Rocktown Video

Here's another little video from my time in the Southeast.  For the most part I prefer making videos that are more than simply setting a camera on a tripod but that's all had the energy/time to do.  So if you want some beta and to get an overview of some of the classics in Rochtown you might enjoy this.




Rocktown Bouldering: Classics from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Little Chris in the Dirty South

While in the South I had the pleasure of having one of my best friend along for most of the trip.  Chris Schaefer (aka Little Chris or Dreamboat) is not only a fantastic friend and climbing partner but is also godfather to Nalani.  Chris is also coming back from injury and it was nice to see his shoulder holding out.  If I have one criticism of Chris it's that he has a poor choice of clothes when it comes to taking climbing pictures.

Chris, like it says on the jacket

The Godfather giving Hammie a ride 

Chris on one of Rocktown's best, Golden Shower

Chris blending in with the rock on Blue in Rocktown

Milking the slopers of Little Bad in Rocktown

Chris finds his own beta 

Who's the man?

Bouldering with a 4 year old in Rocktown

Most people that have been climbing with me recently knows that 4 years ago my essential climbing gear grew substantially and has been growing every since.  Of course I'm talking about my daughter Nalani (aka Hammie).  Quitting climbing has never been an option for me so when Nalani came into my life it meant packing up that little bundle of joy and heading out to the rocks.  Sure it takes a bit more effort and there are some areas that aren't practical (although I still managed to stuff Hammie in my crashpad and hump it up to Chaos Canyon) but having Nalani along makes life better.  More than a few times a big hug from my little girl has made me let go of some climbing frustrating and just enjoy the day.  Hammie is a pretty amazing crag kid (while nearly perfect she does have her moments) and resentfully has even shown an interest in climbing herself.  We'll see what comes of that but I'm hopefully.

Here is a little video of some bouldering in Rocktown where Hammie made her presence known.



Rocktown: Bouldering with a 4-year old from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Rocktown

Rocktown had been my favorite area from my trip to the South 10 years ago but after this trip I'm not sure if I prefer the climbing in Rocktown or LRC.  Both area are roughly the same size but Rocktown is a bit more spread out and the climbing tends to be steeper.  The thing that might give Rocktown the edge is that you can camp there and it is cheaper (there is still a small fee to climb).  It was nice to not need to drive and there were multiple problems I failed on those many years ago that I was excited to finally finish off.  We climbed 3 consecutive days and after making short work of the old projects I ran around ticking as many other classics as I could.

Chris and Hammie hanging in the parking before heading out to the boulders

 Golden Shower is a beautiful problem.  The problem to the right is called Golden Harvest and is one of the problems I'd like to go back for.

Center Croc Block is an awesome highball and should be high on the list for anyone visiting Rocktown.

Aaron on Standard Variation.  The iron bands in the the sandstone served as the grips and make for some awesome aesthetics.

 Aaron on a cool highball.

Brown Eye Left had some awesome shapes and pleasing movement.  This wall was one of several that offered a slew of variations.  We opted to climb the most straight forward lines and skipped the linkups.