Martha & I went to J-Tree for a nice long weekend. We stayed at the Yucca Inn (hoping the hot-tub was working). It was not. We were amped for a fun weekend. It was Martha’s first trip to J-Tree, and I felt responsible to make it a kicka$$ weekend for her. (How could it not be, I mean we were at J-TREE!!!!).
On Friday, we woke up to warm temperatures. Shade Climbing for sure! I had hiked up to a wall called the upper Shorter wall, earlier in the year and was thinking we could climb Double Dogleg, among others. The pullout had only two cars, so we figured it wouldn’t be a problem. However, when we got to the wall, there were 10 people camped up there! Waiting/hogging the moderate climbs. Crowds on a Friday, bugger!
In a flash, I whipped out my hefty J-Tree book. With our heads hung in defeat, we headed back to the lower Shorter Wall. I found a nice warm-up climb called Swiss Cheese. It is a mixed climb, some pro down low, then 4 bolts to an anchor. Saweeet. It turned out to be a really fun climb. Martha did great, and was excited for the next climb. The downclimb took a little bit of time, but we made it down in about 15 minutes.
After the success on Swiss Cheese, I thought we were ready to kick it up a notch. We sauntered over to Mr. Michael Goes to Washington (5.8). This climb looked like fun, even though the start was heady. I took a deep breath, as I launched from the ground. I put in my two smallest cams into a very rounded out slot, just big enough for the tip of my pinky finger. There was no pro after that until my feet were a good 15+ feet off the ground. The next move was getting from a stem, with hands gastonning to a long reach for a sidepull for the right hand, and feet smeared on the face.
Once I committed to the move, I had to move quick. The handholds above the sidepull were flat and slopey, even granular with dust and dirt. I grunted and shouted and locked off with my left hand to lunge with my right. Thank goodness the next hold was bomber. Otherwise, I would have fallen 20 feet and landed either on Martha, or below her. I was ecstatic to have made the move. I plugged in a HUGE #2 or #3 cam and screamed woo-hoo! I thought it was all over from here on out.
But, I was wrong. The upper crux involved thin face climbing on steep slab, with no pro for 15 feet. Mentally, I wasn’t ready for another crux. I had to back out. I felt like an utter failure, but I was concerned about safety. I was not willing to risk the injury on my first day of a 3 day climbing trip! Luckily, just above my trusty big came placement, another crack split off, and meandered to the right. It looked doable, and so, I went that way. I’m the leader, I can go anyway I want, right?
So, we ended up doing the 5.6 variation ending of Mr. Michael Goes To Washington. I’m glad I finished the climb, even if I didn’t stay on route, and the start is something to be proud of, if nothing else of my performance! What a fun day, I wish we could have done more than two routes, but we had a great time!