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Rosco!

Part I

One of the more exciting experiences I have had related to climbing had to have been a few trips to Trappers Camp to help Jer and Jesse work on putting up new routes. Now I would imagine that in certain parts of the country putting up new routes is fairly straight forward. However in Missouri the quality of rock is a little to be desired and a fair amount of effort goes into cleaning the routes of loose limestone.

During this particular point in time I was working only three to four days a week – which immediately put me on Jers shortlist of weekday belay slaves. I vaguely remember the phone call and him putting a very adventurous spin to his description of what we would be doing and how it would go a long way to rounding out my climbing experience, or in this case my hanging belay experience….more on that later.

I must admit, I was a bit full of myself as I got of the phone with Jer and proudly stated to my wife (affectionately referred to Goofy Girl in the Blogosphere) ”Honey I’m going to go develop some new climbing routes tomorrow” – in a very “not a big deal” but hey “look at me, do I look more manly” sort of tone. As if I was some hardened mountain man living in the remote regions of Patagonia setting off to ascend thousands of vertical feet of granite and dance around the dangers of the unknown to reach some remote summit. Truth be known I’d probably only be 60’ off the ground and a 15-minute drive from the nearest ER – which by the way, my partner has visited on one occasion to have his scalp sewn together. Rule number one when climbing in Missouri – WEAR A HELMET! But I digress.

Morning arrived and Jer and I enjoyed a great drive down to Trappers in his fuel efficient Honda Civic. As we arrive he explains to me we need to find a way to the top of the bluffs without being seen passing through private property. We manage to find a depression in the landscape and make our way through the tall grass and scrub. He casually suggests that we keep our voice down – I think to myself we are a good distance away from any house, why do we need to be quiet. Then he offers up “…keep your eyes peeled for Rosco” ROSCO? Who is Rosco? Is he some crazy property owner that lurks in the shadows waiting to shoot unsuspecting climbers in the ass with buck shot? NOPE! Turns out Rosco is the resident farm dog – short in stature – but in command of his domain. Namely the 100-yards or so of landscape that lies between the road and the top of the bluffs.

We were about half-way on our stealthy journey, when out of the corner of our eyes we see faint movement off in the distance. We FREEZE. Like a Meerkat on the Kalahari desert, ROSCO springs up on his hind legs and pops his head above the tall grass. He scans the horizon. His eyes lock on us and Jer yells RUNNNNNN! We waste no time in making our way to the top of the bluffs. As we rig our ropes to descend over the edge we can hear Rosco making his way towards us, barking the entire way. Will we make it over the ledge before he arrives? I turn back and Jeremy is gone…then I hear “Ranski, get over here.” I peer over the edge to see Jer attached to anchors he had put in place on a previous trip. I make my way over the edge and am now securely attached to the anchor as well…and not a minute too soon. Just then Rosco arrives. We can’t see him but we can here him and it sounds like he has brought in some reinforcements. Debris begins to fall on top of our helmets as Rosco and his posse’ scurry to the edge. We are only a foot or two below the edge of the bluff and it is the first time I really take note of where I am.

I’m 60’ feet above the Sac River, hanging off two bolts not remembering at all buckling my harness, double checking anything and remembering I have a fear of heights. OK Randy breath I say to myself. A quick check of the set-up calms my nerves.

Not remembering all the specifics, I’m sure Jer said something like “pretty cool huh…aren’t you glad you came along” to which my less than enthusiastic reply must have been “sure”. Sensing that I was a bit freaked out at the moment, Jer assures me Rosco and his friends will get bored and will wander off and that I should enjoy the fact that I’m not at work…

To be continued…

Headed South

This past weekend I headed south with my buddy Mike. The original plan was to gather with some additional friends, however conflicting goals and motivations kept us from crossing paths. Mike and I decided a cabin at HCR would be more to our liking, while our friends opted for camping at nearby Sam’s Throne.

In the numerous years that I have traveled to Arkansas in the winter I have always, and I mean always, been lucky enough to pick the weekend that produced temps in the 50′s and 60′s. Well it seems my luck has run out…the daytime highs for this past weekend hovered around 35 degrees. While Mike and I are no strangers to being outdoors in the cold, this would be the first time we actually went climbing in temps below 50 degrees. We were both banking that the common phrase in the midwest during the winter, “…if you find a sunny spot with no wind, a 30 degree day can feel like a 60 degree day” was not just a phrase but actually a fact. Which after this weekend I would have to say is not that far from the truth.

