Well, this time I was coming down from Connecticut, instead of up from the city, so a car was required. My helmet was not pleased when I refrained from renting a Bentley or something, but holy crap - Hertz charges for child seats and we needed two. For a ten days! (Let's face it, kids just aren't economically viable. Time to send them back.) Now, try to imagine what a Bentley would have cost. And god knows what the Bentley place would have charged to vacuum up all the saltine crumbs the girls left in the back seat... Below, my helmet - my effete snob of a helmet - grudgingly poses behind the wheel of our Taurus. Don't mention the fact that it needs to sit on something to see over the steering wheel. Some of us are height-sensitive.) |
Part II - Two Days with Jim Lawyer and Friends |
Well, this time I was coming down from Connecticut, instead of up from the city, so a car was required. My helmet was not pleased when I refrained from renting a Bentley or something, but holy crap - Hertz charges for child seats and we needed two. For a ten days! (Let's face it, kids just aren't economically viable. Time to send them back.) Now, try to imagine what a Bentley would have cost. And god knows what the Bentley place would have charged to vacuum up all the saltine crumbs the girls left in the back seat... Below, my helmet - my effete snob of a helmet - grudgingly poses behind the wheel of our Taurus. Don't mention the fact that it needs to sit on something to see over the steering wheel. Some of us are height-sensitive.) |
Anyway, let's shut up about the helmet - this is supposed to be about climbing. So I met Jim at the base of the "stairmaster" (although not before having the chance to put faces to the names of a couple of gunks.com regulars at the Deli parking lot. Mike Rawdon was there, so I got to say hi and thanks again, and he introduced me to MurphysLaw and the Murph dog and to Browndog2. Were there others? I'm having an Alzheimers moment. Forgive me if I missed anyone. My rendezvous with Jim worked perfectly, and within moments of sucking wind up the stairmaster (for you non-gunkies, this is a steep trail/staircase from the west trapps parking lot to the carriage road that runs below the cliffs), I found myself saddling up for the first pitch of Birdie Partie (5.8+). So I hand my camera to Jim, and off I go (if I can just fiddle this first damn nut in, that is....) |
Looks like I must have managed it somehow. And isn't that rock just absolutely clean and gorgeous? |
Next it's Jim's turn, and he runs up Mothers' Day Party (5.10a), pretty much without stopping for breath. Here he is at right, not far off the deck. By the way: "Damn - I wish I could climb like that." (I would repeat this mantra often in the next 48 hours....) In fact, while following this route I got wrong-handed on the move up to the flake that Jim's left foot is on in the shot below. Instead of down-climbing like a reasonable person, I adopted a "what the heck, I'm on toprope," attitude and performed a grotesque, frog-jump move that we will politely refer to as 'el dyno spazzo'. Needless to say, I got launched. Duhhhhhh.... |
Apologies for the butt shot, but I still haven't gotten over how beautiful gunks rock is, and can't help putting in lots of pictures of it |
And speaking of butt shots, this time it's my turn. At closer range, too. All together now: "Eeeeeeeew." Jim had steered us further down the cliff line and pointed me at Ant's Line (5.9). What a stellar corner. |
But holy moly it's a long reach for a dwarf like me to get the blue camalot up in that slot before pulling past the roof (pic at right). I was grunting and sweating like a reduced-fat sumo wrestler. |
We were waiting for a party to clear our next objective, so Jim quickly fired a non-starred arete called Sleepwalk (5.7-), and I followed. Not bad, actually. Then I headed up the now-open first pitch of Bonnie's Roof (5.8+). Another awesome bit of corner climbing. |
Step 1: Jam and select piece. |
Step 2: Place. |
Step 3: Select additional piece for protection above lip. |
Step 4: Place. |
Step 5: Pull. And make it look easy! |
For our last route of the day, we wandered back toward the stairmaster and jumped on Modern Times. I led the first pitch (5.7) with basically no idea where it went, other than up. Up and right... up and left... up and right... dropping in gear on gorgeous, moderate rock in fear that it might get hard and scary at any moment. Who the heck knew if I was on route? And all of a sudden, there I was at the Grand Traverse ledge. Cool! Then Jim took over for the airy, airy second pitch (5.8+). Have I ever mentioned how much fun it is for dwarves like me to watch a 6'4" partner grovel, knees to chin, below some horrible cramped roof? Heh, heh, heh - and you thought I was a nice guy... Actually, the nice guy was Jim, who crammed himself through the moves and then - concerned to give me solid protection for the traverse - valiantly went back down to put a sling on the tree. The funny part is that for me the roof was just absolutely cosy, comfy. Being short meant I could keep my feet pretty much right under me the whole way, except for a couple of moves. But it sure was fun to see Jim do a head jam... Shots of Jim's lead below (elegant parts only - I seem to have missed the awkward bits). |
Cool stuff. And to close out the day, a shot of an unkown climber on the last pitch of High Exposure (5.6). With tomorrow still to anticipate, you can bet I was smiling. |
I handed over the sharp end to Jim for pitch 2, and he went right after the direct finish (5.9). I need a better camera or a copy of Photoshop (or both) to do it justice, but even without I think the shots below are pretty neat. |
