Mocanaqua in PA

So one of the things in life that, against my better judgement, I sometimes think as a necessity for me to feel content is rock climbing. There is something about it that just makes me feel at peace and is such a deep part of me, ingrained in so many of my thoughts and the way I live my life. I have been so frustrated I feel like punching the rock, so happy I feel like hugging it, more sore from laughing with my climbing buddies rather than climbing, and so many times that I have felt "in my element" or at a  very peaceful place internally. Sitting at a crag with God's beautiful creation around me, my dog next to me, the challenge of climbing routes or problems, with awesome like-minded people around me. The only other time where I have felt close to this "content" has been on some of my trips as a Sherpa leading for La Vida. But even in that life as a Sherpa I have yearned for the time where its just me and the rock. I had dreams about climbing, thought about it a lot, and even had co-workers tell me "KB, I think you just need to go climbing on our next day off"(keep in mind we only had one day off every 2 weeks - so how you use that 24 hours is a big decision:))

So for my birthday weekend, I had two friends from Columbus Ohio drive all the way to Berwick PA to climb with me at this local place near town called Mocanaqua. Its about 20 minutes from my house and there is some bouldering, sport, trad, and mixed climbs for me to play on. I have been back 2 times since then with some locals that I've met at the MRG climbing gym. It not the Red River Gorge but its still a place 20 minutes away where I can be on rock. So I wanted to share with you guys some of the photos from the weekend checking out the boulder field, paradise wall, and the library.

photo cred goes to my friend Jennifer Morgan

thank you my friends for a wonderful birthday weekend - I loved your company and all the laughter you filled my house with and my vegan cake you made for me:)