Today steep and cheap is doing 100 deals in 24 hours. That means every 15 minutes or so they put a new item up there. Some of the things they have had so far (which i missed) were $130 snopwboard boots for $30 and coats and watches and sunglasses and other stuff like that discounted heavily. They also sometimes put climbing shoes, sleeping bags, tents, and lots of other outdoor equipment that you would normally buy at backcountry.com. Keep an eye on it today, and remember every 15 minutes that you don’t check steep and cheap you are missing out on some incredible bargain!

It has been one whole year since my first post to thebradlands, December 15th, 2005. I would like to thank my mom and dad, for bringing me into this world. Also my producer/ providor/ spellchecker/ factchecker Warren Myers. Of course I’d like to thank Jillian who has stuck with me through thick and thin and has helped me with my Spanish. And lastly all my fans who have made it fun for me to write knowing that you care enough to check by and read. Blogging has been a great way to vent my excitement in lots of different areas. Hopefully reading has energized you, and thebradlands has been an instrument to get you excited about life.

Carolina Adventures is an outdoor recreation facility in Chapel Hill that seems to be quite a valueble resource. I was down playing disc golf at their beautiful 18 hole course Saturday morning, and saw a portion of the ropes course. They also have an outdoor climbing wall, two indoor climbing walls, and they organize backpacking and kayaking trips. I am not sure how much is closed to non UNC students, and I am finding out about how I can try out the ropes course. As I find out more information about the place I will post it here.

Here are the promised trip pics! By the way Melissa has a blog on xanga, and she gave an account of our trip as well, which you can read here.

The drive down was fun, in Karissa’s beautiful new car. No I was not looking at the camera, I was driving.

It might have provided a nice shot, but would not have been very safe if i had stuck my head out too.

At the Conley Cove trail head of beautiful Linville Gorge. Melissa is in love.

The hike down was quick and easy since we didn’t go very far.

This was a very fun little climb to open the day that was trickier then it looks.

This cave was huge, probably big enough to fit 100 people and you could stand up everywhere except in the very back. Definately a great camping spot for the future.

Lunch was most excellant and was cooked up on two backpacking stoves that we brought.

mmmmmmmmm, Chili and corn bread!

Here was the sunbathed peak which we all eventially attained. Probably one of the most incredible views from the west side of the gorge available, with Table Rock directly accross, Hawksbill Mountain on the left, and North Carolina Wall on the right. Stunningly beautiful and hard faught for.

The treck back was anything but easy. We identified over a dozen different species of thorns. Ian tried to perk everyone up by suggesting that we meditate on even less desireable situations. Melissa thought for a second and then shot down the suggesting by replying that nope, this was probably the worst case scenario.

Back in navigatable terrain we went back to bouldering.

The hot chocolate was welcomed enthusiastically.

Despite a hurt ankle Karissa was still gung ho for the hike up and out.

With plenty of light left over and only a little farther to the trail head we stopped and passed the pipe around. Nothing better then pipe smoke and cool mountain air.

Ahhh yes, the sunset over the mountains. This is why they call them the blue ridges.

And last but not least good southern style BBQ to finish off a perfect day. FYI that is catFISH, not cat.

So Ian, Karissa, Melissa, and I went out to Linville Gorge on Saturday to boulder, and had a fantastic time.  There were a few snags along the way but overall everything was incredible.  Pictures will be comming but for now you will have to be happy with the tail.  So we left Mebane around 8:45 after getting a McDonalds breakfast, and we were at the Conley Cove trail head by noon.  None of us were hungry yet so we set off down the trail looking for rocks to climb.  We did not have to go far at all.  About a quarter mile down the trail we came accross huge outcroppings of rocks with overhangs and caves and cracks and all kinds of good stuff to cimb.  We stayed in this area the whole day, never getting any closer to the river.  There are a few more places to boulder further down, and some spots along the river, but at least on the Conley Cove trail there is no better spot then where we were.

After climbing around a little we decided to stop for lunch, and what a perfect lunch it was.  We had two backpacking stoves and enough Chilli for everyone to fill up, and to go with the chilli were some most excellant cornbread muffins.  Truly scrumptious (sp?).  I should give this a little context now.  We were on the west side of the gorge, still fairly high up on the edge, and as we looked accross the gorge we could see very clearly the three main features of the gorge on the east side: Hawksbill Mountain, Table Rock, and NC Wall.  It was a perfectly clear day and the sun was out, but since its November the temperatures were in the 50s.  When we stopped to eat lunch we all got a little cold so a ledge that was jutting out from the side of the mountain that was bathed in sun suddenly became attractive to all of us.

