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- Oct 19, 12
“3 Weeks?” I said to the doctor. I guess it could have been worse. I went in there there thinking I had torn my rotator cuff, which in all probability would have been a much greater time away from climbing. In my case it’s Bursitis in my shoulder, which the mere mention of it conjures up my elderly parents. Now I’m questioning which is worse. It’s much cooler saying that I tore my rotator cuff while doing a dyno. Instead it’s the bursa sac in my shoulder that has become incredibly inflamed. Either way I’m not happy. I currently have very little range of motion in my right arm and I’m in a lot of pain.
This coming at a time when I was just starting to notice my strength improving. I started climbing at the gym for the first time in my life, (yes, I’ve always just climbed outdoors!) and it’s had 2 effects. The first is, it’s made me realize just how much I really love to climb outdoors. The second is it has allowed me to push myself more than I perhaps would because it’s so quick easy to get up on a route. This means that I’m climbing 5-6 routes in a couple of hours. I’ve never done that outside. I usually take a whole day to do 4-5 routes, because of the time it takes to properly and safely set things up. This is where I think I made the mistake and what brought on this Bursitis. I guess I just pushed myself to hard. It’s real easy to get caught up in the intensity at the gym because everyone there seems to be pushing the limits.
So, I’m relegated to the sidelines for a few weeks, but hopefully I’ll be back and prepared to get stronger but doing it more smartly. This brings me to my conversation starter. I have a few of questions for the community and was hoping you could all share some insights, thoughts, experiences with me.
- Have you ever injured yourself by pushing yourself too hard while climbing?
- Has anybody else ever had Bursitis? or am I just an old fart?
- Any suggestions for a new indoor climber?
Thanks all. Peace.
- Sep 21, 12
Most of my early life was devoid of inspiration. It’s not that there wasn’t inspiration to be had, it’s just that I didn’t actively seek it out. Flash forward to the present and I’ve realized that not only do I actively seek out inspiration in all forms, but I try and surround myself with people who routinely inspire me. It’s THESE people, who inspire me to explore, engage, write and love. The original concept behind this blog came out of my being inspired to try something new (rock climbing). That inspiration came from two of my favorite people @SteveWWeiss and @ginabegin.
The inspiration I’ve found comes in many forms through people or products. That is why I decided to write a not-so-much-weekly post called “Awesome Badge Of Awesomeness.” The goal with this is to simply express my grattitude to someone or something that inspired me during the week. So far this “award” has been very climbing focused, but that changes this week. This week’s award goes to an absolute angel, Eryn “Eddy” Erickson.
Things you should know about Eryn:
Self Description: A “4’11ish pixie making music, chocolate chip cookies, wearing gold glitter nail polish, & has a LOUD VOICE for self-worth.”
She is the founder of So Worth Loving which you can read all about on their site here: www.soworthloving.com. This week, Eryn celebrated an important milestone with SWL which you can read about here: http://eryn.im/wearing-leopard/
SWL is just such a great concept that I really connect with, and I wish her so much success with this. Here’s a video of her describing SWL:
She’s a very talented singer. Don’t believe me? well check her out on itunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/start-an-uproar!/id373979353
Here’s a great music video for one of my favorite songs:
She is amazing! All of her posts are filled with positivity and inspiration. Do yourself a favor and check her out, follow her and like her page. You won’t be disapointed.
Blog: http://eryn.im/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErynEddy
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ErynEddyMusic
86400!
- Sep 03, 12
A couple of weeks ago I presented Climb On! Products with the very first “Awesome Badge of Awesomeness” and it was very much deserved. I took a break last week from awarding this coveted prize because I was on vacation in Maine. That vacation has led me to this week’s “Awesome Badge of Awesomeness.” The award goes out to Ryan Howes and the Atlantic Climbing School in Maine.
First let me say a few words about hiring guide. I am a firm believer in the importance of certified guides. I learned how to climb by hiring a guide. In fact it was Ryan Howes from ACS. There’s only so much I can learn from books and at the gym. Hiring a guide allows me an opportunity to learn from a seasoned professional as well as have an opportunity to climb in areas that might intimidate me if I were alone with my son Jack. This was the case last week.
