We headed off to climb shortly thereafter. By the time we made it to the wall, however, I was exhausted. I curled up under a tree and passed out. I never actually climbed anything at the Red, which is a shame because the climbing there is famous and fun. That night, we returned to the camp ground at Miguel's Pizza and I split a weird pizza with Nina. It had potatoes and a bunch of other odd ingredients on it but it was still delicious. I also connected to the wifi and attempted to work on the 20 page research design that I had to finish by the following Monday. I had done very little for it and was trying to find some decent pdfs to download so I could work on it sans wifi.
The next day, unfortunately, it was raining. We decided to forgo climbing and go for a hike instead. We discovered some interesting trails nearby and happened upon a natural bridge as well. I was still tired and thus began my cycle of sleeping and consuming coffee that dominated the trip. Carolanne joked that I was like a puppy because I would run around for a few hours and then tucker out, bouncing between high energy and no energy with little in between. We then headed north again, toward Cincinnati and Buffalo.
Events occurred: April 25-27, 2013
I was anxious to return to Mount Yonah, realizing that the first time I had been had been somewhat wasted on someone so ignorant about rock climbing. When we pulled into the parking lot, I bounded ahead, leading the charge up the mountain. I still don't understand why I like this particular hike so much, nor why I find it so easy compared to other people's perceptions, especially since I tend to be an average speed hiker. Regardless, I sprinted to the top, waiting several times for the group behind me to catch up. The weather was nice, cold with a slight wind. I decided to forgo the tent and slept outside with my sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and new fleece liner. The liner was fantastic and I slept like a baby both nights.
The next morning, I headed for the climbing wall and was one of the first to climb. I tried a few different routes, most of them easy and below my usual climbing grade but on average it's hard for me to find something at my perfect level. Typically outdoor routes seem to be either really easy or really difficult, at least at Mount Yonah and for my level of climbing experience. I enjoyed the views and the company, watching much better climbers than me impressively tackle some very hard routes. I was pleased to actually have my own shoes, unlike the last trip to Yonah when I had used the worn out club shoes. I also actually understood the route gradings and could better assess my own skill level comparable to the routes, which made it much more fun for me than just blindly climbing without any idea of what I was doing.
The next day, we headed down to the lowers, which has several climbing walls. We went to a different wall than I had been to the year before and it seemed to be hard to me, especially since everyone was taking turns leading two 5.10+ routes. Someone set up a top rope on both of these, and I tried them. It took a lot of encouragement and time, but I managed to reach the top of both and also of a route nearby that was chossy and mossy at the top, increasing the difficulty of the route and increasing my struggles. By the end of the day, I was sore and tired but I felt accomplished and returned to the rock gym with more confidence and finesse.
Events occurred: November 2-4, 2012
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
Sand Rock, Alabama is one of the prettiest places to rock climb and one of the easiest to access. By the time I went to Sand Rock, I actually knew something about the sport. I had finally purchased my own harness, ATC (belay device), carabiners, and a new pair of shoes that I hadn't even worn yet. Suffice to say my level of cockiness about rock climbing was at an all-time high. Climbing at Sand Rock only played to my ego. Though there are many routes to choose from, Jeff set up top ropes on some 5.6s and 5.7s because a majority of the trip consisted of new climbers. Insert ego. I easily completed all the routes on one particular wall without falling or struggling whatsoever. I was on top of the world, pleased with my successes and confident that I could dominate anything thrown my way.
Then I decided to take on an especially difficult 5.9 with a large crack and an overhang. Commence ego deflation. I struggled my way up to a ledge, where I played with the crack for at least 30 minutes. I got further and further up but I was leaning on my rope and resting frequently. Though I made it over half way up, I still felt defeated and rushed off to climb some 5.8s to make myself feel better. I also tried seriously bouldering for the first time, which was less of a failure than crack climbing had been.
I also ate my lunch on top of a large boulder overlooking a large lake in Alabama. Coincidentally, while enjoying the view, I also met a classmate of mine in OAR, Matt. He noticed that I was reading a textbook for my international relations class (since I had an exam the following week) and he asked me about it. It turned out that we were in the same section of the class and ended up sitting next to each other in class and becoming great friends.
That night, our group tried to camp in the alcoves of the rock wall but we discovered that this is not allowed. Still, our campsite was only a few feet away from the routes so we could wake up in the morning and immediately start climbing. Day two I decided to challenge myself, climbing a few more 5.9s. I also helped teach some of the new kids how to rappel, since Jeff had set up a rappel between two giant slabs of rock, a little gorge leading down to more climbing. I also climbed a tree to get back to the top of the rappel so I could do it multiple times.
Events occurred: January 27-29, 2012
When I decided to go to Mount Yonah, I was (once again) in over my head. I had been rock climbing inside a few times but outdoors was an entirely new concept to me. Advertised as a beginner rock climbing trip, I decided that this was as good a time as ever to go for it. At this point, I didn't have any of my own rock climbing gear, but the club has harnesses and even a pair of women's climbing shoes that just so happened to be my size. They also just so happened to have a giant hole in the toe of one of the shoes, so I sacrificed a sock that weekend for the sake of climbing. We arrived at the parking lot around 2 AM or so but that wasn't the end of the night. We had to hike about two miles uphill, almost to the top of the mountain. A novice climber and hiker, I thought nothing of two miles and hiked the entire thing in flip flops, carrying a foam armory that I had purchased for the trip from the dollar section at Target in addition to the rest of my gear. Somehow, I aced the hike and was the first of my group to arrive at the top by a long shot. When I returned to Mount Yonah this past semester, I found myself sprinting ahead again with unlikely energy.
