The Upstate Bouldering Guide...Where Your Donations Have Gone!!!

Now that the Upstate Bouldering Guide has sold out, I wanted to give everyone an idea of what the guidebook has done for local bouldering so far...

I originally had planned on releasing this guidebook as a fundraiser to help pay off the Rumbling Bald Boulders purchase that the CCC made a few years ago.  As soon as I got the book close to printing, this loan was paid off and the need to raise fund for these boulders wasn't necessary anymore...so I decided to reinvest the profits from the guidebook directly into the resources and management of the resource directly.  Because the book was mainly about areas in the Jocassee Gorges of South Carolina, I felt that most of the efforts from the book should be focused on SC, but because it also gave beta to 2 other great boulderfields in Western North Carolina, I wanted to make sure to support these areas too.  I've always had the belief that if you can donate money to a cause, that's great, but if you can donate something more or directly affect your cause with that same money, then that's even better!  So, instead of simply donating the profits from the guidebook to the CCC and that money not necessarily going directly to the areas the guidebook focuses on, I decided to take action with the money that would directly effect these bouldering areas.  I supported several trail days in SC and NC with the profits by helping to organize and fund the trail day (trash bags, bottled water, snacks, food for workers the night before, libations to enjoy after the hard work, etc), donating guidebooks or other climbing related goods for silent auctions and raffles, and finally by providing monetary donations directly to the trail day event, that was then funneled to the CCC.  I can truly say that by doing and not just giving, I gained so much more of a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with this project than I originally thought I'd achieve!!! 

And that brings me to the major point of this post...and explanation of how the sales of this guidebook have helped support bouldering access in the Jocassee Gorges and in Pisgah. I don't want to go into all of the sticky details of costs, profits, donations etc involved with this guidebook, but I did want to give the readers and followers of this website an idea of where and how the profits for the guidebook were used to help access...I like to know where my money goes when I make a donation to a cause, and I'm sure y'all probably do too.

Costs:
Printing a guidebook is not an easy task, nor is it very profitable!!!  The total cost of the 75 copy (15 color and 60 black and white) print run and shipping to get the books to me was around $1000. 

Profit Margin:
Because I self published I knew that my profit margins would be low, so I only marked the books up the minimal amount I could so they would sell for the cheapest price to those that bought one. The profit margin on the color books were very low because they cost SO much to print, so I only made $5 a book on these.  The black and white copies had a better profit margin at around $10 per book to consumers, and $5 per book for those sold to outfitters.

Total Profits:
Because I set the profit margin pretty low to guarantee the books would sell and actually make some sort of effect on local bouldering, I didn't make as much as many authors might make.  I made around $500 from the sell of the books and $300 by providing advertising to those interested in donating also...so in total, I made around $800 in profit from the sell of the guidebook.  This wasn't an overwhelmingly big amount, but this was more than would have been made if the book had never been published in the first place!  So I was pretty satisfied to realize this profit and be able to slowly donate most of it to the many events that have been held in our local region over the last year and a half!!!

Where the donations have gone so far:
Before the guidebook was available, I went ahead and donated $175 to the 2011 WNC Climbers Weekend/Looking Glass Adopt A Crag, late September 2011, which supported the approaches to many of the boulders around the base of Looking Glass. A couple of months after the Looking Glass Adopt A Crag, in December 2012, I helped support the first ever Table Rock Adopt A Crag Trail Day with donations and other support in the amount of $100. Soon after the book came out in March 2012, I donated to the first ever Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day by providing around $100 in support to make it happen! The next event I donated to was the Pisgah Climbing Festival in November 2012, in which I donated items for the silent auction and an extra 5 copies of the guidebook were sold there that in total raised around $200 for the CCC at the Festival. Hot on the heels of the Pisgah Climbing Festival was the showing of Reel Rock 7 in Brevard NC. I wasn't able to attend the event, but still wanted to help out, so I donated $50 worth of books for the silent auction. The most recent event I donated to was the very successful second Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day last month, December 2012. For this event, I donated and supplied around $100 to make sure it was the most effective trail day we could of had. So the tally so far looks something like this...

