Too bougie to dirtbag
First order of business, read Chapter 7 before you read Chapter 8. The reunion I speak of today is that of Three Musketeers, mentioned in the previous chapter. As I’ve mentioned before in my blog, I link up my posts like I do with pitches. In Nikou-fashion. Nikou Z’s routes are always Z’d up. Just because I’m called Pathfinder doesn’t mean that the path is clear-cut and linear. This post in particular is an attempt to unite two posts and tie up some loose ends. Some. If you read Wally’s guest editorial “Time Changes; Times Change”, you’ll see that I’m still missing a good portion of the CTR in my blog. And the CTR has only been a part of my life for a year, half of which spans the time between Chapter 7 and 8. And somehow in those six months, I went from being fearful of sport climbing to getting my first trad multipitch lead. I wondered why I wasn’t as soulful in the Wild West post. It’s clear that this year was quite eventful. When there’s a lot going on, I get overwhelmed. And just this trip alone is a good example of how eventful this year has been. So I write my thoughts here and reflect, so at bare minimum, I can internalize what has happened. And in doing that, I hopefully externalize some of it, as I generally don’t share much otherwise. Partly, to prevent from being as verbose in person. Enough about me. Without further ado.. Here are the recounts of my birthday trip.
As I said, a lot has happened between January 2020 and today. In the months that followed our Texas climbing trip, Pat and I kept climbing outside until COVID hit and quarantine started. I spent most of that time in Tennessee, where Pat and I got into trad climbing. In the meantime, Jack was kept occupied by his Master’s degree and didn’t get much of a chance to climb outside during the semester. Once Georgia reopened, I began climbing again. North Carolina stay closed and Jack needed to finish up with his school work, so this was our first chance to climb together again since the trip.
Jack wanted to keep it local, so we decided we would take some of his gym climber friends and teach them how to climb outside. Patrick and I drove from Atlanta to meet up with Jack in North Carolina. We went to Pilot Mountain, which got hot and busy rather quickly. It was Disneyland at the Crag, so I eventually jump on a 5.9 lead to warm up. I was tired of looking around trying to find some easy climbs that weren’t busy. The clipping stances on this route weren’t straight forward and it was my first time climbing at Pilot.. I remember the look of surprise on Pat’s face, as I never start the day out like that. After a little bit of struggling, I get through the climb. I was certainly ambitious but the top rope was up, which I was happy with because it meant our other friends could get on. But I led on some other group’s draws, since they told me they were gonna take a break and that I could get on. I was told it was time to move on, so those other guys could get back on the rock. I guess I gave them a little more of a break than they were expecting… Oops. I run on Nikou time which is nice and slow.
Even with just two people who don’t know much about climbing outside, our group of 5 was limited by what we could do. It didn’t help that we didn’t know the area well enough. Jack and his friends were able to get on the 5.7 next to me before we left to another area, and we found some climbs in the shade there, after a good bit of searching. One of Jack’s friends needed to leave early for a job interview. I felt bad that he didn’t really get to climb much. Two routes for a two hour round trip. I felt like maybe I had something to do with it but evidently, this trip had a lot of restrictions and obstacles to overcome.
From the get go, I was having trouble planning my birthday trip. Corona has made it difficult, I couldn’t really have Jack come to me, even though I’d prefer to take people to a local crag for their first time, instead of having to navigate a busy crag that I don’t know, with all the moderates being occupied. Pat had been to Pilot a long time ago. We agreed that this is probably the Currahee of North Carolina, except busier. Certainly, the only highlight of climbing there was seeing my buddy Jack get back on the rock again and seeing his friends excited to get outside for the first time. Regardless of the heat that completely wore out Cragdog, or the mere 2 hours of sleep that Jack and I both got that night as we caught up with life, I was content seeing that at the very least, we got our friends outdoors.
