something allah wrote in the Memorial Day thread got me thinking.
allah wrote:If you are wanting to climb in the southern region it is the best place to stay, but if you are wanting to climb in the Gorge Proper, then it woudlnt be a good idea, cause it is about 45min away.
i know that when i tell people, in chicago, that i'm going to The Red i mean, and it's understood, that i'm coming down to the general area. that's everything covered by the online guidebook here.
but what is the Red River Gorge Proper? would you consider Muir Valley, as it's privately owned and has multiple crags/walls within it as a separate destination? is PMRP a separate entity as it is that far separated from the "Gorge Proper?"
All of the climbing areas east of the parkway are considered The Gorge Proper. Muir, SR, and NB arent considered Gorge Proper. I think everyone just considers Muir, Muir and the SR, The SR. does that make sence, thats the best way I could think of explaining it. if anyone has anything to add or change go on ahead
When somebody says "The Red" or "The Gorge" I think of the land contaned in the park I don't think you want to count the whole Cumberland Plateau, the red. The cliff systems that make up the Gorge extend all the way to Morehead and south out of kentucky and somewhere your going to have to draw the line.
"there's a line between self improvement and self involvement"
"Dogs are nature's pooper scoopers ."
The Red is the Gorge and it's all the same to me. I consider the southern region to be the Red, the same for Muir, Skybridge, whatever. Since I'm an hour away I don't tell climbers that I'll be climbing at the Gorge, I tell them what wall or area, such as Muir. If I'm going on a road trip I'd just identify the area: we're going to the New this weekend.
The gorge proper is the property managed by the forest service as the Red River Gorge Geological Area pretty well defined earlier. The Red River runs through it. That's why it's called the Red River Gorge. Muir Valley is actually in the Kentucky River Watershed, though you could name it the gorge of whatever the name of the main creek is called. Smokey Fork Gorge. Big Sinking is the main drainage of the "southern region" or Murray property or the RRGCC Murray-Pendergrass Preserve or whatever it's called these days. It's all in the Cumberland Plateau which also includes famous climbing areas in TN and AL, and not so famous areas in the other districts of the Daniel Boone National Forest. So the Southern Region is a region of what? Ah, the joy of labels huh?
We always used to just be going to "the gorge" instead of the "red", but then climbing became popular enough that "the gorge" could be the virgin river, new river, owens river, red river, etc... what fun.
[size=75]i may be weak, but i have bad technique[/size]
