The second part of our Kentucky adventure revolved around two key things: 1) Rock Climbing and 2) Pizza
We woke up hearing soft chatter from outside of our van. Poking our heads through the door, there were dozens of people gathering their gear for a new day of climbing. Their chatter slowly got louder as they made plans for the day- which area to start, which wall to climb.
We were at Miguel’s Pizza in Red River Gorge Kentucky. It’s a climber’s paradise, with fields for tent camping, parking lots for vans, bathrooms, a space to store gear and indoor/outdoor areas to eat and mingle. Even better, they charge only $6 a night!
This morning was our second morning at Miguel’s. Our first day rained (actually, poured) ALL DAY LONG. Rather than get soaked and cold, we explored some of the area shops. Most of our afternoon was spend in Daniel Boone Coffee Shop eating freshly baked warm banana bread and playing board games with new friends.
On this day, we decided to go to Muir Valley for our first day of climbing. It’s less than a 20 minute drive from Miguel’s on mostly main roads (after a week of rain, we weren’t about to test our 2-wheel drive van). It was a cool and hazy fall morning, with a light mist falling through the trees as we hiked to Bruise Brothers Wall. There were already a few groups climbing, so we found a spot to settle in just next to the wall. Some sections were damp from all the rain, but one great part of Bruise Brothers is that it has plenty of dry routes due to an overhanging roof.
Being our first outdoor climb in over a year, we started easy with a couple of short 5.7s to get into the swing of things. Larry would lead and Amanda cleaned. It was a routine we easily got into throughout the day. By around 1pm, the sun FINALLY came out! The mood throughout Bruise Brothers was instantly brightened as the sun warmed us and started drying out sections of the wall. Our last route was a super fun four-star 5.9 called Send Me on My Way. It started with a few challenging moves, but was overall a great way to end our day of climbing.
Instead of calling it a day, we decided to do a short hike to the Natural Bridge, which is only a half mile from Miguel’s. It was a 2 mile out and back hike and moderate in difficulty with 650 feet of elevation gain. You pass through sections of damp old forest with low vines, moss and tall trees. It was a mix of eerie and surreal as we passed through.
The Natural Bridge looms above the trees when you arrive. It’s very beautiful and much bigger than we had expected (it’s actually 65 feet high and 78 feet long). On the left side of the bridge we shimmied through a stone wall and up some stairs to the top of the bridge… What a view! You can see for miles to the north and south of the gorge! There are options to hike a few additional miles from here, but it was nearly 6pm and our stomachs were growling. Down we hiked; back to the van to officially end our day.
Arriving home at Miguel’s, we settled in with two slices of their freshly made-to-order pizza each and our Red River Gorge South climbing book to find the next day’s routes.
