The Obed

Kim and I spent a quick couple of days here in a window of warm weather, before a large storm front blew in. The climbing here was great, like a concentrated version of the steep bits of the New. We probably won't make it here again on this trip, but we are psyched to come  back in the future.

Heres a couple of pictures of Kim on Heresy 11c.

Kim scoping out the 20' roof section

Goin for it

Stone Fort AKA Little Rock City

Yes its bouldering on a golf course! Quite the picturesque spot and perfect for anybody who is in to both bouldering and golf.
Kim and I have climbed here a couple of days now, there's some really great lines on perfect stone, definitely reminiscent of Fontainbleau. You have to pay $5 and sign a waiver at the club house and stay off the fairways, quite bizarre at first, but great to see that climbers have managed to create a balance with the land owner to provide access. It seems to be working out, on a busy weekend the owners might even make more money than from the golf!
A few shots....

Crescent Direct V7

Genghis Kahn V5

 
Were heading to the Obed now for a few days, but we will be back to Stone Fort for sure.

Showers/Model Trains/Rocktown

Showers

We  had 2 new shower experiences, 1 Showering in a Flying J gas station like the truckers, and 2 Using The Whales external shower for the first time.
Hmmm gas station showers, doesn't sound like an awesome experience. I'm not sure quite sure what i was expecting, dirt definitely, bacon grease and maybe discarded pornography. What we found was an emmaculately clean modern cubicle with toilet, wash basin and shower. I've stayed in plenty of cheap hotels/motels that didn't have as nice a bathroom as this, go Flying J.
The Whale has an external shower, so your kind of exposed. To counteract this I had made a shower rail and curtain from pvc piping and a tarp, which attached to the side of the van by a tile lifting suction cup left over from the bathroom. We assembled it for the first time since I hurriedly made it, and attached via its suction cup to The Whale. Two minutes later it promptly fell down, much to Daves hilarity, luckily we hadn't started showering yet. After wiping the suction cup and the side of the van with glass cleaner I'm pleased to stay it stayed up for 30 minutes and showed no signs of falling down.

The Shower

Model Trains

Model trains? I thought this blog was about rock climbing and aquatic mammals!
We've been in the area around Chattanooga for nearly a week, theres great climbing and also Chatanooga's kind of a nice city. We were checking out things to do there on our first rest day, and found that it is home to The Worlds Largest HO Model Railway, so of course we had to go.

About a third of the track

The attention to detail in this thing is quite amazing, $4 well spent. Along with scale parts of Chattanooga and the surrounding area it also contains real historical events and random amusing items.

Kangaroo!?

Political propaganda

Cat in tree

And rock climbers

Rocktown

For the last week, we've been hanging out at Rocktown, just over the border in Georgia. It's really a great place for us, free camping 5 minutes drive from the boulders in a beautiful setting, and on weekdays we have the place almost to ourselves.

The weathers has been warm again ( mid to high sixties) so we decided to climb here as it has steeper rock and therefore bigger holds and more shade.

Just another roof in Rocktown

The rock is bullet hard and tends to form pockets and huecos, but in places has strange iron bands forming perfect edges.

Kim IRON crimping on Contrail V5

The athletic nature of the climbing was initially a shock to the system but it seems like were both finally getting  stronger.

Even the V0's are steep, Kim climbing Zero Hero

Focused on Burst Of Joy, V8

Thinking about heading to The Obed for a few days to get Kim a sport climbing fix and then maybe Stone Fort  as the weather cools down the week after.