We were up in Maine on a family vacation and both Jack and I really wanted to climb Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park. The first thing I did was contact Ryan at ACS, who gave us the details. Then I called ACS directly and chatted with Eli, who’s one of the owners of ACS. He’s awesome and an incredible guide in how own right. He was extremely helpful and flexible with our schedule. Once I booked, I realized that I might have trouble getting up to Acadia the morning we were supposed to climb, so I asked Ryan for a lift. He agreed and picked Jack and I up close by where we were staying. How awesome is that?!
We had an awesome day of climbing at Otter Cliffs. Ryan provided some great instruction to Jack and my brother in-law, who had never rappelled before. He took great care in ensuring our safety at all times, and provided an excellent opportunity for us to really enjoy the climbing experience. You can read about the actual climbing in my trip report here:
http://theinspiredclimb.com/and-roads-walk-winding/
If you are ever in Maine and you are looking for a great guide service please do yourself a flavor and seek out the Atlantic Climbing School and Ryan Howes. You will not be disappointed.
Here’s more info:
- Aug 31, 12
The title of this post will hopefully become obvious as you begin to read. This summer went incredibly fast, much faster than normal. This was a summer unlike any other. This was a summer in which I truly felt as if I entered into a new season in my life. It was a summer in which I purposely stepped outside my conform zone. It was a summer in which I actively sought new adventures. It was summer I won’t soon forget.
The summer began with a trip to New Paltz, NY. There you will find some of the best climbing in the Northeast at the Gunks. There you can also find a wonderful little lady named Jannette, or as we affectionately call her @cliffmama. Here, I got a small taste of what the summer was going to bring. You can read a little bit about it in this post: http://theinspiredclimb.com/back-to-climbing-and-writing/
Have you ever heard of Rumney, NH? That’s where I went next. It was there that I climbed with some awesome people like @jillianlaura and @rocketkid486 and of course @cliffmama. Rumney is a sport climbing Mecca in the Northeast, and it was amazing. You can read a little but about the adventure in this post: http://theinspiredclimb.com/adventure-time/
Getting tired yet? well hold on because then it was off to Germany! I’m not going to say much about it here other than it was amazing. If you want to read all about it I cover it in these 3 posts:
http://theinspiredclimb.com/servus-german-trip-report-part-1/
http://theinspiredclimb.com/motivate-stone-part-2-german-trip-report/
http://theinspiredclimb.com/gear-germany-trip/
Now, getting back to the title. My path this summer was far and winding and it has ended on a high note. I am writing this post as I sit overlooking Penobscot Bay in Northport, ME. This final week of August has been spent the same way we have for many years, relaxing on the rocky coast of Maine. There are so many wonderful things about Maine and it truly has a special place in my heart. This is where climbing began for me and this is where I finished my summer of adventure.
I’m not ready to lead yet and certainly not ready to lead in a location such as Acadia National Park, so, as I did last year, I hired a AMGA Guide and he took Jack and I to Acadia for climbing this past week. It was spectacular.
There’s lots of places to climb in Acadia, each with some pretty spectacular views, but nothing beats Otter Cliffs. The views are simply amazing. The cliffs are at the sea, so you are literally climbing above the ocean. You can see what I saw in some of the pictures below. Now onto some of the details.
First off, belay is always from the top. There are no bolts in these cliffs as far as I know, and no bolts or lower offs on the top so top rope actors are a must. Easily built with a combination of cams and some natural anchors. Once the top rope anchors were in place, our guide Ryan setup a second static rope for rappel. He set up a great system. We would tie in to the climbing rope, which he had on belay with a grigri, then we would connect into the rappel line as well with our ATC. As we would rappel off, he would also let out the climbing rope. If anything happened on rappel, he could easily catch/stop us with the belay. We did this setup for all of our climbs.
