Joshua Tree Trip - Preparations...

It's been a while since I posted anything... mostly because I've have nothing to talk about. I've been in the gym at least 4 times a week, working on technique and general climbing strength and it seems to be helping. I have been eagerly awaiting the trip to Joshua Tree I had planned, and now it's only days away.

Now that I'm ready to climb, I still need to get ready for the trip. I don't leave until Friday afternoon (Christmas Day), so I have until then to get all my gear organized and packed for the trip. Today is the day I will start to get things out and checked off on my packing list. I still need to hit the store for a camping food shopping trip, including lots of chocolate milk, almonds, beef jerky, HUGE bag of Swedish Fish and what ever else looks good. I have to hit REI for some last minute things including tape... I'll be taking 4 to 5 rolls. When climbing cracks at JTree, tape gloves are a MUST for those of us whose hands are not made of leather. We will Booze up in CA, since their prices are quite a bit cheaper than in WA, but we will surely be bringing a couple handles with us.

On a side note, I did get a bunch of new trad gear to beef up my rack. For this trip I added a set of BD Stoppers, a pink tri-cam, 3 BD C4 cams (.75, 1, 1.5) and 3 Metolius Ultralight TCUs. I got a new 4 man tent for the trip as well (REI Half Dome4), my 2 man is a very tight 2 man and is not freestanding (which could be an issue in Jtree). The 4 man accommodations will be much more enjoyable for a week-long trip.

T-Minus 3 days and counting...

Vantage [October 31/Nov1]

A group headed out to Vantage to find some dry rock to climb... the rain in Western Washington sucks! Mike, Damien and I met up with Josh and Tamber in the Feathers parking lot on Saturday afternoon. The wind was howling, but we decided to get on a few routes at the Feathers anyways. It was Mike's first time outdoors (and in a harness) and we discovered that my old size large harness was just a but too small for him. We were able to make it work, but it was quite a fiasco... him sucking in and pulling the harness tight to give me enough slack to get it double-backed enough to be safe. It was probably a bit short and way too tight, but we kept checking it every climb. As we climbed the wind kicked up and got pretty nasty, but Mike got his first top rope ascents on a 5.6 and 5.5 on the north side of the Feathers. We were ready to wrap up and headed over to find Josh and Tamber working on 'So Funny I Forgot to Laugh 5.9'... Josh got pumped while clipping a draw and had to down climb, leaving the draw. He was pumped, so Tamber went up and gave it a go, but ended up not making it past the bolt Josh placed... it was windy and super sketchy. The sun was just setting over the ridge when I tied in with a certain amount of urgency to get this done and get the gear, so we could get out of the wind and get warm. I made it up to the highest draw and did a take so I could scope the finish and make a run for it. The moves seemed like they were there, so after my short rest, I made the last few moves to the anchor, cleaned up and got the hell out of there.

Now the fun was starting... we were putting gear away in the cars in about 40 MPH wind with stronger gusts. It was hard to hear and do anything, but we were trying to figure out if we wanted to camp there, stay in a motel room or what. As we were getting squared away and about to leave for Ellensburg to search for food and lodging, I went to open my door and the wind took it and blew it open making a horrible noise... WTF!! My door "thingy" that keeps your door from closing on you snapped off and door swung wide open, bending the edge of the door back... nice.

So now were on the way to get food and decide what were doing, and I get a flat tire on 90, 8 miles outside of Ellensburg. We get towed back into town, as I don't think I have a spare (turns out I did). The tire place isn't open on Sunday, so I'm thinking I'll be waiting around until Monday morning. WTF! Everyone is tired and hungry, so we go eat. I can deal with shit after that. Dinner hit the spot.

Josh, Tamber and Damien headed to the Motel to check on a room, while I went with Mike to check my trunk for a spare. After removing wood, camping gear and Josh's Keg I find that I do have a spare. After locating the jack and tools, we remove the lug nuts to find that the wheel will not come off the car. After taking turns kicking it, I decided to call the tow truck guy to help, as we all had bruised feet by now. He came back and had to beat the wheel for 10 minutes with a 6' 4x4 to get the thing to come off. Finally the tire was changed and filled with air (along with the other 3 tires that were severely low), so we were ready to head back to Vantage. Turns out the Holiday Inn wanted $140 for a room... F#ck Off! So back to Vantage we went... turns out the wind died down a bit and camping was pretty nice. I got to the "secret spot" (not in the dust bowl) at about 11:15pm. I'll be damned if I was going to bring wood and beer and not use it, so we made a small but proud fire and enjoyed a few beers before bed.