Donations from the profits of the Upstate Bouldering Guide to local bouldering and the CCC so far:

-WNC Climbers Weekend                                                              $175
-Table Rock AOC                                                                           $100
-Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day March 2012                      $100
-Pisgah Climbing Festival                                                              $200
-Reel Rock 7                                                                                     $50
-Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day December 2012                 $100
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Donations                                                                               $725!!!!!!!

I was really hoping the sale of the guidebook would generate at least $1000 for local access and the CCC, so I plan on donating $250 to the CCC here soon to fulfill this dream and make it a reality:) A giant THANKS to everyone involved with this project, from those that helped develop routes to those that donated for advertising to those outfitters that are carrying the remaining copies of the guidebook and of course those that purchased the guidebook and directly supported local bouldering access...without each and every one of y'all, this incredible project would have never happened!!!

Upstate Bouldering Guide is SOLD OUT!!!

I'm excited to announce that all of the copies of the first edition of the Upstate Bouldering Guide that I received from the printer have SOLD OUT!!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to keep the print run limited to minimize possible access issues and to make the book more valuable to the local community.  My original intent was to only produce 25 copies and distribute them directly by mail order only, but some of the local outfitters wanted to carry the book also, so I tripled the print run and had 15 color copies and 60 black and white copies available.  I sold the color copies directly by mail order only, and the black and white copies were sold by mail order or by one of the 3 outfitters that supported local bouldering efforts.  After a few more orders over the holidays, I am now personally sold out of guidebooks...but that doesn't mean that the book isn't still available!!!  If you are in Greenville SC, you can pick up a copy at Sunrift Adventures, if you are near the Jocassee Gorges and the incredible boulderfields (or would like to mail order a copy from them), you can pick up a copy at One With The Ride, and if you're down in Columbia SC, you can pick up a copy at Get Your Gear On.  I want to sincerely thank these outfitters for carrying the guidebook and making it available to more folks than those that just follow this website...you guys have been instrumental in helping raise money that has and will continue to help out bouldering access in the Jocassee Gorges and Pisgah National Forest!!!  Later this week, I'll be posting a summary of the details of the profits made from the guidebook and where exactly the money was spent to improve local bouldering access!!! I also want to give a big shout out once more to the other sponsors and supporters of the guidebook...you guys helped make this a reality and your support has directly improved access and relations with land managers, which is the heart and soul of local bouldering!!!  Thanks again goes out to...

Because of a change in pricing in the print process, there will most likely not be a second print run of this first edition guidebook.  I havent begun working on a second edition to the guidebook yet, but imagine in a few years there will be plenty of new areas and routes to add to the guide and talks of a second edition will begin to pop up.  If you have anything you would like to add to the second edition of the guidebook, or suggestions to make it better, please get in touch.

Jocassee Gorges Trail Day Write Up!

Work has taken all of my efforts lately...and when I get a chance to escape, I have been focusing a lot my attention on developing some new bouldering areas in the Jocassee Gorges instead of typing .  I'm psyched to report that the local crew has discovered a couple of new areas and about 25-30 problems have been established at each...and there are more new areas that are just now getting attention!  Since the beginning of the Fall bouldering season, there have been around 100 new routes established in new areas, as well as in some of the more traditional boulder fields...thanks to everyone involved with development (George Evans and Chris Neal especially) and their vision for these new routes, its been a ton of fun bouldering with both of you this season!!!

Now as for the Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day , here is a quick write up from Stephen Scoff...


The Little Trail Day That Could



Despite some unexpected and steep competition, the Jocassee Gorges’ trail day was well attended and hugely successful! With around 120 hours of man power volunteered, over three miles of trails improved, steps installed, and over $200 raised for the Carolina Climbers’ Coalition!