The first route we did was a route called “Wonder Wall Right” it’s a 5.7 and hence the name of my post If you don’t get the music reference then I just don’t know what to say. The route has a little bit of a tricky start because there’s a small roof at the very bottom that you have to pull over. After that the movement is pretty free. Lot’s really fun moves and pretty comfortable climbing. Stopping halfway up to take in the scenery is a must.
The second route we climbed was classic called “Great Chimney”. You see this particular route featured a lot. It looks pretty amazing when you are watching someone climbing it, but I gotta say I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. I don’t like chimney’s. I always feel too constrained. Maybe it’s my long legs, but I just never comfortable, and this was no exception. This is still a classic and a route not to be missed, and if you like chimneys, you’ll love it.
The final route of the day was called “Overhanging Corner”. An really fun 5.7 that from the look of it appears harder than it actually is. The movement is so awesome on it and there’s this mystery move that you need to make that will make all the difference on the climb. I won’t tell you what that move is because I don’t want to spoil it.
After we wrapped up with the climbing portion of the day, we hiked up South Bubble to enjoy the views of Acadia. Jack even tried to push Bubble Rock over…no luck.
- Aug 22, 12
“Oh no…shit…this is going to be a bad one” I’ve heard my brother say that more times than not lately. What he is referring to is a seizure. My brother has epilepsy, and every time we think he’s turned the corner, he has another setback. The latest setback has really rocked our worlds.
Matt has what’s referred to as TLE or temporal lobe epilepsy. His case is rare though, in fact so rare that it’s being studied by a number of different schools such as Harvard Med. What makes it so rare? Well, I’m not a doctor and can’t explain things medically but I do know this; He’s had 2 brain surgeries and at this point they’ve removed his entire temporal lobe. Prior to this, all seizure activity was relegated to this area. Once this was removed, the seizures abated for a short time, but then started back up in earnest. What has happened is his brain decided that with the temporal lobe gone, it would relocate the seizure activity to a completely new section of his brain where there was no seizure activity before. How messed up is that?
In order to help contain his seizures, the doctors prescribed a drug cocktail that at best kept his amount of seizures and the intensity of the seizures down. At worst they have have destroyed other parts of his body. Strong pharmaceuticals have a way of creating lots of side effects including things like causing kidney stones in great quantity as well as rotting his teeth. Frankly, the only thing that seems to help the best is marijuana. When he partakes in this, he goes seizure free and his anxiety levels drop significantly. There’s something to be said for natural remedies.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the story. Last year, my brother developed a cancerous tumor in his brain, at the core. It was inoperable, but they were able to destroy it with highly directed radiation. It disappeared, and he was out of the woods. A few weeks ago, he went in for a check and it was discovered that he had three spots, two on his face and one on his head. It turns out that these spots are Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. He had them removed yesterday.
At the same time, they have discovered growths in his lung and his kidney. All indications point to tumors rather than scar tissue as originally thought. So, next week he has scheduled appointments with an oncologist. Hard to say at this point what we’ll find out, but it has all of us pretty anxious.
It seems my brother has never been able to catch a break. Every time we think he’s made progress, something else comes up. Matt is incredibly talented. Certainly the most talented of us in the family. He’s got an awesome voice and plays multiple instruments. When he was able to, he wrote a lot of music with great lyrics. Unfortunately, his mind and body have taken such a toll that he can’t focus or concentrate any longer.
This post has nothing to do with physical climbing, but has everything to do with being inspired, and climbing those mental challenges that life throws at us. Matt is someone that inspires me with his courage and strength. He’s going through so much, and a lesser man probably would have thrown in the towel by now.
I love you Matt!
Here’s one of my favorite songs by him, enjoy.
- Aug 21, 12
This isn’t necessarily a gear review but more of a list of gear that I found essential on my trip to Germany. Most products met or exceeded my expectations.
Gear:
The NorthFace Terra 65 Backpack: Great overall pack. It fit extremely well and was well balanced on my back for the long vertical hikes. It packed reasonably well, although it was difficult to fit my water bladder in with everything else. The size was perfect (65l) for 5 days of hiking, although I didn’t have to pack food or cooking items because they were provided. If I had to pack those items, then I would have gone up to a 75l for a 5 day trip I think.
