On Sunday, July 1st, Holly & I climbed the ultra classic Tree Route (5.6) at Dome Rock in the Needles. We started the climb at 8:50am and topped out at 12:20pm. The climb went amazingly smooth, considering it was our very first time climbing with each other & Holly’s first trip on multi-pitch in a year and a half! (more…)
On Cinco De Mayo, Rachel & I left her casa at 07:00 for the soft & supple sandstone of Red Rocks. We left the truck at 8:20am, were climbing Tunnel Vision at 11:00am, topped out at 4:45pm, got back to our packs by 6:15pm, and were back at the truck at 7pm.
The temperature was supposed to get up to 70, but the high felt more like 60 up there. With very brisk, gusty winds, and the occasional passing stormfronts we felt chilled all day. On one of the pitches, my fingers felt on the verge of numbness-but the warmth radiating inside the sandstone pockets kept me going. (more…)
On Saturday morning, Tim surprised Hayley & I by showing up for a day of climbing. I was happy because, in addition to not climbing with Tim in a long time, we would be able to capture our adventures on film. It’s much easier to take pics with a party of three. (more…)
Early Friday morning, Hayley picked me up and we drove up to Bishop for some supercalifragilisticexpealidocious cragging. We climbed from 10am to 4pm, quitting early in favor of a tour through the Galen Rowell Mountain Light Gallery (a first for Hayley).
Later at Las Palmas, Hayley got the onsight of a 3.5 pound fish taco, but I was denied my equally convincing attempt at a 5 pound burrito. I blame the half bucket of chips consummed, but Hayley says it’s just excuses 8^) Getting back to town by 9:30pm was nice, as we were going out the following day for a second round of climbing. (more…)
On April Fools Day, Hayley, Dennis & I wandered up to Alabama Hills for a day of superb climbing. We left Ridgecrest around 9:30am and got back around 8pm. It was great temperature so we climbed in the shade all day until the very end-when we braved the heat at the Peter Gabriel Cliff. There were lots of four wheelers out n about, and a few scattered groups of climbers, but we never had to pick a number for a climb. (more…)