Sunday morning came in with a whisper... no wind to speak of. We broke camp and headed off to the Sunshine Wall by 7:30 or so and met up with Kyle on the way. Contrary to the day before the weather was perfect. Josh led Chossmaster to warm up, and Tamber and I headed for Peaceful Warrior for our first route. She led it in style, I pulled the rope and led it as well. Mike went after that and did a fine job on his first Sunshine Wall route. After that I moved over a couple routes to 7 Virgins and a Mule (5.7 trad). While I was half was up the chimney I head tale of Josh taking a good leader fall while on Boshido (10b)... good on you for sacking up on a tough route and climbing hard. I wasn't finished with my chimney when Josh and Tamber headed off to Seattle to catch a plane. Finally I made it to the top, but no anchors... There was a set I could reach for Narlux (a route 2 over from 7Vs) which I used and lowered off of, so we could TR it after Damien and Kyle climbed 7Vs. They both climbed it without much trouble. We then took a burn on Narlux, which is a pumpy route with fun climbing up an arete. I took a few rests, but didn't ever find any moves that were too hard for me... just a fitness issue to lead that one I think.

On the way out, we stopped at the Feathers again for a couple last routes before going home. I was already pretty happy with my day, but ended up leading a couple more 5.7s including the Becky Route which was fun and seemed easy. Mike got back on the 5.7 that he lowered off the day before, and got a clean top rope send on that one too. After the great day of climbing, we headed to the town of Vantage and got dinner at the greasy spoon next to the gas station. Crappy food, but good company made for a fun meal. We sent Kyle off headed east and took off in our direction. Traffic was good headed back over the pass, and we were back home a 7:00pm. All I can say is thankfully Sunday was a perfect day climbing which made up for Saturday and the follies it brought.

Rain [October 30]

It has been raining for days here in Monroe. I was hoping to get out to Index on Sunday, since the forecast is for sun... but I was reminded it takes 3 days to dry out this time of year in Index. Damn! The weather (and interested parties) petered out for the Smith trip this weekend... but I wasn't giving up that easy. Vantage is going to be nice (10% chance of rain) and dry... and I'm dying to climb. Damien signed on to go with me and Mike (my brother), and Kyle called me and is coming to meet us from Spokane.

The last couple weeks hasn't seen much in the way of good weather. I have however been climbing hard in the climbing gym and seem to be making some decent progress. This week I did my first real V3 problem in 5 tries, then did another one in about 5 tries. I can tell that I have been climbing and training hard. I can't wait to continue what I have started building.

P.S. -- I was just reading my last post about training in the gym... that amount of climbing was killing me. My fingers were becoming injured and sore, it was just way too much for me. I've backed off to 1 day on, 1 day off climbing with Crossfit, 1 day on, 1 full rest day, repeat. This seems to be much more realistic right now for me.

Home [October 19]

I can't believe October is almost over already. It seems with the season changing from summer to fall, my opportunities to find partners and/or dry climbing conditions are becoming less and less. I haven't been climbing outside in over 2 weeks and don't see any dry weather in the next couple weeks around here... hopefully I can get a trip set up.

I have been climbing in the gym a lot. Last week I started consistent gym training; Monday and Tuesday in the climbing gym, Wednesday (rest day) cardio, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the climbing gym and Sunday rest day. I plan on getting into the gym at least 4 to 5 times a week. Each workout consists of warm-up traverse, 20 min. 1 to 2 hours of general climbing. 15 - 20 minutes of 4x4 circuit. After a month of gym climbing, I will re-evaluate my climbing routine and refine what I am doing, but until them I am continuing to work on general stamina and strength as well as fundamental technique.