Actually, there is another highlight of Pilot Mtn. We eventually met this couple that caught my attention. In particular, this girl named Chelsea(sp.?) and I started talking, both thinking we’d met before. I thought it was at Linville and I asked if she knew Chris Adams. Didn’t ring a bell but she still seemed equally as convinced as I that we knew one another. She asked if I’d been anywhere else and I assumed she was a North Carolina climber. I said, not in the Carolinas. This is the 2nd crag I’ve ever visited in NC! About an hour later, she mentioned something about having lived in Atlanta, when I brought up that I came up here from Atlanta. (Rather unusual to drive 5hrs to climb there when there’s better climbing closer to home). At this point, I started to remember a little bit and I asked where she came from, wondering if the answer was going to be “Memphis”. This was the girl who pulled up to the campsite in Prentice Cooper State Forest at night, had a conversation with Pat, Wally and I. It was dark and I couldn’t quite see her face. The only reason I remembered she was from Memphis is because Wally-bud said: “I’m drinking Wiseacre’s Gotta Get Up To Get Down, the only good thing to ever come out of Memphis.” Displeased, she gives a quick “Alright, bye” as she walks back to her car and moves campsites. Micdrop. Chelsea and I had a good laugh about this coincidence, they got us orientated to some good climbs and eventually Jack got to lead that climb, after not having climbed at all for two months.
The heat eventually wore us down enough. We went back up and said our goodbyes, before Pat and I continued on with our trip. We went to the Obed, near Knoxville. The whole ride there, Ringo (Cragdog!) was so worn out that no matter what position he found, he’d fall asleep immediately. The Lilly pad brewery was closed so we had to find somewhere else to camp. Like I said, this trip was filled with obstacles to overcome. They gave us a recommendation but we struggled to find it, with the lack of Google results and low cell service. We eventually found a place with another climber camping there. He gave us a recommendation as to where to climb the next day. We were then swarmed by this bug orgy, which made it difficult to turn on the lights and navigate in this campground. I was still on 2 hours of sleep. At this point, I was so tired that I went into zombie mode. I can hardly recall. I went to “bed” in the car and felt much better the day after, where we went to South Clear Creek to do some climbing.
When we got to South Clear Creek at the “parking lot”, which was really just a grassfield behind someone’s house, we suited up for our first day of climbing at Obed. A climber came out of his car and gave us the guidebook, which helped us orient ourselves. We were told to go for Spawn at the campground last night, so he showed us the page for Image Wall. We made our way down there and Pat asked me if I wanted to get after some of the leads. I felt pretty good that day, so I was quick to say yes to those. I did a 5.7 and 5.8 before we got to this 5.9 arete climb called Shadowhawk. At the 3rd clip, you have this weird boulder problem mantle with a bad landing zone if you were to fall without clipping the 3rd bolt. I eventually found a good stance and got past it, although I had some troubles figuring out which way to go up after that. I eventually got to the top after some time. I finally got down and Pat readied himself for the lead of Spawn, the original recommendation that got us to visit South Clear Creek. Pat got his first 5.10b/c onsight. I tried to follow but I was dead tired and eventually the rope was dragging against the wall. Right before we left on the trip, we were at Stone Summit and someone caught that one side of my rope had a core pop in it. We weren’t willing to test the limits, as Patrick’s rope was definitely getting as mushy as mine was. I asked him to lower me, afraid of the sound the rope was making as it dragged on the rock. He went up again and cleaned the route and we decided that was the last time we’d use our ropes for climbing. Our ropes were now retired.
While we were getting ready to head back, we met a group that we will call the EDM Dinosaurs. At first, we thought this group was pretty cool. Cragdog had gotten a couple of ticks on him. One of them was a Lone Star Tick that attached itself near his jowls. This girl from the group got both ticks off him cleanly. We talked a little more and they gave us the beta on camping. We went to Rock Creek and saw this amazing campsite. Plenty of amenities, no bug orgy. We set up for car camping and got out the slackline. Eventually this couple approached us, asking for beta on hiking or climbing nearby. Pro tip: if you set up a slackline while wearing an SCC shirt, you might catch the attention of some climbers. After some talking and hanging out, they told us they had a rope and that we could join up to form a rope team, in exchange for us showing them around. We hung out for a bit before saying goodnight to Ashley and Danny, who returned to their own Subaru camping rig, complete with a pop up tent and everything.
