Tuesday, August 18, 2009

St. George Adventures

Matt, Parker, and I went to St George from August 6-8 to have some awesome adventures. As many of you know, being in a car that long with a baby can be an adventure, so we drove in the evening when he would be sleeping. We are lucky enough to have Matt's sister, Sarah, and her husband, Eric living in St. George. They are kind enough to let us stay at their home and they planned an awesome weekend for us. Matt's whole family came down, so it was a ton of fun.

Friday, Matt, Jesse (Matt's brother), and I got ready early to go rock climbing at the Black Cliffs. It was pretty fun to climb on Basalt. I decided to be brave a lead a 5.9 and was surprised that I could redpoint it (climb without falling or resting). The hardest climb I could lead before I had Parker was a 5.9 and this was my first redpoint of that rating. I was super excited. At the beginning of the year I made a goal to lead a 5.10 (one grade harder than 5.9), but thought it would be impossible once the summer started. Now I'm working towards that goal and hopefully will be able to do it before it snows. Matt and Jesse climbed too. I just think my accomplishment was more interesting then anything they did;).
Matt leading a 5.10b


still leading the 10b


this is me redpointing the 5.9: Entropy


clipping in on Entropy (5.9)


the scary part: I'm starting to climb above the bolt


Friday afternoon Sarah and Eric took us on a beautiful, short little hike called Canaraville Falls. Canarville is just south of Cedar City. It took us up a small stream and into a slot canyon to some waterfalls. I was having fun taking pictures so I didn't notice Matt climbing up a rickety ladder with Parker on his back. I was mad. I was mostly worried about the climb down, but I know Matt has some mad climbing skills and would be able to safely transport
Parker down the ladder.


The next day Parker went boating for the first time. He didn't really care for it. He was content exploring the boat, but didn't even seem interested in the fact that we were surrounded by water. He did have some fun on the beach, crawling around in the sand. Matt and I went wakeboarding a little. I would like to try it some more some time.

It was such a fun weekend! Thank you Sarah and Eric for the good times!

4 comments:

Laura Jett said...

Holy Cow!! I can't believe you climb up those STEEP rocks! I am having a heart attack just looking at your (AMAZING) pictures!! lol. You definitely have a ton of awesome picts!!

Kateka said...

Gorgeous pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Kara said...

You guys are soo Hardcore!
check out my blog!

We Krazy Knuts said...

Hi Matt and Ashley! It's us, the Knutsons! I'm glad we found your blog...your family is so cute. When I showed McLain your blog, he was pretty jealous of your rock climbing times! If you're ever up here in Logan and planning on going, let him know, he would love to go, I'm sure!