A BIG hand for all the volunteers! Thank you so much giving up your weekend day to give back. Salud!

...

I also would greatly like to thank:

1. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

2. One With the Ride

3. Get Your Gear On

4. Vision Climbing

5. Bee Hive Climbing

6. Christopher Neal

7. Matt Riley of Riles Images

8. Dark Corner Distillery

9. Joseph Scarlett DJ Extraordinaire

10. Moms, Wives, and Girl Friends (Yummy Dinner!)

And of Course: Brad, Katy, and Lilly Caldwell


Here are some of Matt’s pictures and a short video clip.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/rileyup/sets/72157632166503496/show/




Here is another video clip from Joseph Scarlett



We’ll do it again next year: and we’ll be taking it to the next level!

Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day-December 1st!!!

The upcoming Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day is going to be here before you know it!!!  We have been putting together a big shindig to get everyone excited and offer a little something to everyone for coming out and helping clean up some of the trails used to approach some of the best bouldering in South Carolina.  Below is the tentative schedule with as much details as we have so far...

8am: Meet at Holly Springs Grocery, the gas station at the junction of Highway 11 and Highway 178 about 5 minutes west of Table Rock State Park.  We will split into a few groups and then drive to the nearby trails and hopefully begin work on the trails no later than 8:30.  If you happen to get there later than 8am, please e-mail me (upstatebouldering@hotmail.com) and I will give you directions on where to meet us after we have started the trail work.  Please don't forget to wear appropriate clothes and shoes and bring equipment for the trail day (gloves, pruners, shovels, saws...we do need at least one chainsaw, picks, etc) along with your own lunch and water you will need while out on the trail for the day.

12noon-1pm:Finish trail work and end up in the boulderfields.  Start bouldering immediately after the trail work is finished.  We will collect pads and gear at 8am when we meet at the gas station and have them shuttled to a pick up spot near the boulders at this time, so you don't have to do trail work with your pad and shoes on your back.

1pm-Dark: Boulder until your forearms and fingertips scream..."NO MORE!!!":)  There will be a few locals that are very familiar with the boulderfields there to point out problems in all grade ranges and make sure that you get on the most classic routes in your grade range!

Dark (about 6-6:30pm):  Hike out and drive down the road to One With The Ride for the evening festivities!!!  One With The Ride (onewiththeride.com) has graciously donated their land for us to camp on...we will have some sort veggie and non-veggie choices for dinner, followed by a slideshow/video of local bouldering and a sweet full length bouldering flick after that!!!  While all of this is going on, we will have a slackline set up, One With The Ride has a bouldering wall you can climb on, as well as, an awesome mini-ramp (bring your own skateboard or bike) and a BMX jump track!!! There will be a silent auction to benefit the Carolina Climbers Coalition with some great prizes to bid on...including the LAST COPIES OF THE UPSTATE BOULDERING GUIDE (theres only 7 left and the next print run will be a few years out...if you want one before the trail day, don't forget to order one by using the link out to the upper left), and a color and black and white copy of my personal journal/guidebook (about 600 routes) of the Bearfields and Jedi Boulders, which we will be focusing on during this trail day.  There have only been 2 other copies of this guidebook available to the general public, EVER, and they will NEVER be available again for purchase...so come out and bid big to own this ULTRA-LIMITED GUIDEBOOK!!!  So please make sure to bring PLENTY of cash to get some goodies and help out the CCC too!!!

SO let me sum this up for everyone...show up at 8am and plan on camping Saturday.  Trail work for half of the day and bouldering in some incredible boulders for the other half of the day.  After bouldering, enjoy the post boulder session food, camping, videos, bouldering movie, slacklining, bouldering wall, skateboarding, biking, silent auction and just all around good fun hanging out with other boulderers.  I'm sure there will be some folks heading back out into the boulders on Sunday too...so plan on camping and getting another big boulder session in before you head back home! 

