Sunday, May 27, 2012

My first Outdoor Rock Climbing Trip

Josh invited me to go on an Outdoor Climbing Trip, I've been In-Door Climbing twice now, once a year ago and the second about a week ago.  I was a little scared to go out-door because there are not routes taped out for you to follow.  Plus, you know, it is ROCKS you're climbing on, no soft cushions below.   
We left about 6:00 a.m. and drove out to Superior, AZ.  We hiked up to area, and honestly that was pretty  scary for me, there were a few spots where I felt like I was scrabbling around rocks but Josh was really great and helped me up.

For being late in May it was SO cold!!  It was already supposed to be a cool day and I was freezing!  One of Josh's friends let me use his jacket but with the wind it was still pretty chilly.  They set-up the first route at a 5.4 route which is a good start for beginners.  I did well, I got to the top and rappelled down with ease.  They kept that route up for me in-case I really struggled with the harder routes and wanted to go back that one.  


One of his friends was taking of pictures and I am grateful because now there is proof that I did it!



Josh was super helpful when I was up on the routes, very encouraging and his friends were also very supportive.


The rest of the routes were I think 5.7 and 5.8 which I am not sure how the rating works but Josh told me later that he & his friends were not sure how well I would do on anything harder than the 5.4 but he said I did really well on the harder ones. 





It is crazy but I never realized how high up it was, it never felt that high but in the pictures it looks kind of high up!



This is the last route I did, I think they figured I did five full routes and then half of this last one, I think it was the hardest out of all of them.  I finally just had to say I'm done and come down.  


Josh and his friends are really good, it is really fun to watch them just crawl up, Josh especially.  His one friend who took all the pictures even did a route without rock climbing shoes and a severely hurt wrist.  I really am excited to go again, it was a ton of fun!

These are my war wounds & I am super proud of them.  Josh says the main things I need to work on his falling, I need to not try and still grab the rock but let completely go so I don't get so scraped up.  


This one up on my thigh actually does hurt, the rest just look bad on my knees and shins.  


Honestly though it was so much fun, plus I always love it when my outfit coordinates.  I don't know if you can tell but my friend got me a purple harness to match my purple climbing shoes, all I need is a purple tank top and I will be unstoppable!  Plus how great is my boyfriend, he changed his shirt so he could match me because he knows how much I love to match & wanted to make me happy!  

These pictures of us I think are sweet.
This first one I am pretty sure I just took off my rock climbing shoes and was commenting on how I don't want ugly toe nails and how grateful I was my toe nail polish hadn't chipped yet . . .  Josh thought my concern was entertaining.




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