Click to read our individual diaries:
Meghan    Danielle    Rory
 

Meghan McDonald
 New York, NY

Birthday: June 21
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Bio: Click here
 Contact: Meghan@alt9.net

 
Diary entries:
 
Week 1  Week 2  Week 3  Week 4  Week 5  Week 6  Week 7  Week 8  Week 9  Week 10  Week 11
 
Week 2     May 23 - 29
 
DATE: May 24, 2006
ENTRY: We took the advice of a great local(ish) climber, Heather, and headed out over some tough terrain, through some oil rigs to a place called Volunteer Wall.  Good call. One of our goals for the summer is to get comfortable and confident enough to lead climb the same difficulty that we top rope, but what a challenge. I’m so proud of Danielle for giving it a go and successfully jumping on her first outdoor lead climb. She rocked! It put us all in a great space to push ourselves. She was able to convince me to try a climb that I never would have thought to try myself because it seemed so out of my league. I’m so glad I listened to her!!
 


A strained chalk-up on my first
5.11b lead

I took my first fall (not as bad as I imagined it would be) and rested on my first go, then watched Rory top rope it to get some beta, and then sent it on my second try.  Danielle said I looked pretty petrified a few times and I don’t doubt it at all. At one point the rope got caught under a branch just out of Rory’s reach right when I was trying to clip. I was sure I would fly off, but Rory made a great save and loosened up enough rope for me to secure myself (thanks!).  A perfect time for me to call it a day.

 
 
DATE: May 25, 2006
ENTRY: I’d love to spend some more time in the Red, but it’s about time to take off, next stop is Nashville, yay! We’ll get to spend some time indoors with friends and family (can’t wait to see you Mom, Brook, and Becca!!)
 
DATE: May 27, 2006
ENTRY: I'm home in Nashville. It feels oh so good to be in my own bed! It's great to have my mom here.  She's not a climber at all, but she's embraced this crazy passion of mine entirely.  We've even convinced her to fly out to San Fran to join us for a week or so- there's dedication (or is it the beach, hmmm?) This is my home turf and all, but we found a crag I've never heard of and took off to check it out. The directions we found got us to the parking area, but that's about all.  After dodging galloping horses (sounds more exciting than it was!) and getting my new flip flop along with my leg stuck in a huge pit of mud, we found the boulders.  By this point we were tired of directions or lack there of, tired of trying to communicate and make joint decisions, and mostly, tired of the bugs- or at least I was. Danielle is certainly enjoying having me around as her own personal bug shield. I definitely didn't sign up for this :) A side note, happy b-day Christina (I didn't forget).


 My TN home
 
DATE: May 28, 2006
ENTRY: We had the best dinner last night- great food (from Ghana) and good friends. We were an international group with a Canadian (and a half-Canadian), a Bolivian, and of course an Australian.  I loved the food here in Nashville, but it will make going back to our daily peanut butter sandwiches so hard.  And it's going to be hard to leave my mom, Marky, our puppy, and our newest addition to the family, Miko, the cat. I'm sure none of us will soon forget Marky after bringing him along on our day trip yesterday- I'm sure all the hair he left behind will leave Danielle sneezing for the rest of the trip, gotta love allergies. Anyway, tomorrow should be great (as long as the thunderstorms have passed) because my mom and my sister will be joining us in Chattanooga!  


A happy Marky
 
DATE: May 29, 2006
ENTRY: My mom and sister made the journey to Little Rock City with us. I rode with them and had some welcomed time alone with the family. We took a back road rather than the interstate. The rolling hills were beautiful, but tucked in was a reminder of the poverty that exists all around us- not just where we'd expect it in third world countries, but right here at home in our back yards.  Very strange was how one second you would see this and the next there would be the opposite. Although it may have been nice to see nice homes, it was frustrating when you'd look at a beautiful tree covered mountain and the first thing to catch your eye is the treeless clear-cut property with a gigantic obtrusive home on the very top. I hope there is eventually a way to allow people to build their homes, but to do so in a way that preserves the integrity of the area at the same time. 
 

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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)