Then We Went West

The famous Jack Rabbit at Wall Drug
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It was quite the bitter-sweet feeling we had when we packed up the afternoon on the 8th of February and said goodbye to all of Joe’s family and got into the car to officially head west before start work for the season.

When I say we went west I mean we went north,  back to the Adirondacks to be exact. For more ice climbing, as I am sure most of you would guess.

No time was wasted and we were up bright and early the next day to start climbing. There was a bit of heat spell from the last time we were here so when we arrived it was slightly drippy but ended up looking surprisingly well.

The route we chose for the day was called “Ice Slot”. A WI4 right next to “Hot Shot” where we climbed last time.  This route ended up not being what we had hoped. After some tricky lines and the ice not being ideal, we both climbed about 3 times and called it a day.

In the morning we woke up to a breezy but wonderfully sunny day and opted to go for a hike instead of climbing more ice. After a little searching around, we decided to hike up Hurricane Mountain. With just over 2000 ft of elevation gain, this hike ended up being a small resemblance of climbing a big mountain. Walking up to a ridge line, then a short steep section to a very windy and cold summit. After almost getting blown off the fire tower at the top, we hiked down. Feeling pretty proud of ourselves after a very successful hike, (the first real hike of the year) we decided to celebrate with some $8.00 pizza at Stewarts gas station.

Lots of driving on snowy roads with pretty cabins
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Saying our goodbyes to the Adirondacks until hopefully next year, we started driving towards Canada. We knew there was a big storm coming through but we were both hopeful to find some ice. The idea of having some Canadian ice experience under our belts and on our climbing resume was very intriguing.  So we arrived at the border crossing and were promptly searched before we were allowed to cross the border. It ended up not being super thorough and we were on our way with no problems.

As we drove further north the sky started to darken and the snow began to fall. Before we knew it we were driving in a bit of snow storm. After a few hours we arrived at the ice where we had hoped to climb and were not super impressed. Not a great place to set up a top rope and it was getting late, with the storm starting to worsen. So after 4 hours of driving north we started driving back south towards Ottawa. The next morning the snow was starting to thicken as we drove to Tim Horton’s and enjoyed a delicious breakfast that is customary to being in Canada, or so I’ve heard.

Right before the wiper was "wiped out"
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Throughout the day, our small snowstorm grew a considerable amount. The ice on the windshield prevented us from seeing so we pulled over to scrape the windshield wipers before continuing. I scraped away the unwanted ice and with one final flick on the driver side wiper, the wiper itself flew dramatically into the snow. What could have halted our forward progress until after the storm ended up being a fairly straightforward fix. After a little tinkering, a rubber band and one hair tie, we tied it back into place and were back on the road.

We spent the rest of the day and some of the night, white knuckle driving through the Canadian snowstorm towards Michigan. We slept at a truck stop feeling so relieved to be done driving till the next day.

Joe climbing on the Curtains
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We arrived mid morning to the US border and were greeted with a smiling face and a couple of questions before we drove through with no issues. Our objective was to get into Munising, Michigan for the upcoming weekend Michigan Ice Festival.

Munising was such a nice relief to the winter driving that we had spent the last few days enduring. Not to mention the ice, as you looked down the shores of Lake Superior all you can see is walls of ice. The ice in Munising is so unique, large amphitheaters with pillars of ice that range in size and difficulty. So much so, that there are too many to count. Across the lake on Grand Island, the cliff face doesn't show a piece of rock. The ice extends hundreds of feet back down to the lake to create endless hours of climbing available for those willing to cross the frozen lake.

TuTu Tuesday
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Our first day in Munising was a day well spent. There are plenty of well known climbs in the area that are close to the road and we decided to get the lay of the land by climbing at the Curtains for our first climb. We got to the base of the climb to arrive to a few other climbers who kindly let us hop on their rope and get a warm up climb in. They started to talk about having a tutu for TuTu Tuesday and I thought they were joking until they pulled it out and Joe promptly put it on and climbed away. After some good laughs, we said our goodbyes and hopped on another route just nearby before hiking down to a very well known climb called the “Dryer Hose”. Which ended up having a class of climbers on it so we called it a day and went back to the car.

