Audrey and I have finally left The Red River Gorge, and I have added some photos to the gallery for the Red. We are currently chilling out in Knoxville at our friends', Craig and Noell, and hoping to do some climbing here before heading farther south.

On Tuesday our mission was to go to The Sanctuary in Muir Valley so Audrey could try and redpoint Prometheus Unbound, a route she had tried on Sunday and really wanted to go back to. After hanging out at the campground a little longer than we probably should have we hiked on down to The Solarium where Audrey warmed up. It was cold but at least it was sunny. On Prometheus I numbed out a little but managed to do it and put the draws up. On Audrey's first burn she spent quite a bit of time and energy trying to find a rest where she had seen other people resting and ended up falling through the crux pockets. After hanging on the rope and finding the rest she came down, rested a bit and then redpointed it with ease leaving me to toprope it and get the draws off. With our current projects in the red all cleaned up we headed back to Lago Linda's and started packing up. Unfortunately it was too late to leave that evening but we were able to sort a lot of stuff.

Wednesday was supposed to be the best weather day of the week and it seemed silly to let a great day of climbing pass. I had left our stick-clip down at Drive-By and that seemed like as good of an excuse as any to go there and climb again. I wanted to climb Easy Rider and equip some fixed draws, also clean it up a bit and throw some more chalk on it. My first time up it today I was cleaning more holds and placing the draws and I still have no idea what to grade it. Audrey got on it but was tired from the previous day and didn't go to the top. I climbed it again swapping out draws, cleaning more holds and after four times up the route now I still have no idea what to grade it! Honestly to me it feels about 5.12c but we'll see how it settles out. We hiked out, loaded up the van and drove down to Knoxville to meet up with Craig and Noell.

Fortunately for us Craig was willing to play tour guide on Thursday and we headed out to climb at The Obed. It was still pretty cool today and Craig recommended we go to Tierrany, a south facing wall that would collect the sun all day. I had heard a little bit about The Obed but had never been there before. I expected steep roof climbing and there's plenty of that but I was blown away by the quality and variety of the vertical to slightly overhanging lines. As we walked in there was rock everywhere along the river. We dropped down a gully and walked around the corner to Tierrany and I was amazed by how big it was. The top of the cliff was 35-40 meters tall and there were a couple of steeper sections that started out vertical and then kicked back out these huge roofs. I was still feeling stiff from the days of bolting new routes last week and was happy to warm up on a 5.10 and a 5.11 that Craig suggested. After that I was feeling great. The sun was out and we were climbing without shirts on but the air was still cool and if a cloud covered the sun it got cool quick. I onsighted a long route called Huecool Senior, one of the routes that goes straight out a roof in the middle of the wall and then continues up fun climbing to the top. I then tried to flash a bouldery route called What's Her Face?, I made it through the lower boulder problem but failed to stick a dyno (dyno for me) near the top. However, after hanging on the rope I managed to figure out some beta to do the move statically which suited me much better and I did the route second try. In between burns on What's Her Face? I did a more technical route called Canyon Man that required some funky footwork. Audrey was having fun warming up on some of the less steep walls but near the end of the day she tried this very, very steep route called Jungle Jane. Climbing big roofs is always a little disturbing for the mind. The rock just disappears below you and your center of gravity feels different. Audrey has not climbed very many roofs but launched out throwing her legs around for heel hooks and toe hooks. She fell right near the anchors when a foot slipped and pulled her off. All in all I had a great day of climbing and will probably return again. Thursday evening we went to Bentley Brackett's house for some homemade chili and what turned out to be quite a bit of beer.

We woke up today with no idea what our plans were. I knew we were resting but wasn't sure if we were going to drive down to Chatannooga or not. As it turns out Audrey made an appointment with a chiropractor and was fortunate enough to get in. I spent the day working and doing some research and it looks like we are going to stick it out here in Knoxville until Sunday, hopefully we'll get a chance to go out climbing with Craig and Noell again.

