Funny Headline, but very dope for The Climbing Zine

The Climbing Zine's start on Kindle has been pretty stellar. Good enough that we are listed on Amazon.com as a Hot New Release in Mountain Climbing. Check it out.

Hot New Releases in Mountain Climbing via amazon.com

Lawton's Route Re-cap from Mark Grundon

Mark Grundon, rock climbing guide extraordinaire has bolted a line in El Salto, Mexico, in memory of our dear friend Adam Lawton.

His report on the climb can be found at his blog, El Potrero Chico Guides.

Mark is a guide in El Potrero Chico, Mexico half the year, and in Yosemite, California, the other half, so if you're ever looking for a guide he is the man!!!

The Climbing Zine on Kindle (Ready to Read)

Well after a couple of weeks of trail and error, The Climbing Zine Volume 3 is now available on Kindle. We priced it at $3.99, half of the cost of our printed version.

Click here to see The Climbing Zine Volume 3 on Kindle.

I hope all you Kindle readers enjoy this, and please contact me if you have any feedback on the format. lmehall@yahoo.com

Who The F**k is Cliff Cash?

Well here he is, one of The Climbing Zine's most frequent contributors:

For more details, CLICK HERE to visit the Cliff Cash blog.

eLaboration on Motion and eMotion

As I wrote some last night I am currently staying waaaaaaay out in the hills, on a 30 acre property. I am house sitting an off-the-grid house, one that is more sustainable than any other type of dwelling I've ever stayed in. The people who own the house grow their own food, have various animals (pigs, horses, chickens), and get most of their energy from the sun (solar).

On day four I'm finally settling into this place, and I am starting to appreciate the solitude. At first I wasn't sure if they had the internet, but they do, so I feel a connection to the rest of the world. It's like if Henry David Thoreau had Facebook at Walden. It is what it is.

Solitude is a crazy thing because it makes you directly look into your own soul. Looking in I am happy with some things, and other aspects of my life, such as my dietary habits, I realize need to be improved.

As I wrote last night too I feel that yearning for love. All human beings feel that, and that is what brings us together. Even in this day and age with so many technological advances what we truly need stays the same. And that is why I wrote last night that all we are is love. That is the greatest thing we possess, the greatest gift we can give, and the greatest thing to share. Without love what are we?

Well, there's my morning thoughts from the solitude of Windy Ridge. I'll post some photos as soon as I start taking some. The view from the outhouse is world class.

Much Love,
Luke

February Motion and eMotion

What else are we but love? I've been staying way out in the hills near Durango, Colorado, actually closer to Bayfield, Windy Ridge to be exact, and this is the first thing I'm driven to write on my bloggie blog since being here.

I love the simplicity of blogging, the channeling of in-the-moment thoughts, into words, out to the interweb, the world.

Are we anything but love? That is what I think out here, all alone, with no way to actually reach out to another breathing human in flesh. All alone I realize how social I am. How I yearn to love thee women. The women, thee women, you are out there, I know, so that comforts me and I move along with my night, light the fire, light one up, drink one down, listen to iTunes. Love you world. Love you.

Freedom and Volume 4

Well of course The Climbing Zine Volume 4 is taking us longer than we expected. The zine always does. This time we're making sure it's our best volume yet, so it will be worth the wait. We're also figuring out distribution, and the whole e-reader thing, to reach as large of an audience as possible. That said Volume 4 WILL drop this month, I promise. In the meantime, here is a poem that will be published in Volume 4. Cheers, Luke.

Freedom by Luke Mehall

Freedom, where are you?
I found you briefly, growing up in the flatlands
And then, you were flattened
By growing up, taking tests
Who would have known to fail was the best?
I failed so many times I failed at failure
Wailing with the prospect that I had nothing

Freedom I looked for you in magic mushrooms and LSD
Smoking marijuana every chance I got
Risking getting busted and imprisonment to escape a mental prison
Freedom, I found you in Allen Ginsberg’s America
As my tears spilled into my murderous coffee
Freedom, did I see you again at the campfire?
Did I see you when I gave up and wasn’t looking?
When I wanted to die because I had nothing to live for?

Freedom I found you in climbing, higher and higher
Till all negativity and doubt perspired, leaving just me
Realizing at the time all I wanted to be, was to be

Freedom, then I got addicted to you
And the addiction was just as false
As freedom being found in simply the red, white and blue

It can be, true, but what I learned most about you
I learned you are an ingredient
An essential part in the recipe of a human life
Too much and your heart and soul will ache
Not enough give, too much take
Freedom I think I understand you more
I learned more than I ever wanted to know (at the time)
Freedom now I’ll compliment you in rhyme
Freedom I’ll always be searching in climbing, above
Freedom you are the best when complimented with love