Finding Oregon: Smith Rock Climbing Trip

View of Smith Rock from the parking lot

For those of you who don't know, Kyle and I have been rock climbing since late fall/early winter of 2009. There is a small bouldering gym (no ropes, shorter climbs) in Columbia, MO called Bouldering Gardens which is where we first started climbing. We bought memberships, a chalk bag, and shoes! We were climbing at least 2 times per week, if not more, throughout the winter and early spring. When the nice weateher hit, our climbing definitely decreased and didn't really pick back up until we moved to Portland.

Our rock climbing has been a lot more consistent since moving to Portland. We really haven't taken more than a week off since being here. We also made it a point to find bouldering while we were in Hawaii. In Portland, we mostly climb at the Circuit, which is another bouldering gym. After about a year of climbing out here, Kyle bought us harnesses and we took a rope climbing class and learned how to belay at the Portland Rock Gym.

So for Christmas, we bought ourselves a climbing rope using the money we got as gifts from our wonderful families! I would say the climbing rope itself is the biggest expense when talking about climbing gear. Then in May, friends of ours asked if we wanted to go on a climbing trip to Smith Rock at the end of August. We happily accepted the invitation, but still had yet to use our new rope.

August rolls around, and Kyle and I have still been climbing at the Circuit and occasionally going to Portland Rock Gym, but still haven't used our new rope or really climbed outside. So we signed up for an anchor building class at REI to make sure we would be able to set up our top roping for our climbing trip! The class was super helpful and had us really excited about Smith!

The week of our planned trip rolls around and unfortunately, no one else can go. So Kyle and I decide to head down there anyways despite not really knowing what we were doing with little expectations. At least we would get to go camping! We drove down early Saturday (August 25th) morning, camped that night, and headed home late afternoon on Sunday(August 26th).

Smith Rock State Park is BEAUTIFUL!!! There are hiking trails and a picnic area that make this a great destination for anyone! It's actually a canyon with a river (the Crooked River) running through the middle.

Our first day, we were planning on climbing on the smaller rock for top roping called Rope De Dope. We met an experienced climber and mountaineer named Deon, and his lady friend, Bonnie, and it was her first day ever climbing. Deon ended up helping us out a LOT and then offered to show us how to lead climb on Sunday. So on Sunday we were on the Dihedrals climbing and Kyle led his first route ever before setting up our top rope.

Real quick explanation of the climbing options out there:
Top rope: Anchored at the top with the rope through to the bottom
Lead climb: Tied into the rope, but not attached above you. You climb for 6-8 ft before clipping in (at Smith Rock there are a lot of sport routes, which means there is fixed protection, or bolts, for lead climbing).

Saturday night we drove down to Bend, Oregon and had a beer at 10 Barrel Brewing and Bend Brewing Co before driving back to the park and camping.

We had a REALLY great time and definitely want to go again. We also think it would be a great place to take family and friends when they come visit!