After spending a few days at Drive-By with Audrey working Dirty Smelly Hippie, and Kenny working Kaleidescope I had quite a bit of time to walk around and look for new lines. After rapping down the cliff a few times last week I finally pulled out the drill and plugged some bolts into the cliff.

Last Monday was a rest day. Kenny, Audrey and I started off in Richmond where we did some laundry and spent some time in the coffee shop before heading to Lexington to try and buy some bolts, do some shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and meet up with some friends for dinner. I couldn't believe how hard it was to buy bolts. We must've called 4 or 5 people asking where to go and each place was either out or didn't carry what we wanted. It wasn't until almost 5 o'clock that we called one last shop and raced over there to grab some bolts. I bought 50 bolts and two drill bits in anticipation of a big week. We went for dinner with Matt Brotherton and his wife Nicole, Aussie Jason, Paul Vidal and Hugh Loeffler at a place called Pazzo's, a pizza pub with a good selection of beer.

It was cool Tuesday morning but sunny and we headed for The Solar Collector/Dark Side area. Jason McClennan (Aussie Jason) had done the first ascent of a route called Psychopathy, 5.12c and at dinner the night before I had promised him I'd try it. After warming up I did try it, and flailed miserably. The crux move is a big move off a sharp crimp to a small pocket. Actually the move itself took me a few tries just to do. I didn't try the route a second time but will have to go back for the redpoint. After getting beat down on that route I hiked over to The Darkside to watch Audrey on The Force, and maybe take a few photos. Fortunately a climber from Columbus, Brandon, was there to give Audrey a belay so I could hang a rope and take some photos. The climb was a little damp and Brandon went up first to dry the holds (he was trying the route as well) and then Audrey went for the redpoint. The route itself it hard and bouldery down low but we've seen quite a few people fall near the top. Audrey had not linked through to, and clipped, the fourth bolt. On this attempt however she looked in control as she clipped the fourth bolt and fought her way to a rest a little higher. She had never been to the upper moves on redpoint before and had said she thought she could fall on any move up there. Fortunately she didn't fall on any of the moves and within minutes of starting the climb she was clipping the chains. Yet another hard fought battle won by Audrey.

With the Audrey's job done at The Darkside we headed back over to Drive-By for Kenny to finish off Kaleidescope and me to start bolting some lines. I started by dropping a line in and putting some anchors on an extension to Head And Shoulders. Head and Shoulders is a pretty pumpy 5.11d that follows a layback crack up to just past mid-height of the cliff. The current anchors were at the top of the crack but I thought it could go to the top. The next route was about 30 feet left of the Head And Shoulders anchors and I thought I would bolt this fully first. This route was a real bitch to bolt. Even getting down to where I wanted to put anchors was scary. After lowering over the top roof I pulled myself in against the wall by putting cams in dirty pockets. It was a relief to be able to redirect the rope through the first bolt I put in. However the line I wanted to bolt was a steep diagonal line so I couldn't just lower in. I ended up having to use a combination of cams to hold me against the wall and then a line anchored at the base of the wall to try and tension my body in as well. It was grueling, scary work. A few times cams would blow out as a I lowered onto them and each time it was a little frightening. I thought I'd get the line finished in one afternoon but with darkness approaching I still needed to add a few more bolts.

