Red River Gorge Camping and Climbing Weekend

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Last week, I got a call from my friend Jonathan asking me to tag along on a trip up to Red River Gorge in Kentucky the next weekend. I was 100% down, but sadly I was already scheduled to work every day of the trip. Thankfully, I was able to rearrange my schedule and join in on the adventure!

Jonathan and I left Baton Rouge on Thursday morning around 5:30AM and met up with his friend Tori about two hours later in Slidell. After many snack and bathroom stops, we finally made it to the Gorge around 10 that night.

It’s crazy how every single part of your being, your heart soul and mind can be changed in an instant. After being on the road for about 15 hours, feeling pretty motion sick after driving through so many mountain roads, and being anxious out of my mind to just get there, the second I stepped out of the car and caught a glimpse of the stars, everything in the world disappeared. No worries, or cares, or anxieties or anything. Everything was perfect after being completely captivated by the Milky Way and the silhouetted mountings surrounding it.

This is what my soul needed. It’s been a pretty difficult few weeks dealing with the loss of my friend Clare, and it’s been a struggle to have the time and space to process everything. I knew I needed to step away from modern life to give me some clarity and perspective. Sleeping on the ground, peeing in the woods, and going four days without showering will do that to you.

The first night, we spent at Miguel’s, which is basically a climber’s haven, equipped with a gear shop, pizza shop, showers, a decent sized parking lot for van and suv-dwellers, and a huge open field for tent and hammock campers.

Being in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, with almost zero light pollution, the stars were absolutely breathtaking, with the Milky Way lighting up the sky. After setting up my tent, I just laid outside completely mesmerized by not only the captivating stars, but also the fireflies lighting up the night, making the ground seem like it was sparkling.

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I don’t know if it was just sleeping in fresh air or the soothing sounds of nature, but I slept so stinkin’ well the first night! We woke up around 6:30 the next morning to start getting ready for a day on the rocks. We met up with a few of Tori’s friends, Carl, Austin, and Steve, grabbed some breakfast at Miguel’s, and packed our cars full of climbing gear.

The first crag we went to was called Chamelot, which started off with a beautiful 20-minute approach through the woods. With six of us and three ropes, it was easy to get lots of climbs set up. We set up and all rotated through two 5.8s and one 5.9.

Wow, how absolutely amazing it felt to be on real rocks again! I haven’t been climbing outside since January and it is something I have longed for basically every day. Being up there helps you forget about everything in the world except for the rocks right in front of you. Climbing is such a mental sport, you don’t have time or mental energy to think of anything else besides the climb you are on in that exact moment. Being there, no sounds, no distractions, just me and a rope, it really helps you to escape every thing going on, and I love it so much!

After we all climbed those routes, we moved over to the classic section just around the corner. There, we set up two 5.10a’s and the most popular 5.9 in the area, The Holy Grail. We were insanely lucky because first off, we were the only climbers in that area the whole day, and we were in the middle of scattered thunderstorms all day, but the way the rock was overhung, we were completely protected from the rain the entire day. The rain actually wonderfully lowered the mid 90-degree temperatures to mid 80s, which was so nice. It was also incredibly peaceful to listen to the rain fall on the leaves as we were making our way up the routes.

It was also so great to have the area to ourselves because I was able to break out my new drone to get some awesome climber shots. Unfortunately, I had flown it a total of about five minutes before our trip, so I didn’t really know what I was doing and I’m pretty sure it was still in training mode and wouldn’t fly above about 30 feet, which did not leave much room for climbing videos, with the routes being on average about 70-80 feet high. It was still fun regardless, and I’m so excited to fly it more and hopefully get some sweet climbing and traveling videos in the future!

We ended up staying at the crag until about 5 o’clock, after all getting burnt out from climbing eight different routes. That might not sound like much, but that is a heck-ton of routes for an outdoor climb day, so we definitely all sent pretty hard and were pretty pooped at the end of the day.

After packing up all our gear and hiking out, we headed back to Miguel’s for some well-deserved pizzas and margaritas. Miguel’s has almost any pizza topping you can think of, with several you would have never thought of. Knowing I would probably never get the opportunity again, I got a sweet potato and avocado pizza! It was definitely the most interesting pizza I’ve ever had in my life and I’m glad I can say I’ve had it, but probably will never get it again.

