More Adventures

Climbed outdoors for the first time ever today. Strange, considering I've been climbing now for 4 years. It was beautiful out at Carderock. We were right next to the river, and the temperature was close to perfect (although a few degrees too warm).

It's amazing how much pieces of EarthTreks prepared me for climbing outdoors, and how much pieces of it didn't. In the gym, you are given a route, and you must solve it. The routes are marked with colored tape, so you always know where to go. Outside, you are given a rock wall, and you must pray to the callous gods that your fingers and toes can take the abuse, and that you can find pieces of rock face that aren't just rounded, unfeatured slab.

In any case, it was enjoyable, and I discovered that I apparently have a keen eye for discovering turtles. Everybody else seems to miss them. Today was my second turtle sighting. The first was while kayaking. Of course, it's hard to miss something when you hit it. Don't worry, the first turtle is perfectly fine. It was a baby snapping turtle. Today's, I can't identify yet, though fear not! I'll unmask it like Scooby Doo and the gang unmasking some old guy! VW buses are cool...