A Brief Hiatus

It's been a while - holidays, work, life's distractions, and of course climbing, have gotten in the way of keeping this thing somewhat current.  Not too much has been happening in our little bubble - perhaps another reason for the lack of posts.  This jump back into the swing of things may just be a mechanism to satiate my compulsive tendencies - so bear with me..

Upon returning from our foray down South, Lund and I headed out to a ridgeline tucked away in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut.  Climbable rock was sparse but we did manage to uncover some hidden gems that may hold a choice line or two..

A week or so after this we headed out again to an area just north of the aforementioned spot.  In a sizeable jumble of blocks we located a beautiful overhanging arete.  Alas, someone beat us to the punch.  We found a built landing and scrubbed/chalked holds..

Our search wasn't in vain - next to the arete was a large, gently overhanging wall with the possibility for some quality lines.  We shall see..

Back at the Bouldering Barn there has been a revival of route setting and climbing since the snow has moved in.  In an effort to pump heat upstairs on a particularly chilly night, the diesel furnace started puffing out clouds of noxious black smoke.  We quickly relocated to the bar rather than chance death by carbon monoxide.  We're working on fixing the kinks in that system..

More noteworthy was a Rhode Island day trip to visit Shane and sample the granite of Lincoln Woods.  The speedometer on my car shit the bed 20 minutes in.  Being that the odometer is dependent on this device, and that my fuel gauge is also shot, I had no reliable way to know how much gas I had other than taking notes on where I drove - a not so welcome task.

We made it there no worse for the wear, spent the night, and headed to Lincoln in the morning.  The climbing there isn't my favorite (eliminates, graffiti, trash, etc.), but for an urban bouldering area it's pretty impressive as far as the amount of problems go.  Not to mention the weather was perfect - 50 degrees, sunny, light breeze..in the middle of January.

Andy on Straight Razor V6

The only send worth mentioning was Andy's go on Straight Razor V6.  Also, haunting us the entire day was the stench of Garlic Man - a mythical creature that emerges when an excessive amount of garlic stench hybridizes with a substantial chug-a-lug of cheap beer.  Watch out.  A good visit overall.

I am currently writing this from the Stone Cup Cafe in Chattanooga, TN.  Cal and I are down here on a trip to Rocktown - details to follow.

Also, I'm entertaining the idea of adopting a crag cat - anyone have leads on a stray that may be proficient in guarding food at camp, providing a solid spot, and will work for sardine scraps?

-Ryan