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Click to read
our individual diaries:
Meghan
Danielle
Rory
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Meghan McDonald
New York,
NY
Birthday:
June 21
Hometown:
Nashville, TN
Bio:
Click
here
Contact:
Meghan@alt9.net
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Diary
entries: |
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Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11 |
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Week 1
May 15 - 22 |
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DATE:
Flashback- Jan 23, 2006 |
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ENTRY:
"It's broken." Cool and calmly
the doc explains that I ought to be
thankful to not be in surgery already.
Thankful- yeah right! My first
climbing injury a broken leg, torn
ligaments, and two months in cast. I
thought it was all over. No more
climbing, no more trip, nothing.
It's hard going from being a pretty
independent person to someone who
depends on others for everything. I
can't remember having ever felt that
helpless both physically and mentally.
It took Danielle, my mom and other close
friends a lot of work to keep me
motivated to keep going on the trip
plans and to stay with my physical
therapy everyday.
.JPG)
Climbing
with my cast- awkward sight
I've
only been back climbing for a few weeks
now and every time it's a challenge for
me to get my head back into things. I'm
really hoping that I can quickly get
over this fear that's crept into my
psyche and get back into climbing mode
(it might be a long trip otherwise).
Luckily I'll have endless opportunities
and great support to try to do it and
I'll be sure to share it all on here : ) |
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DATE:
May 17, 2006 |
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ENTRY: I can't
believe it's finally here. We've been
preparing for the trip for so long and
we're actually on the road!
Packing up, almost ready to go!!
I'm totally
exhausted from the drive- ten hours
through the rainy night making our way
through the endless stream of trucks.
Luckily, we've found the best little
internet cafe here in Fayetteville to
fill us up on hot chocolate and to get
us online.
The
last couple of weeks have been pretty
hectic and I'm ready to get camp set-up
and have a chance to finally relax.
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DATE:
May 18, 2006 |
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ENTRY:
It's raining and is two days before the
Rendezvous officially kicks off, but the
campsites are filling up fast. We're
enjoying the green grass now, playing
frisbee, slipping on the newly cut
grass, and generally trying to take it
easy. Soon the entire place will be like
a huge ad for backpacking tents, an
array of crazy, bright colors and
designs.
I'm
watching a group of adventurous people
testing out the 50 ft slackline.
Hopefully my ankle will be strong enough
and my mind willing enough to give it a
try in the near future. I'll definitely
be feeling left out otherwise. For now,
I'll leave it up to all those courageous
enough to show their stuff in the
slackline competition, that and the
crash-pad sumo wrestling! |
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DATE:
May 21, 2006 |
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ENTRY:
I was completely wiped out from the comp
and the Rendezvous events yesterday and
then got up far too early this morning
for a women's bouldering clinic and I'm
SO glad I did. There were quite a few
of us led by two amazing women, Heather
and Amy. What an incredible group of
people. Everyone was beat from the day
before, but jumped on everything anyway.
There was one pretty sketchy top-out
that freaked us all out a bit, but
everyone got on, gave it a try, and
pushed past our comfort zone. Then we
tried a really strange, cool problem
that ends high between two boulders with
only about a foot and a half wide hole
to squeeze through (appropriately named
breeched birth). It was a funny sight to
see from below as legs were flying all
over the place- way to go girls for
keeping at it!
As we were on our way out we stopped by
one last problem. It has really only one
move and I tried it yesterday and got
shut down over and over, but I
desperately wanted to give it another go
before we left the New. Heather, Amy,
Kim, and I worked it and worked it, but
as close as we seemed to be, it wouldn't
go down. Finally, after borrowing
Heather's magic shoe (thanks!) and
getting much needed encouragement from
the girls, I put it all out there and
made the move. Yay!! I was so excited
and scared, and excited again! I know
someone took some pics of it, but I'm
sure I'll be embarrassed to see the
crazy faces I had to pull- they made
sure to let me know I looked pretty
ridiculous : ) Such a perfect way to end
an amazing weekend.
I hear the faces only got worse!
Big thanks to Maura,
Kenny, (Heather and Amy) and everyone
else for an amazing job organizing and
hosting a terrific event. See you next
year!! |
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(The writings in these
blogs are our personal
views, not those of any of our sponsors,
so
please don't send them any nasty
emails!) |
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Favorite trip music:
Lucinda Williams (thanks Becca)
NPR (when possible)
Bare Naked Ladies
John Butler Trio
Alanis Morrisette
Favorite climbs:
"Iron bar" V5
(New River Gorge)
"Unknown" 5.11b
renamed STS!!
(Red River Gorge)
Favorite Snack:
Trail mix with peanut m&ms
Apples
Sandwich:
PB & J (light on the J) |
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