If anyone had any questions or concerns, please drop me an e-mail at UpstateBouldering@hotmail.com

Upcoming Events Near Upstate Bouldering! October 20th, November 2nd-4th and the BIG ONE on December 1st!

There are a few super fun upcoming events near the bouldering in the Upstate of SC...check it all out and enjoy the most that the area has to offer!!!

One With The Ride is having a pre-Halloween Jam, on Saturday October 20th starting at 2pm, that includes skateboarding on the mini-ramp/half pipe, biking on the new dirt jump course, bouldering on their new bouldering wall (and boulders only 5 minutes away), music and the possibility of camping!  This is a great way to meet the newest supporter of the upstate bouldering community, do some local bouldering and spend the evening having fun before you camp out and get up to boulder again the next morning!!! Here is a link to their webpage and a link to the Facebook post with information about the event. I'll be around the boulders on Saturday morning if anyone is in town and wants to tag along on a session before the festivities begin...drop me a post or message here or on the Upstate Bouldering Facebook page:)

The Pisgah Climbing Festival is November 2nd-4th and is sure to be an incredibly good weekend in the mountains!!!  To register, click here and go ahead and reserve your spot at this awesome event!!!  For more info on the Facebook page for the event, click here.  Here is a little more about the event and what to expect...

1st Ever Pisgah Climbing Festival. Come join us for a weekend of climbing and fun. Mandatory $10 Donation will get you:


Climbing
Fundraising
Silent Auctions
Slideshows
Guidebook Signings
Camping
Food
Drinking
Etc.

Directions:
From Asheville, take State Highway 280 south to Brevard. At the junction of U.S. Highway 276/64/280, follow Highway 64 west through Brevard to Cathy's Creek Road/Forest Road 471. Take a right and go 1.25 miles to campground entrance.

Sponsors:
Looking Glass Outfitters
Upstate Bouldering
Brevard Rock Gym
Cobourn, Sabley and Associates
ReGear Outdoors
Vision Climbing Holds
Misty Mountain Threadworks
Brad and Mike Reardon with the New Cedar Rock Climbing Guidebook
Barndoor Climbing Holds
American Alpine Club
Ron Gulden

Last but definitely not least is the 2nd annual Jocassee Gorges Bouldering Trail Day coming on December 1st!!!  Folks, this is going to be a BIG event...we're rolling out some new boulderfields containing some of the best boulder problems in SC!!!  Make sure you make plans to be at this event because this will be the only time to see a guidebook to these "new" areas and I'll be there to give everyone and anyone a tour of the area classics:)  Stephen Scoff is getting all of the details wrapped up, but you can be assured that there will be free camping available for those that want to stay, food, libations and a great time with like minded boulderers...click here to see the link to the event on Facebook. You can guarantee that there will be a lot more information coming out as soon as its available about this event, so stay tuned to Upstate Bouldering for all of the details!!!

If you cant make it out to one of these events, make sure that you find an event near you to enjoy and hang out with fellow climbers and boulderers!!!

Rumbling Bald: Easy Circuits

The temps are starting to fall and the friction is getting stickier...especially at Rumbling Bald in North Carolina!!!  Rumbling Bald has been one of my favorite boulderfields for over 10 years...I dont get to visit a few times a week nowadays like a did back when I first started bouldering there, but everytime I get to grope that perfect granite, a HUGE smile always ends up on my face!  The Bald is notorious for tough grades and tough problems, and sends many boulderers home humbled...especially if they're used to the soft grades at the southeast's sandstone boulderfields like LRC, HP40, Rocktown and Lilly.  Before the guidebook came out in 2007, the boulderfields were much more silent and peaceful, with only the dedicated boulderers heading out to climb, but nowadays the boulderfields are chocked full of more and more boulderers. 

