Day 8: The Final Countdown

We awoke at 6:30am and began the process of breaking down camp and breaking fast simultaneously. As our outdoor skills had become finely honed throughout our journey, we were packed up in no time. We headed on our way to the Barton Springs Greenbelt to begin our final day of climbing. Upon our arrival, were once again greeted by the familiar faces of our guides from Rock About, and grabbed our rock climbing gear and took a small, pleasant walk across a picturesque creek to our climbing spot.  There were several climbs, and we went into them with quite a fervor, and completed all the climbs. Most of the climbs were what we were used to: normal top roped climbs. However, a few of the more challenging climbs were directional climbs which used additional anchors to help guide the rope so that if the climber fell they would not be injured by the features on the pitch. Towards the end of our time at Barton Springs we skipped rocks and a few of us even took a brief dip in the pristine waters. Sunburnt and tired, we proceeded to a local Austin restaurant  Baja Bob's which served wonderful tacos and burritos for a late lunch and began the long haul back to Houston. The bus was silent as we began out trek back, perhaps due to sheer exhaustion, but also possibly due to a sense of satisfaction. A satisfaction from climbs topped, hikes completed, and obstacles overcome.

Day 7: Photo blog

Rains happily moving through the cave

Yoga on the top of Enchanted Rock (Rains is a show off)

BBQ for the whole fam

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Day 7: Deep in the heart of the cave

     12 bruises and counting, we set off for Enchanted Rock to encounter new challenges. We drove for an hour and a half to get to enchanted rock, all of us having to go pee and of course the bathrooms were Out-of-Order. Luckily we relieved ourselves a mile down, filling up our water bottles, snacking on Luna bars we went off to the loop trail in order to hike and scout the area where we would be caving. I was ecstatic to go caving; I thought we were going to push ourselves and get down with the dirt, but after lunch we went straight through the rock and popped out on the other side, ending the anticipated climb on a bit of a cliff hanger. All unimpressed, Mr. Watson understood our disappointment and disappeared back into the cave. Suddenly, we were presented with free time while Mr. Watson searched for a proper cave. We compared horror movies about caves because we thought that was the last of the caving, laughing and joking, we were unaware of the endeavor Mr. Watson was about to lead us on. The cave got deeper, darker, and wetter, most of us developed the Butt-Slide technique (coined term: Jodi) very early on, others suffered because of their strangely long bodies (Quillin) but excelled in the holds that required a longer stretch. Scaling and sliding, I felt like I was in one of the horror movies that we had described previously. Coming to the ending, we were greeted with an alarming sign. "DEAD", along with an arrow to a pit, was scrawled on the wall in yellow paint. Curious about this, I asked Mr. Watson to which he just replied "Oh ha that's a dead end." We ended our day with juicy, succulent, dripping (in BBQ sauce) smoked MEAT! 

Day 7: Photos From The Trenches

The whole group set up for our second climb of the day.

All set up on the wall.

Adam, almost at the top.

Jackson, attacking a tough climb.

A good view of Riane (left),  Jackson (right), and Mr. Watson front and center.

Day 6: Climbing, Climbing, and More Climbing!

Today was the second day in Austin, but the first day of outdoor rock climbing. The day started dark and early at 6:30 in the morning. Everybody around the camp was exhausted from the long bus ride and restless sleep the night before. However, I could feel the buzz in the air; I could feel the nervous excitement my peers were experiencing as this was the day we had all been training so hard for. Truthfully I did not know what to expect. I did not know if the rock was going to tear up my hands, or if it was going to be anything like the gym, all I knew was that our guides from Rock About, the rock climbing company we were using, Bailey and Russell were telling me how great it would be; so I was not worried. When we approached the first rock climbing site I began to immediately regret coming to Austin to climb. The climbs at this site were short and relatively easy.  However, during the afternoon, after our lunch, we walked a little bit further along the canyon, where the climbs were located, and I was suddenly enlightened on what rock climbing Austin has to offer. The climbs were much longer, and a little bit harder which was significantly more enjoyable than the ones at our first climbing site. 

In all honesty though, I enjoyed climbing in the gym rather than here in Austin. Now, don't get me wrong the climbing in Austin is great but the rocks are sharp, it is a killer on the hands, and you can't follow a specific route. I particularly like climbing in the gym because you get to follow routes and you get to experience the challenge of using only the specifically marked rocks. In the climbing we are doing out here every hold is on, there is nothing specifically marked. All in all, though, everyone is enjoying themselves. The trip has been a great bonding experience and by my standards, a huge success.

Day 5: First Day in the Wild

Today was packed full of adventure and a lot of movement. We started off the day with getting all of our gear prepared and making sure we weren't leaving anything behind. This included checking our baggage, making sure everyone had their sleeping bags, and confirming our schedule for the day. We departed slightly after 10:00 AM after some supportive tips from Mr. Moudry. We were off! During the 3 hour trip to Austin, we stopped at Chick-fil-a and Subway to get lunch for everyone. After this, we continued our journey and got more food at the grocery store for the whole week. We decided to do this on the way so the fresh food would be fresher than it would be if it were purchased on Thursday of last week. After spending almost two hours at the grocery store, we filled up the back of the bus with food and were off to our camp site. We arrived about 30 minutes later and set up camp.  This included getting everything out of the bus and each group setting up their tents. While we practiced setting up the tents at Post Oak, it was a little different out in the wild. After setting up our tents, we took a walk along the trail and lake behind our camp site. This spot was filled with other campers and lots of bluebonnets. After a few students swam around, we came back and Jodi and Rains cooked a pesto pasta and mud pie (pudding, oreos, and gummy worm) dinner for us. Currently, all of the students are sitting around a fire telling stories and playing guitar.

Day 5: Photos of the First Day of the Trip

Gathering around the student made fire during free time.

Straining pasta and washing dishes before breakfast.

Photo blog by: Riane Leigh Belgau

Day 3: From Exhausting to Even More Exhausting

When signing up for the Climbing A-term, I knew right off the bat that it would not be easy. Neither did I expect it to be this challenging and exhausting. The day started off with a long two hour seminar about our homework as well as further camping information. Afterwards we split up into our groups to finish projects that were due the next day. Rock climbing is one of those sports that is not perticularly easy to master or even start. There are many things that go into climbing other than just being on the wall, it just makes climbing a huge and amazing experience. We climbed for a good two hours or so and I really enjoyed it, others enjoyed this as well! Every wall I climbed kept progressively getting harder and harder to climb. This is because you would be so worn out from the last wall the next one would be worse. Your fingers start to hurt, your arms give up on you, your fingers start to slip and there are so many more of these little imperfections that go with climbing. This shows that you really need to get your body in shape and ready to climb walls like these. I already know that climbing will be challenging, but I think everyone will have fun.

Day 1: Climbing A-Term

Today in the Climbing A-Term we spent the first half of the day creating and assigning jobs to everybody coming on the camping trip we will be going on for the second week of A-Term. The jobs ranged from Surgeon General, the person in charge of making sure that we get enough water, food, etc., to Chef Gurl-R-D, the female chef. Then we brainstormed as a group to create a contract based on what our goals for the A-Term were. This lasted up until lunch. We came back from lunch with our stomachs full, and we were ready to spend the afternoon at the Texas Rock Gym, learning the basics of belaying, some climbing vocabulary to use on our trip, and last but not least, we practiced Rock Climbing and it was tons of fun. I am excited to go back on Wednesday and am more excited for our trip than ever.