Miller Fork - Red River Gorge

Sometimes people think I’m crazy for day trips to the gorge. Six hours of driving for maybe seven hours of climbing might not be worth it to some, but when your vacation days are gone and the weather happens to be clear, you do what you gotta do! This October Saturday we ended up at Miller Fork Recreational Area and climbed at Secret Garden. There’s a pretty great array of routes ranging from 5.8 to 5.11.

We had such a great encouraging group this day. Thanks to their faith in me and patience, I met my 2018 goal of sending 11a!! I clipped anchors on Sloppy Seconds after my third burn. Needless to say, it was worth the six hours in the car to chase that feeling of accomplishment. On to next year’s goals!

Summer Update

The thing about a blog is that it's a nice digital logbook. Little snippets of places, experiences, and thoughts that I felt were worth sharing. I haven't been keeping up with posting here lately and that's due to a number of things: lack of inspiration, ideas, and time. I've been climbing a lot and I have visited the Red three times in a span of a month. But on each of these, I didn't even bring my camera. Besides not wanting to lug around 5-7 extra pounds of equipment that is easily broken, I just haven't felt the desire to be the "documenter" of these trips. I want to be along for the ride and just enjoy it without  feeling........somewhat disconnected from everyone else. When I take a lot of photos on trips, it sometimes feels like I'm on the job instead of being on vacation.

At the same time, I do regret not having some quality photo memories of these little weekend escapes. Maybe next time I'll bring my gear and just take a few snaps to look back on, but for now. Here are a few iPhone grabs to show you where I've been in the past few months.