The guys had been staying at Koomer Ridge Campground all week and still had the site, so Tori, Jonathan, and I decided to pack up our camp at Miguel’s and camp out with our friends at the other site. A few of the guys were pretty pooped from the long day, but Tori, Austin, and I stayed up to enjoy the stars and the fireflies and share some life stories. With the exhaustion catching up with us too, after a while we finally called it a night.

I woke up the next morning completely refreshed after an amazing night of sleep. I was up before almost anyone else, so I set up my hammock and did a bit of writing after getting ready for the day. Knowing we wanted to get to the crag earlier than we did the day before, everyone got ready fairly quickly and we headed out of camp around 8. Most of our gear was still in our cars at Miguel’s so we headed there to pack up for the day and grab some breakfast at the café.

Knowing it was a Saturday, with fairly nice weather, we avoided the most popular climbing areas to hopefully not hit any huge crowds. So, we made our way to Velo Crag, where we crushed a 5.8, 5.9, and a 5.10a. It was definitely a more relaxed day at the crag, so I took some time to do a little journaling and drawing, which is always good for the soul. Being out in the woods, with no noise or distractions is the best place to allow yourself to just think and process things. Not wanting to miss out on any of the beautiful sites of the area, I also took some time to explore around and was not disappointed. Red River Gorge is such a beautiful part of the country and I loved getting to experience it.

Around 3:00, we decided to head over to a different climbing area called The Gallery to hop on some of the best climbs in the park. We climbed the most popular 5.8 in the park and then set up a 5.10b, which were both amazing climbs. We were hoping to climb a few more routes, but we were all pretty pooped after two pretty long days of climbing.

Wanting to cool off after two full days of sweating our booties off, we headed to Jump Rock to plunge into the refreshing Kentucky water. Right in the middle of the Red River (more of a yellow-brown color if you ask me), lies a massive boulder, standing about 30 ft above the water, surrounded by deep enough water to plunge into. My friends and I waded through the water and made the short hike up to the top.

When making the plan to go to Jump Rock, I was crazy excited about it, however, that emotion changed slightly when I was standing at that edge. Excitement quickly turned to nervousness, so I graciously took to the back of the line to hopefully build my courage back up again. I am not one to turn down an adventure, so I put on my big girl panties, walked back over to the edge, counted down, and jumped…

Holy canoli, that was so scary but so exhilarating! Nothing can truly describe the feeling of free falling. Even if it only lasts for a total of 0.4 seconds, it’s still a crazy, scary, weird, amazing, and adrenaline-pumping feeling. It genuinely feels like you’re leaving your stomach behind your body. Wow, what a feeling! We all jumped a few more times, swam around a bit, then headed back to camp to get some food!

Just down the road from Miguel’s was another local favorite dinner spot called Rock House. We cleaned up, ordered our food, and sat on the patio while watching the fireflies and sharing travel stories. Tori and I split the hummus wrap and veggie burger and they were both amazing. We enjoyed our food while watching the sunset and drinking some local ales. Dang, what a good night!

After dinner, we headed back over to our campsite at Koomer Ridge. A few of us were pretty pooped and called it a night early. However, I believe that it is not a camping trip if you don’t have a fire, so Austin and I rounded up all the leftover firewood from the week and gathered some kindling. Having rained a good bit the last couple of days, pretty much everything was wet, which proved to make fire-making quite a daunting task. I believe completely in authentic fire making and not relying on the aid of cheater materials like fire starters or lighter fluid. However, with it already being almost 11pm and everything was wet, with almost no chance of lighting on its own, we accepted the help of some lighter fluid.

After four failed attempts, we finally kept a flame going and basked in its warmth. I felt like I had failed as a camper when I heartbreakingly realized I had forgotten to buy s’mores materials. I mean, is it even a fire without s’mores?! Did you even go camping if you didn’t have s’mores?! The answer is no. So basically, my entire weekend was voided due to lack of s’mores… Guess I have to go back now to make it count this time!