That evening rather than celebrating Valentines day over a fancy dinner with roses and chocolates we opted to go back to the Dryer Hose and do some night climbing and maybe some photography. As we got to the base of the climb the beautiful blue sky was quickly swallowed by grey clouds that brought wind and snow as the sun dipped below the horizon. The climb was wet, and as we climb we were getting quite the rain shower. The trouble of only having two of us for climbing photography, is the fact that we both are busy when we're climbing. One climbs and the other has to belay. Which leaves no one to take the photos. So Joe would set up the camera on a tripod and I would hopefully be able to light up the climb with the flash while still belaying. After more than a few shots, and both of us climbing, we were able to get one great photo. I don't think either of us would've enjoyed celebrating Valentine's Day any other way.  

The Dryer Hose on Valentines Day 2017
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The next day we slept in after a night of climbing and were glad we weren't braving the outdoor weather because the storm that had blown in the night before was relentless. Cold, and blowing snow from the lake made for an unpleasant day to be anywhere outside. So instead we enjoyed a signature meal from the upper peninsula called a Pasty (and no, its not what you think it is!). If you ever get the chance to go and enjoy this part of the country I highly recommend one of these tasty treats. This day was the first day of the Michigan Ice Festival, so that night there was the first of many evening presentations that were to come.

Knowing that the week ahead was to only bring in more climbers to the ice and the temperatures were going to rise. We opted to get up bright and early on Thursday morning and broke trail before the sun rose. After 2 hours and more than two miles later we walked to the top of a climb, which neither of us knew what would be below the edge. Once we rappelled down to the base of the climb, the pillar in front of us was immense but so beautiful. I climbed first and was taken aback by how hard the climb ended up being. Quite vertical and tall, it ended up being one of the harder pillars on the lake shore (which we later found out). After we knew we only had one more climb left in us we had to climb the pillar with our backpacks on, to hike out. Which so happened to be my first time climbing ice with a backpack on.  By the time I had made it to the top of the climb I was pooped. Plus, we still had a 2.7 mile hike back out to the car. After a long morning, we had some lunch and hung out until that night's presentation with Ari Novak and Tim Emmett.

Joe on Midnight Rambler WI4+
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Feeling fairly tired the next day we mostly just hiked around and listened to some of the clinics going on.  The ice was packed with climbers and the weather was warming up. As you walked from one pillar to the next you could see the warm temperatures melting away the already fragile ice. Another evening was spent listening to Anne Gilbert Chase and Vince Anderson, who both gave great presentations.

Saturday was another day where we spent most of the day listening to clinics being taught. We did get the chance to listen to Will Gadd teach his intermediate ice class. Both Joe and I felt that if we had the chance next year to join in on any class we would love to join in a class with him. Saturday night was the big night for presentations. We watched the film Meru and enjoyed a Q&A with Conrad Anker, listened to Will Gadd’s presentation and Conrad Anker came back to give his personal presentation later on that evening. Afterwards one of the best gear raffles in the country was underway and sadly we didn't win anything from that raffle but did get a chance to win a couple of things from the American Alpine Club raffle. If you had signed up over the weekend with the club (which both Joe and I did) then you got a chance to be in the raffle. You see though, it was a raffle where everyone could win. Even so, it ended up being a late night after waiting in lines for some of the climbers autographs and by the time we got back to the car it was pretty late.

The Badlands in a warm setting sun
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The next morning we tried to replicate our very successful early day of climbing on Thursday and once again we broke trail before the sun peaked over the horizon. We had a bit more of an idea of which climbs we would pass along the way. Sadly, one after the other each climb was a skeleton of what it used to be just a few days before. The warm temperatures had easily melted out most of the climbs in the area. We called it a day and as we were hiking the two miles back to the car you could hear ice falling in the distance and knew we had probably made a good choice.

We were officially headed west towards Bozeman, Montana. Just like in our typical fashion though we made sure to have a few stops along the way. It took us a day or two of driving but we arrived into Badlands National Park in the morning and ended up spending the day hiking around and going for a run in a warm 70 degrees. We spent the evening doing some sunset and night photography. Something we haven't done for a few months and made it feel like we had gone back in time to last fall.

