Thursday, June 26, 2008

City of Rocks, Idaho





Last weekend I revisted the first place I ever went Rock Climbing. I can still remember after that first very nerve wracking scramble up "Practice Rock" my good friend Tammy turned to me and said "Maybe you've found your new sport." It was another 6 years before I really started climbing outdoors but it has been something I've loved ever since.




My and my good friend Patrick took turns leading a route called Jackson's Thumb. This particular route is a 4 pitch climb. A pitch equals the distance between the anchors and your belay, which means we climbed up to the chains, anchored in, and belayed our partner up 4 times. It was pretty high! This was my first multi pitch route so it was kind of thrilling. This is a picture of us up at the top.








Saturday, June 14, 2008

Maple Canyon






This summer I've been exploring some new places with new friends. Last weekend we went rock climbing in Maple Canyon. I've always heard that the climbing is fabulous there but I had no idea how crazy the rock would look. I've never gone climbing on anything quite like it. After navigating through a herd of sheep in an old VW rabbit that almost didn't make it we found this beautiful little canyon chock full of outdoors enthusiasts tucked away in the mountains near Fountain Green.