This weekend I took the time to travel back to New Hampshire with some of my fellow co-workers. We are all Orientation Leaders, so we are energetic people who are not afraid to break out random icebreakers or play name games wherever we go. I was lucky enough to have parents who wanted to house these other orientation leaders for the weekend.

On Saturday I drove a minivan worth of people to Rumney, New Hampshire. There I met up with my friend who is an insane rock climber. She has won so many competitions and has been first in the nation, but she cannot join the professional USA team because she is not a US citizen. In any matter, I met her at a local Hannfords in Rumney while my sisters and my fellow Orientation Leaders continued the drive up to Franconia State Park.

I sent them up there because my rock climbing friend had told me that there is not a lot to do at Rumney. Well, maybe she thought that, but if I had the chance to do it again, I would not have had my sisters drive for an extra 30-40 minutes to see gorgeous mountains rather than stay with me or hike the trails in Rumney. I personally think that there is so much to do– even if you just want to go on a hike.

I had never been to Rumney before. I was expecting to drive up to a parking lot, park, get our gear on, and start climbing. I do not know what I was thinking, but in reality, we started off the day with a thirty minute hike. My friend then brought me to Darth Vader, and she had me climb Yoda. While I was used to doing 5.6 and 5.7 level routes on the indoor rock climbing gyms, my friend threw me on this route that was a 5.9! I looked at her and told her she was crazy, but she convinced me to try.

I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to give up, but somehow, with the encouragement of my friend, I made it up! Outdoor climbing is so different from indoor climbing– I love them both.