The Badlands
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Keeping up with our productive streak, the day after the Badlands we drove up to go see Mt Rushmore. Joe had seen the memorial before but I had not. With it being on the way we made sure to stop by and take a look. Being a rock climber and knowing the immense size and strength of big granite walls, I was greatly impressed by what the undertaking Mt. Rushmore must of been.

After walking through the museum there, we drove just a few miles down to Crazy Horse. To those of you who don't know what Crazy Horse is, you can read all about it here. I thought Mt Rushmore was impressive but I was almost speechless at the work that is going into such a project just down the road from such a famous American monument. Even barely finished, Crazy Horse drowns Mt Rushmore with its sheer size.

Mount Rushmore
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So with that we hit the road once more and were about a day out from Bozeman. After spending the night in a Walmart parking lot we spent our last day of driving in quite the snow storm. The notorious I-90 was not kind to us for about the first hour and a half and made for slick and scary roads. Once the weather cleared up, we had a pretty straight forward drive to arrive into Bozeman earlier this week.

Our good friend from Aspen has a great place here in Bozeman and kindly offered for us to stay for a couple of weeks. Another perk is that, just outside of Bozeman is Hyalite Canyon. Which could possibly have some of the only ice that hasn't melted out in the country. We’ve already managed to get some great climbing in and are hoping to climb a few more times before the season is officially over. We joined in on a Mardi Gras party and have spent some time with great friends that we haven't seen in awhile.  

George Leads Genesis I, while I belay.
Hyalite Canyon
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I just flew out of Bozeman for a few days, for my first job commitment of the year.  Joe plans to stay in Bozeman while I work for 6 days. Once I get back here next week we will climb some more then drive back to Idaho, where it all began!

New England Ice Climbing

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We all know the expression “time flies when you are having fun”. Which sounds a lot like our last month here in New England. Although, it would probably be more along the lines of “time flies when you're climbing and being lazy”. Which more accurately sums up all of our time here. If we weren't climbing we were resting on the couch, enjoying the RNR.

We have managed to have gotten plenty of great climbing in recently. We ventured out of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and went a little more west to Keene Valley in the Adirondacks of New York. Keene Valley is well known to ice climbers. So much so, that we happened to hear of an ice climbing festival, called Mountain Fest, going on in the middle of January, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go and see what it was all about.

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We packed up the car and headed to New York on Friday night. Each night throughout the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) there was a presentation from an ice climber. On Friday we listened to Scott Bennett. Since it was our first time at the Mountain Fest we didn't really know what to expect, but we were intrigued by Scott’s adventures. Its great listening to somebody else describe their adventures, it inspires you to get outside and keep exploring

On Saturday we woke up to a sea of ice climbers. Coming from an ice climbing community of about eight in Idaho, I was shocked to see that so many other people actually knew what this sport was. We spent most of the day just getting the lay of the land. We drove the car around from one popular ice climbing area to the next, and I lost count of how many times I caught myself wide eyed and mouth opened in amazement at the amount of ice in the area. We walked out onto Chapel Pond, the frozen lake dividing the road from the mountain of ice, and watched in envy as talented climbers ascended multi pitch ice gullies, daggers, and slabs all across the cliff face.  We spent that evening laughing and socializing with other climbers at a spaghetti dinner inside the local volunteer fire station. The firefighters graciously put on a spaghetti munch for all the climbers as a fundraiser for the department. Afterwards, we listened to Kelly Cordes give us a hilarious, well spoken, and inspiring presentation on a life well lived.

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That night we walked by moonlight to try to scope out some climbs for the next day. One climb in particular caught our eye. We woke up bright and early the next day, but even so didn't beat the climbing guides out to the ice. Climbers were already on the climb that we had scoped out the night before, so after getting information from them about ice just a short ways down the canyon, we decided to head that way. We walked up to an 80ft piece of water ice that put a smile on both of our faces. Joe got creative and put a top rope up above the climb, and with that we spent about 4 hours lapping the ice and working on technique, and just having a great time. Needless to say even though we didn't climb the ice we had originally planned on, the day worked out really well!

That afternoon was spent napping in the car and killing time until our last presentation from Kevin Mahoney. A well known climber from the area who just so happened to have climbed big mountains all around the world. Many of the out-of-towners had peaced out so it made for a slightly different vibe that last night and there was a fun feeling of comradery.