I consistently hear from beginner boulderers that the Bald is too hard and that they don't have fun there because they can't send the same grades they do in the gym or at other boulderfields.  I've always had the opposite opinion...the lower grades at the Bald have some phenomenal climbs, some just as classic as the harder classics!  Over the years, I've been able to send all of the V0's, V1's, V2's and most of the V3's at the Bald and have found so many awesome climbs that some folks know about and some that other have never heard of.

In this post, I wanted to list my favorite easy problems from the Bald in hopes that beginners can use this to guide them to some of the better problems in the boulderfield.  I stuck mainly to V0-V2 problems, but I have listed a few of my favorite V3's too (I mean come on Shady Grove and Slave Driver would be mega classics no matter what boulderfield they were in!!!).  Its easy to use this list with the guidebook to find your way around the best easy problems, and its a lot of fun to link 20-40 of these together in a circuit and try to send them all in the same day...one of my favorite ways to enjoy the Bald when I'm not working on a project! 

I used the Rumbling Bald Bouldering Guidebook as the main reference for this list, and routes are simply listed with the number and letter used in the guidebook, instead of using the names for the problems.  I think there is a pretty fun list of problems for both the West and East Boulders and enough easy problems for complete newbies to enjoy their first boulder session at the Bald or first ever outdoor boulder session.  There is a great support website for the guidebook that Chris Dorrity has made and maintains, that list new problems, grade changes, beta for problems you're having trouble on and much more...if you have checked it out, click on over and get oriented to the info that will show up in the next edition of the guidebook. Enjoy crushing!!!

Easy Problems At Rumbling Bald:

West Boulders:


Obscure Area:

-Teardrop Boulder: 6a V0, 6b V1, 6c V2, 6d V2, 6d1 V1, 6d2 V2

-Egg Boulder: 4d V0, 4e V1, 4f V1

-Skinny and the Beast:* 3f V1 and slab to the left of it is a V0



Trailside Area:

-7f V0, 7g V0, 7i V1 and other V1’s to the left of this are great, but highballs for most

-8a V0, 8b V0, 8c V1

-10a V0, 10b V1, 10f V2, 10g V3, 10l V0, 10m V0 (there are now several more V0-V1’s on the same boulder as 10m

-11d V1, *11f V1, *11g V1

-14a V2, 14b V2, *14d V2, 14j V0, 14k V0

-15c V2, *15e V2

-16a V0, *16b V2, 16d V1



Hull Area:

-20a V2, *20b V3

-23a V2, 23b V2, *23c V3, *23e V2, *23f V1, *23g V3, 23h V1



Cluster Area:

-28a V2, *28c V3, 29h V2

-*30a V3

-*31a V2

-36b V1, 36d V1

-38a V0, *38b V1

-*39a V3, *39b V1, *39c V1, *39d V1, 39e V2



Washing Machine Area:

-40a V0, *40b V0,* 40b1 V1, *40b2 V0, 40g V0



Terraces Area:

-49a V0, 49b V0

-*50b V3

-56a V0, 56b V2, 56c V0

-*59a V2





Central Boulders:

-6a V1, 6g V0, 6h V2, 6k V2

-7b V2, *7c V2





East Boulders:


Breakfast Area:

-*1a V2, 1b V1, 1e V1, 1f V0, 1g V0, 1h V0

-2a V2, 2c V1, 2d V1, 2e V0, 2f V2, 2g V1, 2h V1, 2i V2

-4d V0, 2e V2

-5d V0, 5e V0

-9a V1, 9b V2,

-14a V0



Politician Area:

-17a V0, *17c V2, 17c V0

-*20a V2, 20b V2, 20c V2, 20d V2



Slave Driver Area:

-25a V2, ***25b V3/4, 25e V1

-26a V2, 26c V1

-*29f V1, *29g V1

-34b V2, 34c V1, 34d V0, 34e V2, 34f V1, 34g V1, 34k V1



Southeast Area:

