Congratulations!

 

Congratulations to Cindy Gray for being one of 20 Ambassadors chosen from a field of 150 by @rockclimbingwomen on Instagram!

 

Adopted from poverty and abuse into loving family, Cindy grew up in Ohio, making the choice to rise above her beginnings. She's been overcoming challenges ever since.

 

As a teen, Cindy joined her family on mission in Nicaragua, discovering the beauty of the jungle and native culture while working to improve the lives of the people they lived with.

 

After attending Eastern Mennonite College, Cindy became an EMT, was one of the first women certified as a firefighter and crash truck driver, and worked tirelessly for equality in that field.

 

Damage to her spine, complicated by degenerative disc disease, required two surgeries to install rods and screws.

 

That didn't stop her.

 

A copperhead snake bite hospitalized her and almost cost her a leg.

 

That didn't stop her or lessen her love of nature.

 

Cindy has been instrumental in organizing a dozen trail work and trash clean up events, and was a founder of the Friends of Smoke Hole, a local independent alliance of climbers giving back to the crags and the communities that surround them.

 

She encouraged me to launch the Smoke Hole Anchor Replacement/Upgrade Project and has spent days hauling gear and on belay to support that effort.

 

An aneurysm in 2015 and the 3.5 hour surgery that stretched the capabilities of modem medical technology did not prevent Cindy from returning to Colorado for a second year as a campground host and entrance booth staffer in Elevenmile Canyon, nor did it prevent her from completing another handful of first ascents and impressive hikes during our days off.

 

To date, Cindy and the Punisher have done 53 first ascents in Smoke Hole Canyon, Reeds Creek and Germany Valley in WV, in Flagstaff and Northern Devils Canyon in AZ, and in Elevenmile Canyon in the Pike National Forest in CO.

 

A proud mom and grandmother, Cindy is still working to encourage a new generation of climbers to reach further and rise above their own challenges while giving back to the places in which she has both given and received so much inspiration.

 

After a decade together, I'm still awed and humbled by her every single day, incredibly proud to be her husband and equally grateful for her friendship.

 

Above: Cindy with the Lindy, our home on wheels for two years, across thousands of miles and through a hundred adventures.

Halloween- Trail Daze #10

Thanks so very much to Tyler Hall and Gray C, Shane and Chris Egress,Josiah Weeks, Scott Drummond, Nicholas Kurland and Cindy Gray for braving temperatures in the 30's, overcast skies, cold winds and drizzle to make Saturday another in a series of incredible Trail Daze events.

In a matter of hours, this crew built a new switchback to reduce impact on a beautiful old oak tree, removed all traces of the older trail, and did an amazing job of shoring up the trail and stabilizing the belay below Superman.

Strategy session

(L to R) Scott Drummond, Nick Kurland and Chris Egress dig in.

Josiah sez: No gluten or dairy, just CAFFEINE!!!

When the work was done, the rock wranglers descended to inhale chicken pasta salad, power gels and chocolate, then, despite the occasional shower of rain, they dragged out packs and headed back up their freshly-laid trail to tear up some routes.

Nick Kurland and friend Eric worked their way methodically across the wall, dispatching my routes Still Laughing (5.10) and Reaching Conclusions (5.10). After several hangs and combinations of moves, they sent Ryan Eubank's Golden Horseshoe (5.10+) and fought through Fisher's Hunter's Moon (5.10+).  Josiah Weeks, fresh back from the Red River Gorge, warmed up on the great moderate Second Rule with mountain bike madman Scott Drummond on belay , while Tyler Hall and Chris Egress battled the powerful, hard-to-read start of Mike Fisher's La Machina.  

Nick Kurland snaps for the ledge on Golden Horseshoe, one of the great 5.10s to be found at The Reach, Reed's Creek

Tyler Hall rolls through the lower cruxes of Hunter's Moon

Chris Egress cranks through the roof on La Machina

Leaving the youngsters to shred, I collected my wife, relaxing with some friends who actually live above the crag, and we headed off to prepare for a night at Thorn Springs Campground.

We chowed pizza and Halloween candy, talked over issues of the day and assorted trivia of global importance, sipped tasty adult carbohydrate replacement beverages and handed out T-shirts to all our volunteers.

The day's work and play finally caught up with us all around 10 p.m. Good nights were made and we hit the racks.

Cindy rose early to begin frying bacon and making mounds of oatmeal pancakes, and I eyed snow pellets falling from rolling skies as I summoned the survivors to breakfast.

Crispy bacon, pancakes, Sunny D and French press coffee: the Trail Daze crew relaxes post breakfast (courtesy of PHAR/UP and Cindy Gray) in Cabin 51, Thorn Spring Campground

Shane Egress: a force of nature

The South Branch of the Potomac glitters and shines in the autumn sun.

Interesting fact- we have now held EIGHT more local trail work events than the corporate-funded Access Fund, and almost all of our events were funded out-of-pocket or by donations fromsmall companies and local climbers... as opposed to shilling the only automobile without a hybrid or cams made in China.

Outside of Seneca, the two local events in which the Access Fund did (belatedly) participate were created, organized and seen to completion by a non-member.... can you guess who?

PHAR/UP: local climbers making a real difference. 

Being part of the solution, instead of the problem, for over a decade.

Contact us today for information on Trail Daze, local crags and the Smoke Hole Shuttle Service: (304) 668-2856; via email: phar.up.2014@gmail.com

Poison Fruit

Got to Franklin today to find three new, signed "NO Hunting or TRESPASSING" signs.

They haven't put up a new sign in the last decade, but after five years of no action from the AF/MACC- voila! Not only new signs, but signs with the name of a corporation, not a family, on them.  

Deja vu, anyone?

Congratulations, Access Fund and Mid-Atlantic Climbers Coalition- your policy of "don't ask, don't tell, don't stop climbing there but don't work on the trails" seems to be bearing the poison fruit I predicted.

You mothers must be very proud.... 

Start all the educational programs you want (with a company that makes its cams in China), partner with macho Jeep (the only car manufacturer that doesn't have a successful hybrid), do your best to spin control this... your people are pissing away more access than even you can buy, every hour of every day.

Spring Send-a-thon: No Free T-Shirts Required

Trail work and trash clean-up, new climbers on new lines, no dogs, no national press coverage, and no free T-shirts required.

Boulder Creek Exploration and Clean-up Hike

Cindy and I decided to explore our surroundings a bit more, and found ourselves up the creek without a paddle... but with a great many things of interest for future climbing and hiking, as well as history and scenic beauty!

We set out from the lower parking lot about noon, and soon found ourselves shedding jackets and hats as the temps in the sheltered creekbed soared into the upper 70s.

Cindy is dwarfed by formations along the outlet of Boulder Creek.

Another day in the field makes for a happy Cindy!

"Dude!"

V4 traverse- a sloping rail on polished rock with next to no feet and a long slap to a sharp bucket. 

Crags, about thirty minutes' hike from camp.  No sign of prior development.

Midian, probably an old vent.

Cindy, exploring her new retirement home, the Boulder Cave!

Insane free-standing fin of dacite/rhyolite.  Over 80 feet tall, this formation is less than 20 feet thick at the base.

"And over here, our guest loft..."

The Three-Acre Geode

Cindy Gray, trying hard to to lose it and simply run screaming down the creek at the sight of geodes EVERYWHERE!!!

"Not my size... But a nice shade of purple!"

Cindy with the final take of trash; 2 bags.