I've Been To A Minor Place

A group of us went to Pilot Mountain for a bit of climbing. It was in the low 30's when we arrived at the crag but by noon it was sunny and warm; a perfect day for climbing.


Dan slept in and was a bit late because he forgot to move his clock ahead one hour. Last fall he was an hour early for breakfast because he did the same thing. Here he is getting ready to repel down "Thin To Win".


Like I said, it was cold.


Charlie coming down...


... Genie going up.


Dan working his way up the crack of "Vegomatic" (5.8).


Brian at the crux of "Thin To Win" (5.10b).


Charlie giving Genie one last hug before he sends he to her death on....


..."My Husband is Going to Kill Me" (5.7). She smoked that climb with ease.


That's me on the same climb.


A little bit higher now...


Katie doing some cool moves on "Honey Pot".


Rob and I just chillin.


Charlie should be paying attention to his climber but he is giving me the stare down instead.


That's me pulling the roof move on "Papa Bear" (5.10c).

I Am This Great Unstable Mass Of Blood And Foam

North Carolina has four National Forrests. This weekend we did a little backpacking in one of them. Here are a few pictures from the Uhwarrie National Forest.


This was our crew, bright and early on Saturday morning.


With our motley crew there was bound to be some trouble. It was a good thing someone picked up this business card.


Shoe fetish.


Saturday was foggy, cool and a bit humid. The rain stopped by the time we got to the trail head.


We packed a lot of food so it made sense to stop often for snacks. Food always tastes better after you have been sweating.


I'm a slow hiker so this was my view for most of the trip. Prayer flags in NC?


My job was to get into everyone's business. This is Liam. He brought the entertainment in the form of Marker's Mark and a harmonica.


Megan and Andrew brought lots of food including heirloom tomatoes (not pictured).


Katie brought strange bewildered looks and the frisbee.


Caryl brought her best E.T. impression.


Jake brought his chiseled chin and surfing stories.


The girls filtering water at our campsite.


The right side our wonderful campsite.


And now the left side.


Not my color but just the right size.


We played a game called "throw the frisbee at the bandana hanging on the tree."


Liam used his flannel shirt and some body english to win the contest.


Time for a fire...


... and music.


The patented over the shoulder shot. Sunday we made really good time because it was mostly downhill.


The hat and hatchet scream "Mountain Man".

And The Empty Bottles Like Bled Corpses...

Some amazing person got everyone at the Barnes Street House a Valentine's Day gift.


Hell yeah Chewy!!!


"What one food could I eat for the rest of my life. Easy. Pez, cherry flavored Pez." The person who can name that movie gets a prize. Bonus points if you name the actor.

Wednesday was Scrabble night.

Team Boner Jam


Team Non-Grad students


Team Cosby Sweater.


Half way point.


Tim trying to sneak a tile on at the end.


Grey got a new down jacket for V-Day. Now he can get rid of his Triple Fat Goose.

This Time I Will Leave Nothing Behind

I was Catherine's B-day recently. She is going to hate me for this photo but that is what you get when you make funny faces in front of the camera.


Barnes Street Crew. This might make a good Xmas Card.


Someone got to go to Hawaii and work on her tan while we became pasty white here in NC.


We got a bit of snow.


Notice the snow on Grey's glasses. That is from the white-wash I gave him. O'Doyle Rules!








Nuts


Stones


Insect


Asheville, NC


Genna is smiling not because she is getting her picture taken with me, but because she knows is it going up on Robot Toast.