-41a V2, *41b V3

-46a V1, 46b V0

-48a V1, 48b V2



Cereal Buttress Area:

-52a V0, 52b V2, 52c V3

-58c V2, 58d V2, 58e V1



Middle East Area:

-*75a V0, 75b V3, 75c V0, 75d V1, 75e V0

Far East Area:

-76a V0, ***76b V4

-81a V2, 81b V2, 81b1 V1, *81c V2, 81d V2, 81e V1

-82a V0

-*83c V0, 83c1 V2

-85c V2

-86a V0, 86b V0, 86b1 V1, 86c V0, 86d V1

-88e V2 There are a couple of new problems listed on the Rumbling Bald website on this boulder worth climbing

-90a V1, *90b V2, *90c V2, 90g V0 (listed as V2 but downgraded)

The Legend Of The Jocassee Gorges Sasquatch

 The Legend of the Jocassee Gorges Sasquatch 

Back in March when I released the Upstate Bouldering Guide, I eluded to the story or legend of the Jocassee Gorges Sasquatch...a series of odd and unexplainable events that one of my buddies had experienced when he was younger. 

I completely forgot to post that story here on Upstate Bouldering until now!  Visiting the Pacific Northwest every year for the holidays has gotten me a little closer to the origins of the bigfoot/sasquatch legends and culture, with random images and references scattered among Portland and the surrounding area of Oregon.  This particular story was brought back from the depths of my memories while I was developing one of the more remote bouldering areas in the Gorges, soon after visiting the NW. 

After catching a couple of glimpses of what appeared to be a large furry creature (very well could have just been my mind wandering too), watching me from a distance in the woods, during the initial development of these boulders, I decided to use it as inspiration for the whole area and named the area Sasquatch. Here is a link to the bouldering area and below is the Legend Of The Jocassee Gorges Sasquatch...enjoy:)

Over 20 years ago, when I first started roaming these hills, I had a friend, Michael, that would always talk about weird experiences he had in these woods since he was a young boy. One particular experience left a clear image in his head of a figure he and his father followed through a remote and isolated area of the Gorges while on a fishing trip once, when he was a younger teenager. He explained that he and his father set out early one morning at the base of Twin Falls, determined to walk the creek upstream to the Narrows, a locally famous fishing hole usually accessed from Laurel Valley on highway 178, about a 20 minute drive away…but what they weren’t aware of at the time is that Twin Falls is on Reedy Cove Creek and the Narrows are on Eastatoee Creek. It was a common misnomer for folks to call Twin Falls, Eastatoee Falls before the falls become more popular and more information became available. So, Michael and his dad were destined to never find the Narrows in the first place. After bushwhacking upstream a few miles from Twin Falls, to the point where Reedy Cove Creek is dammed to create the lake at McCall’s RA Camp, they realized their mistake and turned around to head back to Twin Falls.

On the way back though, they decided to take a detour on an old road bed to try to find a gap or passage over into Eastatoee Creek. After walking for a while, they noticed a few odd footprints in the dried mud beside the now faint and overgrown trail. Confident they had found evidence of other fishermen and the gap over to Eastatoee they were looking for, they decided to get off of the trail and bushwhack to the Narrows…needless to say, after getting off of the trail and not being able to find their way to Eastatoee or back to Reedy Cove, they were completely and totally lost, high on a mountainside, and in a ravine or hollow that didn’t give them any clue as to which way to go. They couldn’t hear the sound of either creek and without a compass or map of the area, they had no clue which way they should travel…panic started to set in over the chance that they could be lost in these hills for days or even weeks without anybody being able to find them. While gathering their wits and trying to remember anything that would give them a clue as to which way would lead them back to their car, they saw a mysterious figure on the ridge above the ravine they were in…it looked to be a very tall gentleman wearing brown coveralls, a typical hunting outfit for the time of year.

