Here is a link to a host of climbs in NC, climbing gyms, boldering, and trad/toproping climbs. I really like how all of the climbs in each area are listed and enough is written about each one to know how difficult it is and where to find it. I would really love to go out to the Linville Gorge area again, this time with some climbing gear, and try out some easy routes.

I have mentioned it before, but there are more details now.  Monday morning very early myself and 8 other people from our church will be leaving for Kiln, Mississippi, to help cleanup a house that was wrecked by Katrina.  Kiln is a coastal town about 50 miles east of New Orleans, and about 8 miles off the Gulf Coast.  Here is a google map.  The impression I got was that the type of work we would be doing would be finishing work on a house.  Siding, shingling, sheetrock, decks, painting, molding, etc.  We’ll be led by three guys in our church who are either contractors or formor contractors, and the rest of us will be taking orders.  I am really looking forward to this opportunity because I see it as a chance to put what I believe to practice.  I believe that support for those in need should come from the church and the neighbor, not the government, and if everyone takes their turn in situations like Katrina then a lot can be accomplished. I doubt I will have the internet to post during the trip, but I will have pictures when i get back.

A really neat site is set up called www.letssaythanks.com so that we can express our thanks to the men and women serving our country abroad. When you go to the site you can pick a card, and pick what you want it to say on the inside, and it will be sent to a soldier. This is a great way to show them that you value their service for our country. Check it out and let others know that this resource is available.

I think I have mentioned Steep and Cheap here before. Steep and Cheap is a website that offers one outdoor type item a day at an incredibly low price, until it is sold out. You then have to wait till the next day for another item to be offered. At least you had to before. They have now changed the way they do business so that as soon as one item runs out, another item is offered. This means incredibly low prices on all kinds of stuff all day long. It keeps you on your toes because it doesn’t tell you what the next thing is going to be or what the last thing was. All you know is that whatever is there now is going fast. So be sure not just to check them out every day, but to keep an eye on the website, hitting refresh every 5 or 10 minutes, all day and all night. You’ll miss out on a sweet deal man! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

If you have a hankering to see some really tough climbs done, as I have had lately, then you should check out google video. Just do a search for “rock climbing” or click here. There are a lot of videos of Chris Sharma doing climbs that should not be possible. The one of him doing a 5.15a called Realization is pretty sweet. I didn’t even know there was such thing as a 5.15. He also has some shorter clips from competitions that are really cool.

Well if you have been following NC State football the past couple years you know that things have not been too cheery. Last season we began the season 2-4 before getting our act together and eaking out a 6-5 record and a bowl win. Our issues the last two seasons are that we have no offense to go along with a steller defense. Well this year our defense lost some key players in the draft. My congratulations go out to Mario Williams getting the #1 pick, but at the same time its tough knowing that our defense lost such a great guy. So with our defense getting worse this year, that means our offense needs to step up, and I read an article this morning that gives me hope that they are ready to do that. Here is some of that article:

In recent years, the Wolfpack usually has brought in one or two big wideouts — Dunlap in 2004 and James in 2005 — but in the 2006 recruiting class, coach Chuck Amato and his staff put a particular emphasis on size.

“They were saying they wanted big receivers — big, physical, deep-ball players,” Williams said. “They want to go deep this year.”

It was a logical move for State. Amato and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman knew starting quarterback Marcus Stone had the arm strength needed for a vertical passing game. They also knew the presence of running backs Andre Brown and Toney Baker would force most defenses to stack the line in an effort to stop the run. Why not bring in a group of tall wideouts who could lope down the field after Stone’s rainbows, then out-jump shorter defensive backs to haul in the ball?

“Last year we didn’t throw that many fades, but this year we’re going to throw posts, we’re going to throw fades, we’re going to throw corners,” James said. “There are going to be a lot of long routes this year.”

This could add up for some very exciting football, with Andre Brown leading the rushing, and everyone else going for bombs downfield. Its great when you can run long routes because it doesn’t matter how far out you are, there is always hope that a bomb could put you back in contention.

NC States first game is in 11 days on September 2nd, against Appalachian State. Don’t be fooled into thinking that game is a gimme. App State won the Division II national championship last year, and will be chomping at the bit, ready to prove they can play competitive Division I ball. Here is a link to NCSUs complete schedule.

