Spring was on it’s way, of course it was time to get back on the road. For the first time in our lives, we took a trip east. Kyle and I had 3 months before we were going on our annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip. We surprised ourselves by deciding to go to Kentucky to climb in the Red River Gorge. For once, the wind was in our favor, pushing us eastward. Normally we are fighting the wind as we travel westward!
The Gorge
Our very first night in the Gorge, we stopped, as all climbers do, at Miguel’s. Miguel’s was PACKED. We had unknowingly arrived on the last night of the spring climbing festival. There was a live band, a huge bonfire and people everywhere. Kyle and I grabbed a pizza and beers while we observed the festivities.
The next day we got ourselves a guidebook and went climbing. Of course the first time to a new area you spend your first few days just figuring out where you want to go and where the climbs are. We took the van to the Mother Lode area, so named for the lode hill you must drive to get to the crags. There is a parking lot on top of the hill, that you now have to pay for. In order to save some money, Kyle took a walk down the hill and decided the van could make it. Down we went. The road was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I definitely would not drive it myself.
The first weekend we were in the Gorge our friend Brian made the trip out to climb with us. It was so fun to hang out with him again! We had a jam packed weekend full of climbing at the Mother Lode. To the left Brian is belaying Kyle who is nearing the top of a climb! (Check out Crumbly Rock, Polished Calcite and our first Tower for another climbing outing with Brian)
In the evenings after climbing, Kyle and I would take walks along the property at Lago Linda’s. They had wonderful trails all throughout the property including a lake. We even tried our hand at fly fishing while we were there (unfortunately no luck).
The climbing at the Gorge is rather spread out. There are campsites and places to stay along the valley. When we weren’t climbing at the Mother Lode area, we stayed at Miguel’s. Miguel’s is the climber hangout and has been for years. While hanging out at Miguel’s we met a great group of climber’s from the coast, Amelia, Kevin and Alan. Kyle and I climbed with them on a few different days. We had such a good time climbing with them, eating dinner together and getting to know them. Kyle and I introduced them to Sushi Go and Alan introduced us to AcroYoga. (I wish I could find those videos!)
Kevin and Alan were interested in traditional climbing. Red River Gorge has mostly sport climbing routes. Kyle managed to find a traditional route to show them a few things about traditional climbing and gear placements.
There were a few days of rain and we managed to climb on dry rock for a while. Finally the rain kept coming and the forecast didn’t look good. Even the crags that normally stayed dry were starting to get soaked. Spring was definitely in full swing and after almost three weeks, it was time to move on. Kyle and I drove farther south into Arkansas!
Horseshoe Canyon Ranch
Over the next two weeks we climbed and camped at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch (HCR) in Arkansas. HCR is a working dude ranch, at night they let the horses out to roam the grounds and there is a resident goat herd. The rock climbing around the ranch is like an outdoor gym, it’s so much fun! The first evening Kyle and I jumped on 15 different routes!
As we were walking along the crag one evening we heard our names being called. As we look through the climbers at the base we see none other than our friend Susan. I was so surprised, we had no idea Susan and Sam would be here. We found a few routes to climb by Susan and Sam then headed back to make dinner and camp! The four of us climbed together for the rest of their long weekend.
There is so much rock to climb at HCR, we even went out bouldering for a few days with some new friends! After over a month of sport climbing, Kyle and I were itching for some traditional climbs so we scoured HCR for cracks that were dry and not covered in moss. Check out the https://adventureswithkk.com/?page_id=564 Gallery for more images of our time at HCR!