Index - GNS [October 4]

Josh and I decided to hit Index for a half-day. He arrived in Monroe chilled to the bone from riding his bike... hit 522 and the temp dropped to about 40. Summer is over. After loading up and getting on the road, we stopped for the best coffee ever at the place just east of Index on HWY 2. I got a dark chocolate mocha with hemp milk, which was the bomb. With super triple shot energy drink in hand, we killed it on the 3 minute aproach... 2.5 minutes on the dot. We took a quick tour of the lower town wall, then scrambled up to the ledge to start GNS.

I led the pitches and everything went fine... it was my third time leading it. There was a guy soloing the route, which was a bit odd. He rambled on by, and then a few minutes later came down-climbing back by. After rapelling the route, we dragged the rope over to a 5.8 crack on the lower level of the slab and burned a few laps on it. We headed out of there with ideas of getting the the Mountaineer's Salmon Bake, but we hit traffic in Gold Bar and that put a stop to that, as the ride home took longer than expected.

Vantage [September 26, 27]

I decided to blow off doing trail maintenance... I need to do a day of trail maintenance to finish my requirements to graduate the Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course. I finished all the other requirements last year, but the October 15th deadline is coming up quickly and one of these days I'll be doing it... but not this weekend.

At the last minute, I made plans with Hugo and Ashley to ride together to Vantage. The sport leading class was having their last field trip, so I figured I'd offer to help out again. I met Hugo and Ashley in the 'Quah and headed to Vantage on Saturday morning. We were a bit later than we planned, but made it out there by 9:30am. After a short lecture by Shannon, the class hit up The Feathers. We all paired up and started climb easy routes to warm up, then some harder ones. I mostly belayed new leaders and offered encouragement... I sent a few routes too. I did Don Quixote and the 10a on the other side of the tunnel from there... it looks so easy, but it's a tough pumpy route. When I came of that I was torched. I then got on Me Too (5.9) and I had trouble at the crux on TR. I was very disappointed at this, as I thought for sure I would be able to send that route. I always get pumped out at Vantage, due to my poor technique. I worked a bit on staying on my feet more and keeping my arms straight, but I need to work it in the gym then bring it out to Vantage.

We looked around for a better camping spot than the dust bowl, but due to price and proximity, we decided to just go primitive. It was a nice evening and the wind wasn't bad at all, which was a really nice treat. We had beers and a nice fire to relax by... before too long it was late and everyone was off to bed.

Sunday morning came quickly and we were all off, headed to Sunshine Wall at around 7:30am or so. The hike went quickly and soon we were looking up huge 100+ foot columns of basalt, with chalk smeared nooks and crack heading straight up. We stopped by and looked at Party in your Pants (PIYP 5.8trad) before moving along to Clip Em or Skip Em (5.8) to warm up. Josh led it and as I suspected, it was a tough warm up climb. I just TD'd the climb, as I really was looking for a warm up and was more focused on doing PIYP. I made it clean and didn't really get pumped, which was a good sign. Next we moved over to PIYP and Tamber was going to jump on and give it a go. She got about 1/3 of the way or about 30 feet up and Josh mentioned that he needed to leave, and she was riding with him. She needed to be back early as well, so she built and anchor and rapped off. I told her I would collect her gear and return it for her and went looking for a belay. Jim hooked me up with a belay (and good words of advice and encouragement). I wanted to do this climb, but I was a little scared, as the route is a column straight up and you stem in it and use twin cracks on either side. The good news is that the route eats PRO like Re-Run and you can place a piece at every cruxy move. I reached the crux about half way up and considered bailing, but I took a rest on the rope, relaxed and just went for it. Funny enough, the climbing is easy... it's the head game of leading on pro so far off the deck. It was a tough climb for me, but I made it. When I reached the chains I felt a combination of relief, excitement and satisfaction! What a great feeling, especially after being down on myself from the day before.

It was getting hot now, about 85 deg or so, so I decided I had enough. I packed up all my stuff and headed back to the lot to have a beer and wait for everyone else. Every time I climb at Vantage I get my ass kicked by routes a couple levels below what I feel my grade is. I realize this is just my lack of good technique coming out on the climbs at this area... long vertical routes, lots of crimpers and slopers. Plenty to work with usually, but I get pumped and can't hold on anymore. I have decided to get these flaws fixed and get a real training program going.

The ride home was uneventful and I was home relaxing on the couch by 5pm. Another great weekend with good friends.

