As the summer slowly bows and makes way for the fall, I find myself hanging on to the season that seemingly comes to late and exits to fast. At the end of the summer, no matter how much I've traveled, no matter how many trails I've hiked, a feel a failure often engulfs me. Not for the season I love, but the activities that will have to wait until next year.

One of those activities is rock climbing. When I first started blogging on the Outdoor Weblog, I expressed an interest in learning the sport. However, after a few unforunate falls by experienced and loved climbers. I decided to put on new adventure on hold. But, after reading an article on MSNBC, by Stephen Regenold, my blood for rock climbing is boiling again.

In his article, he compiled a list of ten experts (including Lynne Hill and Michael Kennedy) and asked them create a list of the top ten rock climbs in the United States. For the climbers out there, how many have can you check off your list?

Take the Casual Route, a climb in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, recommended by pro climber Will Gadd of Canmore, Alberta. This 1,000-foot-long rock climb-which took spot No. 3 on our list-follows a series of vertical cracks up 14,259-foot Longs Peak. "It's remote and beautiful, just a stunning line up an impossible-looking face with a fantastic position the whole way," Gadd said.

Like Longs Peak, the Elephant's Perch formation in Idaho's Sawtooth National Forest is a remote alpine face laced with climbs. Peter Metcalf, CEO and co-founder of the climbing gear company Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., recommends taking a mix of two expert-level routes-the becky Route and Fine Line-to the top. "The rock is some of best mountain granite in the country," he said.

Not all climbs on the list are in the mountains. Duane Raleigh, the editor and publisher of Rock & Ice magazine in Carbondale, Colo., picked a granite face in Oklahoma: Amazon Woman, as the route is called, takes a stark line up Quartz Mountain, an outcrop on the rolling Great Plains in the western part of the state. "The cliff rises 200 feet straight out of a farmer's wheat field," said Raleigh.