October Rock Climbing at Horshoe Canyon Ranch

A few weeks ago was Missouri State University's fall break; so with the 4 day weekend, Patrick & our friends decided to go for an extended rock climbing trip. They left on a Wednesday night (the 14th), climbed all day Thursday & Friday, and I joined up with them after work for the rest of the weekend. After a full day of climbing on Saturday, I wasn't sure how they held out for so long, because even that was tiring & challenging. However, it was a good time & we all saw improvement in our performances, so that must have been what fueled them!

Patrick is already past the overhang, and nearly to the top to finish setting up the route!

At Horseshoe Canyon, somebody has to climb up first to set up the anchors/rope/etc.. Here I am, about to clip into a bolt on my first route lead-climbing!

Patrick and Jackie climbed routes next to each other so she was able to get this awesome picture of him with an autumn view in the background.

Patrick climbed a route ahead of me and waited at the top so he could make sure I set up the anchors properly and could get a new perspective caught on camera.

The view was a fabulous reward for making it to the top of a route.

When we got back from climbing on Saturday, I found this guy waiting for me on my sleeping bag in the tent! (shudder) I'm not looking for another roommate, so I promptly escorted him out!