The first picture is of a friend Henry climbing Party In Your Pants the last time we were in Vantage. The others are shots of Sunshine Wall.

Leavenworth - Various [September 19-20]

I headed out with Joel to Leavenworth to meet up with some friends doing a sport leading class, which had been postponed until Sunday. We arrived Friday night and camped at BCCG Group Spot which is a great place to camp. We set up and headed for the fire to have beers and make some climbing plans.

The forecast was 40% chance of rain for Saturday... but it never happened. We headed to 8 Mile Rock, Joel wanted to lead Classic Crack. I had just climbed it last weekend and it's tough, so I was looking forward to taking another burn on it. Joel let it clean and did a great job... it's pumpy up near the top. I followed and popped off near the top, hitting my bad knee... ouch, that sucks. I finished up without trouble, kind of ticked that I actually fell. Here's where my weekend takes a turn...

We packed up the gear and all that and hiked back up to the car. We went to stop by camp and see if anyone had shown up, as we were expecting more people. After a quick stop at camp we headed to Forestland to boulder, and on the way I realized I think I forgot my shoes (Scarpa Techno - Size 11) at 8 Mile Rock. Joel pulled over and I checked my bag... no shoes. Damn! We were pretty close, so we turned around and headed back to 8 Mile where my shoes must be. We got there and my shoes were gone. A large group of "out-of-towners" were still there and said no one had come and gone, but the group of 3 that was climbing next to us when we were there. It was a younger guy, his Dad and Uncle (or Dad's friend, not sure) and his him and 2 dogs. They all seemed pretty nice, but evidently took my shoes, which I had left on the log. Bummer! After looking all around in disbelief for a while, I gave up and headed into town to buy new shoes at Leavenworth Mountain Sports. They were very cool to me and gave me a great discount once they heard what happened. Thanks LMS!

Now that I had shoes again, we were going to get back up to Forestland to boulder. We met up with Josh and grabbed a few beers to take up. We warmed up on some of the V0s and V1s, then moved up to the V3 I've been working on. They both sent it, I think Joel on sighted it. I was feeling inspired, so I jumped on and made it to the crux easier than I have before. Then I made it a couple moves past to a committing friction move that is pretty high up. I went for it, but didn't quite get there and ended coming off pretty high up... Josh gave me a great spot, but it still got to me a little. Since my knee surgery, I've been a little tentative to fall from head high or above. Well that did it for me... I was done for the day, time to drink beer!

We had a great campfire and keg of IPA at the site, with much drinking going on. There was also so much great food, steak, salmon, veggies garlic bread... it was all sooooo good!

Sunday was the Sport Leading class, which I was volunteering as an instructor. Basically I would get paired up with a new leader and climb with them. We headed up to Playground Point and climbed a bunch of the 6s and 7s up there. I didn't really climb anything worth noting. We headed out at 2pm and made it home before 5pm.

All in all it was a good weekend, but getting my shoes stolen did tarnish it a bit. I mean "bootying" gear left on a route is one thing, but taking a pair of shoes you know is someone else's and they WILL be back... that is just theft.

Leavenworth - Classic Crack [September 12]

I headed out to Leavenworth to meet up with Kyle and the group for a weekend of climbing. We stayed at 8 Mile CG and had a nice big site with access for 5 cars. We arrived on Friday night, later than expected, as Velvet was a last minute add on to the trip. We didn't do any climbing, just drinking by the fire... it was fun.

Saturday morning, Kyle and I headed out to do R&D (4P 5.6 trad) while Peter and Joel went to do Outer Space. Kyle and I styled the route and were back to the car in 3:05. We started at about 8:45 or so, so we were back to camp by lunchtime. We ate and relaxed... I had a couple beers, which hit the spot.

Next we headed over to 8 Mile rock via the path... nice walk. We set up a TR on Mickey Mantle, and I gave it a go. It was tough... I guess the beers were more of a detractor than I thought. Velvet got on it next and made it to the crux, but couldn't get past, and Kyle styled it. Next we did Deception Crack and that was pretty tough, as it was hot out on top of the beers. Once we did that, I moved the anchor over to Classic Crack and we gave it a go. Kyle and I both made it clean on TR, so a few more laps and I'll be ready to try to lead it, as the crack seems easy to protect. The Pics below are of me on Classic Crack. After that, we packed up and headed back to camp to get the fire going and get on some beers. Ashley and Hugo arrived right on cue at about 9:00pm or so, to add to the festivities.

