The last two weeks have been filled with bloody fingertips, sore muscles, bouldering on amazing sandstone, and southern cooking. The day after superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast, me and a friend packed a Prius to the brim and started out on a two week bouldering trip to Alabama and Tennessee. Upon arriving at Horse Pens 40 in Alabama, we quickly fell into the southern climbing lifestyle. Our morning would start slow as the fog lifted and the sun began to warm the rock.
The rock at Horse Pens 40 was amazing; combined with the fall foliage, hiking through the boulder fields felt like something out of a fairytale. The fantastic rock made for some incredible climbing, and the only thing that slowed us down was how the rock had a tendency to take off all the skin from your fingertips.
One of the main reasons we chose Horse Pens 40 was that the Triple Crown of Bouldering was going to be happening there. The Triple Crown is a great climbing competition that consists of three events at different southern bouldering destinations. The final leg was at Horse Pens 40. 300+ climbers descended and the event that followed was inspiring. The competition was there, but everyone was there to climb and have a good time. Climbing lasted a full day and the evening was filled with BBQ, pad stacking competitions and general merriment. If you have the chance, go to a Triple Crown event.
Once the Triple Crown finished, we spent another six days at Horse Pens 40. The first day we arrived, we began to hangout with a local, Terry, who had been camping and volunteering for the past six weeks. He first came to Horse Pens 40 forty years ago for a sling shot competition and since then has always found a way to spend time at the park. In a true southern fashion, he invited us to hangout at his fire every night. As our time at Horse Pens 40 progressed, we would find ourselves spending more and more time with Terry. Our last five days at the park, we cooked massive dinners with Terry and would spend hours by the fire listening to stories of his days in the Navy or touring around country going to bike rallies and music festivals. For our last night, I decided to cook BBQ ribs. I knew that it's a risky endeavor to cook ribs for a true southerner but why not. A simple meal of ribs and potatoes quickly evolved into a fest that included collard greens, mac and cheese, baked beans, grilled potatoes and BBQ ribs. Two of the boys that ran the park joined us, bringing the greens and mac and cheese. The meal was great, and the highlight of my trip was when one of the boys said that if he was ever on death row, my ribs would be his last meal.
The next day we drove to Tennessee to spend two days bouldering at Stone Fort. More amazing rock. Go to the South. Eat BBQ and boulder on amazing sandstone. More photographs are posted on my website:
travisrubury.com
