After climbing at Smith Rock for a while, I was really missing climbing on some real holds. Knew that my friend Ben (climber in the picture above) was going to Red River Gorge in November (2020), I decided to check out this place. Since lots of people said it’s their favorite place to climb… My husband Jeremy didn’t need to work during that time so he could go with me, and then… our cat Jeans… ended up coming with us too!

It was actually quite a hassle (and lots of $$$) to make Jeans my Emotional Support Animal. After our trip, TSA actually cancelled all the emotional support animals… it means if we want to do air travel with Jeans, we’ll need to pay her a flight ticket (but she would still need to sit under the seat…)

The first day we got there was the coldest… It was damp and ~20 degrees at night. Everything was freezing when we woke up. During day time, it was 45 degrees the highest. They forced me to lead Amarillo Sunset (this route is always in shade), and I didn’t expect how big the moves are in this route.

The weather got warmer and warmer, and I realized the humidity was the real thing here. (I had mostly climbed in desert climate.) In the morning, sometimes you can feel the water sipping out of the rock…

A nice little rest at Mona Lisa Overdrive

A random cave we found when we were hiking with Jeremy’s parents

First time climbing with Ty- he’s a 16 yo strong climber that’s good in all disciplines - sport, trad and bouldering.

Jeremy combined a carrier and backpack so we can take Jeans around while carrying the climbing gears. (No she doesn’t walk…. she’s also very afraid of dogs.)

We were there two weeks in total, and stayed at the campground behind Daniel Boone coffee shop. Didn’t want to be in a party scene so we didn’t camp at Miguel’s. We passed by Miguel’s on weekends and the campground was really packed.

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The Madness! Red River Gorge