Red River Gorge
Got back last night from our 4 day trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky. For those of you who don’t know (and I didn’t) the Red is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere in eastern Kentucky, near a little town called Slade. Slade is a seasonal town which from the looks of it relies heavily on the “zip-line” and senior citizen community of the United States to keep it a float. The surrounding climate and terrain are eerily similar to that of the Ozarks. In fact when we woke up the first morning we all swore we were in Ponca. Not that that is bad at all since Ponca is beautiful country. Anyways we stayed at the famous Miguel’s Pizza (Campground and restaurant) which has been there since the late 70′s i believe. I can tell you right now that it still draws the same weekend warriors and dirt-baggers that it did then. Every single day we were there easily half of the United States were represented via license plates. It was amazing. People from all walks of life come from all over the country (and world) to spend 2$ a night to camp and enjoy the company, food and spirit of Miguel’s. Miguel himself was still there.We had the pleasure of is company during a late night camp fire.
On to the good stuff, the climbing. Well I may not be an “avid” sport climber (I am a pad-person) but I can tell you the Red has some of the best rock anywhere. The first day we all agreed that we climbed (and onsighted) the most beautiful 10c we had ever climbed. 80 feet tall, all types of climbing, a bouldery start through a few mantels and to top it off the last 20 feet or so feet was an over hanging plate fest (My favorite). Thrilling! From then on everyday failed to disappoint. We climbed the hardest 10a of our lives and Alex walked away with an impressive two 11a onsights (Respect). The last day we projected a 12a in The Zoo near Roadside and let me tell you what, amazing! and actually not too far out of reach. Maybe i will tag her in May. I can only hope…
All in all it was a great time, great climbing, great atmosphere and great people (most of whom were confined to my tent). I cant wait to take a trip back there in May with the Outdoor Connection Center. Who knows maybe I will be back there before then… All that I do know after this is that beer may not be the best recovery drink, the Red is the shit and it’s time to train.