They started to yell for help and guidance as to which way they should go, but the figure just watched them without replying…so they decided to climb their way out of the ravine and onto the ridge to talk to him close up. As they approached the ridge on their way out of the ravine, the figure quickly disappeared off into the distance…so Michael and his dad followed the figure the best they could, all the while trying to get its attention for help. After what seemed like miles of bushwhacking and following quick glimpses of the figure, they found themselves approaching the edge of a deep gorge that dropped over 1000-1500 feet almost instantly…and perched on its edge was the figure, huddled and staring at them. After getting closer to the figure and getting a better look at it, they realized that it wasn’t wearing coveralls at all, but seemed to be covered in brownish grey fur…and it was then that they both thought they were staring at a sasquatch or bigfoot.

Michael was a pretty skeptical guy and didn’t believe in anything that couldn’t be proven with science or evidence…but right before his eyes, he believed was concrete evidence of a Sasquatch! After the moment of shock wore off, they began to closer approach the figure, still on the edge of the gorge. After they got so close to the figure, it decided enough was enough and the “sasquatch” went over the edge and down the steep slope hopping, jumping and grabbing a hold of trees to slow itself down enough to remain in control. Michael and his dad were in complete shock at their experience and what they had been following…and in fact they were even deeper into the more remote areas of the Gorges! Now with the shock of what they had just experienced and saw, along with the fact that they were even more lost than before, the two of them decided to rest for a moment and gather themselves at the edge of the deep gorge…when things started to get quiet, they heard the faint sounds of what they thought was a waterfall below them, deep in the bottom of the gorge the “sasquatch” had just retreated to.

With rejuvenated spirits that they may have just be hiking in circles and wrapped around the mountains and back towards the top of Twin Falls, they began to tackle the steep slope and make their way down into the gorge. Once at the creek in the bottom of the gorge, they started to recognize familiar markers they had seen before…and realized that they had made their way not to the top of Twin Falls, but instead to Eastatoee and an area just below the Narrows! Crossing Eastatoee to heads towards the established fishing trail, they saw their last sign of the figure…another large odd looking footprint on the pebbly beach beside Eastatoee, but this one was fresh. Knowing where they were finally, and with the sun slowly setting, they decided to just hike out to highway 178 and try to hitch a ride back to their car. Luckily, they were able to find someone kind enough to drop them off back all the way back at their car. Overwhelmed by their day and what they had experienced, the memories seemed to be seared permanently into Michael’s mind! I met him only a few years after this experience and he would talk about and recount it often while we were hiking. He didn’t want to believe what he saw was a sasquatch, but he had no other explanation for the figure and would find similar clues at/near the Narrows and other locations in the Gorges…and I was along for a few of them. I am more skeptical than most when it comes to these sorts of tales…I’m a scientist/biologist and I rely on facts and repeatable phenomenon to explain our world, not faith or superstition.

As we began spending more time together hiking and exploring distant areas of the Jocassee Gorges, we occasionally found more unexplained phenomenon…like glowing eyes and odd grunts and howls that would encircle our campsite late at night, at the junction of Big and Little Eastatoee Creeks, on more than one trip. The one time we got up the nerve to chase whatever it was that was watching us, it turned away and rain straight into the creeks making enough splashing noise to wake up people that had already went to sleep. Or the unexplained “village” of woven tree limb/twig tables, chairs and a small hut we found many miles deep in the Gorges, far away from any road and hidden off of a trail. The oddest thing at this specific site was a handmade crutch that was well worn and almost 6 feet tall…much too tall for the average person to use effectively if they were injured.

Or the odd carvings on trees and orange dyed drawings of large human like creatures in a cave we used to hang out in near the Narrows. We would always joke about all of these incidences (you could tell it was just our way of dealing with the uncomfortableness of what we couldn’t explain) and the whole time I just didn’t want to think there was any validity to his claims or the incidences I was involved with…but looking back now, on those days long ago…and all of these things I had experienced and couldn’t explain with all the science I could find…could he have been right!?!? As teenage boys are notorious for being gross and telling gross jokes, we would famously claim “Gasquatch” when one of us would pass gas while hiking, but we also started saying it when we couldn’t explain something weird while in the woods…almost to make light of the situation and to break the tension.