The campsite was just a short hike away from the climbing wall. I was up and ready to go, so I followed Jeff and some of the other more experienced climbers toward the wall. What I didn't realize was that they were heading to the top to set up the ropes and rappelling down to the bottom of the climbing wall. I had no idea what a rappel was or how to do it, so when Jeff offered the rope to me, I backed away and headed back down to camp. I found another group of climbers from OAR and we headed to the bottom of the wall together. Though the views were spectacular, I was terrified of where we had set up. To get to the climbing, we had to scramble up several large boulders and hold on to a metal cable for support. We saw some Boy Scouts in the area who had clipped in to the metal cable for extra safety. We did not do that. Yet, I still headed up with everyone else, carrying foam swords and axes with the intention of having sword fights on the climbing wall while suspended from ropes.
I knew nothing about the ratings of different rock climbing routes, which start around 5.4/5.5 and increase by 0.1 with difficulty, culminating in 5.15b. I think I was climbing 5.6s at this point but I didn't even know that. I just tied myself in and climbed. The adrenaline rush, mostly fueled by fear, was incredible. I loved it. I wanted to learn everything about rock climbing and I was asking questions about routes, gear, etc... I also liked the wall and sitting in the sun with my new friends. I hiked around the area briefly, taking in all the views.
The next day, we hiked down to a lower wall and climbed some more difficult routes. Perhaps I should specify: other people climbed harder routes, I mostly watched in awe. They also set up a rappel at the top that you could hike up to. It looked like fun but also terrifying. I had never rappelled before unless you count being lowered by my belayer after climbing, which I don't consider rappelling since someone else is in control of your actions. I finally garnered the courage to rappel. Carolanne helped me set up my harness and rappel device and encouraged me to step over the edge once she made sure I had doubled back all the straps, which I had not. This took a lot of convincing but once I was on rappel, I realized how safe I felt and how much fun I was having hanging on a rope several feet above the ground. I actually liked the control and the ability to go as quickly or as slowly as I wanted. Since then, I have rappelled over a 100 times and I still feel fear and adrenaline pulse through my body every time I step over the edge.
Events occurred: October 7-9, 2011
It all started my fourth week of college back in 2011. I had signed up for a "list serve," an entirely new concept to this doe-eyed college freshman, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. OAR (outdoor adventure recreation) was the best organization I could have ever stumbled upon. I joined the list serve and dove in immediately, responding to my first two emails with minimal hesitation. The first was for a backpacking trip that upcoming weekend and the second was rock climbing at a local indoor gym, the Gainesville Rock Gym (GRG). I had only ever been rock climbing once before, at a gym in my hometown at the end of my senior year of high school. Quite frankly, I was, and still am, terrified of heights. Yet, I often seem to put myself in situations where I am dangling off a rope on the side of a mountain or jumping out of an airplane, such as my first (and only) tandem skydive, another senior year exploit. I didn't know anyone going and the only information I had was the location of the gym and the name of the guy I was meeting, Michael. He had a gym membership and a monthly free pass for newbies that he was offering. I emailed him and thus embarked on my first OAR adventure. Climbing was easy, though in retrospect, I wasn't climbing anything particularly strenuous. I learned how to belay and was shocked that this guy, who had never met me before, was willing to take a chance and let this novice control his life with a rope and a belay device. I've learned since then that this is the OAR way: embracing new comers and eagerly teaching them skills to engage in various outdoor activities.
Meeting up with this group of rock climbers, all of various skill levels and personalities, ended up being the first of many random adventures culminating in a late night return to my dorm and weird looks from my roommate. The night started with rock climbing but certainly didn't end with it. Apparently, it was "talk like a pirate day," so a small group of us, four including me, decided to go paddling on some creek I had never heard of. We headed off to the Gear Shed, an old shed located on a piece of property that we share with the UF Bee Bio Unit. At first glance, I was skeptical. The shed is surrounded by an old fence with barbed wire and the key is hidden in a lock box on the ground, typically obscured by leaves. All of the clubs canoes and kayaks are piled up on some old, rusty racks and the rest of the gear is scattered within the shed. Yet, I ventured on, climbing into Carolanne's SUV and surrounding myself with paddles and life jackets. The paddle was a complete failure. We pulled off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and bumbled through overgrown brush and trees to find this creek. It was mostly dry and by the time all four of us had plopped ourselves into the canoe, we had sunk down into the muck. We "paddled" about three feet in each direction before giving up on the idea. Or at least, I had given up on the idea. The rest of the group didn't back down so easily. We took off on foot to find another place for our canoe, creeping under a bridge and meeting some mosquitos and spiders. After that, we all declared the evening over and returned to the gear shed. I headed back to my dorm, overwhelmed by the whole situation and excited for the impending trip I had that weekend, backpacking Gregory Bald Mountain on the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the Smokies.
Events occurred: September 19, 2011
