Flash

Went up with Howie at 7 in the morning hoping to do beckys wall. Unfortunately it rained untill 1:00ish. We went back out at around 4:30 because they sun came out. We had planned on going to bushwack beause it was west facing and got lots of sun, but on the drive up he metioned Hand Jive and we couldn't resist. Went up and found the climb (a bit of a chore if you're not careful), and went for it. In order to get to Hand jive you need to climb Crack in the woods. So I led up it with no problems using only passive pro (as none of my cams were small enough). It was a really short pitch, I was really surprised by that. He followed up and we sat there for a while. I'm not exactly sure how to get over to hand jive so I want to go with Jason for it. So we rappeled from there, cleaned up and all was well. There is a gnarly old forged friend in the crack that I picked at for 5 minutes while rapping, but gave up on. Way stoked about the climb.

Went to the slips again. Took my two cousins, Ryan and Brett, climbing. I was planning on doing Roll the bones againbut there were people on it, so i did Italian Arete, which ironically is what I was going to do the first time I went to the slips and instead did Roll the Bones. Anywho, I flashed it with much ease and everyone else climbed. Then we went around the corner and I attempted witchhunt, a .10a that I decided to project. I guess it's not much of a project now that I think of it, I almost flashed it.Got right up to the chains and got too pumped out to do the crux move and clip the hanging chains. So I bailed off and Jason led up on my draws in order to get it clean. I'm willing to bet I will redpoint on my second attempt.

This was a great day. And bad at the same time, but mostly great. First off, when I was heading over to Jason's house to meet up with Spence and Steph, I thought two things in my head. First I said that I would walk the slackline. Second I said I would redpoint. Well, when I got there, spence wasn't there, so I got started slacklining. I went on for about 15 minutes, and spence arrived while I was mid run. Something about his presence secured me, and I finished the line without talking to him. Freak yeah, I was so stoked. But it was only the beginning.


What is it with me, the Salt Slips, and Leading? Oh well. We arrived at the slips and I relised I left my (hiking) shoes in my car at Jason's house. I had to make the short approach in flip flop sandels. Not that big a deal. Then we reached the tyrolian. It was a lot more sketch than I remember it. Obviously it was residue from last year. No one had gone up to replace it. We went across anyways, as the river was too high to cross, and sure enough it was able to hold us. Then we started climbing. Spence led up Entra Nous and lowered off. Then I went for it. Spence asked if I wanted to Lead or toprope. I said if it weren't for the grade (5.9-) I would definately lead. He said "Oh, you can do this easy". again, something about Spence's faith assured me and I went on the sharp end. Preplaced draws though. When I was getting ready to go, I was picking up a few pieces of gear to rack on me, and Spence said I didn't need anything. Famous last words before an Epic. Fortunately this was a very small epic. Climbing went smoothly untill I reached the slabby crux. At this point steph was like "fall, fall" Because we had planned on doing lead takes. I said "No way! I want to redpoint!" and continued climbing. then came the epic. Above the crux I clipped one last bolt and climbed on, untill thinking to myself "this is preety run out, There should be a bolt here". Sure enough, right in front of my face, a bolt with no draw. I hadn't a single spare biner on me. So I yell down to spence "you skipped a bolt!". He was like "I did? Oh well, that part is easy." He was right. But still I ran that sucker out, so I think the preplaced draws shouldn't detract from anything. Anywho, things went smoothly from there. I clipped the next draw and hit the anchors with haste (it's about 5.4 at the top, if even that) and lowered off. Then steph went up and I wandered. then later we all did lead takes. Kinda freaky. But not that bad. Of course I chose the spot right at the crux to fall at, so I climbed the crux at least 6 times that day. Then I was the last, so I finished it off, cleaned the anchors and rapped down.

This is where it turns sad. Bear in mind, I throw my keys, wallet and phone in my pack when climbing. After packing up, I took out my keys, but was too lazy to get out my other two items, So they lay at the bottom of my pack. Then came the tyrolian. The way the tyrolian is set up, the road side of the line is higher than the crag side. I went for it first (shoulda had spence go first and this would have been avoided.) and about 5 feet away from the end, decided I couldn't do it. Fatigue mostly, my biceps were giving out on me (6 times through the crux and bouldering around). So I take off my pack to throw it to shore, relieving enough weight so that I could get up the tyrolian. Immediately, I heard "NO! DONT DO IT! YOU WONT MAKE IT!" from the other shore. They were right. My arms were too fatiged to throw it to shore. And too fatigued to get it back on my back. I was near doomed. I had to try. I hit shore, but it rolled down into the river, luckily wedgeing between a few rocks, though precariously. I still couldn't make it, too worn out. So I retreated to the north shore again. Spence went and saved my pack from going down the river, then steph went and by that time, I was rested enough that I would do it. But when I was standing on the north shore watching my pack bob around in that river, I realised "CRAP! MY PHONE!" Sure enough, it didn't make it. Now I have a new one. Got it for free under warrenty, and in early June I'll buy a cooler one. But as for now I'm fine with it, and overall, it was a good trip.

Awesome climb. There was no spence though. Jason led trad for his second time (I wasn't around for his first). We all survived so i guess that's what counts. After Jason, Zed went up on TR and then I went up, cleared the anchor and rapped down. My second experience with that kind of thing. The crux was right after the midpoint where there is a lot of hand jamming chimneying and all manner of other stuff. I made it to the anchor this time without falling or hanging on the rope so I'm counting this as an ascent. Cool beans indeed. There was a giant thunderstorm that missed us. It missed us far enough that we didn't even know about it while we were up there.

This was sweet. My first multi-pitch. A nice and somewhat easy (5.7) climb. Loved it. It was the funnest climb I've been on to date. Absolutely love climbing on the granite, much cleaner that what I've been climbing on so far.