Day 240 - Barrington, The Great

On the way back from the Lake of George, Tim and I stopped in Great Barrington. Got on my project Big Hairy White Thing (V4). Was ready to give up when Tim found some nice beta to get me through the crux and achieve the send. I wish V4 wasn't harder than V6. Tim also worked on his Project Green Goddess (V8). Come Fall, he'll cruise through that thing.

Day 239 - You Drove All the Way From Mass For Some Poutine and Beer??

Tim and I spent the day in Montreal hunting down delicious poutine and even more delicious beer. To the border patrol officers, this was a strange reason to drive 3 hours to Canada. Fortunately, they let us cross without a full cavity search. First stop was Vices & Versa to sip on tasty, fruity, sour saisons. Second stop was Dieu du Ciel. A flight of their porter, imperial coffee stout and aged scottish ale was beyond heavenly. Then we stopped at a store to pick up incredibly reasonably priced beers to take back with us. No oranges were confiscated in the process of re-entering the great USA.

Day 238 - McKenzie Pond

Tim Murphy made it to the lake. Today we headed to McKenzie Pond to scramble on some boulders. The holds were exceptionally sharp and all were missing quite a bit of skin by the end of the day. Overall, a great success.

Day 237 - Poke-O Moonshine

Spent the day climbing at Poke-O Moonshine in the Adirondacks. Didn't quite have the time or expertise for multi-pitch, but we found some solid mixed/trad routes to play on. Slept the night outside by the water and did my best to ignore the mosquitoes and horseflies.

Day 236 - Sir, is This Your Boat?

Made it to Lundy's cottage on Lake George. A couple hours after getting there, he had to deal with Lake George Patrol after his cousin's friend's boat slipped its mooring. Then we went sailing over to Jumping rock for some cliff jumping and impromptu deep water soloing. Awesome start to the week.

Day 235 - Foggy Sunday

Woke up in the clouds this morning, had some tasty breakfast and packed up camp. Excited to sleep in my bed for the first night in a while. 

Day 234 - This Doesn't Suck

The Boston crew left in the morning but was soon replaced with the CT crew. Another beautiful day full of games and good food.

Day 233 - Stop the Pipeline

Camping at the cabin in Northfield MA. Was temporarily kicked out of the cabin in the morning due to a meeting between AMC volunteers and the President of the MA Senate. They were meeting to protest the planned installation of a natural gas pipeline that would go right through the land surrounding the cabin. I sure hope the senator listened. Later in the day I met up with Kevin and a group of his friends from Boston. It's always a good time meeting new people. The sky cleared up at night and provided some amazing views.

Day 232 - I'm going to have to confiscate those oranges

Spent most of the day driving back home, so I figured I would post some photos from the previous day. We drove around Quebec exploring the various towns in the area (mostly looking for poutine). Ended up at Lac Megantic, which reminded me a lot of Lake Winnipesaukee. Went for a quick dip which acted as a nice replacement for a shower. At the border crossing on the way back, the officer asked if we were bringing anything back into the US. My brother half-joking said oranges and the officer responded saying that he needed to confiscate the oranges. Apparently citrus fruits are not allowed to cross international borders. 

Day 231 - Bonjour, Parlez-Vous Anglais?

Convinced Mr. Pat that it would be a good idea to go hiking. The trail system is very organized and the views were absolutely unreal. I had no idea Quebec had mountain ranges like this. Was also very glad that the Saturn was able to handle all of the hill climbing.

Day 230 - Parc national du Mont-Mégantic

Mr. Pat, Kevin, and I drove up to Quebec to camp out at Mont-Megantic, a dark sky reserve. Despite it being cloudy for most of the day, we got lucky and the sky finally cleared up later in the night. The entire park is stunning and beautiful.

Day 229 - A Tree Fell in the Woods, and it Totally Made a Sound

Spent the day exploring Mt. Tom. Found some ruins from a hotel built in the 1800s. Pretended to know how to do Tai Chi. Then found a couple cool fire towers and put myself in as much danger as possible. Reminds me that I need to sign up for health insurance. 

Day 228 - Cover Free Karaoke

Old-time friend Brendan got married today. Met up with him in Noho for a brief congratulations. Hoping to catch up more sometime soon. Also hopped around the city with Ian. The Karaoke was off the chains.

Day 227 - Lincoln Woods and the Missing Sandwich

Shoutout to guest photographer Charlie McClelland for the 2nd photo. Finally got to check out Lincoln Woods today. Cool spot just outside of Providence, RI. This is the group working on Leap Frog (V7). Would love to come back here with cooler temps and get back on it.

Day 226 - Winnipesaukee, Where's Your Bell?

Drove up to Lake Winnipesaukee to spend some time with Mike and Liza during their vacation. Had an awesome time cruising around and snorkeling. Found a dark part of the lake to watch the meteor shower. Was way better than I expected. On the way back to the marina, we were "pulled over" by a boat cop. Apparently you're not supposed to leave your spotlight on if you're not using it. Don't worry, we had the required number of life jackets and of course we had a bell. 

Day 225 - Bash Bish Falls - No fires, swimming or camping

What do you think of my makeshift coffee mug? Matt brought his french press so I was treated with delicious coffee in the morning. After breakfast and packing up camp, we explored above the falls and swam a bit. Even found a cool spot for cliff jumping.

Day 224 - Throwing Rocks at Rocks

Great session in Great Barrington with Tim and Matt. Finally got Spack Attack (Matt's on it in the top photo). Hardest V4 I've ever tried. The heat and humidity didn't help either. Also spent a solid 45 minutes laying on crash pads and throwing small rocks at big rocks. Then setup camp at Bash Bish Falls. Super relaxing hanging by the fire and then falling asleep to the sounds of the rushing water.

Day 223 - Amarillo Sunset (The real deal)

One of the most breathtaking sunsets I've seen in a long time. The NY mountains in the distance looked like clouds and the rays shining down into the valley looked like solid gold.

Day 222 - 10 Points to Slytherin

Hung out with this dude while splitting and moving firewood. Looks like he's trying to tie either a clove hitch or a prusik... can't tell.