After a great weekend, with sore muscles and renewed inspiration, we hopped in the car and drove back to Massachusetts that night. Just one day after our weekend away we hit the road again to go visit Joe's Mom and her husband. I had yet to meet them so I was looking forward to a trip up to Eastport, Maine. We ended up spending around 4 days there enjoying good food, seeing new places (including seeing the easternmost point in the Continental US), and spending time with family.

Linda and I
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We had set aside some time to go climbing with Joe’s sister, Melissa. After making our way back to Massachusetts (and waiting out some crummy weather: warm temperatures and rain) we finally got a good weather window, and decided to head back up to the Adirondacks.

In Keene Valley, there is so much ice you could probably spend months to years finding new places to climb. There are just endless options for ice climbing. Though we are still pretty limited, being that we aren’t leading ice yet.  Once we arrived Tuesday afternoon we decided to go to a fairly popular piece of ice. Pitch Off Right isn't very tall, but it is a good place for beginners and ice climbers who need to rub the rust off, and that was exactly what Melissa needed. By the time the sun went down we all got a chance to climb a few laps, the temperature was quickly dropping and the snow and wind were picking up. We grabbed an $8 pizza at the great gas station and warmed up before finding a camp spot out by Chapel Pond. It surprised us all when we were able to fit all three of us in the Suzuki quite comfortably, and we were all able to get a great night's rest after a long day.

Melissa
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One of the pleasant surprises of this climbing trip was the lack of people. Especially because last time we were up there for Mountain Fest the valley was filled with other climbers. The fact that we were there in the middle of the week made a huge difference, and though we did see a few other climbers, we pretty much had free reign of the ice.

So with that in mind we chose a 100ft, very vertical WI4 called “Hot Shot”- the climb we originally wanted to climb last time we were here. Joe went ahead and set up a top rope and I was the first to climb. This climb ended up being probably the longest and hardest climb I have done to date. After all was said and done, we were all able to climb it 3 times, and were pretty impressed with ourselves, or at least I was! At one point while I was climbing I had placed a tool and heard a crack within the ice that never seemed to end. There's not many things that can remind you of the risk you're taking more than hearing the ice crack under your tool. Luckily all was fine and the climbing proceeded without any problems. It was a day very well spent, not only that but it was great fun to have Melissa out there climbing ice with us.

Melissa
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We have arrived back to Massachusetts and are spending time once again regrouping and drying out gear, but more importantly we are reorganizing and getting ready to hit the road once more. Thats right! This week we plan to shove all our belongings back into the mobile humble abode and start driving back to Idaho. Not without a couple of stops along the way of course! Including another stop in New York, an ice festival in Michigan, and seeing some great friends in Bozeman, Montana.

"Hot Shot"
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So with that,  we will be saying our goodbyes to New England and Ice Climbing our way back to the Northwest!

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Champney Falls, New Hampshire

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The word “Climbing” is a broad term.  Most sports have multiple specialties within the discipline, and climbing is no different. In the past couple of years I have had the opportunity to try different types of climbing, including mountaineering, sport climbing, trad climbing, and bouldering and am looking forward to expanding my climbing horizons by trying more.

Of all the climbing I have tried up to this point, Ice climbing is by far my favorite.  Unlike rock climbing, Ice isn’t usually year round, and it forms only in places with ideal water flow and very cold temperatures.  Plus, in rock climbing you can feel the rock with your hands and feet, and in ice climbing you are using ice tools and crampons to ascend the ice.

I tried ice climbing for the first time last year with a good friend of mine, and I got the chance to climb all sorts of great stuff in Idaho. Now that I am in New England with Joe, both he and I have been itching to find some ice to climb. Especially since one of the mountaineering routes we have our eye on for this summer (The North Ridge of Mt. Baker) involves a large ice wall. This gives us even more incentive to brush up on our ice climbing skills.

