Today was a bit of a long day. We were up and on the road by 5:45am. After departing Columbus, Ohio we headed to our first stop, the highest point in all of Indiana, Hoosier hill. Situated in a small grove of deciduous trees just off of Elliot road, Hoosier hill is not much of a hike. Once at the “summit” cairn, we snapped a few obligatory photos, signed the register and were on our way. After all, we had rock climbing to do.

                                             

The next part of our day took us to a little place called Unlikely wall. Unlikely wall is a rock climbing area near Harrodsburg Indiana that has been called the finest crag in the state. Though that statement could be a bit superfluous since Indiana is pretty devoid of rock climbing, It really did go above and beyond our expectations.

This sandstone crag is actually somewhat unnaturally formed. When the highway that runs through this area was laid, drilling and blasting was required to route the road as needed. The exposed rock faces eventually beckoned to be climbed as often is the case. several routes were bolted and thus Unlikely wall was born.

The rock texture and climbing style was a unique one due to some of the unnatural features present, but the climbing was sustained and enjoyable. We spent a good hour climbing a few of the routes and talking to a couple who we ran into at the crag before packing it up and heading for Illinois.

Our next intended destination was a place in souther Illinois called Jackson Springs state park, but unfortunately we ran directly into a storm that forced us to reluctantly abandon our Illinois climbing plans.

With our hopes and dreams of climbing in Illinois shattered, we continued our westward trek with St Louis in our sights. 2 hours later, Gateway Arch appeared in our view. We had made it to St Louis. Of course our first order of business was to visit the Gateway Arch and be tourists. We snapped photos and performed silly poses before packing it up and heading to meet up with Josh from Camping Gear TV for some beers and a place to crash for the night.

We finally hit the sack at around 12am after the first of two long days on the road, but so it goes, this life on the road.

-Patrick