On Wednesday we returned to Drive-By so I could continue bolting. Kenny wanted to try and flash Dirty Smelly Hippy and Audrey tried a few routes she had not been on before. I managed to clean up the bottom of the route I was bolting and get the last few bolts in. The extension to Head And Shoulders was quite easy to bolt, fortunately, but required a bit of scrubbing at the top. After finishing off those two lines I moved the rope about 200 feet to the right and dropped in on another line there. Again this route was a steep, angling line that didn't look like it would be as hard to bolt as the first one but would still take time. I managed to get the anchors in quite easily and then lowered down roughly two cam placements each time and got three more bolts placed before calling it quits on the drilling front for the day. I lowered off and walked back over to try the first route I bolted (named Beer Belly). I had tried it once just to clean it earlier and it had quite a hard boulder sequence in it but I was really tired from jugging lines and drilling for the past two days. I managed to redpoint it late in the day but couldn't comment on the grade, every move felt desperate. Probably 5.13a or so. Audrey had tried the extension once (Knees And Toes) but didn't redpoint it. We then returned to Lago Linda's and starting prepping for the Thanksgiving dinner the following night. I have no idea how many potatoes I peeled but it was a lot!

Thursday morning was cold and grey and we were back at Drive-By for me to do some more bolting and Audrey to finish up Knees And Toes. I dragged my ass up the line about 90 feet and started drilling again. The first bolt I tried to put in wouldn't set. The bolts they use here are the five piece bolts where the bottom cone has to set in the rock and then get pulled into a sleeve in order to expand. If the cone doesn't set then the bolt will just spin. At the time I was hanging on a Metolius green cam (number 6) that was tipped-out in a pocket. Each time I shifted a little bit some sand would come out of the pocket as the cam scrapped the inside. I was just waiting for it to break the edge of the pocket and come flying out. So I tried to place a second bolt and it too kept spinning. I was getting frustrated and pissed off. Finally on my third attempt I managed to get a bolt to set and I clipped into it with a huge sense of relief. The next two bolts went in pretty easy but then the battery for the drill died. I had Kenny send up a new battery and I put in one new bolt. I then dropped a cam I needed and lowered to the ground. Kenny and Audrey had returned to Lago Linda's so Audrey could start cooking the turkey. I jugged back up the line and as I started to drill the next bolt the extra battery died as well. The cold weather really takes it out of the batteries. I had to lower down again and wait for Kenny to return. Fortunately he had put a battery on the charger for an hour or so and had brought it back. I jugged up again and managed to get the next four bolts in with no issues. We then headed to the Muir Valley where Kenny wanted to get some anchors in on a route he wanted to bolt. After that we returned to the campsite to have showers and get ready for dinner. And what a dinner it was; Turkey, Sweet Yams, Garlic Potatoes, Salad, Rolls, Corn, Pies... Yummy!

On Friday it was really cold and Audrey decided not to climb. Kenny and I went back to Muir Valley so he could finish bolting his route. That went pretty quick and while he was bolting I hiked around looking at other lines. I jugged up his route once, chalking holds and cleaning rock. Then he went up it, just bolt to bolt figuring out a sequence. It was freezing cold but I decided to try it once. My hands were numb but I made it up to the last bolt before taking, I didn't want to steal Kenny's first ascent... that and I was pumped and had no idea what to do. The top of the route is pretty hard, two big bouldery moves in a row. Great climbing though. Kenny tried it once more but with the cold he fell near the last bolt as well.

Saturday started out sunny and cold. A whole crew of us went back to Muir Valley. Audrey wanted to try and onsight a 5.12c at The Solarium, while other people scattered around the valley. With it being so cold Audrey did three routes to warm-up. I didn't want to interupt her warm-up so the only route I attempted was one on top-rope just to clean the draws. The route she was trying was in the sun but the rock was really cold and it looked like there would be a hard boulder problem down low which she might be a little cold for. She managed to stick it out through the lower boulder problem and then climb slow and in control, resting when possible all the way to the top. We then hiked over to The Sanctuary where Kenny's new line was. I put the draws up on Prometheus Unbound for Audrey, quickly tried Cherry Red and then belayed Audrey for a little while. Kenny redpointed his route (Name Dropper) first try and after all the trash talking I had been doing about stealing his first ascent I felt a little pressure to redpoint by the time I got on it. I was cold getting on it but managed to stick the upper crux moves to get the second ascent and walk away with a what little dignity I have still intact. I finished off the day by onsighting a route right beside Name Dropper called Peace Frog. Another great dinner, a movie and a friendly poker game finished off the evening back at the campsite.