Unlike in Idaho, Ice Climbing is much more prevalent here in New England. So much so that there is a website that provides updates on the conditions of the major ice climbing locations.  Joe and I had been watching the ice conditions online, and doing research on the different climbing areas. We wanted to make sure we could top rope the ice, and ended up deciding to go to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  

So last week we packed up the car and headed out towards North Conway, New Hampshire to a great climbing area on the north end of Cathedral Ledge. Though it was not very tall, it gave both Joe and I the chance to work on our technique. Ice climbing is completely different than rock climbing. Not many of the rock climbing techniques we gained from our road trip rolled over to the ice, so we spent an afternoon working on what we hoped was good technique.

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We spent a cold night in the car, and the next day drove to another climbing spot in the White Mountains. Champney Falls, located on the Kangamagus highway. It is a 45 minute hike to get to a small gully with the frozen falls. The hike in gives you a great warmup, and once we arrived we were greeted by a blanket of ice covering a wide cliff face. The best part was arriving and seeing no other climbers and had the whole place to ourselves.  We could pick and choose from all the different routes as we pleased. We set up a top rope on a smaller more vertical section of the ice and started climbing. As the ice got more vertical, the more tired you became, and before you knew it your technique flew out the window. After a few climbs my arms were dead.  Joe set up the rope to climb the taller section of ice only to burn out quickly. After he got to the top of the climb we decided to call it a day.

We have been lucky enough to get the chance to base out of Massachusetts and enjoy our rest time at Joe’s dad’s home. Where family comes and goes as they please as we all get to enjoy company and some R&R.

Champney falls ended up being such a great place to climb we decided that we wanted to go there again, but this time do some winter camping and climb there for two days. We waited through the weekend, which is usually when the ice is being climbed most. More importantly it was cold this weekend. When weather gets cold, it does the obvious- creates more ice.

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So we packed up all of our gear, hopped in the car on Monday and drove out to Champney Falls. It is about a 4 hour drive in the Suzuki and we arrived around noon and hit the trail by 12:30. By the time we arrived to the base of the falls we were amazed; after just a few days of not being there, the cold temperatures have expanded the ice by a noticeable amount.

Once Joe had set up the top rope we had a few hikers watching us climb. Starting the day on the shorter 15-20 ft. piece of ice, I burned out disappointingly fast. My second time up the ice my technique was gone and my arms were on fire. Not to mention it was cold, single digits if not lower. The moment any water would touch you it would automatically freeze to your clothes. As the temperature drops, the ice gets harder, which makes placing your tools more difficult. As an ice climber one of my weakest points is the swing needed to solidly place the ice tool, this ended up being my downfall on the first day of climbing and part of why I burned out so quickly.

 

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By the time we called it a day the sun was dipping below the horizon. We started to set up camp and placed the tent in the gulley right near the ice. Easily one of the coolest places I have ever camped. As the temperature continued to drop, Joe and I took turns cooking while the other person would run up and down the alley to keep warm. By the time we were getting ready to climb into bed the moon had crossed above the cliff wall and started to light up the ice. A sight I’m sure few get to see. That night we fell asleep listening to the water dripping off the massive icicles that surrounded the tent.

When we woke up the next morning the temperature was slightly warmer, and we had new motivation to climb. We ate a gourmet breakfast of Pop-Tarts and Shot Bloks and hopped on the ice by 8:30.

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We warmed up on the short piece of ice we had climbed the day before, both of us feeling surprisingly better about our technique. Whether it was the Pop-Tarts or the desire to warmup, I am not sure, but we both climbed well enough to set a good tone for the day.

Joe then set up a top rope for tallest section of ice in the gully, around 40 ft. The ice was intimidating, but with a few cold days and a good warmup climb, we were both ready to give it a try.

I was the first to hop on the climb, focusing on technique and not burning out, the climb went very smoothly. Each rest spot along the steep ice was well used and it ended up being easier than expected. So much so that I was able to climb the same line about 4 more times over the course of the next couple of hours.

 

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Not only did I end up having a good day of climbing but Joe was able to climb really well too. He hopped on the blanket of ice that he struggled on last time we were here and climbed it like it was no big thing.  Plus, not only did he climb that harder section, but he climbed it two more times to finish up the day with a total of 7 climbs for him and 6 for me.

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By the time we had finished neither of us had taken a fall on the ice and though we both had tired arms and legs we were still able to hike out with energy to spare.

