Ok, I'm bored with all the 2nd-guessing and arm-chair quarterbacking going on in the "Cliffhanger II - The Gunks" thread. What'd ya'll do over the holiday weekend?

I climbed 3 of 4 days and went for my longest road bike ride so far this year. I wriggled up a 5.8 at Peterskill that sent me home last year with my tail between my legs, and scored my first booty nut. Oh, and I bought a new rope at the R&S sale.

Who's next?

Kathy

Nothing really, but I did just pick up a shiny new knife today

I was at the Gunks Fri-Sun climbing. Scariest moment: running out High Corner. Didn't have much of a rack and wasn't thinking and ended up running it out from below the chockstone to the little roof. Another party was rapping down to the right and the leader laughed at me. I was sort of proud, but then again I figured it to be a stupid move. Fun though.
My partner Alan put up some 5.7s. The scariest one of those was Miss Bailey. I think MB is technically a 5.6, but it felt a little more difficult. We both agreed it wasn't a good first climb of the day. The first and second pitches were sketchy seeing as though neither of us had ever done a chimney and both of us had a bit of a Busch hangover. The third pitch was magnificent though. The guide book spells it pretty well.
We had some awesome breakfast at the Main Street Bistro (my first time, his umpteenth). Great hangover food - and cheap. Sunday night we had some Gilded Otter to top off the weekend. Also good. We also managed some hit up Bacchus a couple times. Kasteel Brown and an awesome reggae band (can't remember their name, but I got a sweet shout out for having on my Thundercats shirt).
I dropped a ton of cash at R&S - sweet sale!

Chris

"Nothing really, but I did just pick up a shiny new knife today."

Stay away from my new rope!

Spent 4 days mountain biking in George Washington NF. Put close to 100 miles on the bike.

Too much hiking and driving this weekend, but we did manage to get up Monadnock on Monday in about half the time the ranger said it should take. (In Lisa's case, after running an ultramarathon the previous day...) Sometime this year I have to actually go climbing again. So far this season I've only done one and a half route outdoors: Columbia (sorta, followed a leader who went left) and the first little bit of Gory Thumb--got rained off, need a rematch.

Ran

avoided accidents on high e on saturday, hung out with wife and friends in the city on Sunday/Monday. And drank beer.

Shivered on the couch with the flu (or maybe Lyme Disease).

Annual trip to Acadia. Did some *superb* climbing at Precipice, the highlight of which was keeping it together for the onsight of a stiff 10a called Fear of Flying as the skies opened up and poured on me.

Wasn't the scariest moment of the trip, though. That moment would have to be asking my fiancee's parents (they live just off the island) for their daughter's hand in marriage. Went pretty well, all things considered. And Allison's mom adores the ring, so that helps.

GO

Hey GO,

Very exciting. Congrats.

Oh, and, I hung out at the beach over the weekend.

congrats man - asking the parents can be a rush.

That sucks. Presumably you know by now which it is?

Congrats, Gabe + Allison!

Sorry to hear you were sick, Mike, it was a beautiful weekend.

We got less than the usual tally of pitches, since my back is in bad shape. Saturday: Raunchy, then a half hour debating which line is Wild Horses and which is Gory Thumb and which is PG/R or not. Then, Erect Direction to Moonlight - neither of us had climbed M before, it's spectacular! I almost onsighted Moby Dick (but couldn't lift my leg to stem high enough, due to the bad back, and pumped out), which was also fantastic. Met Graham, back at our packs. Generally a quiet day - definitely sparser crowds. Scott then stood below Low Exposure for a while, but nothing came of it ;-0. The ranger driving by said "now this is a show worth stopping for!".

Sunday, we started out on Tulip Mussel Garden, with Empi and Smike and Strat right next to us. I climbed something that I thought was Loose Goose, but was later corrected, it was Lonely Challenge? fun route. We wandered on down to Eastertime Too and had that to ourselves, then Scott onsighted Peyton's Paltz (G, but scary!). Again, quiet day for us. Wandered back so I could tick Grease Gun again, and Scott could do the direct/crack finish to it.

The traffic into NP was backed up to the farm stand, so we turned around and headed up through 209. The Saunderskill Farm Market is a great little joint, if you're ever on that side of the ridge.

Went to NH to visit my brother and his family. Did some hiking, some trail running with 45lbs of "run faster, run like the wind" on my shoulders, and worked.