On Sunday I finally returned to Drive-By to finish cleaning the long route over by Kaleidescope. Kenny was psyched to try Beer Belly while Audrey and Julie returned to The Sanctuary. When we arrived at the crag we realized we didn't have any quickdraws. Actually that's not true, we had two. In order to warm-up we threw together miscellaneous gear such as chain, mallions (quicklinks), and stainless steel fixe clips that are usually reserved for anchors. It was pretty hilarious. There I was placing mallions, screwing them shut, and climbing in street shoes. It worked though and we didn't die. Fortunately a friend showed up soon after with some quickdraws. We then did Knees And Toes which I think is a worthy extension and a decent warm-up. I then jugged a line again cleaning the route and chalking holds. It took forever! After lowering down I rested a little and then tied in for the first attempt. I was more worried about breaking a hold than not being able to do the moves. I climbed slowly and at one point starting pulling off a hold but felt it flex and reached past it. The route itself was tons of fun. Pretty easy climbing up good holds with some great rests. The top 20 feet was amazing and I can imagine that getting pumped up there would be scary. Fortunately I didn't get pumped or scared and managed to do the route first try. I was actually a little disappointed it was so easy. On my first lower-off I thought it might be as hard as 5.13c but after my first attempt I thought only 5.12d or 5.13a. I top-roped it once more to clean the draws and knock off a few more holds. For dinner we went down to Miguel's since it was their last open night of the year. Apparently Audrey had done well on Prometheus and it looks like we'll be around for a few more days so she can try it a few more times.

Today it is pouring rain. After six days of bolting, jugging lines and climbing steep routes I'm ready for a bit of rest. I'm just writing this update, doing some work and eating.

In the past week Audrey and I have climbed quite a bit despite some bad weather, we traveled to Louisville to host a clinic at the local climbing gym, Rocksport and I have finally onsighted a route I'm proud of here in The Red. It's not for lack of trying to onsight routes but mostly I've just run out of routes to try and onsight. I'm down to just a few here and there to try.

As forecast it rained pretty hard Monday night but Audrey and I decided to try and climb at a steep climbing area called The Darkside. It was quite a bit warmer than the last few days and sometimes warm weather plus rain = condensation on the rock. Surprisingly the rock was dry and we were able to climb. The only problem with The Darkside is that there are no good warm-up routes. We did this one called American Dreams that was quite bouldery and sharp, not a great warm-up. After that I tried a route called Big Burly that I had been on before but didn't really try too hard. This time however I wanted to tick it and move on. Unfortunately I again couldn't get my fingers in the crux pocket and even though I tried to downclimb the crux a few times I couldn't pull the move. After hanging for a bit I managed to find a sequence that allowed me to move left on crimps as opposed to having to squeeze my fat fingers in pockets. While I contemplated trying that route again Audrey went up The Force, a route she had tried before but hadn't been back on in a few weeks. She just went bolt-to-bolt working the moves and finding beta that she didn't know before. I quickly dispatched Big Burly and since Audrey was still resting I decided to try and onsight Straight Outta Campton, a route that was graded 13a in the guide. Now usually here in The Red River Gorge I can onsight a 13a when I'm a little tired. I quickly previewed the route and left the ground. It was pretty basic off the deck and before long I was in the hard band of pockets that stretches across the whole cliff. After getting through that I figured the hard part was over. Boy was I wrong. Pretty much every move through the top section was sloping holds or finicky pockets. I fell not far after the pockety section down low and from there to the top I fell almost every move! Either that route is a very, very hard 13a or I missed the trick for every move!