Black Diamond Z-Poles Trekking Poles: Great sticks from what I was told. I actually didn’t get a chance to use them on the trip. There were a couple of guys who struggled getting down on some of the hikes, so I lent them my poles. They were very happy that I had them on board because they helped significantly from what I was told. I do like the design of the Z-Poles. Instead of collapsing into itself like a traditional pole, these break and bend, which makes packing pretty easy. I am wondering about the durability at the bend. We’ll see how much wear and tear they can take.
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/trekking-poles/distance-trekking-pole
Sea to Summit Compression Sacks: Without these, I wouldn’t have been able to pack everything I did in my 65l. At this point I’m not exactly sure what difference these make as compared to other brands on the market, but these held up extremely well. I had a Large one for my clothes and another large one for my sleeping bag.
http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/1
Action Wipes: I can’t tell you how much I love these things. If you are out hiking/camping and have no access to a shower, then you need these in your pack. I had two days without a shower, and these performed extremely well, leaving me fairly refreshed. They are extremely durable, unlike baby wipes for instance and can even be washed and reused! Do yourself a favor and check these out.
Climb On products: I had both the 1oz Bar and the Bug Drug on board. You ca read about my review of these in my post here: http://theinspiredclimb.com/climb-awesome-badge-awesomeness/
All I can say is these were both tremendous lifesavers. I won’t go anywhere without these products.
Clothes:
Coumbia OmniFreeze Shirts: I had 2 of these shirts and I’m sure glad I did. They made for a great base layer. The thing I loved about the shirts is they soaked up the sweat, kept me cool and dried super fast. These were worth every dollar I spent.
Prana Convertible Pants: I had 2 pairs of these as well. I’ve always loved convertible pants because when I’m done hiking, it’s nice to unzip the bottoms and air out the legs after a long hike. Very similar to the Columbia shirts, these kept me incredible cool on my hikes and dried so fast. I received many comments from my fellow hikers about how they need to get some of these pants.
http://www.prana.com/stretch-zion-convertible.html?color=Midnight
I had lots of other gear on board that you would take on a trip like this, but the gear above was the stuff worth mentioning. Hope you find this useful.
- Aug 20, 12
There are a lot of Hi5′s flying around the interwebs these days. Most if not all are deserved, but what do I do when a Hi5 is just not enough? Well, I’ve decided to dedicate a weekly post to bring this concept to the next level. Each and every week I will be awarding my “Awesome Badge of Awesomeness”. This award is designed to give that extra super-duper recognition to someone or something that inspired me during the past week. Occasionally I may even include a giveaway! In fact I will include a giveaway this week. Read below to find out more.
Awesomeness
Adjective: An unmeasurable amount of awesomenimity something can produce.
The inaugural award for the “Awesome Badge of Awesomeness” goes out to Climb On products!
http://www.climbonproducts.com/
As some of you may know, I just returned from a trip to Germany. I packed a lot of gear for the trip, and most of the gear met or exceeded expectations, so it was difficult to select a single product or vendor. There was one company that seemed to stand a nudge above everyone else, and that was Climb On. I carried two products from Climb On, a 1 oz Climb On Bar and their Bug Drug. Let’s start with the Climb On Bar.
I actually ended up being the hero on the trip because of this little bar. The majority of the trip had myself and my fellow employees hiking up various peaks in the German Alps. A few of my peers developed pretty bad blisters. I suggested they use my Climb On Bar and a little climbing tape over the blisters for the hikes and then use a little at night. They were all amazed and thankful for the results. By the end of the trip, the bar was almost done. The funny thing is, I only used it in the evening. I didn’t develop any blisters from hiking, nor did I get any flappers from climbing. I only used it in the evening because I was sleeping in a room with 10 other guys and after lots of beer and German food, it can get pretty ripe. I would keep the Climb On bar next to me and open it occasionally and breath in the scent. It was a hell of a lot better than the smell in the room.
