“Do Hard Things, Not Hard Drugs”
For this project I wanted to showcase my friends. Giving them each my favorite quote I have heard them say. There is photography and a blog post for this. The photos were taken at Red River Gorge, KY.
Details about the trip:
Imagine this, you plan a trip with your friends, most of you taking a day off of work. You would like the weather to be nice since climbing on wet rock is the actual worst. You check the weather and book the AirBNB a week before thinking you're guaranteed it won’t rain. A day before the non refundable trip, you check the weather just to see it's thunderstorming the entire time you're there. Welcome to almost every single climbing trip, especially the ones Winnie goes on. We are to a point where he isn’t allowed to say the name of the location we plan to go to. Of course it never works, but it's still funny to joke around about. So we head to the Red, a popular climbing area in Kentucky. Joey and I get there first, he pulls out his mandolin, I pull out my guitar and we get to singing some tunes in the beautiful air BNB. An hour later Winnie and Becky get there with more eggs and burgers than any of us could eat. To give you an idea, I think there were like 20 burgers for 3 people and 10 impossible burgers for me with 6 dozen eggs. I appreciate though that with Winnies shopping skills, split between all of us, we only needed to pay $10 each. Very efficient. Anyways, since it is now storming the full day we are there, we decide to go to the crag Bruise Brothers. For all you non climbers out there, crags are the locations that house a set of routes. To give you an idea, Red River Gorge has over 3,000 routes. We get to Bruise Brothers to get some climbing in before the rain hits which is nice but when it rains, it pours. The holds become slimy and the weather is teasing us. Sunshine one moment, monsoon the next. We get in a decent amount of climbing then head back to try to light a fire. The sky clears up and we start planning for day 2. Day 2 looks a little more promising and the day 1 progresses. We decided to check out a new crag, Phantasia. The hike to the climb was supposedly .2 miles of a hike, the shortest distance to a crag yet. Well, our walk ended up being around 2 miles. We got lost and didn’t even park in the correct location. You should read my project that connects with this one about Winslow if you’re interested in our getting lost journey. Phantasia has 21 routes ranging from 5.5 Trad to 5.12 Sport. The description in the guide book says that this crag gets morning sun. Which was a lie. We got there to warm up on the 5.9 sport and chalk came off my hands immediately when I touched the rock. My hands looked cleaner than they did when we first got there. Going into the cave section I about had a heart attack. The thing about my climbing is that I get stuck in the future and in my head a lot. Being a yoga teacher one would think I would be able to breathe and be in the moment but when my body freaks out, it freaks out. Something I am working on. Once you pull over the lip/cave section of this route, the rest of the climb is super enjoyable. So now I reach the top and attach to the anchors to take some photos. Each time I clip in, my body tingles with anxiety dropping the rope to the bottom. The rope that was holding me up and keeping me safe is now gone. Knowing that I will be up here for the next 45 minutes to an hour. And for some reason I love every moment of it. It’s rather peaceful hanging off the anchors and hoping they aren’t too old and rusted to support me. There is a feeling of safety along with adrenaline to being attached to the rock, overlooking the rest of the space around me. Watching and capturing the moments of my friends. Finding the right angle, seeing a piece of art through the lens. It definitely hits my creative buttons, scratches that itch. I get to capture each one of them in their own individual beauties and share what I see with all of you. So here they are, with their own individual projects and quotes from them that I love. Enjoy!
P.S, Ezra (my dog) rolled in poop every single day of this trip. I gave her three baths in a row. The third bath was a Hydro Flask bath since we were at the crag about to drive home. Take this like birth control for owning a dog (something Becky mentioned while Joey and I were washing Ezzie off)
Winnie
“Do hard things, not hard drugs”
Winslow Thai. Something we should all know about Winslow aka Winnie, is that he cannot follow directions when driving off his google maps to save his life. I actually have zero idea how this man gets anywhere by himself. I am sure he gets lost and has to turn around every time he goes somewhere new. But put in the backwoods of Kentucky and he can find his way no problem. One time a friend and I got lost. This friend had been to the particular crag that we were headed to MULTIPLE times yet him and I still got lost. Winnie went to that crag ONCE and guided the rest of our friends there no problem. On this trip, we were trying to find a new crag. Winnie said that we should follow the map exactly. Becky and I decided that since Winslow got us lost the day before driving to the crag that he didn’t know what he was talking about and couldn’t read a map. Turns out Kentucky back country Winnie was right, we weren’t taking the correct way. He is also really dedicated to his practice. I aspire to have the dedication that Winnie does. Winnie and I argue like brother and sister, and that's exactly how much he means to me. Winnie is like my brother. And I love my brother. Winnie, I love you and thanks for being there so we can put the blame on someone else for us getting lost. If we didn’t have you we would have to put that blame on ourselves.
Joey
“I’ve seen you do hard shit and this isn’t it”
Joey, my love. Joey and I met three years ago. Friends for 2 of those years and then started dating about a year ago. Joey absolutely amazes me with how hard he climbs for how much sugar he eats and Juul he smokes.He is also one of the most encouraging and patient people I have met. We all give him shit about how he likes Ice cream in his morning espresso. He plans his outfits for every occasion and always has to match. You will hear him on the wall and think he is panicking but that is just him practicing his deep breathing. On this trip he brought his mandolin but prefers the piano the most. The first time I met Joey a group of my now friends, then strangers, were all at a cabin in Kentucky. We went climbing and the route that we were heading up had a ledge where you could rest. Joey had Z clipped right before the lip (just ignore that term if you don’t know what it is) and started mumbling and swearing then heaved himself over the lip to spin around on his stomach and fix his clipping. We call this his beach whale move. Last year he was in the habit of keeping his figure eight knot tied in when he was done climbing and then pulling the rope to clean the route. The rope would get stuck at the top so someone would have to reclimb it to clean it. Joey cracks me up and has become much more than just a friend and climbing buddy. He reminds me to be patient and to breathe. One would think it's the other way around. His energy is grounding and calm, fun and relaxed. If you haven’t had the chance to be in his presence, when you do, it is truly a present.
Becky
“I got this, I’m a boulder bro”
Becky lives right down the street from me in German Village. If this was a dating profile I would start by saying we enjoy long walks on the streets, coffee shops, and the Book Loft. Becky is an awesome climber and a great person to look up to. Her bouldering skills are on fire, V7’s I believe is the last one she just sent. To give you some perspective, when it comes to bouldering, I climb a V3 with a panic attack. Bouldering for me is terrifying. Constantly paranoid about breaking my knee on a bad fall. I don’t even begin to understand how she seems to not get in her head at all when she is bouldering. She inspires me to try more yet I still haven’t found a consistent bouldering schedule. There is something about being able to have another woman around when going on climbing trips. A kind of gentle understanding, and patience with encouragement and support. Not to say I don’t feel that with my other friends, there is just an added bonus when she is along for trips. The things I love about Becky is that she doesn’t seem to mind saying what her thoughts are. She just goes for it and that, for me, is comforting and also hilarious.