It was even warmer on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning there was a heavy fog lying over the campsite, not a good sign. We decided to go back to The Darkside but this time we warmed up at The Solar Collector. The routes there were a little damp but at least we were able to climb, however over at The Darkside the holds were soaked from condensation. It wasn't even worth trying to climb. So we decided to go fill up Kenny's Jeep with gas and try to climb at The Chocolate Factory. To fill up with gas we had to go out to the main road which is always a little tricky in Kenny's Jeep. Sure enough after getting gas I pulled out and a police car was the first vehicle to catch up to us. Trying to be discrete I took the first turn and waited a few minutes before continuing. Down at The Chocolate Factory the holds were pretty wet but I could try them with chalk and a brush. Unfortunately the humid weather made my skin soft and I put a hole in my right index finger pretty quick. Oh well. We called it a day early and decided to try and drive to Lexington/Louisville that evening. I first went for a run and just as I was finishing my run it started pouring. By the time I had a shower and was ready to go there was a river running under our van. It made the drive down to Lexington quite interesting. Down in Lexington we stopped in to visit Dr. Ed and his wife Allison. Allison had given birth to a baby daughter a few weeks ago and we had not been able to get in to visit. Fortunately they were available and the baby was awake when we arrived. We stayed for awhile and chatted, actually we stayed later than we had expected and ended up taking Edward and Allison's invitation to stay in a guest room.

It was amazingly cold Thursday morning as we drove out to Louisville. It was even snowing lightly when met up with Rob Butsch, the owner of Rocksport. We wanted to get there early to set some drills and finish the preparations for the clinics. Rob had organized two clinics; a beginner technique clinic and an advanced training clinic. In between setting the drills and the actual clinics I managed to get some climbing in. The routes and boulder problems were really good and I set one myself that I didn't really get a chance to try but I was excited about it. The beginner clinic was pretty standard, mostly climbers that had been climbing for less than a year and who just needed to become more aware of how to move efficiently. The advanced training clinic was pretty fun. Most of the climbers had been climbing for over five years and just needed direction in their training. I ran them through a basic strength training night but spent a lot of time talking about how to incorporate structured training into their climbing. After the clinic we went for dinner and it's always a good time drinking beer and bullshitting about climbing. After dinner Audrey and I headed to a hotel where we crashed out.

We slept in and spent the morning watching TV for the first time in months. Neither of us was psyched to jump in the car for the drive back to Lago Linda's. After a stopping at a coffee shop to do some work and use the Internet we were back at the campsite. Kenny and Julie had driven down from Columbus and Kenny was excited because he had just bought the ultra-classic hockey movieSlapshot. Needless to say I think Kenny and I were more into the movie than Audrey or Julie. What a movie... so many great quotable lines.

It was fortunately sunny Saturday morning although a little on the cold side. We were all a little slow moving in the morning waiting for it to warm up but amazingly it was almost too hot by the time we arrived at Drive-By. I just did a few warm-up pitches, nothing fancy while Kenny tried Kaleidescope. Once we were done at Drive-By we headed over to The Darkside, I really wanted to get back on Straight Outta Campton while Audrey wanted to get back on The Force. It was definitely coolar at The Darkside since the crag never goes in the sun and I wanted to climb as soon as we hiked up. I only vaguely remembered the beta but fortunately I remembered the route being much harder than it actually was. I was psyched to have to try really, really hard but only had to try slightly hard. As I lowered from the anchors I took a quick look at the neighbouring route called Swingline, a 13d and the hardest route at The Darkside. Since I felt pretty good on Straight Outta Campton I thought I should try and onsight Swingline. Lowering down I thought I saw where the crux would be and unfortunately it looked like there were a few options. I prefer when the sequence for a crux is simple but this one had chalk all over the place. I rested a few minutes between burns since I didn't want to get too cold and then I went for it. Swingline was one of the few routes that I had been saving for the onsight for awhile. I had heard that it was hard and not many people get on it but I was running out of onsight routes. The thing I hate about saving a route for the onsight is that I always feel a little pressure to do it, otherwise it wouldn't have been worth saving it. The bottom of the route flowed pretty good and before long I was staring at the crux sequence. Usually when I climb I'm pretty dynamic, deadpointing between holds but on onsight you have to climb static in case a hold you reach to isn't that good. I was trying extra hard to climb statically and get each hold right. At one point I was on a bad sloping bulbous hold with my left and I could feel myself sliding but I managed to hold on long enough to get my right hand up to a slightly incut crimp. From there I had to move my feet out left and really pull my body in to reach up to a small pocket. Those were probably the crux moves and fortunately right after those moves you are standing and holding onto good holds, staring at about 10 feet of easy climbing to the anchor. After putting pressure on myself it's always nice to climb well and get the onsight. For dinner we had a feast complete with a nice bottle of wine Audrey and I had bought on Friday. We watched Dude, Where's My Car?, drank some beers and ate chocolate. Not a bad day all in all.