We had to leave early on Sunday, so I took Velvet to XY Craig for a quick couple of routes, since she didn't get to do much on Saturday. She did great on the routes at XY. We packed up and headed home, missing the bad traffic on the 2.

Exit 38 - Deception/Far Side

I headed out on Sunday morning with Velvet and Gian to get in a day at Exit 38. We were meeting Damien and a friend... we were a few minutes late, but were headed up the short trail to the Deception Area by 8:45am. Just a few minutes walk brought us to the Substation area where Damien was already climbing. I left Jian with them and headed up the hill to Write-Off Rock with Velvet to get her on some easier climbs to warm-up.

We arrived to find only one other party of 2 climbing, which left us plenty of room to ourselves. First I set up Bu The Rabbit (5.4) which the book said has 3 bolts... wrong no bolts to be found on this one. I solo'd up it dragging a rope to set up a TR for Velvet. She sent it no problem. Next we moved to Flammable Pajamas (5.5)... luckily there were a few bolts on this route. Velvet also sent this one easily. Next we moved over to Bottoms Up (5.7) which was finally a good warm up for me. The climb was pretty easy, with one or two hard moves to get over a roof and some bulges. Velvet got on this one, and made it quickly past the first hard section and stalled higher up on the route. She didn't think she could do it, but before I was able to lower her off, she started climbing and pulled the move and made it to the top. It was a great climb for her, as she pulled through the mental crux and finished the route.

Next, I TR'd Primordial Blues (5.9) as Damien already had a TR on it and he didn't want to climb it again so it could be cleaned. This was a fun route with a tough committing start. Once up the crack and over the edge, the climbing becomes much easier. After sending the route, cleaning and rapping down, we all packed up and headed over to the Far Side area.

We quickly moved the cars and started up the trail, looking for Easy Street. None of us had been there before, but knew the general area well. It took a few extra minutes of deciphering the maps in the book, but Gian finally found it... just had to keep going up the main trail... no turn offs and you run right into it. I let the far right route (5.6) and then Velvet gave it a shot. She was getting tired, so she made it half way and decided she had hit the wall. Jian sent it too, then I jumped back on with rock shoes (I led it initially in approach shoes which made the slab a tad bit harder) to quickly climb and clean the route. Once I made it back down, we all packed up and were headed out, maybe to make a quick stop at Gritscone so I could try leading the 5.10c route in the middle.

When we arrived at Gritscone, it was a mad house of beginners running around, but nobody was on the 10c... nice, it's all mine. I got on my shoes and gave it a go. I made the route, but had to sit and figure out the crux. I will lead it clean next time I'm out there. Gian gave it a go on TR and made it up too. After that we were really outta there, headed for Issaquah Brew house for Kobe Beef burgers and fresh beverages from the Rouge Brewery (including Double-Dead Guy). The food and beer was so good... a perfect way to end a great day of climbing.

The Tooth - August 28

Josh and I decided to climb The Tooth, so we met up at the Eastgate Park and Ride at 5am on Friday morning. We loaded up his gear and I headed up to the pass, which went very quickly. We arrived just before 6am and were on the trail by 6:15 or so.

The hike up the trail was pleasant and there was almost nobody around. Soon enough we were at the cliff bands above Source Lake, so we cut over just below them and up the gully, crossing the stream very high on the ridge. From there we headed up the main scree field toward Pineapple Pass. We reached the pass and scrambled around the backside to get to the start of the climb. I led all the pitches, as Josh isn't leading trad yet. The climbing was easy and there was solid pro almost anywhere you cared to look, not to mention rap slings everywhere to use as anchors. We were on the summit by 11:30 or so, and the bugs were crazy! We took a summit shot or two and headed down almost immediately. I think we did a total of 4 raps and were back at the start packing up our gear by 1pm.

