The Last Two Weeks

I haven't been shooting any photos or videos the last few weekends, instead trying to focus on wrapping up some of my projects before things get too warm. I was at the Bald on the last weekend in March and had a great day sending a bunch of V5s and V6s, and then sending a V8 slab monster called Momma Lick A Boo Boo Day (Or something like that. Sorry for butchering the Bald names, Chris!). If you've been at the Bald in the last few weeks, you know it's been pretty amazing. Sure, it's getting warm, but the Trillium and tons of flowering trees are blooming, and the after all of the rain, there are little creeks running through parts of the field and Hickory Nut Falls is running strong. Very nice.

This past weekend I tried to finish Purgatory (5.13a) in Hickory Nut Gorge, but got shut down hard. Why? Because I broke off a key hold in the crux! Oops. (Time for Weight Watchers.) Luckily, there are 2 ways to go through the crux with left and right sequences, so the climb isn't any harder. I was going with the right trending sequence...until now. I worked the left sequence and got through most of it after a couple of attempts. Maybe with this recent drop in temps I'll have one more go at it before things get too hot.

The picture below is of Robert Holcomb climbing a 5.10 crack in Hickory Nut Gorge recently.