On my home from Red River Gorge right now, I and all I can think about is going back and when the next time I will get to climb with the friends that were there with me. Going to the Red was a last-minute decision, literally. I had just gotten back from a three day trip to the Badlands Off-Road Park in Attica, IN where I was putting my Dirt Bike that I fixed up last year through its paces. Just a heads up if you decided to ride your dirt bike at Badlands be prepared to ride in a lot of loose sand and gravel, I have no problem in it, but others tend to struggle.
Back to Climbing, I left at 11 PM on Sunday so I could climb Memorial Day (Monday), Tuesday, and Wednesday. This was a bit ruff on me because I had just driven four hours retuning from badlands and now set out to drive 8 hours on the same roads so that I would reach Kentucky at 8 AM in the morning. If you’re running the numbers I lose an hour heading there. Somehow though I managed to get plenty of sleep and was rip-roaring to go when I got there. Set up the tent in the infamous goat field only to realize that is scorching hot in the full sun and relocated to some shady ground right next to the showers.
After getting the amazing burrito’s Miguel’s is quite famous for we head out for some climbing at Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve (PMRP) where I did my first completely clean climb of 5.9 where I ran the quickdraws and rope to the top with no takes or falls on “Miranda Rayne” in “The Shire”. I also climbed “Audie” 5.8 and “My Name is Earl” 5.11d while at the shire. Finally, to end the day I stopped at “Rival Wall” where I attempted “Hatfield” 5.10d but to my disappointment, I got beat bad by this route, I blame the heat and not eating enough.
The group of friends I was with decided to head out kind of early because earlier in the day my friend with a smaller car bottomed out and ripped his exhaust pipe in half while heading for the closest parking in PMRP to the shire. The roads at Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve (PMRP) get washed out, rutted, and destroyed throughout the year so be prepared to hike. Even though we left early we realized that it was pointless because it was a holiday and ended up just parking at Miguel’s for the night. I immediately took a shower because Red River Gorge in the summer months is ridiculously warm during the day. Food-wise Miguel’s was short on a ton of things and I was forced to get this great tasting Steak sandwich with onions and green peppers. After doing some night activities of games and just talking with friends I went to sleep to prepare for the next day of climbing.
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