The first challenging climb of Saturday was the one out of bed. From there we enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal and a few cups of coffee. We packed up the gear and drove over to Sam’s Throne to track down our friends and climb a few routes. We never found our friends however we had a great time hiking around Sam’s and we actually roped up and did some climbing. On our hike out we made time to stop in on our friends campsite and take most of what they had lying around the campsite and construct a beautiful sculpture.

Saturday night consisted of dinner at the Ozark Cafe in Jasper, AR, which if you are ever in the area on a Saturday night, you need to set aside some time for the Karaoke. The rest of the night was spent hanging out in the cabin drinking beer and reading books. Which in this case was “The Stand” by Stephen King for Michael and “The Last Season” by Eric Blehm for me.

Sunday we decided to stay put at HCR, I discovered there were some new 5.7ish sport routes added since our last visit and decided to check them out. We ended the day climbing one of the easier trad routes, since we both needed practice placing gear.

While the original plan had us staying another night, the weather for Monday wasn’t looking great and I was missing the fam. So we loaded up and headed home, but not before stopping at Pizza Hut in Harrison.

As always a cold day of climbing is better than a warm day at work…

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

First Encounter…

I happened upon HCR several years back. A friend and I were climbing at nearby Sam’s Throne and he said to me “Ranski, there is a place over by Jasper, Arkansas we need to go check out…I have been in touch with the owner and he might hook us up with a cabin for the night.” Not sure if Jer was telling the truth or lying to me just to get me to go with him. I after all was the one with the vehicle. If I recall the previous night had been a little on the wet side, so the thought of sleeping in a dry cabin certainly was appealing. On top of that the Arkansas Climbers Rendezvous was being held there that weekend – an event that is typically held at Sam’s Throne – and one that always has a great gear raffle. So after spending most of Saturday climbing at Sam’s we packed up our things and headed to HCR.

It was dark when we arrived, we had no idea as we descended into the canyon on the gravel road that we were surrounded by miles of sandstone bluffs. Our task at hand was to find the “barn” – hopefully in time to purchase some raffle tickets and win a sleeping bag or rope or even just a frisbee. After that Jer needed to track down Barry (the owner – affectionately referred to as “Wild Berry” by his kids) in order to negotiate a cabin for the night. My recollection is that Jer had gotten a small write-up on HCR in one of the climbing mags and was hoping this would be enough currency to get us in a comfy dry cabin for the night…as it turns out it was.

It wasn’t until the next morning when we walked out onto the porch that we fully realized how special this place was. There was a blanket of fog hanging just above the ground, but slowly the sun lit up the bluffs and the fog lifted revealing a grassy valley divided by a small stream, with boulders scattered everywhere. Horses and cattle ran free – it is after all a dude ranch. But more importantly we were surrounded on all sides by beautifully colored sandstone bluffs. Jer was like a puppy dog dancing around in the cabin tossing his cams in the air and chewing on on his draws eager to get outside and play…

For me the timing of the opening of HCR was perfect. I had just started to lead, mostly trad at Sam’s Throne. I’m a self proclaimed wuss when it comes to venturing too far past my last piece of pro and HCR now offered bolted routes, that some may say are too conservative in their spacing, but for me they are PERFECT.

Since that first trip I have lost count how many times I have been to HCR, but I can only imagine I will be going there for along time. It is a great place to bring family and friends – even those that aren’t interested in climbing find it to be a great place to relax, go for a hike or just read a book on the porch.

New Belgium Beer Photos


The Guys Trip
…the back story

A tradition of sorts, the “guys trip” is something that started for me many years ago, when I joined a friend and his father for a winter trip to RMNP for some winter camping and ice climbing. Over the years the trip expanded to include new friends that shared the same interest in the outdoors.

It wasn’t long before we decided to start venturing out to other destinations, such as Joshua Tree, Arkansas and other areas of Colorado, which included one very cold trip to Mt. Columbia for a winter summit attempt. (I’m sure there will be a future post about that trip…)

So what is the significance of the New Belgium photo? Well life has grabbed a hold of all of us and has taken us in many different directions – some have moved away, and for others their job and their family is demanding more of their time. All of this has made it difficult to come together for trips.

However, individually we still find time to venture out and pursue the things that we love. So again, what’s with the photo? Well, as with most great adventures a day is not complete until you sit around with your friends with a few cold ones and lie about your exploits for the day. Since we can’t be together on all our trips westylivin started sending a photo of a New Belgium beer in a setting that without words shares with all of us what the day was about and that he was thinking of us…not sure if that was truly his intent, but that is what it did for me.

So in the spirit of this, I took this photo on my last climbing trip to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Westylivin has now ventured into blogoshpere and has motivated me to do the same. So for the rest of you that have been apart of these trips, I challenge you to take a stab at blogging about your adventures…