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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 4
June 6 - June 12 |
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DATE:
June 7 |
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ENTRY:
We're on the road again. Goodbye to the
southeast shaded slopers and hello to
tumbleweeds, oil fields, and 3 digit
temperatures. The speed limit is 80 out
here and even better, the trucks can
only go 70. I feel like I own the road. We're finally
getting to the end of our huge box of
gobstoppers, courtesy of Kim from the
New River Rendezvous. What do we nibble
on now?? |
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DATE:
June 8 |
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ENTRY:
We drove through the night, sleeping for
only a couple of hours at a little rest
stop under a light that was far too
bright. At least we were too tired to
notice the heat, but it's hard to ignore
how uncomfortable sleeping in a fully
packed car can be.
It felt
great to get to Dallas where we were
really excited to check out a gym Rory's
been raving about- StoneWorks.
It's pretty crazy, the gym's located
inside a 121 foot grain silo. Crazy!
Who
has the endurance (and the nerve) to
climb that high in an enclosed area?!
When we first got to the gym the
electricity was out, but the owner Glenn
welcomed us in and let us have the
headlamp tour. The huge silos were
eerie in the dark to say the least.
Luckily they had an amazing back deck
area that was perfectly shaded and had
the coolest breeze 100 degree weather
can offer.
enjoying the breeze
We met some really cool
people who shared pics of nearby Texas
climbing and who showed us the ropes at
the gym- well, not so much the ropes as
the bouldering. Who goes to the tallest
gym in the country and boulders??
Apparently we're that lame. It was
still great, but so much for our rest
day. My finger tips have had just about
as much as they can take right now. I've
seen quite a display of colors as the
layers scrape away. I made the mistake
of putting lotion on my hands when they
were still coated with chalk- yuk, big
mess, not a good idea. Best of
luck to Stephen who is battling through
a bad ankle injury himself. It
gets better. |
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DATE:
June 9 |
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ENTRY:
One moment traveling the long two-lane
road it feels like you could drive
endlessly and never see anything new,
but before you know it the treeless land
is covered by sprouting greens and it's
hard to imagine that it was anything but
the same just moments ago. Out
here in Eastern Arizona the trees, more
like overgrown Bonsais, stand atop the
red and brown layered ridges claiming my
attention. Before we know it the
dramatic scene change happens again and
the once hilly land now offers us a full
360 degree view of the distant
landscapes to come.
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DATE:
June 10 |
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ENTRY:
Yesterday was amazing. We stayed
with my sister Brook in Window Rock,
Navajo Nation where she teaches and not
far from where my other sister Tammie
once taught (yeah for teachers!). Brook
pointed us in the direction of Canyon de
Chelly. I didn't know what to expect and
was overwhelmed by its magnificence.
I'll definitely struggle to describe it.
As a rock climber I marveled at its
physical beauty. The red rock with its
many twists and turns, layer upon layer,
dipped far beneath me down to the sandy
bottom and rose again encompassing my
full view. Maybe more powerful than the
sight itself is its historical and
cultural significance. I don't
know enough about it myself, but what
I've learned is that the land had for
centuries been home to the Navajo
people. They were however forcefully
made to leave the sacred land and march
over 300 miles to Fort Sumner, NM and
were held captive as prisoners of war.
After nearly five years the surviving
Navajo people were allowed to return to
their land. Today we were able to soak
in the spiritual and historical power of
"the heart of the world."
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DATE:
June 11 |
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ENTRY:
We made it to "Flag" as my mom calls it.
Downtown is great- very small town
feeling with quaint cafes and lots of
climbing stores! We're being put up by
Zak and Rachel, two great locals who've
opened their home to us- we're very
lucky!
We went
out to Priest Draw, one of Flagstaff's
many nearby bouldering locations.
Today was one of my favorite days
climbing so far. The rock is so
different from Horse Pens 40. I haven't
had to top-out on sketchy slopers yet.
Even though the rock at HP40 threw me
off so many times, it really helped my
confidence in the end. It seems to
really have paid off for Danielle. I've
never seen her climb so well and
confidently. Today was Danielle's day
for sure. My favorite problem she
did started off on two tiny pockets
slightly above her head on a flat face.
There were no feet at all so she had to
fully hang from only five fingers and
pull up to a hold super far away.
With her great Australian accent she
screamed "awesome" after sending the
problem first try. The prize, dinner on
Mark with Rory's sister Felicia (or
maybe they were just being nice).
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DATE:
June 12 |
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ENTRY:
I love Zak and Rachel's dog Aspen. She
really reminds me of Marky, my dog who
I'm really missing. We took Marky
out climbing one day and he was great,
but we're still dealing with his hair in
the car, talk about leaving a mark.
It
turns out Zak is a big gamer, which
suits Rory really well. I think they
could play all day! Better news is
that Zak's into Farscape. Becca,
Annie, and Larry may be the only people
to understand this significance, but he
has all the seasons on DVD!!
More to
come about climbing here in Flagstaff
soon.
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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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