The second product was Climb On’s Bug Drug. I had no idea what to expect in Germany when it came to bugs and I had heard great things about the Bug Drug product. Here in the Northeast the mosquitos are pretty ferocious, so anything that claims to be better than DEET I had to try. This product did not disappoint. The crags in the Frankenjura, where I was climbing, are all located in the woods, and there’s lots of moisture. This means mosquitos. I decided to test the Bug Drug out. Initially, I sprayed one arm with the Bug Drug, and left the other arm bare. I had mosquitos landing on the unsprayed arm within minutes of us unloading our gear at the crag. Nothing on the other arm. That was enough evidence for me, so I quickly sprayed all of my exposed parts and spent the entire day without any of those bloodsuckers bothering me. BTW, this is huge when you are on belay. The last thing you want is to get bit and possibly risk the safety of the climber!
So that’s it. Climb On Products is awesome and they deserve this “Awesome Badge of Awesomeness” I will continue to recommend their products to everyone.
As an added bonus, I will be giving away a 1oz Climb On Bar to one lucky commenter. The rules are simple. Post a comment on this page. I’d love to hear of any experiences with Climb On. At the end of the week I will pick a random winner from all the people who posted and send that winner a brand new Climb On Bar! Sweet!
- Aug 16, 12
How do I motivate on the Stone? As I began to slowly wake up in my tent, at a campsite in the Frankenjura, this question was circling in my foggy mind. I had gotten roughly five hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. This is not conducive to climbing, where sometimes the mind is more integral than the body. Here I was though, in the heart of some of the best climbing in Europe, and I believe that was motivation enough.
Day two began with a test of one of the products I had on board. There was no shower at the campsite, so I turned to Action Wipes. These little squares lived up to all the hype in my opinion. If you are stuck and need to wash-up, these are for you. I could have probably gotten away with using just one, but I decided to use two. One for the nether regions and another for the rest of my body. I actually felt very refreshed afterwards. I will recommend these to everyone. If you want to learn more, here’s a link: http://www.actionwipes.com/
After Jim, my climbing partner for the weekend, woke up, we shared a pot of coffee. Jim went over to the main house to see if he could scare us up some bread, but there was none left. The the whole “kindness of strangers” thing kicked in. We were offered a bag of croissants from a group staying at the campsite. While the climbing is awesome and interesting, I think half the reason I do this is to have these encounters with incredible people.
Once caffeinated, and full, we broke down the site and headed off to the climbing area. The Frankejura is littered with these rock formations, most of which lie in the woods, under a thick canopy. What this means in many cases is the moisture can’t escape too well, which means slick rock. This also makes finding the crags a bit challenging.
Jim was aware of a crag very close to the campsite, so we decided to head there first. We parked and hiked in to find a very interesting rock, but because of the moisture we deemed it unclimable on this day. We got back in the car and headed off to another crag, fairly close by in the Klettern section of the Frankenjura. The turn off was difficult to find. The guidebook gave us a fairly accurate description, but it turned out that the KM markers were changed so we had to do some guessing.
We eventually found it and parked. We grabbed our gear and headed to the first wall. The Daggi Wöhrl memorial wall is a very nice piece of rock. We scouted out the routes based on the guidebook and decided upon a route called “Alter Riss.” The route is rated a 6- and it was super fun and interesting. Here’s a link for the topo: http://www.klettern.frankenjura.com/php3/select_fels.php3?id=4-02-25
After that climb we made our way over to another wall right beside us called the “Allersdorfer wall.” The guidebook doesn’t have the routes named other than R1-R6. We got on R1, R2, R3 and R4. Again, all of them were extremely fun with great features. The thing I find striking about the rock is that there are hundreds of holes where sponges grew out of the coral back in prehistoric times. The problem with this is finding the right hold amongst the choices. It’s pretty challenging. Here’s a link for the topo: http://www.klettern.frankenjura.com/php3/select_fels.php3?id=4-02-26
The biggest news of the day was I took the sharp end for the first time and lead my first route! Jim led R3 first to get a sense of the difficulty. He came down and assured me I could easily lead it. So with some final instruction from Jim, I set out on the route. Jim was right, the climbing was pretty easy which was great because my mind was on other things like making sure I was clipping in properly! This was a great step for me and my progression and I’m so psyched I did it!