Here is where the EDM dinosaurs, the other group next to us, earned their name. When they gave us the beta on camping, they already told us they would be getting a little rowdy. We told them it’s no issue, as we’ve been there before. Pat asked if they were going to have an ayahuasca trip, to which they responded: “Close. Just a ton of mushrooms”. One of their buddies was having his own birthday trip, so once they returned to their campsite, they dressed up in dinosaur costumes and started wrestling and swinging at a pinata. Pat and I sat there and watched, as we prepared some of Pat’s schlop for dinner. Eventually, one of the guys in the group started blasting some EDM music. This continued all night apparently. Pat and I barely heard it from inside the Subaru, but Danny and Ashley could hear it all from their topper tent. I was told they had plenty of complaints. Still, I was happy with the current state of affairs. While it sucked being lost on the first day, when I was exhausted and wanted nothing but to settle in at a proper campsite, we found the right combination of people to lead us to Ashley and Danny, who we climbed with the next day.
We did not get an alpine start that day, as the EDM dinosaurs kept our friends up quite late and Pat and I had our fair share of climbing the day before. Eventually we left for South Clear Creek again, which we explored a bit more after we got Ashley and Danny on the wall, for the first time in a long time. We eventually got down to Best Seat in the House, which is true to the name. After a good bit of climbing and getting to know each other, I asked Ashley and Danny if they wanted to come down to Chatt with us for my birthday. I told them they wouldn’t have any issues at Prentice Cooper. We’ve been plenty of times to the Car Camping site and T Wall is out of season anyhow so there shouldn’t be anyone.
When we showed up, that certainly held true. We had the campsite to ourselves… I had asked Wally if he wanted to come join as well and camp out at Prentice Cooper. When he pulled up, there was a car that pulled in right behind him. I wondered who it was that Wally brought with him. This couple in their mid 40s came out and asked us if we would move our car, as they had their campsite there. I was confused until a light flashed at this compound above the hill, right in front of Pat’s car. This is the Car Camping site and they had no reason to ask us to move. Pat is kinder than I am so he moved as I somehow had a feeling that these were not good people. Before they showed up, we had noticed that there were cigarette buds right where we parked. Pat tried to pick some up but noticed that there were so many, which was unusual. We also saw a bunch of broken glass by the campfire area and a defaced boulder that sat in front of the fire pit. It had a heavy globe glued to the top, along with some writings. The couple eventually settled in and came down to introduce themselves, Mr and Mrs. Jones. They claimed to have been living there for a month, which would be illegal, nevermind the fact that Prentice Cooper was closed to camping due to Covid. At some point later on, “Mr. Jones” comes down with what appeared to be a gun. Wally asks him to keep his nuzzle pointed down, to which he responds “Oh, I just came down to say that the Raccoon have been ravaging our stuff, so if you hear any shooting, it’s our BB gun.. Don’t be alarmed”. He leaves and eventually we all get ready for bed. Ashley and Danny return to their tent and hope for a night of undisturbed sleep. At some point, I get back out of our car as I can’t sleep and go to talk to Wally who’s still up. Eventually, Mrs. Angie Jones comes down and asks if she can join the party, Party of 2. She shows up with her McDonald’s large cup filled half way, reeking of ethanol. We show some Southern Hospitality and allow her to sit on my crash pad as I sat on Wally’s tailgate. As we talk, the conversation slowly devolves as Angie gets political. Apparently, Trump’s the man. “The more you hate him, the more I love him.” The conversation gets heated between Angie and Wally. I try to deescalate and want nothing more than for Angie to leave peacefully. At some point, she asks me what I do, as she has a son my age. I tell her about my gap year, this last year filled with so many crazy events that it’s hard for me to even keep track of them. I tell her how I got into climbing, where she touches my leg and tells me that I’ve got some strong climbing legs, or something to that effect. Eventually she tries to tell me about Free Enterprise and indoctrinate me. I tell her I’ve hardly slept the last couple of days and that she has about 5 minutes left before I call it a night, as Wally says he’s tired of hearing about this bullshit. Angie gets angry, as she talks about how she’s a proud conservative. Wally tells her that he is a socialist because he actually cares about people. His passion and politcal stance infuriates Angie who yells how he’s a “fucking socialist commie”. She angrily wobbles back to her campsite mumbling expletives to herself. Mind you, Ashley and Danny can hear all of this. I wake up the next day. Pat and I go to do some laudry at a laundromat. Eventually, Ashley and Danny meet up with us. I apologize for what is usually not a typical PC night (Prentice Cooper, although what words came out of Angie’s mouth were certainly not Politically Correct). Apparently they had also talked to Wally in the morning, who woke them up with his typical alpine start. This next part of the trip I don’t want to share in its entirety, as I felt it was honestly just unfortunate and stupid. In short, I convinced Ashley, Danny and Wally to come to Chatt and it was a bad introduction. It came to the point where each group wanted to do something different and I had to be the mediator and resolve some conflicts on my birthday.