Well, even without s’mores, it was still a nice fire and a few of us sat around, sharing stories, and looking up at the stars until about 2AM, when we finally decided to call it a night. Honestly, I should have just stayed up anyway, because for whatever reason, I was not able to sleep at all. I tossed and turned for hours until I was finally able to fall asleep around 4:30…

My body is ridiculous sometimes because even after not falling asleep until 4:30, I still woke up with the sun around 6:00AM… Thankfully, we were driving home that day, so I knew I would be able to get a bit of sleep in the car. I was hoping to stay one more day since I didn’t have to work the next day, but Jonathan had things to do at home and was ready to get back, and he was in charge, so we planned on leaving early Sunday morning. As soon as I woke up, I packed up all of my stuff, took down my tent, and got ready for the day. Since most everyone was still asleep, I took the time to do a bit of writing and reflection, which was so nice and peaceful.

Everyone got up around 7:00, and we all sat around the table drinking Ale 81’s, a classic local soda and shared our favorite memories of the weekend. Jonathan and I got on the road around 8:30, knowing we had a long day of driving ahead of us. Stopping only twice for gas and once for food, we were able to make it back in right about 12 hours. My car was parked at his house in Baton Rouge, so even when we made it back, I still had another hour and a half drive back to my house.

I didn’t realize when I left his house that I was low on gas, and didn’t realize that until I got onto the Atchafalaya Basin, which is a 20-mile long bridge with no gas stations… I immediately turned off the AC in an attempt to conserve as much fuel possible. For whatever reason, Google Maps was not picking up my location, so I had no idea how long it was until the next gas station. After panicking for about 15 miles straight, there was finally a gas station which I pulled into with 7 miles left in my gas tank! Talk about panicking!!

I was able to make it home around 9:30pm, where I immediately took a shower to wash off the four-days-in-the-woods smell and then passed the heck out from exhaustion!

This weekend was every single thing that my soul needed. I needed time to just get away from all the noise and craziness of the world to just think and be in nature. Simplicity has always drawn my heart and any time I can just sleep on the ground, not shower for a few days, live off of pb&j tortillas, and turn off my phone, those are times when my soul is so refreshed.

The instant I stepped out of the car when we first arrived in Kentucky, I knew that was where I needed to be. Almost no light pollution, a sky of a billion stars glistening above us, completely surrounded by tents and van-dwellers, I instantly felt free and alive. It was so nice to just disconnect from the world and be completely present where I was.

This weekend also helped to reignite the deep desire in my heart to live on the road. I have been planning on embarking on a who-knows-how-long road trip since the beginning of quarantine, but I have been putting it off for various reasons like saving up money while I can, spending time with family, getting my website and YouTube channel in line, and making sure I am fully prepared for SUVlife, which yes, are all good things, but things that need to come to an end at some point. This weekend helped me realize what I have been missing out on by pushing my departure date back for weeks or even months at a time. During my reflection time this weekend, I told myself that as soon as I get back home, I need to set a date to hit the road and stick to it; stop making random excuses of why I need to wait longer and just freaking do it.

Never again, will we have another global shutdown where all my plans for the next year have been completely uprooted and I have nothing planned and an adventure-ready car sitting in my driveway. Road tripping has become one of the best ways to socially distance while still exploring and seeing the world safely. I need to realize what a blessing it is that I have the opportunity to live on the road for the next few months or year or however long it ends up being.

The road has been calling me for years and I have answered the call by embarking on various road trips and backpacking trips, but this is the first time, I will be putting basically everything that I own into a 4×10 ft² space and just hitting the open road with no plan in front of me.

I am extremely grateful that this weekend was able to happen so last minute because it really put things into perspective of what my next steps in life are. I have set a date of August 5^th to get on the road and I am beyond excited! I definitely have lots of things to do before I am ready for that, but in the next three weeks, I will make it work.

Stay tuned for my next adventure of life on the road! If you want to stay up to date, make sure to scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email to be subscribed to my email list! Also, if you want to help keep me on the road, I would love your support on Patreon!! Just click that orange button below this post to see how you can support me.

Thank yall so much for reading, and remember to make every day an adventure!