Because this was such a part of my initiation into these Gorges, I thought it only fitting to instill the legend of the Jocassee Gorges Sasquatch (and Gasquatch) into these boulders I found so elusive and enigmatic today! I hope you can allow your imagination to take you away in this location…maybe even see a furry figure watching you from a distance…but mainly to allow you to send routes that you didn’t realize your abilities could achieve!

Recent Sessions: Lilly Boulders and Rumbling Bald

I was able to get out to a couple of my favorite boulderfields over the past weekend...the Lilly Boulders in the Obed in Tennessee and the West Side Boulders at Rumbling Bald!  After spending so much time in Knoxville with my wife while she was finishing up grad school, I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time at the Lilly Boulders, as well as Little Rock City.  It's always nice to get back to the Lilly Boulders, smell the familiar smells of the forest, see the brilliant mosses and ferns covering the boulders and feel the freedom the boulderfield always seems to deliver.  To be on the small side, Lilly always seems to have a few routes I haven't sent yet in my grade range, and the new guidebook has helped unify older comp guides and give much better directions to routes that used to be cryptically hidden amongst the lush green forest. The Dungeon was finally dry compared to most of my more recent trips to Lilly, and I finally got to send Shackles V2...this thing climbs so well and tops out high enough off the ground to make your sphincter pucker, in other words, a perfect boulder problem!  From there I sent Crusty Bugger V1, Skidmarks V1 and Stankfoot V1 before sending Swamp Thing V3, all on the Lilly Pad Boulder.  None of these routes were that spectacular, but still fun to resend.  I followed that up with a send of Ivory's V3 on the Piano Boulder, a fun overhanging ride up some edges to a straightforward mantle...pretty fun route!  I finished up working Ninja With Scissors V4, but couldn't figure out the slopey top out mantle before the sun faded and the fireflies where swimming around me.  I packed up and hiked out with the light from the full blue moon...a perfect ending to another awesome session at Lilly!!!

On my way back from Lilly, I stopped off  at Rumbling Bald, another VERY familiar and favorite boulderfield.  I had gotten a chance to hit the Bald the weekend before Labor Day, when the temps were mild and humidity was down and sent everything on the Teardrop Boulder, Mid Air Prayer V4, the Unknown V3 beside Mid Air Prayer, and Mantle V2 on the Short Crack Boulder.  I then headed over to the One Time Use Boulder and sent all the easy routes on it before sending One Time Use V4 for the first time!  Bald V4's are not easy for me to send, so I was stoked to add another to the list!

On the way back from Knoxville though, I stopped by with the clouds looking ominous and the humidity and temps too high to get the best friction.  I still managed to send all of the routes on the Simpsons Boulder, then hit the Fun Filled Boulder (am I the only one that still calls this thing by its original name, The Arcade?) to send the plethora of easy V0-V1's before sending Unknown V3 (40d in the guidebook) for the first time, and following that up with a send of Right Silliness V3.  The Unknown V3 and Right Silliness were new sends for me, so I was pretty excited to tick off 2 new V3's I hadn't sent yet!  As I was topping out Right Silliness, the heavens opened up and started pouring on me...I packed up frantically, ran out of the boulderfield and got to the car right as it REALLY started to pour buckets!  Good thing I like to pack much of my gear in dry bags:)

These 3 sessions definitely gave me the feeling that I was getting ready for the better conditions in the fall and making progress towards being prepared to crush some projects when the time is right!!!  I hope everyone has had a chance to get out and climb something somewhere and get that same excitement and anticipation for the coming bouldering season...if not...what are you waiting for???