Although a large portion of this weekend will be spent deep water soloing at Summersville Lake, WV, another significant portion will be spent trying to balance on bits of tape tied between two trees. Slacklining. What’s that you say? Why, of course it’s a valid sport, and a perfectly normal way to spend time.
Sorry website, I’ve been neglecting you. It’s been a crazy busy week.
There are probably a few better photos from the weekend – spent bouldering/climbing above water… deep water soloing? the water wasn’t that deep… I haven’t decided what to call it… at Summersville Lake, WV. But anyway, I like this one, for the sheer ‘ARGHH’ factor of the guys body as he’s falling.
NOTE TO SELF – If you have the opportunity to obtain a free air conditioner, TAKE IT, even if the weather isn’t particularly hot yet, as it is sure to become stinky and humid, and when you decide you really do want the air conditioner, it will already have been given away to charity. And then you will rue your missed opportunity, oh yes you will.
And so on the Friday evening just past, we were loitering at the airport, waiting to pick up my housemate from Australia. And buildering on anything we could find, as we got there early, and her flight was delayed… layback symmetry, in the Dulles airport carpark.
There was more driving than climbing over the course of the weekend; hot and humid, we were sliming off holds in the sun all over the place. Perhaps not the best weather to climb at the Gunks (=Shawangunks Mountain Range, New York State). Particularly after arriving at 4am Saturday morning, and only catching a few hours sleep, crashed out on our sleeping pads in a parking lot, before the jubilant banging of racks that must have been composed entirely of hexes, well and truly woke us by 7.30am.
The climber (and biker and hiker) highway that passes along the bottom of the Trapps cliffline, 8am Saturday morning.
View from the top of the Trapps cliffline (for Arapiles climbers, think the Organ Pipes at Easter).
And so by midday on Sunday we were spent, and ate icecream and drove home.
Weekend at Old Rag… Early morning pancakes, lots of sun, hiking up the mountain like little pack mules, loaded down with climbing gear, sweating like crazy, gloriously evil granite crack climbs, thunderstorms and rain at the end of the day, soaking wet trekking down off the mountain through brilliant green landscape, bright orange geckoes lazing on the road, cooking dinner sitting on the ground next to the ute, dragging aching legs to hike out to a campsite, collapsing in the tent and melting into the ground with exhaustion … fun :)
Now excuse me while I go and throw my laptop out of a window. It will not stop crashing… and crashing… and crashing. In fact it won’t even get through startup without crashing now.
Out climbing on Sunday, we were walking along the trail, moving to another area. That was when we saw… the ham sandwich. Yes, that’s right, a wild ham sandwich, lurking at the base of the cliff. I managed to capture a photo of it before it scurried back to its den.
