After graduation, I took a trip to Kentucky's Red River Gorge for a day or two of climbing. Victor and Ruth put the trip together; Julie and I just sort of tagged along.

We stayed overnight in the field behind Miguel's Pizza and drove to various places in the Gorge to climb. We started at the Roadside crag, and moved to Left Flank on the next day. Victor and Ruth led all the pitches and left the ropes up. They went off to project 5.10s and 5.11s while Julie and I climbed 5.8.

The routes are twice to three times the length of anything I'm used to indoors, and I was pretty wiped by the end of each one. I only sent three routes in two days, all of them 5.8, including much quality time spent on the hardest 5.8- I ever hope to acquaint myself with. The other two (5.8 and 5.8+), supposedly harder, I climbed on the first try. This pattern did not hold when I tried to jump on one of Victor's 5.10as.

I left after two days, and barely scratched the surface of all that there is to climb. Maybe I'll go back someday if I'm ever in Kentucky - though I'm not sure when that would be.