Kayaking on the Sagatuck

I couldn't be happier that Jaedyn enjoys kayaking as much as she does. Just the fact that I've introduced her to something that we can share and explore together warms my heart. Today she was more interested than ever, asking questions about the water level, tides and of course the animals we came upon.

Lets see... we came across some mallard ducks, beautiful swans, and what I believe was a woodchuck or ground hog swimming. I'd never actually seen a groundhog myself so I was pretty enthused to follow him/her around the river for a while. We made a couple stops along the way for a snack break and to get a couple pictures with her tiger.

Now, to get a little background on the tiger...

While Jaedyn, Autumn and myself were at her new school, that she'll be attending next fall, they gave all the parents a 8 X 11 logo of her school. Their / our project for the Summer was to take a picture of our child with the logo or a stuffed tiger, the mascot, and in the fall they would put together a collage of the pictures submitted. Autumn and Jaedyn went to Bush Gardens while they were in Florida and picked up a stuffed tiger that I am determined to give the coolest adventures of the summer with Jaedyn.

Rain at the Gunks

Well, I had planned on camping and climbing at the Gunks Wednesday threw Friday But it seems mother nature had other plans. Wednesday night was perfect sitting by the fire with a couple beers some cheese and crackers and relaxing with a good book. It was warm, the bugs stayed away and other campers in the park weren't obnoxious or loud. I was very much at peace. Now it did rain a little over night, approx. three to five in the morning, but most things seemed dry by ten o'clock. The sky was blue the sun was out and Jeff was pulling into the West Trapps parking lot to meet up with me. I though for sure we had threaded the proverbial needle.

Now Jeff had never been to the Gunks and the first climb we approached that struck my fancy was "Horseman." I started clipping gear to my harness when Jeff asked if he could take the lead on this one. I told him to have at it and I'm kind of glad he did, because the traverse around the block was a little heady even on top rope. Next on my to-do list was Middle Earth, because I still haven't lead the first pitch, but of course another group was on it. So we decided to do "Minty," a nice little 5.3. I figured it would be an easy onsight and kill some time until M.E. was available. Well, it turns out that Minty also intersects with another climb, "Tipsy Trees" that is also a 5.3. To make a long story short, we climbed the first pitch of minty, kind of, and the second and third pitch on "Tipsy Trees." It doesn't really matter because it was a fun climb either way, and thats all that matters in my book.
So, back to "Middle Earth" we go. So as I'm climbing I feel a little sprinkling of rain. I don't think anything of it because most of the day at one point or another it sprinkled a little bit. So I keep climbing and the sky just opens up and lets loose. In the words of Jeff, "the wrath of God." I've never been caught in a flash flood, but I imagine this was pretty close. Now at this point I had about four pieces of gear in and was about thirty feet of the ground. I made the decision to traverse to a near by tree and have Jeff lower me down instead of continue up the route. Jeff then cleaned the route and rappelled from the tree. We quickly packed up our gear and headed back to the parking lot. As if the rain didn't piss me off enough, the sun started to come out as we got back to the parking lot. At that point everything was soaked and we had already made the decision to leave. There is something about the first pitch of "Middle Earth." I swear there is a force that is constantly preventing me from leading it. The last time I was at the Gunks it was another group doing mock leads, and today it was another group plus the flash flood. Next time I visit the Gunks it WILL be lead, come hell or high water.

Kayaking with Jaedyn

Well, Jaedyn finale got to ride in the kayak. I thought that she might get bored after a few minutes and want to go home but she loved it. The only trick is keeping her hands occupied. She likes to drag both of them off the side while I'm tyring to paddle and in such a small boat it makes quit a bit difference. None the less, we both had a blast even though it was a short little trip around lake hills. It's too bad that after Memorial Day we won't be able to get in to Lake Hills due to the staff checking for "members only." You see, the lake down the street from our house is a private lake that only certain property owners can use. Of course know one enforces their beach and lake policies between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

First Day at Ragged 2008

Well, today was my first day out at Ragged mountain. I met up with Jeff (Dr. Feel Good) and Ben (General Benson) at the Starbucks. The weather was perfect, sunny and in the low 70's with a lite breeze.
It's been all winter since I've done any climbing and needless to say I was a little anxious to lead and since know one seemed to object. Let's see... I took the sharp end first on "Wet Wall." I've yet to do this route the right way. I keep finishing it off on the "knight Move" crack, this time was no different. Ben and Jeff followed with no problem.
"So what do ya"ll want to do next?"(silence) How about "Wish Bone?" They looked stoked to do the route but neither of them was in the mood to lead it either. So I took the lead again. This route is always a little skecthy in the beginning with the crux so close to the ground. Its not until I sling the chock about 20 feet up that I start to relax and start to actually climb the route. The rest of the route I felt strong and confident about every move I made. Like every route I complete on lead, the moment that I throw my hand over the final hold that lets me know you've done it, that feeling of accomplishment, power and relief all overcome me at once. "It's going to be a dam good day." I just wish Ben shared my enthusiasm. It seems that the crux had him grunting and cursing like a trucker, but he powered through it and managed to reach the thank god hold right after the small roof. Jeff on the other hand was tyring to set some sort of speed record and raced up the route like a ladder.

After the grueling 5.6 Jeff wanted to show Ben and I up a little so he chose the "Tower Crack" as his lead. "Wow!" That was an amazing off width crack. I gave Jeff a lot of credit for leading that route. The route was only about 30 feet but it was a very sustained 5.7 with some great moves. That route is defiantly going on my tick list of routes do lead.

Next up, a Ragged favorite, "Broadway." This route always seems to get done every time I visit Ragged. My technique and strength felt good, but I was very disappointed in some of my placements. The most important was the #1 power cam I placed under a flake in the crater. The main reason was because the next couple of moves were the crux, which makes for a heady climb. (translation: heady - scared shitless)

After finishing up on Broadway Jeff and I headed off to find the "May Block." Now I'd only been there once before and it was about two years ago so apparently my memory was not as good as I thought. Of course, if you ask any one of my family members they'd say I can't remember what I did yesterday. We ended up hiking for two hours with a 40lb pack and were way off. By the time we found it we had walked by it twice and were too tired to climb it. So we decided to mark the area better with some stone piles in hopes that next time it would be easier to find.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day or better guys to share it with. I'm hoping we can climb a lot more together this and future seasons.