Now comes the disappointing part. Jim got us on the other routes there and I flailed! I’m not sure if it was because of my exhaustion or because of the rise and fall of my adrenaline from the lead climb, but I did horrible. I found myself pulling way too much and not relying on good foot placement. This burned me out so quickly and made it a little challenging for Jim on belay. Thanks God he had his gri-gri with him. That at least allowed him a little rest while I flailed.
We wrapped things up around 2:30pm because I had to get back into Munich for the start of the company meetings. Jim, being as gracious as ever drove me all the way to my hotel.
Now, all I want to do is go back. I fell in love with the rock and the community. If anyone is traveling to Europe and looking to climb, the Frankenjura is one place not to be missed.
Below are some more photos I took. Stay tuned for my third and final post where I’ll talk about some of my favorite gear I had on board.
- Aug 15, 12
Well if I was ever looking to be inspired, these past eleven days did the trick. I just got back from my trip to Germany. I went there on business, but you would never know it based on the adventures we had. This will be the first of three posts describing the trip. I’m going to dedicate the third post to the essential gear I had along with me. While this post and the second will be more the narrative.
First thing’s first, this trip would not have been possible If it wasn’t for my awesome company JouleX (www.joulex.net). What a great company to work for.
Once I found out we were having our company kickoff in Germany, I decided that there was no way in hell I was going to go over there and not climb, so I posted to the rockclimbing.com forums to ask if there was anyone that would like to climb with me in Germany. I got an immediate response from the man named Jim Titt who said that he would climb with me. This was great news. It only got better when he said he had all the climbing gear we needed which meant I could cut down the weight in my pack. Then it got even better when he offered to pick me up at the airport! I know I’ve said this before but I will say it again, I love the climbing community! everyone is so super awesome and Jim was no exception. As it turns out Jim is a bit of a local legend and he’s got a very impressive resume which includes first ascents, and establishing routes in both Germany and Italy. I was in very capable hands.
After a very long flight next to a screaming baby (no sleep) I arrived in Munich. As promised Jim met me at the terminal. We hopped in his car and drove about 1 1/2 hours north to a part of the Frankenjura. The Frankenjura is a very large area of Southern/Central Germany. The area used to be underwater millions of years ago and what is left are the massive rock outcroppings scattered throughout the countryside. The rocks used to be coral reef beds which are now fossilzed. It’s a pretty amazing sight. What I found most amazing is there’s like 20k+ places to climb in this general area. You could spend a whole lifetime there and not climb everything.
The area Jim drove to was in a town called Konstein near Eichstät. The climbing area is known as Dohlenfels. As we pulled into the parking lot, my jaw dropped. As you can see from the picture, it was pretty impressive. There are lots of routes on this particular face, and according to Jim, this is where climbing originated in the Frankenjura. Jim picked out one of the oldest routes on the face, a classic called Sudgrat. It’s rated a 5 which is equivalent to a 5.9 here in the US. It was a good introduction to multi-pitch for me since I had only done multi-pitch once and it was only two pitches. This was five pitches!
The route is bolted for sport climbing, with most of the pitches being under 35m, which means you could get away with a single 35m rope but I believe Jim had a 60m. The climbing was awesome. The rock is really interesting because it’s filled with tons of holds, but the key is choosing the correct hold because most are useless. The rock is really polished and smooth in a lot of places which makes it a little slick. The first 2 pitches were relatively easy and clean and lot’s of fun. The third pitch had me on a tricky traverse which almost broke me mentally but I was able to overcome it and push through. The fourth pitch we had a small down climb and then a scramble across a relatively flat area. Jim let me lead the summit pitch. It wasn’t much, but I can still say I did the summit. It was a great introduction to climbing in the FrankenJura!