The entire two days we were there, we didn’t see another climber, and were both pretty stoked on how our climbing technique soared the last day. Made for easily some of the most fun Ice climbing I have ever done.

On our way home we stopped and admired some ice from afar, called “The Black Dike”. We hope to climb it next year, and added it to our list of “to dos”.

We are both fairly sore this morning and are looking forward to a few days of one of our other favorite activities: resting. Though it won’t last for long. This weekend we are headed to an Ice Climbing festival in the Adirondack’s in New York. We are hoping to watch some presentations and get some more ice climbing in. This will be a new stomping grounds for the both of us. 

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The "Best of List" US Road Trip 2016

Here we are, onto the New Year and of course that means onto the next adventure. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays going on, the last few weeks have not had many exciting things happening in our

Joshua Tree NP PC: JDStylos

neck of the woods. I took the leisure time to fly back to Idaho and spend a little over a week with my family enjoying Christmas and some time to relax after being on the road for the last couple of months. Joe did the same but stayed in Massachusetts to enjoy his family he also hadn’t seen in quite a while.

 As we start off the New Year, before any sort of adventure has happened we’ve done one of our favorite past times and that is writing “The Best of List”

The Best of List consists of exactly what you might think, we’ve gone through camp spots, climbs, libraries and National Parks to come up with our top favorite 3 of every subject. Not only does it give us a chance to remember the exciting things we just finished doing but also gives all of you a chance to check out some really cool places if you ever adventure out onto your own road trip!

2016 Best of US Road Trip with Katie & Joe

Best Car Food:

(Please note all the food in the top 3 of this category we made at the car while we were camping)

1.Tuna Sandwich/ Tortilla with Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Apples

This was probably the meal we made most on the trip, easy and delicious, it made for great food to make in the car while it was raining or quick stop on the road while we were driving!

2.   Salmon with Mashed Potatoes and Corn

The Salmon was given to us as a parting gift from a friend and made for quite the fancy road trip meal. The potatoes we picked from left overs in a harvested field in Idaho and they we're great!

3. Annie’s Mac n’ Cheese

Most hikers know that Annie’s are quite the delicacy on any sort of trip and Annie’s did not disappoint at any meal. Usually mixed with tuna, corn or even the rare can of ravioli’s, when one is hungry anything can taste thoroughly amazing.

Salmon Meal PC: JDStylos

Best Camp Spot:

1. Hidden Hill in Death Valley National Park, California. We would give the GPS location for this AWESOME camp spot but the fact being that we camped here secretly for 2 nights makes it a bit tricky to share with the world.

2.  Poop Lake, White Sands New Mexico (32.811420, -106.121834). Despite the name this lake was quite the surprise to the both of us, not only was it quiet and serene but we also got some great photography here too.

3.  Free RV parks across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. (https://freecampsites.net/) Technically this is not one camp spot but the fact that throughout the Midwest there are free places to camp with electricity, bathrooms and other amenities makes it hard to choose one from the other. The website listed is what we used to find all of our camp spots throughout our trip! Highly recommended for anyone’s road trip!

Poop Lake PC: JDStylos

Best Climbing Area:

1.Woodbury Road Crags, outside of St. George, Utah. (37.017880, -113.851799) By far this climbing area took the cake for most climbs, quiet area and good weather. Seems mostly unknown to the bulk of climbers which gave us the chance to pick and choose as we pleased.

2.  Red Rocks, Nevada. (36.146247, -115.431022) If you are able to look passed the herds of tourists and a large bulk of other climbers this area has a lot to offer. We were able to climb at multiple great crags in Red Rocks. Luckily Red Rocks is a general location for many specific climbing walls located within itself. Also if you haven’t heard about the possible public development in Red Rocks you can read about it HERE and donate to the cause, save Red Rocks!

3.Wall Street in Moab, Utah. (38.547654, -109.598715) Generally another crag that’s well known and crowded but we were able to find some really great vertical sandstone climbs here. Some of which made it onto our favorites climbs list.

