Sportrock has a great bouldering section, and Jonathan enjoyed this easy, but fun V3.

Got a couple more people on video today. Here is a 5.8 lead climb by my friend Lynsi.

Worked this 5.12 on top rope about three times before jumping on it on lead. Got to film it with my new iPod Nano too!

Shot with the new iPod Nano.

After a good’s night sleep from the previous day’s caving trip, my cousin Chris and his wife Holly, my brother Jonathan, and myself enjoyed a leisurely morning before starting the 3 hour trip to Sandrock.

We arrived at the crag at about 2 in the afternoon. After setting up camp, we geared up for a couple hours of climbing before dark. Other than a couple of people bouldering by the parking lot, we were the only climbers there that evening.

We climbed at a pretty leisurely pace, typically cycling through all four of us one route at a time. With this being the first time either Jonathan or I had done sport climbing outdoors, we got on a relatively straight-forward 5.9 to warm-up and get the feel for climbing on sandstone (which, I might add, is GREAT for climbing). We didn’t have any gear to set, as Chris climbed the route first and set the quickdraws, which we just left in the anchors until Holly climbed and cleaned the route last.

We got on two other routes that evening, the first being a higher (55 ft.) 5.9 right next to the route where the climbing scene from “Failure To Launch” was filmed. The other route was called Knob Wall, an exposed 5.6 with an incredible view of the valley and towns below.

We made our way back to the truck (in the dark), and back to camp for some dinner. Holly had made paella that morning, so all we had to do was heat it up. The evening was going well until Chris (not having heard Holly tell him where his bowl of paella was) sat down in his chair… and his paella. We all had a good laugh. After dinner we hiked back up to the crag and sat under the stars, watching the headlights from cars meander along the small country roads below.

We made our way back to the campsite with the thought of yummy smores in our heads, only to find out some animal had made off with all our chocolate. The trail of wrappers led straight into the woods. We followed the trail, and half expected to find a stiff raccoon with a chocolate covered snout. Having no sugar-filled treats for dessert, and feeling awfully tired from the many bowls of paella, we decided against bouldering by lantern and headed for bed.

We woke up the next morning and enjoyed some oatmeal and hot tea before heading to the crag for a full day of climbing. We didn’t break down camp, so we were back on the rock around 10:30.

One of the first routes we got on was a 5.8 or 5.9 (I forget) that Chris wanted to trad climb. The route itself had some great exposure at the beginning of the route as you worked around to the south-side of the face, and topped-out back around the north-side. We all took the opportunity to top-out and enjoy the view again.

Two of the best routes we got on at Sandrock were a couple of 5.10s that were both technical and a little pumpy. The first had a great move towards to the top that, while a gorilla may have been able to do it statically, we had the pleasure of doing dynamically (I have video of this, just need to get it into a web format). The second route was a 60 ft. 5.10 that I somehow managed to get through without any assist. This was probably my favorite route we climbed (of course, there are no photos of me climbing it, as I was the only person really taking photos!). This is Chris at the start of the first 5.10 we climbed:

While we were there, Holly’s parents met us at the crag with Brayden, Chris and Holly’s son whom her parents were baby sitting while we were out galavanting around the south east US. Brayden is 4 years old and already taking after his parents. He has been climbing for a year or so now, and had climbed at Sandrock once before. This time, completed a 35 ft. climb (with a little help from his Mother and a lot of encouragement from the rest of us), which I believe was the highest he had climbed to date. Even after slipping and hitting his face against the rock on his first attempt, he got back on and finished it up.

We finished up the day working a couple of bouldering problems up by the entrance. We did a couple of V0s (which felt a lot more difficult to me), before working a V3 that Chris was pretty excited about. It probably took me 10 tries before I figured out the trick to topping out that V3, and I could swear that would have been closer to a V5 at the gym. Funny how that works.

Sandrock in a great place to spend a few hours, or a few days, climbing. And since it offers bouldering, top-roping, lead climbing and trad, with difficulties from 5.4 to 5.13, there is something for everyone. I definitely want to go back sometime, and make a point to get on more routes. We only climbed a handful, and I believe there are over 100 routes mapped and bolted, ready for climbers to enjoy.

For more pictures, visit the Sandrock Climbing Crag album over at Mindless Conception Photography.

(Side note: I apologize for not remembering any names of the routes we climbed while at Sandrock. I should not have waited two weeks before writing my trip report. As a result, I can’t remember much, and I have gone on two other climbing trips since then which have only helped to muddy up the details!)

