venturesome krysia

Well I’d call my first rock climbing trip of the year a success. I recently spent 3 days in the RRG climbing with my kids, some friends, and of course, Stella, my truck – a must have for climbing at PMRP. It is the first time I have climbed outside since my accident and my first time back to Kentucky since last April, and I am happy to report, it is still an incredible place!

Before leaving I was sure to do some lead climbing in the gym. This was a good move for me, I think it helped with my confidence. I haven’t lead anything since July of last year, so practice is good. Turns out I kinda forgot all efficient clipping techniques, but now I have a new goal!

The weather was amazing. We had warm, sunny days, it even reached 85 on our last day which was delightful for this Michigan girl. Being outside and having contact with real rock again did so much good for my soul and for my kids’ souls too. My teen-aged daughter sometimes “forgets” her connection with nature; however, this trip fully reacquainted her with it.

For me the best part was not how hard I climbed (I didn’t really climb that hard) but how mentally present I climbed. For the first time while leading, I didn’t get nervous or sketched out when I was above my last bolt. It was really an exciting discovery. I noticed that I was solely focused on where the next move was and didn’t give a second thought to moving above my protection and finding really good placements before clipping. In the past, I would get nervous inside and want to just clip ASAP and would not necessarily be in the best position for doing this. This time I trusted that if I kept moving, there would be some good holds and I would find them, which I did.

I attribute some of this to the yoga I have practicing 5 days a week, lately. My breath work has become such a huge part of my climbing. I kept making sure I was breathing in and out, especially when at cruxes. I noticed my breath would get faster and faster, but continuous. After the crux on 27 Years of Climbing, my belayer yelled up to me to shake out and regulate my breathing before moving to the chains. This was great advice and allowed me to send this 5 star, super fun climb.

I guess the only drawback of this kind of focus was that on another climb I almost missed a clip because I was just breathing and climbing! Good thing I had an attentive belayer (thanks Darcy!).

Three days down there was more of teaser than anything. Ever since I’ve been home I just keep thinking about going back. Hopefully RRG, will we meet again soon.

Taking my kids on their first road trip out West may have left me broke, but it was so worth it. Not only was it their first time west, but also their first time outdoor climbing and first time dirtbagging it.  We took I-90 out to Lander Wyoming and hit all of the attractions like Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Wall Drug then rounded it out with a (too short of a stint) through the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Being a single mom who doesn’t make a whole lot of money, I knew deciding to take them on a trip like that would be a stretch.  My plan? Do it as cheaply as possible!  Which meant choices like: cereal with milk on the back of the tailgate in the mornings in parking lots for breakfast.  The first morning of this my 12 year old showed her disdain by rolling her eyes and scrunching up her nose, “Really mom?”  Yes, really, my little diva!  We also lived on Nutella, PBJ, and other simple foods.

Other dirtbagging tricks were on the way out sleeping in my truck.  My son was short enough to lie down in the backseat and my daughter and I reclined the front seats.  It was really pretty comfortable.  When we arrived to our destination, the International Climber’s Festival, we opted for the free camping, took $2 showers at NOLS, and I volunteered to offset the cost of my admission.

By the middle of the trip they pretty much embraced our hippie ways.  One of the funniest things was when we stopped at a truck stop in Rapid City for a shower.  My daughter was like, we can’t stop here, it is full of “burly men!”  I told her to trust me, it was perfectly legit.  My days from following the Dead taught me many tricks of living on the road.  She calmed down when she saw it was in fact clean and not at all sketch.  This trip reminded me of how much fun I used to have in the summers living like a hippie, I fully embraced it and had a great time, my attitude wore off on them and they started to relax and have fun with it too.

Road tripping out West is the quintessential American experience.  I am really grateful I was able to do this trip with my kids.  It is something they will always remember.  I giggle when I think of them at my age talking about it to each other, saying something like, “Remember when our crazy mom took us out West when we were kids and we lived like dirtbags?  That was so cool!”