The Peaks approach…

So, speaking of planning, the weekend approaches.  As I see it, currently looking as follows:

Day 1:

All going well, we should arrive at 10.15 on Saturday.  Head out to Derwent Valley for a day of mountain biking.

Days 2 and 3:

Play it by ear:

switch(weather) {
   case good: activity = bouldering or climbing; break;
   case mediocre: activity = geo{cache,hash}ing; break;
   case abysmal: activity = climbing wall; break;
   default: pub and further planning;
}

Any additions/deletions/modifications?  Do we want to be any more organised?  (face it, could we possibly be any more organised? what could go wrong?)

So, we’ll definitely pack harnesses and shoeses; question is: should we bring ropes and gear too?  Quite happy to, as it’s a feasible load (especially with three of us); at the same time, if climbing is not likely to be on the cards, we’ll leave it at home, as hauling great loads of nylon and metal up and down the country for fun is, well, not really that much fun…

I realise that the weather will be a pretty significant factor; will keep an eye on how the forecast develops.

In terms of the long range forecast, I reckon it would be good to get another day/weekend in at Portland before the Summer deserts us (if it hasn’t already); looks like the next free weekend is last weekend in September (27th-28th).  What do people reckon?

Eagle canyon makes for a great adventure day – all I thought I had signed up for was a spot of climbing, but we really needed our explorer hats on to get even remotely close to some rocks (and a good supply of water for the 90+ temps).  Thanks to Tom’s pickup we had little trouble making the 4 miles along a rediculously bumpy track, but finding our selected routes required much determination! Shiney bolts marked the rockface towering above us, making it to the beginning of the official climbs involved scrambling that would really have been better with a rope! Oh yeah, not forgetting the killer lizards that guarded the forests who were carefully left undisturbed

The rock has awesome holds, lots of pockets that at least a couple of fingers get in! Although bolted, the routes aren’t exactly used much (no chalk marking the way for that invisible piece!)

---

Accessibility an optional upgrade

lizard of the land

Rob stretches

Rob crack climbing

Sonja ascends rock

new mexico landscape

climbers aren’t the only users of the rock

Tom lead climbing

---

New Mexican vistas on the journey home

Cheeky Bouldering, New Mexican Style

New Mexico is moving rapidly up my favourite states rankings, with its seemingly endless outdoor sporting opportunities! My first bouldering here was out near apache canyon, a serene valley with chunky rocks to play on.  Feint signs of chalk indicated the previous existence of fellow climbers, although solving problems with those holds would require surgery of some body-enhancing nature I feel.

being horizontal isn’t usually this much effort

bouldering, as convention would have it

but defying customary climbing is also entertaining

The beauty of the South

Just to balance out any perceived Northern bias, here are a couple of reasons why returning to Portland ought also be on the cards (from Oanh and my trip back there last Saturday)

 

The lazy belayer

 

View of Blacknor Cliffs from the top of Fallen Slab

 

Dinner

 

Sunset on Chesil Beach

 

Portland Rock

So judging by that funny looking rock we’re currently in … France

The sun was the killer on this climb

Ah the fun we had setting the anchor at the top!

It’s typical, I spend 2.5 yrs in Southampton only a couple of hours away from Portland and I never go climbing there. Then, mere weeks after moving to Sheffield, a trip down to the sports climbing mecca is announced! Still 6hrs driving later and we made the most of a cracking weekend. The heat was intense and climbing up a nice crack in full view of the morning sun left me feeling like a bug, on a rock, in the desert.