While the original plan for our week-long vacation in Atlanta was nothing but climbing, someone brought up caving the very first evening and a unanimous decision was made by all that a caving adventure simply must be added to the itinerary.

We arrived in Atlanta late Friday night, and almost immediately my cousin Chris brought up caving and I agreed that we absolutely must go. We spent Saturday hanging around the house, jammin’ out and climbing on the woody he built in his rec room.

After having breakfast Sunday morning we got on the road and headed for the cave, which was about a 2.5 hour drive from the house. We made a stop at Walmart to pick up a few essentials that Jonathan and I were lacking since we hadn’t planned for caving (long-sleeve shirt, appropriate footwear, and a headlamp), and arrived at the cave right around Noon.

After suiting up with long sleeve shirts, long pants, boots, elbow and knee pads, helmets, lights and camelbacks, we made the hike to the cave entrance.

PettyJohns Cave is located in the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area (the same Pigeon Mountain that PMI is based out of), and is comprised of 6.5 miles of charted underground trails, is 240 feet deep, and stays at a constant 58 degrees. We had planned on being in the cave for up to 6 hours, and making stops at the Waterfall and the Double Echo Domes, two places Chris and Holly had been before (albeit a few years ago). If you have any experience reading cave maps, you can probably get an idea of the route we took:

There are a few notable checkpoints as you go through the cave, the most popular being the “Z-Turn” and the “Pancake Squeeze”. The Z-Turn is serious of 90 degree turns in a very tight tunnel. The final turn in the Z-Turn was so tight that I nearly had to back out and take off my pack, but I managed to squeeze through with one final push.

The Pancake Squeeze is exactly what you would expect – a passage that is wide but has very little vertical space (as little as 12 inches in some places). There were times when you couldn’t turn your head from one side to the other without your helmet getting stuck between the two slabs of rock.

It took us very little time at all to reach the Waterfall, a decent-sized room with a 20 foot cascade of water flowing from the rocks above. There was a rope set up in this room as well, and for those with ascension gear they could continue along the route and head “up-stream” if you will. We didn’t bring ascension gear with us, so we took a short break to have lunch.

After lunch we backtracked and made our way to a primary “fork in the road” that had the split which would take us to the Double Echo Domes, two small, very tall rooms that produced a really clear and loud echo. Traveling to the Double Echo Domes was one of the muddiest parts of the cave, as we were crawling through inches of water and mud at times (although I was told we lucked out, as there had been times with Chris and Holly had trekked through there in as much as 6-10 inches of water!).

After visiting the Double Echo Domes, and having no idea what time it was (nobody had a watch readily accessible and nobody really wanted to worry about the time), we were starting to get a little tired and a little cold and made our way to the exit. On the way we ran into a few other groups who were just starting their adventures, some of which were horribly unprepared, or already lost (scary, I know). We ended up spending just under 4 hours in the cave, two hours less than expected. But I must admit, while I had a great time, part of me was ready for a little sunlight.

Covered in mud, tired and sore, we headed off to a nearby watering hole called “Blue Hole”, named for the appearance of the natural spring water coming right out of the mountain. This large puddle happened to be just large enough and deep enough to jump into, which we did in an attempt to get rid of any remaining mud before starting home. The water temperature was in the ballpark of about 35 degrees, cold enough to take your breath away as soon as you hit the surface. But it was all part of tradition, so we jumped in, scrubbed off the remaining mud incredibly quickly (you don’t dilly-dally in water that cold), and settled in for the ride home.

We have already decided that next time we are in Georgia we want to go back to PettyJohns Cave and try to reach a place called the “Discovery Room”. Chris has done it once, and says it’s about an 8-hour roundtrip and requires harnesses and gear for ascending and rappelling. I want to be one of the few people who signs the registry in that far corner of the cave.

To see more pictures from the trip, check out the PettyJohns Cave Photo Gallery over at Mindless Conception Photography.

It has been confirmed by all parties involved, Aug. 28th – Sep. 5th will mark the big climbing trip of the year, “Atlanta 2009: The Beta”.

A2:TB will consist of multiple excursions to climbing areas across the southeast U.S., but the highlight of the trip is going to be Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina. We will be climbing the Nose Area, which is a 500 ft., four-pitch climb ranging from 5.7 to 5.9. My cousin Chris will be leading the expedition as he has made the ascent twice to date.

I believe we will also be making a trip to a crag in Alabama called Sand Rock, which is supposed to be a great place for lead, trad and bouldering for all skill levels.

I will post up more information as I get it. Look for a HUGE photo album when I return from the trip as well. I plan on having my camera on me at all times.