Wall Street in Moab, Utah. PC JDStylos

Best Museum:

1.The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. This place was so great it made the list of places to go to before we even hit the road. We ended up not having enough time to enjoy all that it had to offer but if we got the chance to go back I am sure we could spend another couple of days there!
2.Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. I have been to plenty of air museums in my life and this one by far was the best one. Obviously continuing to grow all that it has to offer the community. We enjoyed an entire days’ worth of information and were the last to leave.
3. A Christmas Story House, in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up on this movie every Christmas made me extra excited to see this classic house! Then when I went home for Christmas this year and watched the movie on Christmas Eve, I could point to the TV and say “I’ve been there!”

Fragile PC:JDStylos

Best National Park:

1.  Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. (38.615922, -109.619765) We probably spent the most time here of all the National Parks and were able to get some amazing night photography.

2.  Death Valley National Park in Death Valley California. (36.5054° N, 117.0794° W)

3.  Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Carlsbad New Mexico. (32.1479° N, 104.5567° W) This park was unexpected. Its vast size is breath taking and it most definitely stands out among the other national parks.

Death Valley PC: JDS

Best Climbing Route:

1. Katie- Potstash 5.9 on Wall Street in Moab, Utah.

Joe- Topless Vegetables 5.9 on Kelly Wall in Woodbury Road Crags, Utah.

2. Katie- Vagabonds 5.10a in The Black Corridor in Red Rocks, Nevada

Joe- The Die is Cast 5.9 on the Hamlet Wall in Red Rocks, Nevada

3.   Katie- The Inhaler 5.8 on the Back Echo Wall in Joshua Tree NP, California

Joe- The Stego Slab 5.9+ on Wall Street in Moab, Utah

Best Library:

      1.The Moab, Utah Library. Big beautiful windows, close to town and fast Wi-Fi.

2. The Flagstaff, Arizona Library. It had the fire place burning on a snowy day, hard to beat!

3.  The Lincoln Arkansas Library. We stepped out of the car and the whole town was filled with Christmas music. The tone was immediately set and the library also felt very festive!

Arches PC JDStylos

Overall the trip was a giant success, if you ever get a chance to go on any sort of road trip may I recommend using back roads and going into the trip without any sort of plan.

Now that we’ve made it to Massachusetts and we’ve gathered our winter gear we start on our next adventure tomorrow and that is driving up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to test our skills at some Ice Climbing! Stay Tuned!

Death Valley and jumping into the New Year
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Headed East

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The last few days of the road trip have been endless amounts of driving it feels like, but along the way we have gotten to see some pieces of the country that I doubt many people get to see at all. The first ¾ of our trip was barely any time on the road but the last quarter of our trip has been spent with lots of hours spent in the car.

Before the trip had started we had talked about some of the things that we thought we might want to do and one of those things was go to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. The main feature in the museum that initially attracted us to it was that it’s the home to THE Apollo 13 command module. So the night before we went we watched the Apollo 13 movie with Tom Hanks and woke up bright and early before driving into town to walk through the doors just after opening.

Apollo 13
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Once you walked into the museum you got the idea that there was much more to the museum than just the fact that it had Apollo 13 so to get some more information we went to the front desk. By the time we walked away to start our venture we got the full package of the museum, a rocket show, a weather movie, a planetarium show and a simulator ride. Needless to say we were pretty excited. We started the day walking through the museum and quickly realized that we were going to be short on time throughout the day. As we walked through each exhibit starting with rockets in World War II we had to leave throughout the exhibits for each of our other presentations we had planned. By the time we made it to the Apollo Missions we ended up deciding to skip the planetarium and the simulator ride. Luckily we got to see not only the real Apollo 13 module but we got to see the Mercury 1 capsule that was recovered in the ocean, a real lunar module simulator NASA had used and the Gemini 10 without feeling rushed to do other things. I could never write anything that would describe the amount of information we happened to read while we were in the museum. By the time we left they locked the doors behind us and we still didn’t get to finish all the plans we had intended for the day.

