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...