Today was a little warmer in the morning and we managed to get out of the campsite a little earlier. Again we started out at Drive-By for Kenny to try Kaleidescope. While everyone else was warming up I hiked up around the cliff to try and drop a rope over a few different lines that I want to try and bolt. Two of them are variations on a current climb while the third tackles some pocket climbing left of Kaleidescope. Fortunately access to the clifftop was quite simple and there was even a road at the top that the oil companies use. After checking out the first two lines, both of which I'll probably bolt I moved over to the one next to Kaleidescope and dropped the line. I briefly looked at that climb before pulling out the camera and shooting people on Kaleidescope. Audrey was trying it first, just going bolt to bolt working it which is actually better for photos because I could make her back down and redo moves. She did great on it, pulling all the moves and looking good while doing so. Kenny gave it a great burn and couldn't have fallen any higher, literally falling tagging the finishing jug. We left the crag early since July needed to head back to Columbus.

Tomorrow is a rest day and we have to go into town to do some shopping. I want to buy some bolts while Kenny and Audrey are planning a Thanksgiving dinner for Thursday. The weather looks good for Tuesday and Wednesday so hopefully we'll be able to get out climbing and earn the dinner.

Well it's been awhile since I've written anything, two weeks almost. Audrey and I are still in The Red River Gorge and we'll probably be here another two weeks or so.

At the end of October we drove JJ and Marshal to Louisville for their flight to Hueco and then Audrey and I drove up to Cleveland. On Thursday morning we attended the burial of a family friend and fortunately the weather was quite nice for everyone to hang out and socialize for a bit. On Friday I worked most of the day and then in the evening Audrey and I took two of her nephews and her niece to the climbing gym in Cleveland. We were hoping to climb a bit and stretch out but the kids needed to be belayed and they were really enjoying themselves so we ended up only climbing for about an hour or so. Saturday morning I went for a haircut and then Saturday afternoon one of Audrey's cousins was getting married. The ceremony itself was pretty good. It was a catholic ceromony and the priest, a proper irish priest, even suggested that Jesus and his disciples were alchoholics, and that was why Mary asked Jesus to make more wine for the wedding (apparently his first miracle). It was pretty humorous in my opinion. The reception was really fun. Audrey's cousin (Veronica) is quite young, early 20s, and the whole bridal party was a little 'tipsy' when they showed up for the reception but it set the tone for the night. Sunday we ran some errands and celebrated Audrey's birthday with her family and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning playing Guitar Hero. That game is awesome! Monday was just the long drive back to Kentucky.

It was really cool, cold actually, when we returned to Kentucky and on Tuesday we were searching for the sun. We went down to Drive-By where we just played around. It was hard to stay warm and as soon as the sun left the cliff we were done. I went for a run when we got back to the campsite but running when it is that cold out is hard on my lungs and knees.

