climbergirl blog

We set out on Saturday to climb Fote Hog (5.6), a two pitch classic. I got to the start of the climb, and for some reason, I started shaking (not nerves!). I tried to eat a little, and we waited for a few minutes, but it wouldn’t stop. Then, I started feeling a little light headed and that was it. I decided to back-off and play it safe. It was Martha’s first multi-pitch climb, and I didn’t want it to turn epic!

Dude Soloing Fote Hog (5.6)

As we were down climbing, a dude walked up wearing sneakers and a day pack. He was really nice, and even helped by spotting me as I downclimbed. (Thank goodness he was there!). We briefly chatted with him, and then he helped himself to the climb. I got video of him soloing, and he was gracious enough to give me beta about the pro! Normally, I wouldn’t want to know, but since there is a tricky traverse, I was happy for the information.

When we got back to the truck, we had half the day left, so we decided to drive through the park. We stopped at the Mt. Ryan pullout, and hiked up to the highest elevation of J-Tree. I hadn’t done the hike, and Martha was being a good sport, so we were off to summit the peak. Turns out the hike is lovely, there are fantastic views all the way up, and when you get to the top it’s amazing. We got up there about an hour before sunset, although I’d imagine watching the sun go down from up there would be magical.

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. (more…)

We met Ann, Dylan, and Mark at Mimi’s Cafe just down the highway from Golden. We had a liesurely breakfast and got caught up-quite a bit of conversation to cover the highlights of the past year! Breakfast was quite filling, and we did a great job of cleaning the plates. I must say, Mark’s Cinnamon French Toast looked the yummiest! Even Ann stole a corner of one as “dessert”.

It was a solid half day of climbing, I was sufficiently pumped after 6 routes. Note: All pictures courtesy of Ann & Dylan-we left our camera in Ridgecrest. It WAS a gorgeous day, the sky was so clear we could see all the way to Aurora (30 or more miles away!). Astounding. (more…)

On Sunday morning, Martha and I left for Alabama Hills. Along the way, we took a short detour to Black Planets, a local winter bouldering destination. Since I will be leaving soon, I wanted to be sure to show her the turn-off road from the 395. It’s very hard to spot, unless you go 35 mph on the freeway!

At Black Planets, we saw a turantula spider as it was bopping down the road. So we stopped and helped it to safety. Hopefully, we saved it from being squished by the frenzied off roaders who frenquent the area. (more…)

Martha & I met at 7am and took off to climb at my favorite chosspile. I drove the Subi down to NJC as we bantered off and on about ourselves. Martha is new to climbing, and has all the nice, but none of the annoying characteristics associated. This was her first real climbing trip, outside of a few field exercises included as part of her attendance in a summer mountaineering class.

I was excited when we showed up and there were no ropes on the Boy Scout Wall. I wanted to start off on BSW so I could watch Martha as she practiced cleaning the anchors & rappelling. By the time we walked over there, a party had just started up one of the routes. No biggy, ropegun Clare jumped on an adjacent climb and started upwards. (more…)