Well I promised some vistas from the crest trail and here they are. You have to forgive the quality, since the pictures were taken with a cheap disposable camera and they were developed at Wal-Mart. This means that 100% of the beauty portreyed in these pictures is due to the beauty of the peaks.

You can’t really tell from these pictures, but its over 3000 feet down to that valley.

For these pictures there were hundreds of bees in the flowers, but they were very occupied, and didn’t bother me a bit. I just got some music with my view, as their buzzing was very loud.

This is looking back at Celo Knob as I was descending the trail.

This is from a rock face that I scrambled up a little ways, giving me one of the best views on the trail.  Once again it was over 3500 feet down to that valley.
Well since all I had was 25 or so pictures and I wanted to save some for the top of Mitchell Saturday, Those are all i have to offer by way of vistas. More on my gear next…

Here are some inspirational quotes:

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. – Aristotle

If you think you are too small to make an impact, try sleeping in a room with a few mosquitoes. – West African Proverb

Bad politicians are sent to congress by good people who don’t vote. – William E. Simon

In democracy its your vote that counts, in feudalism its your count that votes. – Mogens Jallberg

Allright so now that you are all inspired, here is a link to some information about important voting dates in North Carolina. I know its early, but like good boy scouts we should all be prepared. It also has some links so you can register to vote, and deadlines for registering as well. I hope everyone who agrees with me politically gets out there to vote, and for the rest of you, take a you day and enjoy some reality TV

Ok, I have to admit to something. For the past couple months I have been going to a climbing gym about every week. I also bought a harness and a chalk bag. That means I am committed to doing this on a regular basis. This has caused me to desire a couple things. One is better technique climbing. Another is a much stronger upper body. I searched around the web a little and found some websites and articles on techniques for climbing and getting better at climbing. Here are some of the links:
This is a great article on training excercises you can do at a climbing gym.

ABC of Rockclimbing talks a lot about technique.

Here is another article concerning the importance of using your feet.

Here is a general blog on climbing that might warent regular checks.

Here is an article on slacklining, something that I unknowingly learned how to do as a little kid when my brother and I tied a rope between two trees and spent the next couple months learning how to walk it.

Finally here is a blog that talks a lot about gear for climbing.

Ok so the other thing that i am interested in is getting stronger. This means doing what i am terrible at doing, going to the gym on a regular basis and working out. Here i am making it official, for the next 6 weeks I’ll be aiming to get up early enough every morning to either run or go to the gym every weekday morning. I also want to be going to bed earlier at nights, which will probably make the first half of my task easier. Allright so now that its official we’ll see how it goes.

UPDATE: I didn’t put a link up there before, but here is a link now to the place where we have been climbing, Verticle Edge Climbers Center in Durham. We went again last night and had a really great time. I was able to quickly and efficiently do two climbs that I had really struggled with before. Good stuff! Also here is a link to a listing of all the indoor climbing places in North Carolina (I believe there are links for other states as well.)

Oh yeah and also i got up early this morning and worked out. Unfortunately I felt really sick to my stomach and my arms have been dangling because I can’t lift them, but it is a grand start.

So what were my thoughts along the trail? First of all, the first day was pretty rough on me. The trail was harder then I expected, and a lot of that difficulty was mental. Standing on one peak I would look accross to the next, and it would be towering, and I would think wow, there is no way I am getting up that one. However the trails were good, and I found that if I focused on what was right in front of me instead of the peak that was looming, I didn’t have any problems. This made me think that this was like life. There are goals I have for my life that seem daunting, but if you focus on what needs to be done here and now, eventially the big milestones will be reached. Rome was built with one small step or a journey of a thousand miles isnt taken in a day. Something like that.