Wednesday we went out to the Solar Collector/Gold Coast area. At least there it is warm if the sun comes out and it was pleasant for warming up but again it was hard to stay warm. We did a few of the routes on the Solar Collector but I wanted to try Black Gold over on The Gold Coast. I had tried the route on my first trip to the red six years ago but on my onsight attempt I broke a lot of holds on it and left thinking it was a piece of crap. Since then I had heard lots of people raving about the route and have wanted to get back on it. So we walked over there and I started up it, worried about breaking holds. Fortunately I didn't break and holds and managed to climb it first try. I then tried another 5.13c called 100 Ounces of Gold. This one was quite dirty and doesn't see a lot of traffic. Apparently a key hold had broken on it and sure enough there was a very definite crux section. I didn't try the route a second time but might if we are back in the area.

We rested Thurday since it was still cool and rained a little in the morning. A nice day spent in Richmond at a coffee shop. On Friday Audrey wanted to go back to Drive-By and finally get back on Dirty Smelly Hippie, a route she had tried when we first got to Kentucky but she had not been on it in a few weeks. She went up it twice and managed to find some really good beta for clipping during the middle of the crux. Finding the new beta got her excited enough to want to try the route again. We returned on Saturday for her to try the route and I wanted to get some photos of her on it. While Audrey was warming up I decided to try and rope-solo Dirty Smelly Hippie to get a rope up for the photos. I've only rope-soloed indoors when route setting but I knew the concepts involved and had picked up a few tips from Canadian rope-solo master Stephane Perron. Basically I anchored a figure-eight on a bite to the first bolt and a second figure-eight to the second bolt. I then clove-hitched loops of rope to quickdraws on my harness and attached myself to the rope with a gri-gri (not recommended use). As I climbed I would drop a loop of rope from the quickdraws on my harness and then pull the rope through the gri-gri, resorting to my teeth if necessary. Amazingly this worked and I did the whole route like that! Better than climbing the route I was able to get a rope up and take some photos of Audrey's attempt. She cruised the bottom and nailed the sequence for the crux clip perfectly. The final few hard moves looked really easy for her and I didn't even have time to adjust my position on the rope to get those shots since she redpointed it right then! We might have to go back and get some better photos.

Later in the day I hiked up to Bob Marley with Kenny Barker. I wanted to try a route called Sugar Magnolia that is usually quite dirty but since people had been trying it recently it was supposed to have cleaned up a bit. Kenny wanted to move one bolt on Sugar Magnolia, and then move some bolts on MILF Moneu. I tried to onsight Sugar Magnolia and made it up onto the slab but then forgot that it was slab climbing and deadpointed for a hold when I should've kept my hips against the wall and gone statically. Gets me every time... The route itself is really good. I managed to redpoint it third try. The bottom is a little bouldery, then you get a good rest and after that it is really good technical climbing to the top. The quality is very high and I hope people keep getting on it to keep it clean.

Yesterday Audrey had organized a 'girls day' where a bunch of the girls around Lago Linda's all went out climbing together to the Military Wall/Left Flank area. Since the girls were all going there we boys decided to go to Purgatory. Kenny wanted to redpoint The Castle Has Fallen and a bunch of people wanted to work Dracula '04 (the best 13b in the red). I did all three 13s there and then Kenny and I headed over to The Chocolate Factory. I had not been back there since Sean's last day here. I was hoping the cooler temps would make it nicer to work the route but unfortunately it was ridiculously warm and sunny when we got back there. I managed to figure out new beta for a few moves but still couldn't do the dyno near the top. I'm not sure how much more I'm going to work it on this trip. It is really hard for me but I do enjoy the moves and I know that even for trying it I'll become a better climber. After that Kenny and I sat in The Motherlode parking lot drinking some beer waiting for people to drive out and leave for the day. We returned to Lago Linda's and waited for Audrey and Julie to come back from climbing with some pizza. Kenny and Julie had brought down a nice bottle of wine and what goes better with wine than pizza?

Today's another rest day. Three days on here kills my skin and I'm again sitting in a coffee shop surfing the Internet and doing some work.