At this point both Jim and I were pretty beat, me more so because of the lack of sleep. We got in the car and Jim drove us to the Stadelhofen area where we pulled into our campsite for the evening. I have to say, I really fell in love with the culture. Everyone there embraces the outdoors and everyone is so friendly. The camp ground itself was bustling with activity. First thing we did was crack open some beers and toast our day of climbing. After that I set up a single man tent that Jim had brought with him for me (awesome!). Jim would be sleeping in his truck, which he says he usually does. Once we had the tent setup it was time to eat. We hopped back in the car and headed into the village for more beers and some traditional german food.
I fell in love with the food there as well. It basically revolves around meat. A vegetarian would not fit in here! I had a pork shoulder along with some potato dumplings which is very traditional and very delicious. Jim and I sat there and discussed climbing for hours. We had a very lively discussion around climbing safety including a great discussion around equalization of anchors and if it’s really possible. You see, Jim is an engineer and one of his jobs is to test gear, so he’s put a lot of thought and work into testing the safety of gear, which by the way only made me trust him more on the rock. The other thing I found out was that he, along with a few others, have been working on developing Sicily into a major climbing destination. It was all very interesting. After the conversation dwindled we headed back to the campsite to go to sleep, and boy did I need it. I couldn’t wait to get started climbing the next day.
Tune in for my next post where I will talk about this next area we climbed along with my very first ever lead climb!
More information:
Jim Titt: http://www.bolt-products.com
- Jul 19, 12
I’m headed out on an extended trip to Germany in a few weeks and I’ll be living out of my backpack for a good portion of the trip. I’ve never done this before. When I travel overnight on business or pleasure, I’m typically staying at a hotel or inn. When I camp, it’s usually only for 1 or 2 nights so I can get away with a light pack that isn’t overly organized. This trip is different. I have to be able to carry all my gear, clothes, sleeping bag and pad for seven days. I’ve begun doing research online, watching videos, etc. to try and get a sense of how to pack and organize, but I wanted to ask the community out there for suggestions and tips.
So friends, Do you have any packing tips, suggestions, do’s and don’ts that you can share with me and the community, on living out of your pack? If you do, please join the conversation below.
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Tweets
- Today is gonna suck :(
- @JillianLaura yay! So happy for the 2 of you!
- @JillianLaura ughh not by choice, long couple of days, too long for a tweet. We must climb soon!
- 38 hours of no sleep, this is not going to end well :/
- Struggling with patience today FML (Forgive Me Lord)
- Jack on Lurch Direct 5.10 on the J Wall at QQ he's so much better than me. #climb http://t.co/aJxeLtZxb1
- @climbonproducts right on! That looks delightful :)
- My day just cleared up so I'm headed to QQ for some #climbing with Jack anyone want to join?
- I love my #SWLFamily thank you all! @soworthloving
- Enjoying the new @rockytopgirl32 "Porch Rocker" on a Friday afternoon. Closest thing to a German… http://t.co/dqTgUpv3pe
- Here's @ginabegin 's latest in her series on living life on the road and it's chock full of awesome info! http://t.co/vr5RlKcexK #adventure
- I'm talking about "Unconditional Love" this morning over on @soworthloving Join in on the discussion. http://t.co/OmROnpLBJO #SWLFamily
- RT @soworthloving: NEW BLOG POST. "Unconditional love of myself allows me to break free from guilt and shame. It doesn't… http://t.co/mXEjy…
- Just completed a 3.55 mi run - A little slow but good http://t.co/jlLWhOUXQ8 #RunKeeper
- My bro is competing to produce his musical in London. Help me support him by voting http://t.co/q5O6szL5EJ Click on Mathew Eamon Ryan
- @ginabegin your welcome my friend
- Looks like the rain may hold off until the afternoon tomorrow so Jack and I will be #climb ing at #quincyquarries in the AM. Anyone else?
- I know it's a good day when the toughest decision I'm faced with is IPA or Lager? #beer
- If you ever thought of living life on the road, then you don't want to miss pt. 2 of @ginabegin 's posts http://t.co/Tbqz6GeZJw
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Where I am
- 36 Lawrence St, Boston, MA 02116, USA
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Photos
