It's time for another climbing trip with M! Our first stop was the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We stopped for dinner on the way and I was excited to see sopapillas on the menu. Unfortunately, my excitement turned to disappointment, as there seems to be confusion over just what the heck a sopapilla is. I was served a flat, fried tortilla, similar to the one pictured below. While it was tasty, it was not a sopapilla.
THIS IS NOT A SOPAPILLA!
We joined other volunteers with the RRGCC for a trail day on Saturday morning. Our group helped move a bridge on the approach to the Motherlode. I found rocks, dug sand and clay and stayed out of the way of people swinging tools. There was still plenty of time afterward for climbing, so we headed over to Chica Bonita. My highlight of the afternoon was leading my first 5.10a, Raindancer. Gotta love those short (30 foot) routes! We met some friends and had pizza at Miguel's. Also met a young woman who honestly seemed to believe there is no difference between turkey bacon and regular bacon. I am glad my taste buds work better than that!
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| At the top of Raindancer more pix |
We headed back to the PRMP on Sunday and joined the crowd at The Shire. Fortunately, only one group had members who probably should have written up in the ongoing weekly idiot report forum. I'll just leave it at that. We got up three routes (I led two) then met with the rest of our group at Left Field. They were stuck on a 5.9. J dragged up the stick click to get to the crux bolt, but got no further. I gave it a shot, but backed off. M, however, went for it and made it to the top! Our bail biners would have to be used another day. We said goodbye to our friends who had to be at work on Monday, then headed over to The Rockhouse for some tasty dinner.
We took advantage of the lighter crowds and headed over to Phantasia Wall. After a nice steep, but short, climb we warmed up on Lord of the Flies. We hoped to do Pogue Ethics next, but another group was on it. We walked the other direction and got on a fun-looking 5.10b, Overlord. This was the first time for both of us to put up a 5.10b and together we did it. Yay! Looking forward to both of us leading it cleaning the next time we go. Pogue Ethics was still being climbed, so we headed over to Creature Feature. What a mistake! Two-and-a-half unfun hours later, we gave up and the next party retrieved our gear. (Thanks!) We headed back to Miguel's for a refreshing shower and back up camp before driving to the Obed Hostel, our home away from home while we climbed at The Obed.
We went into town and hit the hot breakfast spot, Hardees, to fuel up before a day of bouldering. Although quite a few boulders/problems were wet (must have something to do with the trees and moss on top of many of the boulders) we found plenty of problems to keep us busy. We warmed up on some V0's and V1's on the warmup wall, then headed over to the KB Boulder to work a couple of V2's we hadn't finished the last time we were here. (M finished one of them last time, but I didn't top out either of them.) It took a little work, but we both topped out (but not very beautifully) KB Arete and Honker. After we explored the bouder field looking for problems that were both interesting and dry, we conquered Maestro Madness, avoiding the worm that was hanging out near the top of the problem. I'm pretty sure this was my first V3. We did a couple more problems, then went back into town and grabbed dinner and groceries. The evening's entertainment was watching the lambs eat grass.
Wednesday's forecast wasn't great, with the chance of rain increasing as the day went on, but we decided to risk it. After a decent hike, we reached our warmup route, Cocoa Puffs, in the South Clear. It proved to be a bit of a challenge, as the rock was a little slicker than I'm used to and it was necessary to make a top-out style move (not my strong suit) to get to the anchors, but I managed. Next up was Best Seat in the House, so named because the view from the top is quite nice. I was first up on lead, but was having difficulties unlocking a move, so turned it over to M to see if she could get up it before the rains came, because at this point it was becoming clear it was a matter of when than if. She figured it out and then cruised to the top. As the skies darkened, it was my turn to get up and clean the route before the rain came. At least, that was the goal. A light rain greeted me as I reached the anchors. If it had just stayed a light rain, it would have been fine, but it turned into a downpour shortly thereafter, drenching me, M and the rope, which ended up in a puddle that formed very quickly at the base of the route. I got down safely and we headed to the shelter of a roof to eat lunch while the rain passed. Once the rain stopped, we made the trek out, which was a bit more challenging than the trek in, because now we had a few creek crossings to navigate. It was a soggy end to our trip to The Obed. Looking forward to going back and getting on some more routes.
Wednesday's forecast wasn't great, with the chance of rain increasing as the day went on, but we decided to risk it. After a decent hike, we reached our warmup route, Cocoa Puffs, in the South Clear. It proved to be a bit of a challenge, as the rock was a little slicker than I'm used to and it was necessary to make a top-out style move (not my strong suit) to get to the anchors, but I managed. Next up was Best Seat in the House, so named because the view from the top is quite nice. I was first up on lead, but was having difficulties unlocking a move, so turned it over to M to see if she could get up it before the rains came, because at this point it was becoming clear it was a matter of when than if. She figured it out and then cruised to the top. As the skies darkened, it was my turn to get up and clean the route before the rain came. At least, that was the goal. A light rain greeted me as I reached the anchors. If it had just stayed a light rain, it would have been fine, but it turned into a downpour shortly thereafter, drenching me, M and the rope, which ended up in a puddle that formed very quickly at the base of the route. I got down safely and we headed to the shelter of a roof to eat lunch while the rain passed. Once the rain stopped, we made the trek out, which was a bit more challenging than the trek in, because now we had a few creek crossings to navigate. It was a soggy end to our trip to The Obed. Looking forward to going back and getting on some more routes.
The same spot, before and after the rain. Notice anything different?
The Climbs
Obed Bouldering
Obed Bouldering
Warm-up Wall
Hot Dog V0
Something we made up V0/V1
Soldier V0
Dipsy Do V1
KB Boulder
Tippy Toes V0
Eco Terror V0
KB Arete V2
Honker V2
Piano Boulder
Maestro Madness V3 (first V3)
Beer Boulder
Bud V0
Obed Sport
Cocoa Puffs 5.7
Best Seat in the House 5.9
