I’m heading off soon to catch the flight to Vegas, I’ll be off climbing in Red Rocks until Tuesday morning (when I stagger back home at 9 in the morning, rubbing my eyes and cursing work). In the meantime, here’s the artists impression of me in Red Rocks.
One day ‘til the Red Rocks adventure, and I’m on a hunt for new music to listen to on the plane. I’m in my little grey cubicle at work, and the man in one of the adjacent cubicles is snoring. This is the level of excitement at work. Earlier I heard a man saying “Oh, not party fun. Science fun!†(and going from sounding slightly disparaging, to alarmingly excited).
I present you with a conversation (slightly edited for ease of reading).
me says:
Americans do dodgy abseiling. From slings on trees.
Me: “Where’s the anchor?”
Them: “This dodgy handful of slings around this tree”
Me: “Excellent”
sair says:
Heheeh sounds familiar, like in Thailand.
Me: “Dan, where is the anchor?”
Dan: “Oh it’s up there on that tufa”
Me: “Ok climbing”
(Me having reached the top)
Me: “This tufa is hollow”
Dan: “Yeah you’ll be right just work quickly”
Me: “Dan my anchor is attached to a hollow tufa”
Dan: “Yeah you look totally hardcore”
I went climbing on Sunday as well. At Franklin again (it’s in West Virginia, next door to Seneca). More accurately, I napped in the sun at the base of the cliffs, while everybody else climbed. I could have been an eager climbing photographer, but I was concentrating on my crag-napping skills, so I didn’t really have time.
Apparently it’s lovely in Summer. Stinking and humid, and lots of mossies (which the Americans seem to call mosquitos, or bugs, as they can’t bring themselves to abbreviate words).
Climbed at Seneca Rocks on Saturday, lots of routes, but very easy ones, in an attempt to keep my finger tendons happy.
The view of the rocks through the morning fog (and Boer and his ute, which he seems to believe is a truck – I told him he was dreamin’).
The view from the top – down to the bustling township of Seneca (look Mum, you can see my tent!), and the oddly geometric river junction with the ubiquitous Potomac (I think it might be following me).
And doing things the American way (well, the Seneca way anyway) – the rap anchors to get down from the South Peak.