So another thing i was very thankful for was how the Lord guided my steps. There were three times when I especially felt that guidance. One time he wacked me in the head with a sharp stick hard enough to stop and turn around and realize I was off the trail. Another time I came up to the edge of a cliff, and the trail seemed to just end. After taking in the amazing view then I started to push through what seemed to be the end of the trail, but a copperhead was coiled up on a rock right in front of me. I backed off a few steps, and realized that the trail leading up to the cliff was a side trail and that if i went back a few more steps I would be back on the regular trail. A final time I really felt the Lords guidance was when I was leaving the trail to go to the top of Celo Knob. I started down one route to the top, but after I had gone a little ways the route wasn’t looking like such a good one. I then realized that I forgot to set a waypoint for where I had left my pack. I stopped and was trying to decide if it was worthwhile going back or if I should just push on to the top. Normally I would just push on to the top because i hate backtracking. However I looked down at my GPS and just as I did a warning flashed on it that the batteries were low. I turned right around and headed back to my pack to change the batteries, set a waypoint where I left my pack, and take a new route to the top. I was very thankful for taking a new route, because it turned out the new route was actually a trail and the ascent to the top was easily accomplished. All three of these guidances were just me responding to the circumstances around me. Its not like I looked up to heaven and asked God for a sign. This made me think about how God guides us through life, not by talking directly to us, but by architecting circumstances so that we are taken care of.

Another thought was on Thursday evening with regard to water. Like I said before I wasn’t dying of thirst or anything, but I really love water, and when i drink it I like to drink a lot. Now as it turned out I would be at a creek by lunch time the next day, and I had plenty of water for breakfast, but I didn’t know that, so I was thinking I needed to skimp. God knew not only my needs but my desires, and he decided that I didn’t need to skimp Thursday morning. He also put the ideas into my head to catch the water. I was so thankful and was praising Him when it started to rain. I guess the lesson for this is ask and you will receive. If a boy asks for a loaf of bread from his father will his father give him a scorpian? How much more does our Father in heaven enjoy answering our prayers.

Another thought that came to me is when I was climbing on Thursday. Thursday morning it was very foggy, so you couldn’t see anything beyond maybe 20 or 30 feet ahead of you. I was very much enjoying the crest trail, but I prayed “Lord, I am so thankful for being out here, and I am having a fabulous time. I am not saying that you have to do this for me to be happy, but if it would make me even happier if you would clear up some of this fog so that I can apreciate this crest and the views it provides.” Now I am not going to claim that within 10 minutes the fog lifted, but with a couple of hours it did, and it remained clear all afternoon, and into the evening, so that I really could fully appreciate all of the views.

One things that kept my head occupied while I was up there were these songs that kept comming to me. When a song comes to me and i am walking or running then some piece of the song will go through my head over and over. The funny thing was that lots of these songs just happened to do with walking. Here are a few that I remember were in my head “these boots were made for walking”, “if I could walk 500 miles”, rambling man, a couple songs by Keane, one which goes like this:

I walked across an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.
I felt the earth beneath my feet,
Sat by the river and it made me complete.

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

I came across a fallen tree,
I felt the branches of it looking at me.
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

So if you have a minute why don’t we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don’t we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know.

And there were more songs which i can’t think of now because I have Keane in my head. If I remember more I will add them here.

Another thing that I was thinking about when I had reached the end of the Crest Trail and I was bumming around Burnsville with my pack. I managed to hitch a few rides and I was feeling very hippy. One thing this made me think was how neat it would be to backpacking Europe from Hostel to Hostel, either bumming rides or doing public transportation. Another thing this made me think of was how we look on those folks walking along the street with their thumb out. Both of the people that picked me up were underprivaledged people. Although they were not blessed with much, they were very willing to give and share the little they had. All those big fancy SUVs that passed me, they had very much, but they were not willing to give anything. Its a lesson to me, and I will think twice before drving past some dude with his thumb out.

The lesson above also had me thinking about how need corelates to peoples level of socialness. When I am in a city or a store or settings where strangers have the opportunity to talk, often I will just go about my business, get what I need done, and keep my interaction with the people around me to the minimum. However when I have a need or there is the potential for a need, I don’t hesitate to talk to those around me and be more social. Along the trail I struck up a conversation with a couple of the other hikers just to see if they were doing daytrips or what. In town I talked to several strangers at the gas station, asking around about where there is an ATM. I guess there is a selfishness in me that only reaches out to strangers when I need something for myself. However once I am reaching out to those around me I always apreciate those moments of conversation. So maybe I need to change and be more social with strangers all of the time, rather then just when need demands that I be more social.

Well there were other thoughts, and if I think of them then I will share, but for now I dont remember. I hope that the contents of my head have not been too boring!