Cody Roney, executive director of the Southeastern Climbers Coalition kicking some asphalt.

This past weekend was a bit of a wash in the way of climbing. Meaning we didn’t really do any. But what we did do was really fun – Jonathan and I went to the St. Elmo Boulders trail day.  These boulders are not yet open to the public, but partnerships through the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, the Access Fund, and the SCC are working to get trail systems in place for the first in town boulder field that will be officially open to the public.  This is exciting stuff – I for one look forward to having boulders available for quick afternoon sessions.

St. Elmo Boulders Trail Day
All that said, my first link is for this Saturday’s trail day at these boulders.  If you wanna be in the know, you’ve gotta show up.  It’s exciting times for climbing here in Chattanooga and little hard work can go a long way to building relationships with land and conservancy owners.

This is my brain on rock climbing
I’m a huge nerd for all things neurology, so my next two links are all about the power of the mind.  First up, why does that feeling of euphoria so often follow feelings of absolute terror and fear?  The brain and it’s biochemistry have a lot to do with that.

The Road to Recovery: From Traumatic Brain Injury to Running 100 Miles
Finally, a recovery story.  When I volunteered at the Shepherd Center, I remember working with patients with traumatic brain injury whose biggest task would be figuring out how to get to the courtyard that they had walked to every day for the past two weeks.  Wayfinding can be so difficult after TBI.  Not to mention balance deficits, vertigo, generalized fatigue – the list goes on.  When the brain is recovering, it uses a tremendous amount of energy – this story of TBI to 100 mile race is incredible.