Hey Mike, go get some Dox just in case. I found a tick on me that had been there for probably about 16 hours and got a couple of pills "just in case" last weekend. One bout of Lyme was enough for me, I don't want another. In the -probably way too much information- department, I have since shaved any tick prone areas so the little buggers can't hide. You may all now go throw up your lunch.

Thanks, Kent, Chris, and Julie!

Oh, and I also took my new CrackersJack Pack for its maiden voyage. It hauled my personal gear plus a set of doubles ropes around all weekend just fine. This was a birthday present from Allison.

It's a win/win situation, since I get the sweet new pack, and she no longer has to ever carry the set of doubles in her pack (it fits better in the Cilogear one).

Sorry to hear it, Mike. Hope you feel better soon!

GO

It was nice spending the weekend touring the northeast, despite all the driving at $4 per gallon. We did head to the beach after the trail run in Maine - the Atlantic was ice cold and felt great on my sore legs. On Sunday we hiked up Mt. Monadnock in NH which has an open slabby summit so the views were great.

Jersey Boys with my Mommy (her Xmas present) Saturday.
Sunday, paddled Chodikee lake north until it stopped be naviagable (to me) in a kayak. Then, I impinged on Julie's otherwise pleasant Near-trapps experience for an hour before leaving her be to climb some very bold 5.2s at the end of the cliff. Then I shot my new varmint rifle and watched some video called 2 girls/1 cup that mgs's son suggested I see (I lasted 10 seconds).
Monday, chores and some more gun shooting.

Congrats, GO!
Julie - try loose goose too. After the "step across" its a whole lot of good climbing.

Painted my Dad's barn roof.... what else in Pennsyltucky

Congratulations, Gabe!!!

I was at the Gunks Fri nite til Sunday afternoon, and had fun. Teddy seems well recuperated from hurting his leg two weeks ago, and kept right up the whole time. Monday I had a little work, so wasn't really much of a holiday for me. But what gorgeous weather the whole time!

Had a great trip to the New River Gorge with my 2 girls on a trip organized by Waynerocknut (along with his daughter & a big group of his friends). QuantoTheMad & his son Alex were there too. Big group of us (26, incl 4 kids). Weather was perfect. Climbed at Bubba City, Beauty Mountain, and the Junkyard Wall.

For me, the highlight was seeing how well the kids climbed. They were charging through the 5.10s. My daughter Ariel & QtM's son Alex, both 11, both got up a 5.10d, Ariel's hardest yet! My other daughter Jasmine did her hardest yet at 5.10b. (Ariel has until next March to try to climb her age again, she's getting close!) The kids were troopers, they belayed each other, helped to carry gear and dealt with the usual lost wandering on the trails to the crags without complaints. Made a mommy climber proud!

Jannette

Not really. But I got the doxy anyway. There's still no good test for LD until weeks after the onset of symptoms, and I will (hopefully) be cured by then. But they'll do the tests anyway just to rule out babesiosis, which requires a different treatment protocol. Of course, if it's the flu, then I just suffer. But I suspect it isn't. The tick was on me a long time. Man, this sucks.

My wife, 3 year old daughter, 8 week old, and I took the baby for her first hike on Saturday. My older girl was very proud of herself carrying her own pack, snacks and water. It was a beautiful day.

Climbed Sunday and got a good bit in with Rauchy, Wild Horses, Cakewalk, Beatle Brow Bulge, Star Action and Cheap Thrills. Saw some friends that I had not seen for a while and generally just enjoyed the weather.

Monday, Housework.

I spent the weekend doing an 3 day overnight on the klamath River. Got to run it onsight which was pretty fun and enjoyed the new river and scenery. Almost as pretty as the Salmon, though hopefully now Lymnes this time

Ugh, that sucks big time. A guy I work with got Lyme, Babesiosis and Erlichiosis all at once. Fortunately, he got the right antibiotics and recovered quickly. Hope you feel better soon!

Kathy

Heh heh, I did that with a group from Americade years back... man it was a cold ride, luckily I had full leathers. My friends on harleys were freezing their butts off.

yeh he heh that dude rich is like the other half of the chemical brothers by the way

went up to the ball plant this monday with a Japanese. what a trip. you just would not believe what is happening up there.

yeh I carry a knife