We woke up early to a cloudy, foggy, misty Sunday morning. Well, it was still
dark, but we could tell it was damp out.
But it wasn't raining - they predicted rain for later on in the afternoon.
So we headed back to the diner for our share of cholesterol and grease, and
headed to the Main Cliff area. Bob and I were whining quite a bit about
being tired. Bob said he only wanted to do 5.5s, I could barely make it up
the trail. I did not climb very well this day.
The Main Cliff is an impressive wall. We went to the center right section,
here, the climbs do not go all the way up to the top. While Ed led the
popular "Underdog" *** (5.10a), Ethan led "Gold Digger" * (5.8+) nearby.
Since I wasn't feeling very strong, I TR'ed "Gold Digger" and "Underdog".
Took a hang on Underdog - difficult move, had to reach up high and grab
a handhold just right - and until I identified exactly where it was, I fell
a couple of times. The rest of the route was interesting, quite a variety
of moves, unintuitive holds.
Next was the "Kennel Wall". First Ethan led "Puppy
Love * 5.9, and I top roped it. Meanwhile, Ed was trying to lead "Sparking
Poodles" ** 5.10a, and couldn't get past the crux - an overhang to a
ramp. We switched climbs and Ethan managed to get past the crux, but not
without some very loud grunting (see the movie). Bob had to give it a
number of tries before he managed to make it. I attempted it, but after
numerous frustrating tries, I couldn't do it. We agreed that this definitely
didn't feel like 5.10a - or we were missing something. Becky didn't even want
to bother, it just seemed too much like torture. Then we tiptoed up
"Dog Star" * 5.10b - a very delicate and very sharp face.
We made our way back over to the New Wave Wall. Ethan led "Night Crawler" 5.9.
This climb was thin and very sharp. I top roped it. Then we moved over
to "Air and Pleasant Danger" ** (5.8) - Ethan led it, I cleaned on top rope.
Meanwhile right next to us, Bob was working on "Short Wave" * 5.11b, looking
for the "interesting hidden-hold crux" hold, which turned out to suck once
he finally found it.
Ethan heard the beer calling to him once again, and we headed down to the
parking lot to chill out on our portable couch. By the time the rest of the
group met up with us, it had started to drizzle. We said our goodbyes to
Ed and Becky, who had to leave. Bob, Ethan and I went to a Seafood/BBQ place
and had impossibly large portions of pulled pork and BBQ ribs. One potato,
two potato, three potato, PORK.
Monday morning we awoke to pouring rain. No climbing today. So we packed
up and went home. Great weekend!
oink oink.