5/31  Ryan and I drive from Ithaca to Seneca Shadows (you are getting close when you see confederate flags on every other trailer home).  I've stayed at the camp on previous trips.  It is $10/night/site and you get a covered picnic area, water spigots and an outhouse.  There is free camping in the National Forest which I will probably use in the future.

6/1  We climb Castor (5.10a) on the east side of Seneca.  In what is a rather inauspicious beginning to our trip, I lead about 20' of the climb, flail, and have to lower.  Ryan climbs to my high point, flails, and has to lower.  On 10a!?  Ugh.  Ooops... it turns out we are on Terra Firma Homesick Blues (5.11c R).  Still an inauspicious start, but at least it is just our route finding that sucks, not our climbing.  We do actually jump on Castor (thinking it is Pollux).  Ryan leads the first pitch and I follow.  We use that anchor to clean our gear from the previous climb.  Then I lead the second pitch which doesn't appear to be climbed often.  I reach the anchors just as a thunderstorm rolls in.  We bail to the visitor's center.  Quite nice.  Free wireless internet and about six free computers.  Clean bathrooms too.  I like this part of West Virginia.  There is good canoeing, backpacking, climbing and cross-country skiing all right here.  The visitor's center has a movie about the geologic and archeological history of the area.  Turns out that Seneca Rocks is quartzite conglomerate from tuscarora sandstone.  Yeah, this trip log is full of fascinating facts like that.

We had planned to climb at Seneca for another day, then climb at New River Gorge for a few days.  But checking the internet, we see that the forecast sucks.  So we leave the visitor's center and drive to Miguel's in Kentucky.  On the way out we see a hillbilly battle which is one of the funniest events of the entire trip.  A woman is screaming at a man for at least 20 minutes.  She is primarily trying to make two points: 1) that he had lied to her; 2) that he ought to partake in marital relations with his parents again.  Though those aren't exactly the words she used.  She repeats these facts literally hundreds of times at the top of her lungs.  I try to walk by with my camera recording video, but the camera is wet from the rain and refuses to turn on until it has dried the next day.

6/2  Miguel's is still the best climber hangout on the planet (ok, maybe second best after camp 4).  $2/person/night to camp in the back yard.  And now he even has wireless and one computer in the shop.  You almost don't ever need to climb.  We go to Roadside because rain is in the forecast and I know we can climb there in a downpour (having done it in March 2005).  Ryan leads Trouble Clef (5.9-) then I lead Altered Scale (5.9+).  The rain starts so we move to the 5.10 wall.  Ryan leads Pulling Pockets (5.10d) and Crazyfingers (5.10c).  I finish the day leading AWOL (5.10a).

6/3  Rain has cleared.  We go to Drive-By.  I lead Breakfast Burrito (5.10d) and nearly onsight it, falling just before the anchors.  Kathy, Kenny and others are there working some of the same climbs.  They have draws on Whip Stocking (5.11a) which Ryan pinkpoints and I follow cleanly.  I attempt to lead Fire and Brimstone (5.10d) but can't finish the route.  Ryan takes care of it for me, then onsights Spirit Fingers (5.11c).  I have him clean that climb on rappel because I am not in the mood to follow it.

6/4  Jesse and I have been emailing each other because he is on a similar trip and we plan to meet.  He and his friend Laura arrive at night and we all go to The Gallery together.  Jesse leads DaVinci's Left Ear (5.10b) which we all climb.  Then I lead Different Strokes (5.11c) which is my hardest ever sport lead.  I don't onsight the climb, but I'm certain I could redpoint it if I ever bother to do the climb again (I rarely work a climb just for a redpoint).  After everyone has a shot at the climb we move on to Random Precision (5.11b).  This is a very tricky slab climb which I lead after stick clipping the first bolt.  Again, no onsight, but I am happy to finish the climb.  I stay on top and take pictures while everyone else climbs it on TR.  After that we move to the far right section of the cliff where Jesse, Ryan and I climb Johnny B. Good (5.11a) and Jesse, Laura and Ryan climb The King Lives On (5.10b).

6/5  The four of us go to Roadside.  Jesse leads All Cows Eat Grass (5.8) and I climb it to hang out at the anchors and shoot more photos.  Laura follows that climb, then leads Ledger Line (5.7) which I again climb to take photos.  Laura leads C Sharp or B Flat (5.7) which Ryan cleans.  We finish the day with Jesse leading You Can Tuna Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish (5.10b) which Laura cleans.

Jesse and Laura depart Kentucky.  Luckily Ryan and I are able to reclaim foursome status because we meet Porscha and Cynthia who have just arrived.  Porscha is finishing a 9 month road trip with her dog Beau.  She is spending a week in Kentucky with her sister, Cynthia, who has never climbed before.  That night the four of us play hearts.  Porscha wins, beating me by a single point.  Little did I know this would establish a pattern which was to last for the entire three month road trip.

6/6  We go back to Roadside with Porscha and Cynthia.  Ryan has been eyeing Ro Shampo, and today is the day for an onsight.  We warm up on All Cows Eat Grass.  Ryan leads it, I go to the top to take pictures of Porscha and Cynthia while they climb.  Then we get on Ro Shampo (5.11d/5.12a).  Ryan nails the onsight.  It is quite impressive.  I manage to clean the climb, but I have to hang at every bolt.  I can't hang between bolts even on toprope because the climb is so overhung that I wouldn't be able to get back on.  Porscha gives it a good attempt, but doesn't finish, so Ryan has another run up the climb to clean it.  After that, Ryan isn't tired enough, so he leads Stay the Hand (5.12a) with three falls.  I make him clean it on rappel because I feel I have no chance of getting to the top.  Then Ryan leads AWOL to put a rope on the second bolt of Dragonslayer (5.10d).  I want to lead this climb, but the first bolt is missing and there was no way I am going to free solo all the way to the second bolt, especially with the crux of the climb before the second bolt.  The crux is a mono... at least for me... Porscha gets two fingers in the pocket.  She says maybe she could squeeze in a third if necessary.  Anyhow, I don't normally move off one finger holds, but Ryan tells me to use my middle finger and it works like a charm.  The rest of the climb is exciting to say the least.  Let's just say that if you are on a skinny, stretchy rope... and you outweigh your belayer... and the first bolt is missing which reduces friction in the system and lets the belayer rocket all the way up to the second bolt... and you pull up a bunch of rope to clip the fifth bolt... and the date is 6/6/06... that would be a bad time to fall.  After I finish Dragonslayer (or "Jeffslayer" as I call it) Porscha and Ryan take a run up it.  Then Porscha climbs AWOL while I shot photos.  After that I lead C Sharp or B Flat and stay at the top to take pictures of Cynthia on the climb.

We are famished when we finish climbing around 7pm and the four of us treat ourselves to some of Miguel's pizza while we look at photos.  Porscha and I play cribbage and she absolutely slaughtered me.  It is the worst beating I've ever taken at the game.  Then we play some rummy which she also wins.  Porscha is gracious about her victories, but does finally say, "I'm beginning to think you aren't very good at cards."  Giving up on cards, we all go for a swim.  We have beta on a swimming area in the state park.  Drive across the low bridge at the 2nd entrance and turn left to reach the river.  Walk upstream a bit and cross the low head dam.  Then walk upstream a bit more.  This is supposedly a good area to swim.  It looks pretty nasty to us.  So we drive to the park's swimming pool, hop the fence and go for a swim there.  A word of warning, there are motion sensing lights in the pool area, so if you are expecting a bit of privacy, you might be surprised.

We finally get to sleep around 1:30am which makes it tough to wake at 7am the next morning to drive to Colorado.