Top 5 Climbs Across the USA!

We thought this might be an interesting experiment:
We asked ourselves, “What have been our favorite climbs of the trip?”

It was difficult to narrow it down, but here are our five favorite climbs in each area (with heights and ape indexes shown to potentially explain preferences). Top five are listed in order of increasing grade, not order of favoritism. If someone of a more “normal” height would like to submit their favorites, please do so. Or just add your own can’t-miss climbs in the comments below! What are your favorite climbs in these – or other – bouldering areas?

The Southeast (Rocktown, Little Rock City, Middle Creek, Zahnd)
1.Full Circle V5 (Rocktown) 2. Harvest Moon V8 (Zahnd) 3. Deliverance V10 (Middle Creek) 4. Golden Harvest V10 (Rocktown) 5. Iron Claw Sit V10 (Rocktown)	1. Asphalt V4/5 (Rocktown) 2. Little Bad V5 (Rocktown) 3. Nose Candy V6 (Rocktown) 4. Standard Deviation V6 (Rocktown) 5. Jerry’s Kids V7 (LRC)
Arkansas (Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, Cowell)
1.Le Beak V4 (Cowell) 2. Kung Fu V8 (HCR) 3. Jeff’s Prow V9 (HCR) 4. Ab Lounge V10 (Cowell) 5. Off the Rails V10 (Cowell)	1. Dirty Bitch V3 (HCR) 2. Le Beak V4 (Cowell) 3. Campus Card II V7 (Cowell) 4. Electrolica V7 (Cowell) 5. Orb Weaver V8 (HCR)
Joe’s Valley
1.The Angler V2 2. Notting Hill V8 3. Playmate of the Year V9 4. Eden V10 5. Ghost King V11	1. Stumble Bum Traverse V5 2. Low Tide V6 3. Planet of the Apes V7 4. Spam V7 5. Tug Boat Complex V9

Arkansas Video

Here’s the video from our time in Arkansas. This includes climbs from Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, Cowell, and Area 74. Hope you enjoy! Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Boulder, CO and Cowell catch-up

Sipping Earl Grey and doing some Joe’s Valley research. I found one Michael Sabatini movie that very handily shows some of the best v7s and v8s. My goal is to climb ten v8s and flash a v7. Drexel says this is ambitious. I figure “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Animaltastic

It’s such a treat to wake up with the sun slowly nudging my eyes open. Part of me wants to sink back into the bliss of delicious sleepingbag slumber, but another part is alert and curious about what might already be happening in the world.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep. 
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
-Rumi

Lowdown on Climbing and Camping in the USA

We have created a Lowdown on Climbing and Camping page which will be continuously updated as we travel, and should be a valuable resource for anyone else who plans to camp out near climbing crags. Or rest. Or just climb in a new place.

As of Feb 20, 2014, this page covers Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and Cowell in Arkansas, Rocktown and Little Rock City (aka Stonefort) in the Southeast, and Joe’s Valley, Utah.

By the end of our road trip, this page will also have info about various places between here and there that tickle our fancy (e.g. Colorado, Squamish, maybe Leavenworth).

So check it out!

And feel free to contact us if you have information to share about these – or other – climbing locations!

Trigger happiness and girls

WE MADE IT! The last three days were not at all what we were expecting. We didn’t expect a super long, muddy, icy road, and so that… wasn’t so great. Luckily the ride off the mountain (in a hurry today, to avoid the continuously melting snow that only lent more fury to the muddy mire) was shorter. The lurching and sliding as I gripped my seat reminded me of being on a tiny boat braving the stormy seas.

If I was teeny-tiny, I would live inside one of these and throw a party.

We also didn’t expect to meet an awesome, friendly group of climbers, and that was pretty great! I LOVE CLIMBING WITH GIRLS!