Ashley, Danny, Pat and I went on a hike, while Wally ended up going home. I didn’t feel comfortable staying at PC and I felt as if I needed a redo for my birthday night. I booked the one suite at the Crashpad that allows you to bring a dog, as we couldn’t leave Ringo behind. So I offered for Ashley and Danny to stay with us, as I had a 6 people suite booked for 2 (and a half if you count Ringo). I wanted to right my wrongs with the people that might not give me another chance, as I knew that Wally and I were good enough of friends that we could deal with the aftermath later. While they hesitated, we had fun on our hike. They were down to do dinner with us before they considered whether they would leave or not. So we returned to the Flying Squirrel for the second night in a row. We then checked in to the Crashpad next door after our dinner, and Ashley and Danny said they’d never seen the Hemingway suite, so they’d like to at least see it before leaving. I am just too bougie to dirtbag. I think once they saw that they could finally get some quality sleep and knew how tired they were, they would stay one more night with us. We joked that we would be the ones to get rowdy tonight and that maybe there’s a trend that they overlooked, that maybe Pat and I were the ones attracting all the chaos. I had a great birthday night, which at this point would be like my 5th celebration of my birthday. The party never ends. It goes on and on and … We went to Sunset Park the next day with Elliot and his friend Nadine. We ended the trip on a high note and I felt pleased enough to return to Atlanta. So, all tuckered out, we said our goodbyes and made off.
Just like how on my birthday month, the celebration doesn’t end, we found that Patrick’s “last trip before leaving” doesn’t end either. We still got to climb a couple of times before he left for Texas. We recently climbed at Sunset Rock with Chris Hall and his girlfriend Bri. They had all been to the Flying Squirrel to eat before and knew that it’s somewhat pricey. But what can I say? I convinced them to at least come and get a beer there before we made our way to Pigeon Crockford for camping and Lost Wall the next day. As I get there, I say hey to Elliot at the Crashpad. I tell him to come join us, to which he tells us that the Crashpad is actually busy again. It was at max capacity with the new Covid regulations they had in place. I asked if one of the suites was booked or if it was just the bunks that were filled. After a brief discussion, we may or may not have stayed in the Hemingway suite. What can I say? Too bougie to dirtbag. Pat and I went to the Flying Squirrel and decided to eat there for the night, as we were staying right next door and got our food discounted by staying at the CP. We joked that if we stayed at the CP again, we might never be able to return to the dirtbag life. CP is greater than PC, that’s for sure.
On one of these drives, I talked to Pat about one of our first discussions. We talked about not wanting to be a nuissance when we go out climbing. To be able to feel comfortable with any situation. To be able to join any group and be able to contribute. To not add an extra strain because of our incapabilities or lack of knowledge. It’s not something that I expect of people at all. It’s just a personal goal that Pat and I shared. Evidently, we were able to show up to a new crag and figure it out, with the help of the people we meet along the way. For that, I’m grateful. But I do sense some feeling of pride in being able to give back. To show people around in a state that isn’t even mine. Wally says that I’m an honorary Tennessean. Each time Pat and I go out, we get a little better, we get a little closer to our goals. Even if it’s only for a month or two, I miss him already.