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

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

 

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)

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...

Irene who??

Hurricane Irene was predicted to be the worst storm Philadelphia would see in decades, so Mike and I decided to skip town with a couple friends.  We went to Mikes cabin in upstate New York and lived like true mountain men for a few days.  Beer, guns, scrabble and a grill (and a 5 hour Chinese war movie) proved to be a sufficiant way to pass a hurricane.  I know it is probably bad to say, but it was slightly disappointing to drive back in to Philly, one of the "worst hit" by Irene, and have no real signs of a hurricane.  Nonetheless it was nice to see that the bus and the Packard house was still firmly planted where we left it.  

I just bought a new micro 4/3 camera to replace my old DSLR and the cabin was a great place to test it out.  It will take some getting used to but I really like it so far.  We will be hanging out in Philly for a few days before going to NY for the US Open on Thursday.  Juno is going to be staying in a luxury pet resort near Mikes moms house.  After calling 10 kennels in the Philly area and not finding one under $25 a night, I decided to go with the luxury resort that includes "potty walks" for $30 a night.  She has only stayed in a kennel 1 time, and I left it up to my parents to book it.  I was surprised to see the extensive list of additional activities you can set up for your dog.  A 10 minute session of belly rubbing is only $6 for you dog at Country Kennels, and 3 "potty walks" for the dog that is a "true adventurer" is only $9 a day.  At Molly's Country Kennel you can really splurge and buy special #2 which includes a tooth brush, bedtime mint for fresh breath and a bedtime story.  What a bargain at $10.95...Anyways I think she will enjoy it.

Despite all the fun we are having in Philly, we are definitely excited to start climbing hard again.  While we were in the strange town of New Paltz, NY I bought the guidebook for the New River Gorge.  It is the biggest guide book I have ever seen and it is very obvious that a month will be nowhere near enough time!!  We will be getting there just as the temps get good in mid-september.   

Cheers,

Thomas

We are about $450 deep in the drive and only in Illinois.  I have seen lighting bugs for the first time since I was a kid in Virginia, a dead armadillo, a million and one signs saying God loves me in Kansas and Missouri, and the gateway to the west in St. Louis.  We stayed in a Walmart parking lot in Topeka, Kansas last night where I found out that a generator to run our AC unit is $1,500...That is enough to last us a few months on the road so we opted for a cheap inverter and a 6 inch personal fan.  If we were in a faster car we might have made it to the east coast in time to feel the earthquake.  And if we were in any slower of a car we probably would have felt the freak earthquake in Colorado.  Seems like we are lucking out and the signs all through Kansas and Missouri were right...

Eastbound...

Lincoln Lake

Mike and I began the 1,749 mile drive from Denver, CO to Philadelphia, PA today.  The bus is running great considering it sat around for over 2 months in the heat.  Leaving Colorado for the second time was much different than when we left in January.  Instead of wearing down jackets to stay warm since our heater sucks, we are wearing next to nothing since our air conditioning (or lack there of) sucks even worse.  We were planning on stopping somewhere to get a generator for the aftermarket air conditioner that came in the bus, but Kansas doesn't have ANYTHING which is making this drive seem like it is taking forever...I'm sure Juno is really missing the air conditioned homes, wood floors and fenced in yards that she had this summer.

Kansas

The plan is to spend a few days in Philadelphia with Mikes family before making our way to New York to watch the US Open (yes...tennis), climb in the Gunks and hang out at Mikes house in upstate New York.

We are glad to be back on the road, and appreciate everyone in Colorado showing us a good time and providing us a place to stay!  Thanks and keep checking the blog!  We will be posting much more regularly.

Cheers!