The hike down the scree field was nothing less than treacherous. Hiking down after the snow has melted out is not a fun task. Near the end of the scree field, the inevitable happened... a rock shifted when I stepped on it and the one next to it fell right on my ankle. I was wearing approach shoes, so my ankle bone took a nice gash for my troubles. Without much else to do, I curse the rocks (damn rocks!) and kept going, careful not to repeat the action. We overshot where we were supposed to head down and ended up getting cliffed-out. We momentarily considered rapping down, but we couldn't see how far down it went, so we headed back up and quickly found where we were supposed to descend. From there, the pace picked up and soon we were back on the trail heading to the Alpental parking lot. We passed a few hikers on the way down, and got back at a few minutes after 3pm. An uneventful drive got us back to Eastgate, where I dropped Josh off. Another hour in Friday afternoon traffic and I was finally home... where a cold beer put an end to the trip.

Leavenworth - August 21, 22, 23

I headed out to Leavenworth with Chrissy, who came up from San Diego to see the NW and climb. We packed up on Friday and were in Leavenworth by lunchtime. All the spots were taken at BCCG, so we ended up at 8 Mile CG... not bad, but BCCG is so much nicer. After securing a spot (they were going quickly), we headed into town to rent gear and get brats at Munchen Haus. Both of those tasks went well, then we stopped at the store for snacks, beer and ice and got wood on the way back to camp.

Saturday, we hit some of the easier areas, so Chrissy could get warmed up. It had been about 10 years since Chrissy had climbed (in the gym in SD with me and Shawn), but she picked it right back up. We did climbs at Bruce's Bolder and Barney's Rubble, which she kicked butt at. On Sunday there was a little "shin incident" on the 5.8 crack at Barney's Rubble. It can be hard to get into, and she didn't quite get there. The mouse and scrape were pretty bad, but she took it like a champ. Then we headed to 8 Mile Rock and did Mickey Mantle, a tough little route, and she sent it. I finished off with a clean send on Deception Crack right next to it.

One last trip to Munchen Haus ended the weekend in Leavenworth. It was a fun weekend with an old friend from San Diego, showing what the NW has to offer.

Index - GNS -- August 19

I headed out with Tamber after work to do Great Northern Slab at Index. Traffic sucked for Tamber coming from Seattle to Monroe, but we were loaded up quickly and headed east on the 2 at about 5:15 or so.

We arrived in short order and geared up for the 3 minute approach. The scramble up to the start was fun as usual, and Tamber quickly led the first pitch up to the huge bolts. I followed her up and cleaned the few pieces she put in. We quickly swapped gear and I took off to lead pitch 2. I made it up through the slot and gained the cracks, when my right leg started to shake uncontrolably. It was like elvis leg, but I was just standing on it. I haven't been able to completely straighten it since I hurt it a couple weeks ago, so I guess something weird was going on. I waited for a couple minutes and decided to just finish up the pitch. At the belay I ate some gel blocks and it seemed fine after that.

Tamber followed on up and took over for the last pitch. I met her at the top and we started raping down... it was already starting to get dark. We reached the bottom of the third rapel just as it was getting really dark. Another fun after-work session at Index.

Banks Lake -- August 14,15,16

I headed out to Banks Lake with Velvet, Joel, Jian, Hugo and ED. Due to some transportation SNAFUs and a stop at the store for food, we were on out way at about 8:30pm (4:30 was the initial meeting time). The drive out was uneventful (accept for driving around town twice looking for the place and getting tailed by the local Barney Fife), and we all arrived safely at Velvet's uncle's house in Cooley City (South Shore of Banks Lake) at about 11:30pm or so. After a bit of trouble finding the "hidden key", we noticed the front door was unlocked... lucky for us. We unloaded food, beer and gear and all had a few beers before unwinding enough to get some sleep.

We all got a leisurly start after a breakfast of fruit and bagels. The climbing area is up in the northern area of the lake, so we had a 30 minute drive with amazing views. We found a place to launch the canoe and kayak at a campsite with no campers. We got all the gear loaded and lashed down in the boats and headed off to find some climbing. We had 3 people and lots of gear in a two man canoe, so it seemed a bit sketchy, but Joel and I kept it near shore for the most part and things went pretty well... other than a boat wake or two. We headed south for a bit, then east into a narrow canyon with a ton of cracks to climb, although not too many established routes. The canyon opened up into a secluded cove, with some killer views. People partying and jumping off cliffs deterred from the ambiance a bit, but some of the jumpers were pretty nuts, and one guy slapped his pretty bad upon entry.

