The Mountain Laurels are in full bloom in late May. On the tree, the blooms are bunched up to make larger flowers that are awe-inspiring, but when they fall to the ground, each individual blossom is just as beautiful. I love the shape of the inside of the flowers.

Maddie and I were back at it again. We climbed at Looking Glass Rock, but this time, we went to a different area. The South Face of Looking Glass is a beautiful place. The trailhead begins near a waterfall. Here is a picture of the falls from back in December last year. If you are camping in the area, this makes a great shower. A little on the chilly side, even in the summer, but it will get you clean.

The trail meanders alongside the creek before it breaks away as you begin to gain elevation. You hike through the rhododendron and mountain laurels as you make your way through the forest. You don’t need to be a climber to enjoy this area.

Since this blog will contain many rock climbs over the next few months, I should get something out of the way early on. Climbs, or routes are named by the first person/group to climb them. Some climbs, like Sundial Crack that I shared with you last week, have reasonable and respectable names. Others, like the climb Maddie and did on this trip, don’t fall into the same category. Some route names vary on a scale from slightly inappropriate to downright vulgar. This is no different than the people who climb. Sometimes you meet people who can’t form a sentence without a four-letter word and others are truly a joy to spend time with.

The route for the day climbs a thin crack up a right-leaning corner system. This is a picture of Maddie making her way up to the corner. You can see her between the trees. It can be climbed in two or three pitches, but either way, the first pitch is by far the crux. This climb protects well, but a fall involves sliding down what feels like a cheese grater. On top of that, if you fall low in the crux area, the cheese grater leads to a ledge. Back in the late 1990s or early 2000s, Chris and I had to rescue a young lady who had fallen and broken both ankles on this climb. She had good protection placed, but her belayer was not attentive. When she fell, she slid down twenty to twenty-five feet before hitting the ledge.

In earlier posts, I briefly explained the difference between sport climbing and traditional climbing. I should add another type of climbing to the mix. “Top roping” is a discipline of climbing where the rope is connected to an anchor system above the climber. With a good belayer, the climber never really falls. If they come off of the rock, they only fall the distance the rope stretches. With a good anchor, top roping is the safest way to climb, but you are limited to areas where you can access the top of the rock. You are also limited to a height of half the length of your rope.

The Mind is a Funny Thing. Some people’s minds say, “No!” instantly when asked if they want to climb. We sometimes call this a fear of heights, but rarely is this the case. They don’t tense up when climbing several flights of stairs or when crossing a bridge. What most people have is a fear of falling. Don’t get me wrong, this is healthy. Without this fear, there would be far fewer people around.

Other people like climbing, but only want to top rope. If you go to a climbing gym, you will see ropes hanging from the top of the walls. This allows people to climb with a very low risk of injury. For many people, this is the only form of climbing that they ever experience. I should add that what I have been doing (for the most part) when Maddie and I climb is top roping as well. She leads the climb, sets the anchor, and I climb up on top rope.

Still, other people enjoy clipping bolts (sport climbing). Knowing that a hole was drilled and a bolt has been placed into the rock somehow calms the mind. Even though you can take falls, most of the time, the bolts are spaced at intervals so that falls are shorter and safer.

I love sport climbing. It allows you to push yourself. Here is a fuzzy picture of me from 2000 climbing, I should say, trying to climb “Rage” in the Obed River Gorge in Tennessee. This is a sport route where bolts have been placed up the overhanging wall and out the roof.

I know many people who climb very hard sport routes who will not climb trad (traditional climbing). Their mind either doesn’t know how to place traditional gear or doesn’t trust the gear to catch them if they fall. Just last week, I talked with a strong climber who wishes that he could traditional climb, but says that he “doesn’t have the head for it.”

This is where I want to focus today…the mind. We drive 55 MPH on two-lane roads passing cars coming at us at 55 MPH with only a couple of feet between us with no problem. A slight error with either driver could (and sometimes does) spell disaster, but we don’t even consider it. Day in and day out, we drive. I could give dozens of examples where we do dangerous things, but we have done them long enough to become comfortable, or we are simply ignorant of the dangers at hand. Educated or uneducated, our mind controls us.

A few times while I have been climbing, my mind has slipped. The funny thing is that some of you think that my mind must have slipped to even consider climbing in the first place. I remember climbing a route in Yosemite National Park in the late 1990s. It was a beautiful day, I was in a beautiful place, and my beautiful wife was belaying me. I was eighty to a hundred feet up the first pitch of this climb when something happened. I knew that I had good gear below me. I knew that Chris had caught me dozens and dozens of times. I KNEW that the likelihood of me getting hurt (or dying) was slim at best, but my mind changed gears for some reason. I became terrified.

I had come to a harder part of the route and thought I was about to fall. I never once focused on the good gear below me or the attentive belayer that held the other end of my rope. Falling consumed my mind! All the odds were stacked in my favor. 1 – I had the ability to make the move. 2 – I had good protection if I fell. 3 – I had someone that I trusted holding my rope, but I still freaked out. It was awful!

I remember truly being afraid. I was scared, so scared, that I let go. You would think that letting go would be the last thing that someone would do in this situation. I only fell eight to ten feet, but that fall seemed to last for minutes. I was so afraid that I screamed. The same ego that wouldn’t wear a helmet while riding a bull screamed like a little girl in a relatively safe situation.

This is the view when you look down while on the “unnamed” route that Maddie and I climbed. Yes, those are trees down there. Even though I brought the wrong shoes with me (maybe I will write about that another time), I wasn’t focused on falling. I wasn’t thinking about “what ifs.” I trusted the system that was in place: 1 – ability/knowledge, 2 – good protection, and 3 – someone I trust on the other end of the rope.

What do you believe about Jesus?

The Cross of Calvary and the empty tomb are enough.

So, Who’s holding your rope?

Romans 15:13 NIV84
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The abundant life in Christ is a joy to live. There is no doubt that our mind controls us. I pray that your mind is focused on Christ and Him crucified.

Because He Calls, Old Climbing Dad