Thursday, September 29, 2011

Today is our last day at Roger's Rockytop Retreat.  We are making our way to the free camping of Summersville Lake which is just a few miles from the New River Gorge.  Yesterday we had our first really great day of climbing in my mind (performance-wise).  Mitch and I both lead two 5.12a routes at Fern Buttress, one of which Mitch flashed!  It feels like we are starting to understand the technical style here much better and it is a shame that we are leaving on Monday.  Everyone says the Red is awesome though and it doesn't hurt that the camping is much cheaper AND is within a few feet from a pizza shop!  

Cheers,
Thomas





Monday, September 26, 2011

Rain...and more rain...

At the moment I am relaxing at Cathedral Cafe in Fayettville, West Virginia, just a few minutes from our campsite.  Despite the rain and fog that have blanketed this portion of the east coast lately I am really enjoying my time in the New River Gorge.  We are thinking about leaving for the Red River Gorge, KY some time around the first and as always it is saddening to think about leaving my current "home."  Every destination we have been to has been the same for me.  I arrive doubting that our new destination will match what the last one had to offer, am proved wrong and begin to love it, and before I know it we are leaving.  And the cycle repeats...

Being from Colorado I never expected West Virginia to amount to much, but spending 2 weeks in Fayettville has shown me otherwise.  Voted one of the coolest small towns in the US, there is endless opportunity for outdoor enthusiast.  I almost feel like I fit in here as there are only 3 categories of people so far as I can tell; climbers, rafters and the stereotypical hick.  I hope I am right in thinking that I don't belong in the last category, especially after going through the process to replace my missing front tooth.  Although I am skeptical that the Red River Gorge will compare to the New I am looking forward to it.  The climbing style consists mostly of overhung long pumpy routes that will require a different set of skills than the technical routes here.  Of course it seems like I am finally starting to feel semi-comfortable with the style in the New just before leaving and I am hoping it won't take as long to feel strong in the Red as it did here.

We have been climbing as much as possible with the weather and have been on a bunch of great routes.  Enjoy the pictures and keep checking back!

Cheers!
Thomas




 

Sunday, September 18, 2011

An unexpected addition...

Despite the hours of planning that has gone into this trip, it seems that we are always faced with new challenges and surprises.  Yesterday is a great example.  After making the best breakfast burritos ever for dinner and hanging out on the porch of "Rogers Rockytop Retreat," a young climbing couple approached us and asked if any of us wanted to adopt the puppy they had found while climbing.  Apparently this little guy had been wandering around Summersville Lake with 2 others without a collar or any owners.  Lucky for him, 'cus now he belongs to Pickle (Mike Pack).  His name is Chooch and we are guessing he is around 4 months old.  This weekend has been perfect temperatures and every climber on the East coast must have heard.  The campsite is bustling with climbers, dogs and cats.  The climbing here is great and we have seen a new place every day so far.  I will post some climbing pictures next time!

Cheers!    

Tent neighbors kittens
Tent neighbors kittens





Still #1...
#2 (Chooch)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

New River Gorge

After 12 hours of hell on the greyhound bus from Toronto to Philly, we finally took off to the New River Gorge...It seems like I spend more time driving on busses than anything else these days!  The past 2 weeks have consisted of a few days watching tennis at the US Open, catching up with some old friends in NYC, and a week playing tourist in Toronto.  The US Open was better than I would have imagined and we were lucky enough to see some of the best tennis of the tournament.  Thanks to Mr. Packard for bringing us along, and to Mikes grandmother for providing us a place to stay in Manhattan and some of the best breakfasts I have ever had.  Her lattes are top notch.    

From NYC I took a 12 hour bus ride from New York to Toronto to visit Kayla in her new home for her birthday!  Her 22nd story apartment in downtown wasn't a shabby place to see the city from and was within a 5 minute walk to the best pub in town & best independent espresso bar in town (I take credit for finding this).  I had my first encounter with poutine and real Canadian bacon.  Poutine is a french dish made up of fries, gravy, cheese curds and other ingredients (pulled pork in my case).  I think that I can still feel it sitting in my stomach!!

Temps in the New are just about perfect and I am really looking forward to doing some climbing and living off $5 a day again.  Lucky for us Mike Suleiman decided to join us and help pay gas for the next few months.  Our first day of climbing yesterday was bitter-sweet.  The lack of climbing this summer took an obvious toll on my strength and confidence I had climbing on ropes.  Hopefully it will come back within a few days!  Although Mike (Suleiman) didn't come with quite as much money as he was hoping, he definitely came prepared to climb.  The New River Gorge is beautiful and it would be impossible to come up with any complaints about the rock or the setting.  We are currently camping at "The Rocky Top Campground" which is a 5 minute walk to some of the climbing spots.  For $1 we can enjoy 7 minutes of heaven in the "lactic acid bath"  and Roger, the campsite host and one of the nicest people you will ever meet, provides free coffee in the morning and free wifii.

It didn't take long for us to find the need for nicknames for the 2 Mikes.  From here on out I will either refer to Mike Packard as "Pickle" or "Mitch" and Mike Suleiman as "Suleiman" or "Michael."  Keep checking out the blog, and in the rare case you get bored with ours you can mosey on over to adventuresofsuleiman.wordpress.com. 

Cheers!


First Poutine...





Monfils

Boulder problem in Central Park





First climb in the New

Hopefully he will enjoy the outdoors some time soon...