The first climb was a fun arete rated at 5.7 which seemed about right. It was a weird feeling to gear up in a canoe and climb out on the rock. Once you stepped on, there was no turning back... or at least it felt that way. Joel led the route, which was spicy due to the height of the first bolt. Everyone else followed the route without too much trouble. Hugo was also banished to Exile Island to take pictures with his nice camera. The "island" was a tip of a chunk of granite sticking up about 10 feet from the climb, which turned out to be a great place to get pictures from.

After everyone (Joel, Kirk, Jian, Ed and Jeremy who showed up with his girl and two dogs... one who could swim and one not so much) sent the first route, I moved the rope over to a 5.10b on a vertical face next to the first climb. This was a much tougher climb, but I sent it clean on TR. Everyone climbed this as well, with Joel and Jeremy sending clean as well I believe. I was entertaining the idea of free soloing the route, as it was very deep at the landing and I knew the route... but for some reason I didn't feel it. I now wish I had tried... really what do you have to lose? Next time I think I will solo the route.

We packed up all the gear in the boats and started heading back, as it was already getting on in the afternoon. The paddle and logistical issues of climbing out of boats took up a lot more time than we thought. Even though it was only two routes, the day seemed full with adventure. We got back and packed all the gear back up so we could head back to the house and have a killer grilling session, with some amazing meat and veggies! Lots off beer was consumed, but by 10:30pm everyone was down for the count. The sun really takes it out of you.

Sunday morning we made scrambled eggs with bacon mixed in, which was awesome. On the drive to the boat launch, we stopped at Roadside Rock (I think?) and checked out some of the routes. We could see many, ranging in difficulty, but we didn't have a book with all the routes. The Central Washington climbing guide has the right info, but we didn't have it. This will be a great place to stop next time. We all stopped while the group prepared to set sail, but Velvet and I headed off to Camp Craig for some ground climbing since she didn't feel that great in the boat... didn't want to climb out of it. I set up a few TRs and we climbed some easier routes in the 5.5 range. Velvet did a great job and made it up the routes. It was hot, but fun climbing. We stopped by the lake and I jumped on for a second... it felt great.

We headed off toward home in the afternoon... around 3pm I think. We took side roads around the backed up traffic on the 2 near Index and made it home at about 7pm. The rest of the group arrived within an hour or so to swap gear and pick up cars at my house. Banks Lake was a fun change of pace, and with a little experience and more route beta, I'm sure we will return.

More pics here...

Castle Rock - Midway -- July 18

Ashley and I had planned to get an early start at Castle Rock to avoid the 90 degree forecast temps, but with the late night Friday night and a last minute addition to our party (Velvet decided to go and get in some climbing at Leavenworth), our early start became a normal start. We were on the road to Castle Rock by 8am and arrived just before 10am. We got our gear together and headed up the short hike to Loggers Ledge and the start of Midway (3P - 5.5 Trad). Upon arriving at the obvious start of the climb, I was a bit stressed out once I got a look at the first pitch. It was a chimney that gained the top of Jello Tower and it looked very intimidating... harder than 5.5 for sure. I gave the start a good "looking at". There was really no protection placements until about 12 feet up or so, but the holds seemed like they were there, so I started to relax a bit and get mentally prepared to lead the pitch.

I geared up with a pretty standard rack, 10 cams (up to 4) and 10 nuts (standard sizes) and started up. After reaching the first stance and getting in a bomber cam, I started to feel better. I placed another piece pretty quickly and kept moving up. It seemed a bit awkward, but I kept making good progress toward the top. The crux seemed to be the last 10 feet or so before the top of Jello Tower, after which I had to catch my breath for a minute before topping out on the tower. There were nice chains here, so I built an anchor from the rap chains and brought Ashley up. He had to grunt-fuck his way up it as I did, but finally made it up. This pitch seemed harder than 5.5 to both of us... more like 5.7 but oh well, we made it.