After feeling a little bit of pressure to start heading east we spent most of the next day driving. One of the great things about the part of going across the country by car is the ability to drive back roads and along the way you get to see things that I am sure most people don’t. We drove into a town called

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Ralston, Oklahoma. Plenty of the towns that we drove by were obviously at one point a boom town but now in 2016 it was apparent that many of the locals had come and gone. Ralston’s main street had a few buildings in use but one side had large, old store fronts that hadn’t seen customers in years. Joe hopped out to grab some photos while I wrote a postcard and he came back asking if we should eat some lunch in one of the two cafés on Main Street. We walked into Roger and Cindy’s, Ralston Café to plenty of the locals looking at us. We were greeted with friendly faces and smiles and once we had ordered our food, Cindy- the store owner and cook, came over to us and offered to take us into one of the old buildings just down the road. After she told us some of the history of the town (including the bridge we drove over coming into town was the one in the opening scene in the movie “Twister”) Cindy, her daughter and a friend of theirs, plus Joe and myself walked down the road to the old theater building. We walked in to see a small but very cool old theater with all the seats and curtains all left the way they were years ago. A hidden treasure that obviously only the locals know about that we were lucky enough to enjoy.

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We stopped in Tulsa and eventually made our way across the state line into Arkansas. Which marked Joe’s 49^th state (only Hawaii is left) so we took a picture to commemorate before driving into a town called Lincoln to stop at the library. We opened the car door and the whole town was playing Christmas music. Needless to say it was very festive! We drove a little farther into the Northwest Corner of Arkansas and spent the night.

The next morning we drove into a town called “Eureka Springs” in hope to see the famous chapel near the town and possibly get some Christmas shopping done. Unfortunately the chapel was closed for a wedding but we did end up enjoying the very cute town. We walked through the shops and bought a couple of things but for the most part just enjoyed the atmosphere and Christmas spirit in the air. We left early afternoon to get another few hours on the road.

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The next day was spent driving towards Kentucky. We drove through Missouri and crossed over the Ohio River to see the Mississippi river just on the other side of a small strip of land. We stopped for lunch in the park and as we were pulling in I saw the sign that said “Cairo, Illinois”. I looked at Joe and asked if we were in Illinois and we looked on the map and were both pleasantly surprised to see that we were! That strip of land we were on was Illinois which lies between the Ohio and Mississippi confluence. A bonus state neither of us were expecting to go to!

We made our way to Lexington where we were going to stay with some friends of ours from the horse world. Trav and Kat let us enjoy a shower, their warm home, Greek food and a comfortable bed. Plus the next day we went to pick out a Christmas tree and help decorate it, which was such a nice treat since it’s been multiple years since I got to decorate anything for Christmas. Kat made a great dinner and once again we got to enjoy wonderful company.

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We said our goodbyes the next day and after just a couple days of a regular bed, a couch and good food we were ready to get to Massachusetts. So with only two possible places on the agenda we planned to hopefully try to get the MA the next day. We drove north to Cleveland, Ohio to the home where the movie “A Christmas Story” was filmed. I was beyond excited, the movie holds a special place in my heart as it’s played on the TV in the background of every Christmas I can remember. We took the tour into the house and learned the history of the home and the movie. Originally the movie was a bust but after being picked to play 24 hours on public TV (because there was no royalties) soon made the movie into a Christmas classic, 15 years after it was made.

We couldn’t totally decide if we wanted to try to drive through the night to try to get to MA or get a camp spot and try to see Niagara Falls so we hit the road to see if we could at least attempt to find a camp area. After not much luck and the roads not being plowed we kept on driving. We stopped at a rest stop to eat some dinner when I was approached by a snow plow driver who quickly informed us to keep on driving as a big lake effect snow storm was on its way. The decision to keep on going was obviously made for us and we drove throughout the night to arrive at Joe’s dad’s house at 4:00 in the morning. The moment we put our heads on the pillows we were out and did our best to sleep in this morning.

A Christmas Story House
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Though we are here before our deadline we are already enjoying the couch and everything else being in a house has to offer. Especially with the sub 0 temperatures outside. The few extra days gives us a chance to clean everything up a little bit in the car before I fly out to Boise on Tuesday.

Joe looked at me today and said “our road trip is over”! In a way it’s true but what is more accurate is that only the first part of our trip is over. After two months and five days on the road we are taking a bit of a break here in New England for the holidays. I will fly back to Boise for eight days to enjoy my family and on my way back I will bring all the ice climbing gear with me. With that we plan to spend the second half of our trip ice climbing around New England and hopefully ice climbing along the way back to Boise at some point. Neither of us are sure how long we will be here but we’re looking forward to a change of pace!