This is where we made our mistake for the day.  Looking up and over at it, it seemed very atainable.  Karissa wanted to go over and then up to it.  Ian Melissa and I wanted to climb up the cliffs that were closest to us and then go across to it.  We found that either way we went the going was terrible due to all the thorns and brush and fallen trees and more thorns and more brush.  I have hiked off trails quite a bit, but never have i had to weazle my way through anything so bad as what we did to attain that ledge.  Eventially we all made it to the top, and then back to the trail, but we all were very dirty, very scratched, and just a little wiser concerning scrambling in Linville Gorge.  Despite the terribleness however, we were still having fun, and it was very satisfying to reach our destination in one piece.

So after returning from that little adventure Ian and I went back to bouldering and the girls decided it was time for some hot chocolate.  Out came the stoves, and in a few minutes we were all enjoying the warmth thoroughly, along with some brownies that Melissa had managed to keep a secret.  Around 4:30 we could tell it was getting ready to get dark, so we decided to head back.  The hike out was quick and easy since we didn’t go very far down into the gorge, and by 5:00 we were at the crest of the west side looking out at the sun setting over the blue ridge mountains beyond.

The day was filled with beautiful sights, fun climbs, and good times.  I really enjoyed showing Linville Gorge off to the other three and we all vowed to return to the gorge in the spring for a weekend of backpacking/bouldering/scrambling.  Let the good times roll!

Here is a great article about climbing in Corsica. Corsica is a mountain island just off the coast of France and was the birthplace of Napoleon. Even if I didn’t climb, I would love to visit, to see the beauty of the island and to experience the history.

Ok this is complicated. Two heel Drive refered to Best Hikes, who refered to Damn Cool Pics, you gave links to these two sites concerning a pretty spectacular mountain in China. I would love to do this trek up to the top via boards, holes, steps, chains, whatever. It looks like a truly thrilling ascent with a very pleasant perch at the top. If I ever go to China I hope I can visit Mount Huashan.

Saturday, November 11th, Ian and I are planning on going out to Linville Gorge to go bouldering. We plan to hike down the Conley Cove trail on the west side of the river and climb all of the rock outcroppings along the way. There are overhangs and small rock faces and boulder piles and some large rock faces. We are planning to just climb around on the hike down, do a late lunch or something like that down by the river, and then come back up out of the gorge Saturday evening. If anyone else wants to come just to hike or to climb or anything, just let me know. I am really looking forward to what could be a very fun Saturday.

The Reel Rock Tour is a rock climbing film tour. Basically there are two films that they are going from city to city showing. One is called “First Ascent” and one is called “Dosage Vol. 4″. I dunno how good the movies are, but there is more going on then just watching the films in Fayetteville. The showing is at a rock climbing place called Red Point Indoor Climbing, and not only can you rock climbing before the movie, but they are also planning on having a competition, for anyone who wants to try out some boulder problems. There are also gear give-aways and an overall festive atmosphere that would probably be a lot of fun. The event is Saturday, November 11th in the evening.

UPDATE: I saw a poster at vertical edge and it said the boulder competition was from 1-5, and the films are showing at 7:30. Its $25 to compete, and $10 if you just want to get in, climb around, and see the films. My best friend from Massachusetts is stationed out at Fayetteville, so maybe we can hang out with him a little and do some rock climbing.

Last night we went again and I beat the nemesis I was talking about on Tuesday. This thing was tough. The first time I went up I approached it about the same as I was before, but then I started trying new things. I tried kicking my left foot all the way up behind me to about shoulder hight, and using it to leverage me up around the corner, but the angle was bad. Then I tried standing on the side wall with my right foot instead of the left, which moved me out from under the ledge and I could dyno to the next hold. Although when I tried this the first time I couldn’t get it because by that time I was tired, I could tell it would work. About 20 minutes later after doing a few other climbs I came back to it, and beat it very quickly without any problems. This has taught me that I need to think outside the box more. Once I switched my feet around then I could do it.

Ok so I said there were more climbing videos and there are! This is one of me doing a 5.9 that is now pretty easy for me (not the same as my old nemesis). I still always enjoy this one as a warm up. This is one of Melissa that is awesome. This was her second send of this route, both last night. There is one point where she swings out away from the wall and is holding herself with just her arms. It looks like a shot from MI2 or 3 or whichever one it was. I was belaying her on that climb, and I wasn’t holding her at all, she was supporting all of her weight. UPDATE: Google finally finished reviewing it, so here is the link to Ian doing a 5.9. I guess with movies of Ian you have to be extra careful. You can’t have anything too provocative going online that might make all the girls go crazy.