Pitch two starts off with the infamous "step across" move to gain Castle Rock proper. There was a perfect foot ledge for your right foot and a sloping shelf for your left foot once over. For hands, there was a nice under cling for your right and a weak sloper for your left. After planning the moves, I stepped on over and moved up a few moves until I could place a piece, which felt good. I moved right, then down climbed a few feet and traversed under the roof and up the crack system. The climbing and protection were very straight forward, although the rope drag increased as the pitch went on. This pitch felt a lot more like the advertised 5.5 rating. I arrived at a belay with a weird "angle iron" bolt, which I clipped into and built an anchor with two cams and a nut. Ashley followed without any issues and soon joined me at the top of pitch two.

After exchanging gear and doing a little rope management, I was headed off on the final pitch. It continued up the crack system, which eventually petered out and led to easy face climbing with plentiful holds and seems everywhere. Once I topped out, I spent a while looking for chains, but there were none... must be due to the walk-off, no one needs to rap down. I ended up slinging a huge boulder on the summit for an anchor. The wind and road noise made it impossible to communicate, so we did a bunch of rope tugs and eventually I was able to haul up all the rope and get Ashley on belay. He joined me on the summit soon thereafter at about 1pm, where we enjoyed our time on the summit. We finished just in time, as it was really starting to cook out there... it was probably 90 degrees as we prepared to get back down.

A short hike down, with a quick stop to pick up my pack, and we were back in the parking lot. We met a couple cool climbers (names??) who were finishing at the same time as us, and one guy pulled out a hookah... sweet! We hung out for a few, drank a few cold beverages and took a few pulls from the hookah (loaded with flavored tobacco of course... triple apple). Ashley and I were starving, so we headed over to the burger place in Leavenworth and had a bacon cheese burger... it was so good. After eating, we decided to find a spot on the river and cool off in the water. We found a good spot near where you launch and pullout of the river and hung out in the water watching people float by. It was hot but the water was freezing! It took a while but I was finally able to get all the way in... for a second. It did a great job of making the heat of the day pleasant, which was very nice.

Once the afternoon started winding down, we decided to pick up a few things at the store and head back to camp for a few before getting in a little session at Bruce's Boulder. We got there at about 7:30pm and the heat was backed off to an acceptable level, but the wind had kicked up a bit. We started off on the 5.6 slab route on the east face, which is a great climb to practice slab technique. Velvet was feeling a bit apprehensive as she hasn't climbed much lately, but she roped up and jumped on the climb. She made it up to the crux, but burned herself out figuring out the sequence. She lowered off and Ashley and I sent the route, as she gather beta on the crux. She roped back up after we did it and sent the route clean.

It was starting to get dark, but we had time for another quick route, so I ran up and moved the TR to the face route next to the crack on the other side. Ashley went up first and Velvet followed him, sending the route on her first attempt... and quite quickly at that. I skipped it as the wind was picking up big time! We headed back to the camp and had beers by the fire.

My alarm went off at 6:30am, but I turned it off and went back to sleep for a while... it was nice. I got up at about 7:30 and made coffee before starting to organize gear and pack the car. We ended up getting out of there by about 9:00am or so and headed to Barney's Rubble.

We did the fun 5.6 slab route on the north face. Velvet tore it up... made the climb no problem. This was a big step, as she had never finished the route before. After that, we set up a TR on the 5.6 crack to the left of the gully. I went first to show beta. It's a fun 1/2 crack 1/2 face climb with a fun under cling section to finish. I breezed up it... I like my new shoes that are geared for crack climbing. I can tell my crack climbing is getting much better, as I felt this pitch seemed much easier than when I had done it in the past. Ashley made it up with no trouble... he's done the route a few times as well. Velvet gave it a shot and got about 1/2 up before coming back down. She did great for her first crack climb... once she gets the technique down, she'll send it for sure.

Next we headed over to the XY Craig near 8 Mile CG. There we did a couple 5.7 routes. Velvet made the climb on the first route without incident. She really has started climbing a lot better. One the second route she hit the wall at the crux and gave it a number of attempts before coming down. After that I TR'd a 10a that was there, and was going to lead it, but the run-out between the 2nd and 3rd bolt was too much... a deck if you fell for sure. I made the route clean, but didn't figure it worth taking a fall. After that we packed up, as it was 1:30 and it was getting hot again! We had a beer at the car, then headed to Munchen Haus for our usual done with climbing ritual... brats and German beer. You can't beat a perfect weekend climbing.