The "Real" FingerTrip [July 3]

So I headed out to Taquitz with Chris to get on Fingertrip (5.7 - 4 pitches) on Saturday. I was late getting on my way, so I ended up getting to the Redlands at about 8am. We got the gear sorted out and soon had Chris' truck loaded up and were on our way. When we got to Idyllwild, we had to go up the main street in town where they were setting up for the "big parade". Santa Clause was there... so that's what he does in the summer. Once we worked past all the distractions, we were soon parked at the trail head and getting ready for the 30 minute hike to the start of the climb.

Chris took the first pitch, since I had done it before. He did the original route, rated at 5.7, which skirted around a 12 foot section of 5.8, which I did the first time I climbed it. I didn't realize it wasn't 5.7, but it was sweet (as I remember). Once we reached the first belay, we were stuck behind a party of three... two sons and a father who had climbed there 25 years earlier. I had thought they were off route, but as it turns out when I did the route last time, Hugo and I were the ones off route. And for the harder, as well. The route we did was a mix of 2 other routes rated at 5.8 and 5.9 which makes sense, as it seemed a bit difficult for 5.7 climbing.

Once they were finally far enough in front of us (an hour and a half of waiting) I took off on pitch 2. It all went well enough, as I went up over blocks and traversed left on slab terrain (with no pro, but it was easier than it looked) and up toward a crescent shaped roof. I was supposed to stop at a semi-hanging gear belay, but ended up doing half the third pitch (sorry Chris), gaining a tree with slings for the belay. The rope was completely out and I barley reached. Back to the crux of the pitch... it was an under cling arching roof where you went straight over at the apex of the arch, without pro up above for a few feet. Before I charged it, I yelled back down to Chris to read me the pitch description out of the guide, as it looked very hard for 5.7 and I wanted to make sure I was still on route. It turned out I was on route, but the doubt was starting to creep into my mind. In a moment of realization, I admitted that there was no one to come save me and I had to just climb it. I remember thinking, "it's just climbing, so get the negative thoughts out of your head and climb!" Next thing I knew I was above the crux and running for the next belay. Chris followed up and it was then we realized I went past the hanging belay and stole the best part of the climb.

After exchanging gear, Chris took off for Lunch ledge (which was different than Hugo and I though on our previous attempt) and brought me up... we were only 15 feet below it. With my 70m rope, we could definitely string together pitches 2 and 3. After a slight Charlie Foxtrot at Lunch Ledge, Chris took off again for the top. I followed the easy pitch, as soon we were packing up gear at the top. We ended up helping two other groups find the 4th class decent trail, as it can be very hard to find until you've done it once. By the time we reached our gear at the start of the climb, it was 4pm and we decided we didn't have time to get on another one. I was starting to feel the heat "sap my strenght" (ha ha Chris), so we packed up and headed down, stopping in Idyllwild for the best Latte you'll ever find in a PO-dunk mountain town. Then headed back to Redlands (without hitting any deer this time) for a Eureka Burger. Another great day at Taquitz.